Transnational Program Research Articles

Transnationalization of higher education in China and Asia: quality assurance and students’ learning experiences

PurposeThis study aims to fill this research gap by providing a comprehensive exploration of the transnationalization of higher education in China and Asia, with a particular focus on how institutions maintain quality assurance and how student learning experiences are reported.Design/methodology/approachThe transnationalization of higher education involves educational programs and services provided by institutions or universities in a country other than their home country where students from diverse countries are trained. The goal of transnational education is to offer higher education to students who face obstacles in physically entering the host country of a transnational program, encourage globalization, enhance cross-cultural communication and improve the quality of education by expanding students' learning opportunities, providing diverse educational experiences and elevating academic standards. The transnationalization of higher education has become a crucial endeavor in Asia, especially in countries such as China, Malaysia and Singapore, where rapid economic development and globalization have prompted the need to evolve into knowledge-driven economies to meet the increasing demand for higher education. The factors driving the expansion of transnational higher education in China and Asia include the desire for top-quality education, the allure of international students, the establishment of worldwide collaborations and aspirations to be recognized as centers of academic distinction. The rapid expansion and increasing importance of transnational higher education has underscored the vital role of quality assurance. To guarantee educational quality, maintain institutional reputation and improve overall student outcomes, several agencies and frameworks have been established to uphold international standards.FindingsBased upon extensive literature reveiw and case analysis, our findings indicated the quality assurance assessment varies and is primarily influenced by host countries and provider polices. However, students in transnational higher education programs report satisfaction with their experienes and the quality of their programs, which tends to meet their expecations.Originality/valueThis study presents the first comprehsensive literatrue rewiew and case analysis of how transnational higher education in China, Sinapore, Malaysia and Vietnam uphold quality assurance and report students learning experiences. Additionally, the findings highlight why future researceh on this topic is crucial and why forestering colloboration among countries in Asian regions is imporant in term of growing geo-politics.

Chinese Students’ Perception and Expectation of Online and Post-Pandemic Teaching and Learning Approaches in a UK Transnational Program

A cloud of uncertainty around how to deliver teaching on transnational education programs (TNE) in the new post pandemic era has been created due to little evidence of investigation available. This study for the first time explored the needs and expectations of students (324) enrolled on BSc Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology degrees at a China UK Joint College, to understand their preferences for the delivery of such programs. Surveys were circulated amongst students to collect qualitative (open questions) and quantitative (Likert-scaling) data around the infrastructure for online learning (internet, IT device, learning platforms and study place) as well as the challenges and expectations of online learning, including student preference towards the delivery of materials, in a post-pandemic era. Focus groups, facilitated by the delivery team, were organized to collect further qualitative data and to explore common themes arising from the surveys and to understand student requirements more thoroughly for a successful TNE program. The data gathered determined that the transition to online learning has been challenging for students, and that they significantly (p < 0.001) prefer a hybrid model of teaching, consisting of a mixture of digital and on-campus activities. For the first time, this study demonstrates strategies to ensure that the needs and expectations of students in a TNE program are reached in post-pandemic era and the quality of teaching and learning are enhanced.

P-098 Male age does not affect sperm motility rate after thawing and laboratory outcomes of transnational oocyte donation programs

Abstract Study question Can outcomes of transnational egg donation treatments, which involves the shipping of cryopreserved partner semen, be affected by advanced paternal age? Summary answer Male age does not affect percentage of motile spermatozoa after thawing. Advanced paternal age does not affect IVF laboratory outcomes of transnational egg donation treatments What is known already Studies on advanced paternal age are limited and a clear definition of advanced paternal age is still missing. The separation between advanced paternal and maternal age effects is hampered by the collinearity of maternal age with paternal age, since older males are often associated with older women. Many studies have focused on egg donation treatments, to overcome this problem. However, these studies reported conflicting results, such as a putative effect of advanced paternal age on ICSI outcomes, while some others not. This study analyzes paternal age in transnational egg donation program, which involves the shipping of cryopreserved partner semen Study design, size, duration A multicentric retrospective cohort study involving 101 couples and 327 blastocysts was performed from June 2018 up to December 2021. Two Italian IVF centers involved a Spanish center to perform a transnational fresh oocyte donation program. The aim of the study was to analyze the putative effect of male age on (i) semen parameters, (ii) fertilization rate and (iii) blastocyst rate. Participants/materials, setting, methods Donations of both male and female gametes were excluded. We performed sperm cryopreservation of the male partner of the recruited couples. Frozen samples were shipped with a authorized courier, which certified the safety of the whole procedure. The day of donor’s egg retrieval, semen samples were thawed and ICSI was performed on fresh donated oocytes. Resulted blastocysts were vitrified and shipped to the centers where the frozen embryo transfers in the recipient patients were performed. Main results and the role of chance The mean of male partners age was 42.6 ± 6.5 (min 26- max 63). Overall fertilization rate was 81.6% (686/840), and blastocyst rate was 47.6% (327/686). Male age was analyzed as a continuous variable and divided into five groups calculated for 5-year intervals. No differences in terms of fertilization rates nor blastocysts rates were found (85.3% and 43.7% for <35-years; 84.7% and 54.0% for 36-39-years; 79.7% and 44.2% for 40-44-years; 89.6 and 48.1% for 45-49-years; 74.5% and 56.5 for >50-years). Although advanced paternal age has been correlated to the decrease of most of sperm parameters, in the present study we found that only progressive rapid motility was significantly affected by advanced paternal age (coefficient -0.261 , P = 0.009). To evaluate the predictive value of advanced paternal age and sperm parameters on fertilization and blastocysts formation, we performed a multiple linear regression analysis. We found that sperm parameters and male age in our sample are not predictive of the number of fertilized oocytes nor the number of obtained blastocysts. Importantly for the setting of the study, the percentage of progressive motile sperm at the thawing was not influenced by paternal age. Limitations, reasons for caution The main limitation of the study is the small sample size, which might mask the paternal age effect on the sperm parameters, as the volume, which tend to decrease in the classes of age, but did not reached the statistical significance. The multicentric nature of the study represent a strength Wider implications of the findings The discomfort for couples that need oocyte donation in countries where there is a low availability of egg donors is often underestimated. This study demonstrate that, independently of male age, the shipping of frozen sperm and the ICSI of freshly donated oocytes represent a valid option for these couples. Trial registration number not applicable

INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE UKRAINIAN DANUBE REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF COHESION POLICY

INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE UKRAINIAN DANUBE REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF COHESION POLICY

Synergic Concepts, Lexical Idiosyncrasies, and Lexical Complexities in Bilingual Students’ Translated Texts as Efforts to Resolve Conceptual Inequivalences

The purpose of this study is to draw on the conceptual blending hypothesis from the socio-cognitive approach to investigate the conceptually equivalent translation written in L2—English—of bilingual students via two tasks of translating and defining individual words and translating texts from L1 to L2. Next, the study demonstrates how translation abilities that vary amongst groups can affect students’ lexical density, lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and lexical idiosyncrasies in translated text. The translating process in bilinguals could be interpreted via the lens of the conceptual blending hypothesis and dueling contexts framework to demonstrate that bi/multilingual students do not differ from monolingual ones pertaining to cognitive or linguistic abilities. Rather, the distinctive difference between bilingual and monolingual language users is bilingual speakers’ abilities of the third competence of formulating a synergism across word concepts and utilizing a bidirectional translation between two languages. When a word in L2 is acquired, there is a conceptual blending between the new conceptual information, encoded after each time the L2 word is used in an L2 socio-cultural context and the existing socio-cultural conceptual information in L1. The new concept created after the blending is called a synergic concept. If the synergic is not well developed, the language user selects incorrect or inappropriate words in a context, resulting in lexical idiosyncrasies. Data gathered from 30 English–Chinese bilingual university students in a transnational program in sociology were collected and compared against 15 monolingual American students. The preliminary findings are as follows: (1) regardless of the location of where the English (L2) socio-cultural meaning conceptualization mainly takes place (in China or the U.S.A.), English–Chinese bilingual language users demonstrated a significant difference in connotative meaning knowledge of noun word concepts and idiomatic concepts, compared with English native speakers; (2) the synergic concepts were detected in all experimental concepts and demonstrated the conceptual blending to a varying degree that affects their translating process and its outcomes: the domineering L1 socio-cultural concept, the well-blended L1 and L2 socio-cultural concept that results in a “third culture”, and the assimilating L2 socio-cultural concept; (3) the synergistic blending of two socio-cultural loads embedded in lexical concepts detected in the bilingual students in the U.S.A. was more robust than those in China, resulting in significantly fewer sophisticated words and lexical idiosyncrasies in their English translated essays. The study sheds new light on understanding the dynamism in bilingualism via translation tasks to indicate bilingual learners’ lexical development. Implications for using translation tasks and analysis of word concepts across languages to support bi/multilingual students in language and academic learning are discussed.

Forests in Women’s Hands - brief information

The "Forests in Women's Hands" project (Fem4Forest) has started in July 2020 and involves 14 partners from 10 countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Ukraine). The project is funded under the Interreg Danube Transnational Program. The leading partner is the Forestry Institute of Slovenia. In Serbia, the project partner is the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Forestry, and the associated strategic partner is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management - Directorate for Forests.

P–231 Transnational oocyte donation program between Italy and Spain based on transport of vitrified oocytes: a five-years experience

Abstract Study question What is the clinical efficacy of an oocyte donation program based on the transportation of vitrified oocytes between two countries? Summary answer The transnational oocyte donation program is efficient, safe and comparable to other strategies (transport of frozen sperm and embryos). What is known already Egg donation represents a valid treatment strategy for women who have exhausted their ovarian function and it has considerably increased in the last years. In Italy, egg donation is allowed after the judgment of the Constitutional Court n. 162 in 2014 but no reimbursement for the donors is provided. For this reason, the number of voluntary donors is irrelevant. Therefore, the great majority of egg donation cycles is carried out by using imported cryopreserved oocytes from foreign countries. However, recent evidence has questioned the overall efficacy of this strategy in comparison with the shipment of frozen sperm and vitrified embryos. Study design, size, duration A retrospective cohort study was conducted between July 2015-December 2020 at two private IVF clinics. 264 couples were treated (mean maternal age: 43.1± 4.6 years, range: 26–51; mean donor age: 24 ±3 years, range: 20–33) with vitrified oocytes shipped from a single Spanish egg bank (IMER, Valencia) to the receiving reproductive clinic in Italy (ANDROS Clinic, Palermo). All the oocytes for each batch were thawed. Participants/materials, setting, methods The primary outcome of this study was the cumulative clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) among the completed cycles for each batch of oocytes. Those cycles in which a clinical pregnancy was obtained, or all embryos derived by a single batch of oocytes had been transferred or no embryo was produced were defined as completed. In addition to main analyses, sensitivity analysis was performed to examine how the number of inseminated oocytes may affect CPR. Main results and the role of chance 2,367 oocytes in 355 batches were sent from Spain to Italy. 2,209 oocytes in 334 batches for 264 patients were thawed with a survival rate of 82.4% (1,821/2,209). The mean number of oocytes received per patient was 6.6 ± 1.0. The fertilization rate was 72.1% (1,312/1,821). 499 embryos were transferred (38.0%), 335 at the cleavage stage (67.1%) and 164 at the blastocyst stage (32.9%); 197 supernumerary embryos were vitrified (15.0%), 18 at the cleavage stage (9.1%) and 179 at the blastocyst stage (90.9%). 616 embryos were not viable (47.0%). No more than two embryos were transferred for each embryo transfer (ET). The completed cycles were 307 out of 334 (91.9%). The CPR per completed cycles was 46.6% (143/307) and 54.2% per patient (143/264). Clinical pregnancy rate per fresh ET in completed cycles with supernumerary cryopreserved embryos was significantly higher compared with that of the completed cycles without surplus embryos (56/101 versus 68/193, p = 0.001). Logistic regression revealed that the number of inseminated oocytes was positively associated with CPR in a significant manner (B = 0.220, p = 0.007; OR = 1.25, 95%CI=1.06–1.47). The multiple pregnancy rate was 15.4% (1 triplet and 21 twin pregnancies). The miscarriage rate was 22.4% (32/143). Limitations, reasons for caution The retrospective design of the study needs to be confirmed in larger and multicenter prospective studies comparing the strategy of vitrified donated oocytes and fresh ET with the policy of fresh donated oocyte and frozen/thawed ET. Wider implications of the findings: The transnational oocyte donation program with vitrified oocytes is associated with good success rates. The number of inseminated oocytes represents a crucial factor for increasing the CPR, improving the embryo selection for fresh ET and giving more chances of pregnancy with the transfer of surplus vitrified embryos. Trial registration number Not applicable

Industrial and scientific-technological integration of the EAEU member-states in the area of remote sensing of the Earth: legal and program framework

The subject of this research is the legal framework for scientific-technological and industrial cooperation of the EAEU member-states in the area of remote sensing of the Earth, reflected in the provisions of international agreements and acts of the Union bodies. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the legal nature of the EAEU transnational program for the creation of an integrated remote sensing system, characterized by the author as a promising organizational legal instrument for cooperation and integration. Special attention is given to the factors of its successful implementation. The research is conducted in the context of theoretical and practical aspects of strategic integration of the EAEU in the space sector. The novelty consists in substantiation of the fact that in the conditions of specific state of legal regulation of cooperation of the EAEU member-states in the space sector, the leading role in the mid-term perspective would be played by program control. In turn, it would contribute to the systematic development of general, as well as special legal framework for cooperation in the space sector. The author’s main contribution consists in pursuing correlation between the system of legal and program framework for cooperation in the area of remote sensing of the Earth and the legal model of EAEU, as well as the legal model of scientific-technological and industrial integration.

Local gastronomy, transnational labour: farm-to-table tourism and migrant agricultural workers in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada

Each year, migrant workers from Mexico and the Caribbean travel to Canada via a bilateral agreements to provide labour essential to the agricultural sector. One destination for these workers is Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), a microclimate in which labour intensive crops such as tender fruits and grapes are grown. These local crops form the basis of a significant gastrotourism industry. This industry turns on the narrative of an historical idyll in which producer and consumer share a close relationship, one manifested in the farm-to-table discourse that permeates NOTL. Yet agricultural production in the area is entirely dependent upon a globalized labour force, a dependence that is inconsistent with the narrative of locality. The structure of this transnational labour program and the requisite aesthetics of tourism in NOTL render migrant workers and their labour invisibility and this invisibility, in turn, exacerbates the precarity of transnational workers within global capitalism.

Challenges in the Transnational Business Education

Management of learning and teaching in a transnational business education program can be a true challenge for institutions in both home and host countries, especially with leadership and governance. In this article, we seek to define challenges in engaging business students in a transnational education program operating in Singapore and Australia. From the interviews with students and staff, we identified feedback, communication, and transferability as important factors promoting engagement among students in the transnational program. We highlight learning strategies to support ongoing engagement among students in a transnational business education program. The findings suggest that contextualizing the local and international issues is crucial in the management of a transnational business education program if students are to develop global competencies.

Launching an online graduate degree for tourism management in China: lessons in Chinese-foreign cooperation

ABSTRACT This paper qualitatively analyzes the most recent, transnational graduate-level tourism program in China to follow the country’s so-called Chinese-Foreign Cooperation Model. Approved by the Chinese government in 2015, the program involves cooperation between one university from the U.S. (Colorado State University) and one from China (Central China Normal University). Analysis of this program is organized around adaptations, characteristics, and recommendations crucial for the development and delivery of transnational tourism education programs in China and abroad. Findings hold broader implications for educating tourism professionals to manage the expected growth in travel among Chinese citizens in the years ahead.

Transnational oocyte donation program: fresh versus vitrified oocytes

Transnational oocyte donation program: fresh versus vitrified oocytes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: THE LEARNING CONUNDRUM IN THE TRANSNATIONAL CONTEXT

program co-offered by two partners from Australia and Singapore, as well as, to understand challenges in the management of transnational entrepreneurship education programs.
 Methodology: Qualitative approach was adopted in this study. The data were collected, using a personal interview, from twenty-one students in the transnational entrepreneurship education program. We focus on what Singaporean students identified as challenges in learning in the transnational entrepreneurship education program in the Australian context from the Singaporean view.
 Findings: Issues regarding pedagogical in the transnational program, host and home countries’ factors, and learning and teaching experiences are reported as the key challenges. In fact, this study unfolds the complexity of the management of transnational entrepreneurship education, engagements among students from different locations, and cross-cultural bias in the management of the program, people, and learning.
 Applications: It is suggested that addressing these challenges requires managers of transnational entrepreneurship education programs to consider issues of power and inequality inherent in teaching partnerships, and the mindset change needed to develop global perspectives.
 Novelty/Originality: This study unfolds challenges of transnational education program, by examining the nature of students in the entrepreneurship education (EE) programs. EE is unique, due to its nature and approaches in learning and teaching.

Is the transport of frozen embryos a good option to improve results in a transnational oocyte donation program?

Is the transport of frozen embryos a good option to improve results in a transnational oocyte donation program?

Lingua e rimediazione digitale. Appunti sull’esperienza didattica realizzata nell’ambito del progetto europeo "EU-MADE4LL"

This contribution offers insights and reflections on the teaching of digital discourse in academic English language curricular courses. These considerations originate from pluriannual research activity on the digital remediation of specialized languages and out of the teaching of these contents in the modules of a European project dedicated to the design and implementation of a transnational study program that merges multimodal digital literacy and English for international communication. The paper also argues for the integration of basic concepts of information technology in linguistic studies of digitally remediated English language in order to teach students how to communicate in the era of the so-called “computational turn”.

Using mixed methods to assess food security and coping strategies: a case study among smallholders in the Andean region

International organizations and national governments in resource-scarce settings regularly support programs for the control of animal diseases with the aim of improving smallholder food security. However, the impact of such disease control programs on smallholder food security remains unclear. Mixed methods designs that integrate the collection, analysis and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data in a single study, are increasingly being used to achieve deeper explorations of complex topics. We propose a mixed methods design to assess the four pillars of food security and coping strategies among smallholders. The methodology is illustrated with a case study in the context of a transnational program for the control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the Andean region, involving interviews with 632 smallholders in three countries. Quantitative data were analysed using multivariate analysis to describe smallholders’ profiles. Food Consumption Score (FCS) was calculated for each household. The qualitative phase involved developing themes to characterise these smallholders’ experiences using Thematic Analysis. Food acquisition capacity and coping strategies varied greatly across smallholders. Only nine (1.4%) of households had a FCS below the acceptable threshold, however, food stability was compromised across study areas. Household production, financial capacity, household demographics and food prices were the main factors influencing variation in food consumption. The case study presented here illustrates the use of a mixed methods approach to assess the four dimensions of food security and categorise key differences across smallholders during a single visit.

Beside-the-mind: an unsettling, reparative reading of paranoia

Having undertaken a critical analysis of a transnational program of research to identify and intervene on the prodrome, a pre-psychotic state, here I experiment with an unsettling, reparative reading of its affective coils—paranoia. Etymologically joining para (beside) with nous (mind), “paranoia” denotes an experience beside-the-mind. I attempt to follow these roots, meeting a non-human figure—Coatlicue—as introduced through Chicana philosopher and poet, Gloria Anzaldua. In the arms of this goddess, the prodrome points to the vitality and the milieu of paranoia, re-turning it as a capacity, calling for modes of attunement and apprenticeship, and perhaps protecting our psychological and political practices against yet another operation of colonialist capture. Challenging the subject, interlocutors, and form typically adopted by not just Psychology but Affect Studies too, I hope in this performative essay to also lift up the problems and possibilities of Walter Mignolo’s ‘border thinking’ as a means to open the potential decoloniality, and thus response-ability, of these fields within the present political moment.

Join the Club: How the Domestic NGO Sector Induces Participation in the Covenant of Mayors Program

ABSTRACTHow does strength of domestic NGOs influence participation in the Covenants of Mayors program? Launched by the European Commission in 2008, this program invites local and regional authorities to voluntarily commit to implementing EU climate change and energy policies. We focus on the transitional countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia to examine whether the strength of their domestic NGOs correlates with cities’ decisions to participate in this transnational program. To operationalize NGO strength, we suggest thinking of it as a stock variable that cumulates over time, instead of a single-year, flow variable. With country year as the unit of analysis, we examine the percentage of urban population covered by the Covenant across a panel of 26 transitional economies for the period 2008–2014. We find that the key variable of interest, cumulative NGO strength, is a statistically significant predictor of program participation, even after controlling for domestic and international factors, including the salience of international NGOs and the years since the country began the formal process to join the European Union.

Outsourcing academic development in higher education: staff perceptions of an international program

Increasingly, higher education support services are being outsourced. Our case study was of a program from a global, USA-based, non-profit organisation. From in-depth interviews, we investigated staff perceptions of academic development workshops and the efficacy of outsourcing to a transnational tertiary-support program. We found that interviewees valued the academic development. They believed greater consideration should be given to cultural differences between exporting and importing countries; to evidence-based assessment of, and institutional leadership support for, the program; and to discipline-based and tertiary-level skills. Our preliminary findings may inform university management about improved approaches to outsourcing academic development to international commercial providers.

Stiffness Characterization of Cold Recycled Mixtures

One of the objectives within the European research project CoRePaSol (supported within the CEDR Transnational Program) was to summarize assessment and research of stiffness modulus of cold recycled mixes determined according to repeated indirect tensile stress test (IT-CY). In most cases the stiffness modulus values were compared to the values of indirect tensile strength (ITS), which is currently the most commonly used characteristic for proving the quality of a cold recycled mix. The first part of experimental measurements was focused on the standard cold recycled mixes, thus mixes whose aggregate skeleton is formed entirely by RAP and which contain either just the bituminous binder (bituminous emulsion or foamed bitumen), or a combination of one of these binders and a hydraulic binder (cement). Later also combinations with other types of recyclable materials were done and tested. Stiffness modulus and in most cases also the indirect tensile strength values were investigated from many points of view, e.g. the effect of different bituminous / hydraulic binder content on these characteristics, time-dependent progress in change of these characteristics, effect of testing temperature or the influence of fines addition on the stiffness modulus value. This paper therefore brings some summarization of the gained experience.