Tier Universities Research Articles

Impact Factors for the Quality of Education -Evidence from the Enrollment Ratio of First Tier Universities

Huge differences in education levels can lead to a Matthew Effect on regional economic growth, so China has introduced many policies to promote the balanced development of education levels in various regions. A large number of researchers have investigated and researched the education level of each province from various aspects, However, there is still a research gap in the study of the enrollment ratio of first tier universities as an indicator of the education level. Therefore, this paper investigates the influencing factors on the rate of one college entrance examination in 2020 by collecting data on the enrollment ratio of first tier universities in each province, education expenditure, GDP per capital, disposable income per capital, public library collection per capital, student-teacher ratio of general high schools, and urban/rural population ratio, and carrying out correlation analyses on the data. It was found that all the research variables, except education expenditure, had a highly significant effect on the enrollment ratio of first tier universities when they were used as a single variable. And when multiple linear regressions were conducted, education expenditure had a significant negative effect on the enrollment ratio of first tier universities.It is recommended that while allocating regional education spending rationally, we should actively deploy economic and urban-rural development policies to boost peoples disposable income, strengthen teachers in each region, and promote the balance of education resources in each region.

Modeling entrepreneurial job pursuit intention: Moderation of learning goal orientation

Drawing upon social cognitive theory, this study presents a model of entrepreneurial job pursuit intention (EJPI) by concurrently justifying problem solving efficacy as a mediator and learning goal orientation as a moderator. In the model, EJPI is influenced by relational support and environmental friendliness directly and indirectly through problem solving efficacy. Furthermore, learning goal orientation is hypothesized to moderate the effects of relational support, problem solving efficacy, and environmental friendliness on EJPI. Empirical evaluations are demonstrated based on the data of graduate students in a top tier university in Taiwan. Finally, implications about vocational learning and management education are discussed.

Business ethics research at the world's leading universities and business schools

AbstractThis paper explores the role of the leading universities and best‐ranked business schools in the evolution of the academic field of business ethics. An advanced bibliometric methodology is applied to publications in business ethics from the major universities of the Shanghai ARWU ranking and from the FT‐ranked business schools. The comprehensive bibliometric study encompasses multiple indicators and examines the evolution of business ethics publications over time. Business ethics research is built on two complementary interdisciplinary streams of research, philosophy, and management. The study indicates that it were not the top universities that contributed most to research advancements in the field of business ethics but second and third tier universities. This finding suggests that academic research in new subfields constitutes a niche strategy for universities and business schools to differentiate themselves. The study furthermore highlights the prominent role of the product champion or ‘idea champion’ in management research at universities. The diffusion of business ethics research illustrates the possibilities for lower ranked business schools with lower budget to excel in specialised subfields and interdisciplinary subthemes.

Utilizing active learning to engage engineering students in a freshman physics service course taught in an EFL environment

Engaging Electrical Engineering (EE) students in a freshman general physics service course is challenging as they see little relationship between the topics and their major. Non-native speakers enrolled in a course taught in English face an additional challenge beyond understanding the basic physics, that is, understanding specialized English. These challenges are especially serious at second tier universities in Taiwan where the students’ knowledge of physics coming out of high school is based on memorization rather than understanding and whose comprehension of the English language is less than ideal. As a result, they easily tire, stop listening, and stop attending classes. We show that an active learning based approach increases both students’ enjoyment of physics and understanding of new physics concepts and English. Bilingual guided discovery worksheets (GD) for PhET interactive simulations, smartphone-based games, small group flashcard responses, and a website summarizing the ‘big idea’ to be presented in each time slot were developed. The effect of this teaching strategy was measured both quantitatively (grades) and qualitatively (student survey). While students agreed that games were most enjoyable, there was no consensus on which activities were most helpful. Strong attendance (relative to lecture based courses) up to the end of the course suggests that students found class time interesting and useful. GD were most effective for topics in which students had little prior knowledge. The subsequent addition of smartphone-based games increased attendance and reported enjoyment, but did not significantly modify the final grade.

TOP-DOWN OR BOTTOM-UP? EMPLOYING A MIDDLE-GROUND APPROACH IN DESIGNING A UK ACADEMIC WRITING COURSE FOR ADVANCED CHINESE GRADUATES

This article documents the academic writing course design process for advanced Chinese learners aiming to pursue postgraduate degrees in business-related fields at their respective target universities in the UK. Four holders of BA degrees in the social sciences from second tier universities in Beijing were tested, surveyed and observed in detail to design a non-terminal twenty-hour pre-sessional writing course (ten two-hour sessions) to assist in their preparation for postgraduate study. All students held offers from Russell Group universities in the UK and had covered the IELTS requirement (6.5-7.0) for admission there prior to signing up for the EAP course discussed in this paper. The aim of the course is to enhance the students’ academic skills and improve their performance in the following year when they attend UK universities. The course design process is informed by two sets of principles, incorporating both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective. The former is framed within an understanding of EAP as academic, rather than language training. The latter is based on needs analysis of student-specific weaknesses explored through the use of a questionnaire, a diagnostic writing test and in-class observations. Both perspectives feed into the course goals and objectives which serve as a basis for the course rationale. Aiming to bridge the gap between Chinese undergraduate and UK postgraduate study, the course combines textbooks with authentic materials and formative with summative assessment. Reflections on major constraints and limitations are provided throughout the process. This documented case of academic writing course design aims to reveal challenges faced by EAP practitioners working with UK and Chinese institutions, and to present a middle ground approach to resolving tensions between top-down and bottom-up pressures in the context of course design for advanced Chinese graduates.

GRADES VS UNIVERSITY PRESTIGE? A STUDY ON THE RETURNS TO EDUCATION

This is a study determining which factor is a stronger return to education in a post-undergraduate setting: Grade Point Average (GPA) or the perceived “prestige” of the University attended. To classify what is considered “prestigious” and non- “prestigious”, I used rankings from the U.S News Best Colleges Rankings to classify the University of California campuses onto two separate tiers based on these rankings. I implement a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk, in which subjects are asked whether they would prefer to hire a job candidate with a higher GPA from a lower tier university versus a job candidate with a lower GPA from a higher tier university. Using this survey data, I find that subjects have a strong preference for candidates with higher GPA. This preference still holds when including respondents that have hiring experience. The implications are that individuals will re-evaluate their preferences when applying to a university.

The role of guidance and counseling teacher in solving students’learning difficulties in physics

Physics is one of the subjects that are considered difficult, by most high school students taking the science stream in Indonesia. Tthere are many students who have difficulty in learning this subject. Moreover, physics is one of the important subject when students want to continue their education to first tier universities in Indonesia.To overcome this problem, this paper presents a theory that can be used by Guidance and Counseling teachers in overcoming the difficulties learning physics. The theory developed in this study can be applied by the counsellor in helping the learning difficulties of the students. This theory was developed with the literature study method which was analyzed using analytical descriptive techniques with an inductive approach.

Sociology of education: multi-shift schooling in Ulaanbaatar

This article analyzes multi-shift schooling and its effect on the quality of education in the city of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. Highlighted are the features, advantages and shortcomings of multi-shift schooling, achievements of middle-school pupils, satisfaction of parents and pupils with the quality and accessibility of education. Also evaluated are opinions on multi-shift schooling. After the downfall of socialism and a transition towards a free market, multiple migratory flows from provinces to the country’s capital city have led to a specific increase of the population, and as a result of government policy to admit all 6-year old children into schools, as well as an increased strain on account of transitioning from a 10-year education system to a new 12-year one, schools have encountered a lack of funds, as well as a shortage of teachers and equipment. In an attempt to solve these issues, some schools have increased the amount of pupils attending one class to 45 or more, while also instituting a third shift, which has become common practice among many of Ulaanbaatar’s middle-schools. Within the framework of a 2016 research project, the Mongolian State University’s department of sociology and social work has conducted research and evaluated the multi-shift schooling system, while utilizing various research methods (survey, interview, observation, content analysis). Under the guise of a study called “Multiple shifts in Ulaanbaatar’s secondary schools and the quality of education”, conducted in 2016-2017, scientific approaches were used such as structural functionalism, phenomenology and exchange theory in order to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. A multi-shift schooling system, especially one with three shifts, creates some serious problems. Based on our research, the main parties concerned (teachers, parents and pupils) for the most part see it as detrimental to the quality of education, and as a liability when it comes to pupils’ opportunity to enroll into the highest tier universities, given that those who go to schools working three shifts receive 20% less learning hours compared to schools working two shifts. Three shifts were introduced mainly in schools attended by children from vulnerable social groups. Such a practice creates social discrimination and violates children’s rights to an equal and quality education. 17.9% of respondents who took part in our study receive an income of less than 185,000 tugriks a month (which is less than 80 USD), while 5.4% have no income at all. A three shift system of schooling has a negative effect on health and safety in the school environment, with an increase in the disease rate among children and the number of absences.

The Structural Invariance of a Model of Washback to Test Takers’ Perceptions and Preparation: The Moderating Role of Institutions

Test washback is held to be complicated and multifaceted in that a host of cultural, social, individual, test, and institutional factors are involved in shaping it. Thus far, the majority of washback studies have had as their focus the role of teachers in test washback or washback to teachers. How educational environments or institutions might function in isolation or in interaction with other factors in shaping washback to the learners and test takers has not received adequate research attention. The current study examined the mediatory role of academic institutions in washback to learners' perceptions of test content and test preparation. To this aim, 86 senior English students from two universities, one a top tier and the other a low tier one, completed two questionnaires: one on test takers' preparation practices including test analysis, test taking skills, drilling target skills, and socio-affective strategies; and the other on test takers' construal of test demands and uses as well as their expectation of success on the test. The data analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling revealed that a washback model based on expectancy-value theory explains a moderate amount of variance in test preparation. Further, for test takers from the low tier university, favorable perceptions of test content were associated with more value placed on test taking. However, Multi-group analysis pointed to group-invariance of the model across the two institutions, indicating a lack of strong evidence for the mediatory role of educational environments in washback to test takers’ perceptions and preparation.

If We Build It Comparative Psychologists Will Come. Commentary: A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone?

If We Build It Comparative Psychologists Will Come. Commentary: A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone?

Competition between and within Universities: Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Group Identity and the Desire to Win

We study how salient group identity, created through competition between students from different universities, as well as differences in the value of winning impact competitive behavior. Our experiment employs a simple all-pay auction within and between two university subject pools. We find that when competing against their peers, students within the lower tier university bid more aggressively than students within the top-tier university. Also, students from the lower tier university, in particular women, bid more aggressively when competing against students from the top-tier university. These findings, interpreted through a theoretical model incorporating both group identity and differential value of winning, suggest that students at the lower tier university have a stronger group identity as well as higher desire to win.

Dream new dreams

I am the founder and President of the American Epilepsy Outreach Foundation. This was not a dream I had ever. I didn’t grow up wanting to be the president of a foundation dedicated to epilepsy. But there you go, a new dream. I have a son with epilepsy and it is my commitment and mission to raise the public’s awareness of epilepsy through advocacy and education, and to provide support for those facing the daily challenges of living with epilepsy including patients, their families and their friends. It has been almost 4 yr since epilepsy came into our lives. We had no idea of the devastation it would create and the toll it would take. There were so many questions and unknowns, which made it difficult for us to hide our heads in the sand. The creation of Epilepsy Outreach allowed us to help others get through what we knew would be a very difficult and trying time in their lives. We didn’t want others to feel alone. Pope John the 23rd said “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” A dream is defined as “a visionary creation of the imagination” and a “strongly desired goal or purpose, something that fully satisfies a wish”. An expectation is an attitude of eager anticipation, something looked forward to whether feared or hoped for. Synonyms for expectation are assumption or requirement but also a want or wish! Listening to these definitions therefore, a dream is also an expectation. There is a fine line between the two. Think back to when you were a kid, as far back as you can remember. Do you remember the dreams you had as a kid? Those dreams were basically fairy tales or fantasies. As a kid you were taught to dream. Dream Big! As little girls maybe you dreamt of being a princess, as a boy of being a famous sports figure. Hopefully, your parents encouraged these dreams. Mom made you a wand out of tin foil and a wooden spoon; you wore her high heels and put on make-up. Boys you joined all the teams you could find time for. Your parents decorated your bedroom with your favorite team’s logo and bought you the jersey of your favorite player. Bring your memories forward in time a few years. As a teenager maybe you doodled on your book covers: “Mrs. Rob Lowe” or “Mrs. Shaun Cassidy” or “Mrs. Brad Pitt”! Like me, you probably dreamed the perfect fairy tale wedding: the most gorgeous dress, the cathedral train and the horse drawn carriage. (I had ALL of these of course!) During basketball practice, some of you dreamt of signing a contract with the Chicago Bulls, buying your first Ferrari and the mansion with a gate on the beach in Malibu. Your parents would encourage you and say “That’s nice Dream Big! But only after you get that college degree”. The dreams became less grand and the expectations have taken their place. What do I want to be when I grow up? I need to get into that top tier University. Do I have to get my degree in 4 yr? Can I pay my student loans? Just because these are expectations they are still dreams, maybe not so warm and fuzzy but attainable dreams or goals. *Address for correspondence: Erin Leyden. E-mail: eleyden@ imermanangels.com. Journal of Pediatric Epilepsy 2 (2013) 209–214 DOI 10.3233/PEP-13061 IOS Press 209

“Success Is Relative”

Previous studies have pursued whether there is an inverse relationship between levels of achievement and students’ perceptions of their success. We find that these academic paradoxes exist but that they need to be analyzed in a manner that does not look only at structure or culture and that remaps what falls under both of these categories. Comparing in-depth interview data of middle-class Korean American and Mexican American college students who have realized a similar outcome, enrollment in a higher tier University of California school or rough equivalent, this study examines how the interplay of structural dimensions—class and ethnic factors such as social location and social capital—as well as cultural dimensions—ethnic expectations, reference groups, and emotional support—shapes the modes and mechanisms by which students feel “successful.” Our study reveals that meaning-making processes influenced by this structural-cultural interplay yield paradoxical outcomes when analysts move beyond a single or objective focus on academic achievement. We conclude with a discussion of how scholarship on immigration, race/ethnicity, and education can move in this direction of complicating the definitions and measures of academic success.

Academic Undermatching of High-Achieving Minority Students: Evidence from Race-Neutral and Holistic Admissions Policies

College is a pathway to social mobility in the United States. Yet too often high-achieving students from low-income and minorities families fail to apply to selective postsecondary institutions. Our study examines the extent to which academic undermatching occurs among high-achieving minority students by analyzing the application choices of students who undergo two distinct admissions policies. We find that minority students eligible for automatic admissions and those who undergo holistic admissions are both less likely to apply to elite flagship universities than white students, despite being equally qualified based on high school performance. Instead, minorities often opt for lower tier universities.

Can a doctoral degree be completed faster overseas than domestically? Evidence from Taiwanese doctorates

This paper investigates the role that studying overseas or domestically plays in Taiwanese students obtaining a doctoral degree and, in particular, whether doctorates can be completed faster overseas than domestically. This feature is quite different from the literature in the sense that previous studies focus mainly on students with different countries of origin earning their doctoral degrees in a host program/institution/country and could provide a professional reference for main source countries with a great number of students studying abroad. By taking advantage of a large data set compiled by the National Profiles of Human Resources in Science and Technology in Taiwan, we find that Taiwanese students studying in foreign schools (and who will come back to Taiwan) on average take 9.61 months (reflecting approximately a $60,000 opportunity cost) less than those earning PhD degrees domestically after netting out other controls. Other factors such as males, starting a PhD when older, younger cohorts, holding a master’s degree, school types matching, and studying in non-top tier universities, are associated with a shorter elapsed time to a doctoral degree.

Expanding on a new model of action learning: finding ethical solutions to complex problems with a framework for insightful questioning

Two critical problems are facing the academic and business communities: a lack of critical thinking capability and egregious unethical behaviour by students and practitioners in the field of business management. A number of upper tier universities have begun to address these issues by revising their undergraduate and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes. In response to widespread public criticism and the damaging impact on their bottom line, business organisations are also seeking means to address the dearth of critical thinking and ethical behaviour within their ranks. This paper expands upon a recently developed model of action learning that integrates foundational critical thinking concepts and principles with the process of action learning. It also presents an argument that this new tool has the potential to help mitigate two of the important issues identified.

Building global-class universities: Assessing the impact of the 985 Project

In 2006 China had become the fifth leading nation in terms of its share of the world's scientific publications. Today it is second only to the United States. This achievement has been accomplished in part by a conscientious effort by the government to improve the research performance of China's universities through a series of programs, the most important of which is the 985 Project. This paper considers the effects of the 985 Project on increasing the rate of publication in international journals by researchers at 24 universities. Using the approach of linear mixed modeling, it was found that the rate of growth in publications by lower tier universities exceeded that of China's two most highly regarded universities after controlling for university R&D funding, university personnel size, and provincial per capita income. It was also found that the rate of growth of publications for universities as a whole increased more quickly after the implementation of the 985 Project.

Managing university libraries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the management function of second tier posts in both Australia and the UK university libraries, including the identification of trends about their demography and responsibility range. The study aims to examine the major managerial challenges they face as individuals as well as the challenges for the wider university library. Various aspects of the skills needed by second tier university library manager are to be explored.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered using an online questionnaire completed by second tier university library managers in both Australia and the UKFindingsVarious trends are shown about the age, length of time in post and intended retirement age of second tier mangers as well as the range of their responsibilities. Key challenges are determined for them as individuals as well as those for the wider university library.Research limitation/implicationsThe study demonstrates how effective research can be done across countries relying solely on information and communication technologies (ICT) for data collection and project communication/management.Practical implicationsClear direction and guidance is provided by the outcomes of the study into the development of future second tier university library managersOriginality/valueNo other study has been published in this area for over ten years and very little has taken place before then. It is also the first cross‐national investigation on second tier roles.

An introductory course format for promoting diversity and retention

We report on a pilot section of an introductory computing course offered at a top tier university through its engineering school. Although targeted for students with no prior programming experience, its goals were same as the goals of the other sections. The course enrolled 43 students. They were 49% female, 23% black, and 12% Hispanic. The demographics are different from the typical 1st year class at the school, which is 26% female, 6% black, and 3% Hispanic. Two important pedagogies differentiated the pilot section from other sections: computer availability at all class meetings and the methodology for selecting motivating examples. A priori only one student in the section intended a computing major, but upon completion the students chose a computing major at a higher rate than the rates for other sections: 19% versus 13%. More striking is that 33% of the pilot section women and 27% of its minority students chose a computing major. All students completed the course and no student left the school. These outcomes compare favorably to a school course withdrawal rate of 12% and a school attrition rate of 10%, a female attrition rate of 12%, and a minority rate attrition of 25%.

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