Context Of Tertiary Education Research Articles

Mental health and biomedical neoliberalism: can creativity make space for social justice?

ABSTRACT In this article, we introduce a creative assessment task developed for postgraduate social work students studying critical perspectives on mental health. We discuss how moving beyond the constraints of text-based assignments generates space for students to explore new ways of thinking about mental health, beyond the limitations of dominant illness-based understandings. Through creativity, the task enables an exploration of social justice in practice, reflexivity, humility, complexity, and multiplicity. Students learn about the value of lived and embodied experience knowledges and the task generates opportunities for paradigm shifts away from biomedical discourses. We argue that the task is itself a subversion of neoliberal knowledge production within a tertiary education context.

Clinical reasoning during dysphagia assessment and management in acute care: A longitudinal qualitative study.

Competent clinical reasoning forms the foundation for effective and efficient clinical swallowing examination (CSE) and consequent dysphagia management decisions. While the nature of initial CSEs has been evaluated, it remains unclear how new information gathered by speech-language therapists (SLTs) throughout a patient's acute-care journey is integrated into their initial clinical reasoning and management processes and used to review and revise initial management recommendations. To understand how SLTs' clinical reasoning and decision-making regarding dysphagia assessment and management evolve as patients transition through acute hospital care from referral to discharge. A longitudinal, qualitative approach was employed to gather information from two SLTs who managed six patients at a metropolitan acute-care hospital. A retrospective 'think-aloud' protocol was utilized to prompt SLTs regarding their clinical reasoning and decision-making processes during initial and subsequent CSEs and patient interactions. Three types of concept maps were created based on these interviews: a descriptive concept map, a reasoning map and a hypothesis map. All concept maps were evaluated regarding their overall structure, facts gathered, types of reasoning engaged in (inductive versus deductive), types of hypotheses generated, and the diagnosis and management recommendations made following initial CSE and during subsequent dysphagia management. Initial CSEs involved a rich process of fact-gathering, that was predominantly led by inductive reasoning (hypothesis generation) and some application of deductive reasoning (hypothesis testing), with the primary aims of determining the presence of dysphagia and identifying the safest diet and fluid recommendations. During follow-up assessments, SLTs engaged in increasingly more deductive testing of initial hypotheses, including fact-gathering aimed at determining the tolerance of current diet and fluid recommendations or the suitability for diet and/or fluid upgrade and less inductive reasoning. Consistent with this aim, SLTs' hypotheses were focused primarily on airway protection and medical status during the follow-up phase. Overall, both initial and follow-up swallowing assessments were targeted primarily at identifying suitable management recommendations, and less so on identifying and formulating diagnoses. None of the patients presented with adverse respiratory and/or swallowing outcomes during admission and following discharge from speech pathology. Swallowing assessment and management across the acute-care journey was observed as a high-quality, patient-centred process characterized by iterative cycles of inductive and deductive reasoning. This approach appears to maximize efficiency without compromising the quality of care. The outcomes of this research encourage further investigation and translation to tertiary and post-professional education contexts as a clear understanding of the processes involved in reaching diagnoses and management recommendations can inform career-long refinement of clinical skills. What is already known on the subject SLTs' clinical reasoning processes during initial CSE employ iterative cycles of inductive and deductive reasoning, reflecting a patient-centred assessment process. To date it is unknown how SLTs engage in clinical reasoning during follow-up assessments of swallowing function, how they assess the appropriateness of initial management recommendations and how this relates to patient outcomes. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge Our longitudinal evaluation of clinical reasoning and decision-making patterns related to swallowing management in acute care demonstrated that SLTs tailored their processes to each patient's presentation. There was an emphasis on monitoring the suitability of the initial management recommendations and the potential for upgrade of diet or compensatory swallowing strategies. The iterative cycles of inductive and deductive reasoning reflect efficient decision-making processes that maintain high-quality clinical care within the acute environment. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Employing efficient and high-quality clinical reasoning is a hallmark of good dysphagia practice in maximizing positive patient outcomes. Developing approaches to understanding and making explicit clinical reasoning processes of experienced clinicians may assist SLTs of all developmental stages to provide high standards of care.

Leveraging a Diverse Collaboration in Tertiary Education to Develop Capability for Workplace Innovation

Recent developments in tertiary education are demonstrating teaching and learning methods to develop students’ capability for employee-led Workplace Innovation. In this article, we describe an international collaboration to develop shared learning resources and activities in workplace innovation for adaptation in diverse tertiary education contexts. We are intentionally seeking out additional collaborating institutions that differ in mission, size, location and student demographics, to leverage our team’s diversity and encourage innovation.
 When shared learning resources and activities are to be used in a diverse contexts, some core principles underlying instructional success must also be shared in order to ensure adaptations do not remove key properties. We outline four instructional principles underlying the learning design and illustrate how these principles are applied in our current learning resources.  
 We then describe some of the ways that these shared resources have been adapted for different tertiary education environments. We also discuss some of the benefits emerging from the collaboration, including how the inclusion of new resources targeting specific work domains and the transfer of new teaching and learning ideas across contexts.
 We conclude by describing some of the ways we are also collaborating with workplace partners, to ensure that our graduates have the capabilities needed to contribute to workplace innovation practice and to help advance the workplace innovation capability of their own employees.

Digital technology and environmental pedagogies in tertiary outdoor education: linking digital spaces to more-than-human places

ABSTRACT Digital technologies are receiving increased attention in outdoor and environmental education (OEE). Historically, debates on digital technology in these fields have tended to focus on how technology might hinder authentic relationships with the outdoors or how it might be used instrumentally to meet educational aims or support pedagogy. More recent postdigital perspectives understand digital technology as something that is deeply embedded, entangled, throughout society and by extension the daily life of OEE participants. The idea that we are entangled with technology is congruent with the emerging theories of new materialism; theories that are increasingly influencing OEE research and pedagogy. In this paper, we argue that new materialism is a useful way to conceptualise the entangled nature of digital technology in OEE. We show some ways we have tried to embrace technology as entangled in our OEE practice, drawing upon theoretical insights and practice-based examples from tertiary outdoor education contexts.

Undergraduate Students’ Writer’s Block in English as an Academic Language: Causes, Coping Strategies Needs

This study aims to explore writer’s block in the tertiary education context and draws from 644 senior English language and literature students’ self-reports on producing academic texts in English. A mixed-methods survey design was used to collect data from the participants. Findings showed that both internal and external causes of writer’s block were at work, yet external causes were moderately more influential, while students produced argumentative-critical and expository essays and were influential in the drafting stage of the writing process. Findings also revealed that students pursued continue-to-write and avoid-writing strategies in different combinations to cope with writer’s block and needed to expand their knowledge and experience in drafting, planning, using academic language, coherence, and smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs. Lastly, findings highlighted the need for clear instructions, studying sample texts, and feedback from teachers to overcome writer’s block. In light of these findings, several pedagogical implications were suggested.

Chinese Learners’ Use of Translation in Learning Academic Subjects in English-Medium Instruction Context

Abstract Many researchers have identified learning strategies that university students adopt to overcome difficulties in programs taught in English, among which translation is a potentially helpful one. This study explores Chinese undergraduate students’ perceptions of translation as a learning strategy when learning content in the English-medium instruction (EMI) context. Although a number of studies have investigated translation used by learners in second or foreign language acquisition, those studies were rare in the EMI context of tertiary education, particularly in China. By focusing on students’ perspectives, this study provides an insight into how translation is used to assist academic learning in EMI context and highlights its effectiveness. Data consisted of semistructured interviews with 14 volunteer Chinese undergraduates of various majors. It is found that most of the participants resorted to translation to deal with language-related problems, especially in English reading and writing activities. They usually translated utilizing various machine translators, which did not always have a fulfilling effect on students’ learning. Although the majority considered translation helpful for academic learning, it might not be the preferred solution to subject-related confusion for Chinese undergraduate students learning in the EMI context.

When teaching and research are misaligned: Unraveling a university EFL teacher's identity tensions and renegotiations

This study investigates the identity construction of a university EFL teacher in China through narrative inquiry in ethnography, probing into the tensions she experienced as a teaching-focused academic as well as her renegotiations of her professional self in face of these tensions. Narrative data were collected through in-depth interviews and informal communications with the participant while contextual data were collected through prolonged fieldwork. Through thematic analysis and constructing storylines in relation to the identified themes, the participant's identity experience is mapped out in three story constellations, namely, identity tensions, identity relinquishment and reinterpretation and identification beyond the institution, through which the participant developed her identity as an academic outcast, an ace coach and an expert. The constructions of these identities are mutually informing and reveal an alternative trajectory of professional development, in which boundary-crossing between the academic and non-academic communities becomes a transforming space. By delving into the intricacies of the participant's professional stories within the contextual dynamics, the study reveals the complexities of the teaching-research misalignment in the unique context of tertiary EFL education in China and provides new insights into the maintenance of academic identities in times of policy shifts and contextual challenges.

The Model of Project Management as a Sustainable Pedagogical Device: Case Study Research in the Tertiary Education Environment

The objective of the research was to analyse the use of project management as a sustainable pedagogical device capable of fostering in tertiary education students the development of those transversal skills that enhance their sustainable employability. The qualitative research design was the emergent grounded theory, applied through a case study methodology (first exploratory and then explanatory). The “Seven-factor model of project management as a sustainable pedagogical device” for the development of transversal skills in tertiary education was the main result presented. It is composed of the factors that can be transposed from practice into the context of tertiary education and contains a description of the method for this translation. Moreover, the “holistic project management integration approach in tertiary education” was presented, and it was explained why it is an effective top-down transformation process for integrating project management in every program or academic level. Learning project management proves effective in enhancing students’ employability by fostering a process of critical reflection that enables them to develop a sustainable career aligned with their expectations and personal growth as individuals, professionals, and sustainable citizens.

Ownership of English: Insights from Australian Tertiary Education Contexts

ABSTRACT This study investigates the perception of English ownership among multilingual students in Australian universities. Using qualitative interviews, it explores ownership through four aspects: expertise, inheritance, usage, and identification. The findings suggest that linguistic ownership is tied to language proficiency and self-identification as an expert. Despite students' confidence in English use, being labelled as 'non-native' speakers hinders their sense of ownership. The research highlights ongoing issues related to English ownership, the validity of its variations, and the pervasive influence of the 'native speaker' concept despite efforts to dismantle it. This is largely due to students' experiences with educators who are viewed as guardians of a more 'legitimate' English. The study recommends educators foster awareness of diverse English uses and avoid reinforcing native-speakerism ideologies.

What do telecommunications policy academics have to fear from GPT-3?

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and GPT-3 have shot to prominence recently (Lin 2023), as dramatic advances have shown them to be capable of writing plausible output that is difficult to distinguish from human-authored content. Unsurprisingly, this has led to concerns about their use by students in tertiary education contexts (Swiecki et al. 2022) and it has led to them being banned in some school districts in the United States (e.g. Rosenblatt 2023; Clarridge 2023) and from at least one top-ranking international university (e.g. Reuters 2023). There are legitimate reasons for such fears to be held, as it is difficult to differentiate students’ own written work presented for assessment from that produced by the AI tools. Successfully embedding them into educational contexts requires an understanding of the tools, what they are, and what they can and cannot do. Despite their powerful modelling and description capabilities, these tools have (at least currently) significant issues and limitations (Zhang & Li 2021).As telecommunications policy academics charged with the research-led teaching and supervising both undergraduate and research students, we need to be certain that our graduates are capable of understanding the complexities of current issues in this incredibly dynamic field and applying their learnings appropriately in industry and policy environments. We must be reasonably certain that the grades we assign are based on the students’ own work and understanding, To this end, we engaged in an experiment with the current (Q1 of 2023) version of the AI tool to assess how well it coped with questions on a core and current topic in telecommunications policy education: the effects of access regulation (local loop unbundling) on broadband investment and uptake. We found that while the outputs were well-written and appeared plausible, there were significant systematic errors which, once academics are aware of them, can be exploited to avoid the risk of AI use severely undermining the credibility of the assessments we make of students’ written work, at least for the time being and in respect of the version of chatbot software we used.

Assessing the effectiveness of a chatbot workshop as experiential teaching and learning tool to engage undergraduate students.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10639-023-11795-5.

Does active participation via integrated questions in large lectures matter?

This paper investigates whether the intensity of participation in large lecture quizzes in a tertiary education context, facilitated and monitored by an online platform, is associated with better examination performance. The platform mirrors lecture slides onto student devices and uses integrated “clicker” style questions within the lecture to quiz students on concepts learned. Using regression, we find that the intensity of quiz participation is positively related to students’ performance. Student study perceptions, based on study and career plans, moderate the results. These findings are relevant to educators, especially in a post-COVID-19 learning environment, where the online quiz function could be used to foster participation.

Enhancing EFL Vietnamese Students’ Communicative Competence through Selected Speaking Strategies

In Vietnamese tertiary education, there is a growing focus on enhancing students' speaking skills through the use of speaking strategies. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of different types of speaking strategies when employed in authentic settings. A mixed-methods research approach was employed, using a questionnaire and interview to collect data from 90 pre-intermediate undergraduate students at a local university. Random sampling was utilized with the support of SPSS version 20. Ten strategies were carefully designed to meet the requirements of tasks in the pre-, while-, and post-speaking phases, based on previous studies. The results showed that the use of these speaking strategies had a positive impact on EFL students' communicative competence, as evidenced by their scores and feedback. Moreover, teachers were found to be able to vary their speaking strategies according to the specific types of activities, with a particular strategy being implemented in a given class meeting. This research represents one of the first empirical studies investigating the roles of speaking strategies in improving students' communication skills and achieving learning autonomy in the Vietnamese tertiary education context. Furthermore, it is hoped that the findings will make significant contributions to the curriculum development of programs and to Target No.4: Quality Education, as defined by the United Nations, both in Vietnam and globally. Overall, this study highlights the importance of effective speaking strategies in EFL education and provides valuable insights for educators seeking to enhance their students' communicative competence.
  

A mixed method study on Chinese primary school EFL teachers' preparation, affecting factors and support needed to implement intercultural foreign language teaching.

Cultivating intercultural competence is a long-term and staged process requiring the efforts of all counterparts in the education field from primary school up to university. Currently, most research on intercultural education in China focuses on the tertiary education context, and little attention has been paid to elementary education as well as primary school EFL teachers. Against this background, this study intends to investigate Chinese primary school EFL teachers' preparedness for intercultural foreign language teaching (IFLT), its influencing factors, and the support teachers need to implement IFLT. A convergent mixed method was used in this study. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews, SPSS and the thematic analysis method were used to analyze the data. Via both quantitative and qualitative methods, this empirical study found that: 1. Primary school EFL teachers are not well prepared for IFLT; 2. Textbooks, the current evaluation system, teachers' lack of literacy in intercultural competence, insufficient teacher training on intercultural competence, and teachers' lack of time and energy are five major factors that constrain the implementation of IFLT; 3. Support from school administration, the construction of intercultural-related materials and resources, and practice-oriented teacher training are the three main support teachers need. Based on these findings, the role of textbooks, experience abroad and general materials on culture in promoting IFLT were discussed. At last, implications and future research directions were proposed.

Teacher Emotional Support and School Engagement: The case of Physical Education Teachers and Students in a Prominent Local College

Abstract A large number of published papers have investigated the relationship between perceived teacher emotional support and students’ engagement in school across a variety of subject areas at the primary and secondary levels. However, very few or none of these studies examine the topic in the context of physical education in higher education. It would be highly desirable for a study comparable to this one to be carried out within the context of tertiary education in order to address the dearth of scholarly works that concentrate on these two constructs. In light of this, the current study investigated the connection between teachers’ emotional support and their student’s level of engagement in their academic work. The participants in the study were undergraduate students (males = 374, females = 536) who were enrolled in minor PE courses at a prominent local college in Angeles City, Philippines. Following the calculation of Spearman’s rho and multiple regression analyses, the findings revealed that perceived teacher emotional support (along with its three distinct features: positive atmosphere, teacher sensitivity, and regard for the adolescent perspective) is significantly associated with [r(908) =.519, p < .05)] and has a direct influence on [F(3, 906) = 120.508, p <.001] school engagement. Additionally, this study highlighted the critical role that PE instructors play in providing students with emotional support, which in turn leads to higher levels of engagement and achievement reports. The presentation includes suggestions for the professional development of teachers of PE and future research initiatives.

Moroccan EFL Public University Instructors’ Perceptions and Self-Reported Practices of Written Feedback

Background. Since the 1990s, teachers’ written corrective feedback (WCF) has been recognized as vital in addressing linguistic issues or product aspects of writing. However, it is necessary to go beyond error correction and focus on written feedback (WF) that concerns other areas of process writing. Still, teachers’ thinking on these issues is often an under-explored area.
 Purpose. This study aimed to explore EFL instructors’ perceptions and their self-reported practices of product- and process-based WF in the writing context of tertiary education.
 Methods. The exploratory quantitative study collected data from 51 Moroccan EFL writing instructors through a self-developed questionnaire. The questionnaire items regarding perceptions and self-reported practices were valid and acceptable for factor analysis of nine subscales covering the features of product- and process-based WF, and all of them proved to be reliable. This structure allowed several comparisons during data analysis.
 Results. Concerning product-oriented WF, participants perceived applying WCF and WF modes on the written text as important techniques. As part of process-based WF, most of them highly valued effective WF modes in the writing process. Regarding their self-reported practices of product-based WF, instructors stated that they often employed WF modes on the written text. Within the process-based WF, they reported using judgemental feedback and effective WF modes as their most frequent practices. The comparisons between perceptions and self-reported practices showed mismatches in four subscales, including WCF, content-based WF related to macroaspects of writing, developing evaluative judgement, and effective WF modes in the writing process. Thus, instructors admitted the importance of WF in these areas although they acknowledged applying their practices less frequently.
 Conclusions. This study verified the psychometric properties of a self-constructed questionnaire, which was justified to be appropriate to explore teachers’ perceptions and self-reported practices regarding WF. The results obtained from the different subscales support the effectiveness of WCF and allow the exploration of a new conceptualisation of WF as a process.

Study Protocol of "Sustainably Healthy-From Science 2 Highschool & University"-Prevalence of Mixed, Vegetarian, and Vegan Diets Linked to Sports & Exercise among Austrian Tertiary Students and Lecturers/Academic Staff.

Healthy lifestyle is the major indicator of individual and public health especially in target populations (e.g., during emerging adulthood). Evidence indicates that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are strongly associated with the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. The dual approach of sustainable health (i.e., physical exercise tied to a healthy diet) is an effective lifestyle strategy to control and manage health-related disorders, including overweight/obesity. Based on the evidence on plant-based diets regarding health and considering the growing prevalence of vegans and vegetarians worldwide, limited data exist on the health-related behaviors of those who follow plant-based vs. mixed diets in young adulthood. This multidisciplinary study is the first to examine the association between diet type (mixed, vegetarian, and vegan diets) and various health-related behaviors (primarily physical activity, sport, & exercise) among college/university students and lecturers/academic staff in Austria nationwide. Following a cross-sectional study design and using online questionnaires, 4510 tertiary students and 1043 lecturers/academic staff provided data on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary patterns, physical exercise habits, and other lifestyle behaviors (sleep, alcohol intake, smoking, etc.) along with information on health status and quality of life. While the data will be analyzed based on differentiated sociodemographic and health-related categories, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle behaviors will also be evaluated. As a study protocol, this article represents comprehensive details of the design, purposes, and associated analytical measures of the present study within the tertiary educational context.

Supporting university students’ learning across time and space: a from-scratch, personalised and mobile-friendly approach

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of a bespoke mobile learning resource, Pocket Tutor. This resource responds to a number of teaching and learning challenges within the tertiary education context. These include those related to the number and type of learning activities that can be offered, class pacing, subject-specific content considerations and the availability and quality of off-the-shelf learning resources. Educators have to potentially contend with all of these amidst mounting institutional constraints and external pressures. Yet, a supplemental, from-scratch online learning resource can help mitigate some of these challenges.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents the successes and challenges of introducing a mobile learning resource, Pocket Tutor, to bolster autonomous learning in a supported university learning environment. Pocket Tutor was designed and developed in 2019 and integrated in 2020 and 2021 into a multimedia design class offered at a large university in the Asia-Pacific. The resource’s effectiveness is measured against common technology acceptance factors – including self-efficacy, enthusiasm and enjoyment in relation to contextual purpose and class learning outcomes – through a multi-pronged approach consisting of a class-wide survey, developed specifically for this purpose and analysis of usage data. Deeper context was also provided through a small pool of follow-up interviews.FindingsEvidence from this study’s data suggests that a bespoke, mobile-learning resource can provide greater consistency, more relevance, more flexibility for when and where students learn and more efficiency with limited opportunities for synchronous interaction. At the same time, a bespoke mobile-learning resource represents a significant investment of skill and time to develop and maintain.Originality/valueThis study responds to calls from scholars who argue that more research (especially that is qualitative and discipline-specific) is needed to investigate students’ willingness to use learning apps on their mobile devices. This study pairs such research about student willingness with actual usage data and student reflections to more concretely address the role of mobile learning resources in higher education contexts. This study also, importantly, does not just assess perceptions and attitudes about mobile learning resources in the abstract but assesses attitudes and usage patterns for specific generic and bespoke mobile learning resources available for students in a specific university class (thereby providing discipline-specific insights). This study also provides a unique contribution by including multiple years of data and, thus, offers a longitudinal view on how mobile-learning resources are perceived and used in a particular higher education context.

First-in-their-family students at university: Can non-cognitive skills compensate for social origin?

We study the role of cognitive and non-cognitive skills in the university readiness and performance of first-in-family students (FIFS) using nationally representative survey data and linked survey-administrative data on an incoming student cohort at an elite Australian university. In both data sets, we find that FIFS enter university with lower levels of cognitive skills than non-FIFS but with similar levels of non-cognitive skills. The only exception is that male FIFS report lower levels of Openness to Experience. FIFS at the elite institution have lower grade-point averages and are more likely to drop out after Year 1 than non-FIFS, a finding driven by females. The higher risk of dropout is not observed in the broader Australian tertiary education context, suggesting that female FIFS struggle at this elite university. Gaps in cognitive skills are the dominant channel through which FIFS experience achievement penalties, while non-cognitive skills play no role. However, very low levels of Conscientiousness exacerbate the achievement penalties due to social origin.

Ganking the Ranking: The self-reported Learning Potential from a Selection of game Genres to Develop self-directed Learning

Game-based learning (GBL) is said to have encouraging potential for varying educational contexts and scenarios, but how do practitioners select suitable edifying gaming content for their own unique environments? Moreover, what are the correct strategies, recommendations, procedures and/or parameters for choosing appropriate gaming media for learning? There are countless options to choose from, varying in genre, play style, medium, difficulty, aim(s), etc. This paper presents the results of an interpretive study seeking to discern a set of requirements and qualities of informed GBL selection. Online surveys completed by history-for-education students at a South African Higher Education institution hope to bring us closer to guidelines for more effective GBL selection and application in tertiary education contexts across the globe. The following paper begins with remarks on the significance of self-direction in contemporary Higher Education and the potential for GBL to not only spur this tendency on, but to frame and support it. The conceptual framework used in the project is then unpacked as it relates to self-directed learning, game-based learning, video games and supplementary theoretical structures. The proceeding section is divided into three sections related to central study concepts, including: meta-behaviour, metacognition, and meta-emotion, with trial and error, observation and modelling, as well as reinforcement learning as subcategories of meta-behaviour that follow. Additional subcategories surrounding metacognition are then explored, namely: connected learning, reflect and improvise, logical and analytical reasoning, inquiry-based learning, and synthesis. The methodology then describes the hybrid video/survey techniques utilised to gather data relating to participant impression(s), motivational factors, challenge and educational value of GBL selection for Higher Education contexts. Results obtained provide a suitable starting point to construct a viable applied framework for such an environment.