Universities In Different Countries Research Articles

Peculiarities of Music Performance in the Flow State

The study purpose is to conduct a comparative analysis of the level of performance and psychophysiological indicators of violinists playing musical compositions in the flow state and according to the standard methodology. The study was conducted in 2019 at Minzu University of China (PRC) among 92 students who studied violin in the conservatory. The experimental group was also better at musicality (p≤0.05) and intonation (p≤0.05). The results obtained can be recommended as a method for improving musicians' skills while training in conservatories and other music universities in different countries.

The Dark Thread: An Interview with David Punter


 David Punter is the author of fifteen academic books, many of which revolve around gothic fiction. The Literature of Terror: The Gothic Tradition(vol. 1-2, 1996) is one of the most relevant manuals about the Gothic published so far. He is also the editor of ten academic volumes, and has taught at universities in different countries and even continents, the University of Bristol being the last one, where he was the research director for the Faculty of Arts. David Punter has also authored eight volumes of poetry and has published poems and short stories in various anthologies. He is also a writer and a poet, and his work can be found at david-punter.org.

ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES AS AN IMPORTANT BASIS FOR CREATING THE EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF MOTIVATION FOR PROFESSIONAL SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Based on the performed research it is determined that the encouragement of the teachers of the European Union countries can be reflected in providing certain benefits for conscientious performance of professional duties and be a basis for distinction in a material, organizational, personal way; in reward for active professional pedagogical activity, etc. It is determined that encouragement procedures are a set of interrelated, interdependent procedural actions, subject to the administrative regulations, which are aimed at achieving a certain result determined by the objective of the existing regulations of the encouragement system of each country of the European Union and evaluated by the appropriate encouragement. Encouragement systems reflect the professional activities not only of individual teachers but also of the entire teaching staff of a higher education institution, that arouses interest in obtaining certain material, moral and social benefits. Emphasis is placed on the role of encouragement as an important basis for creating a system of motivation to improve the professional competence of teachers. It is established that motivation causes interaction of conditions of activity of the foreign language teachers and its focus on self-development, self-improvement of their professional quality and depends on individual characteristics, age, pedagogical experience, job title, general and professional competence, which provides for a combination of knowledge of didactics, psychology and methods of teaching foreign languages, linguistics, etc. The necessity of changes in the professional activity of the foreign language teachers is noted, which today formulate new goals and their achievements with the innovative pedagogical technologies and their means.The views of both domestic and foreign scientists on the research problem are analyzed, which allow us to conclude that each European Union country has its own personal differences in the encouragement system (wages, incentives, additional payments, financial rewards, etc.), i.e., heterogeneity exists not only in universities of different countries but also within a particular higher education institution. At the same time, the requirements for knowledge and understanding of theoretical and practical strategies of encouragement systems largely coincide.
 Keywords: European Union countries; encouragement; teachers; foreign language teachers; motivation systems; incentive; professional competence; innovation activity; self-improvement; self-development.

Digital competencies of university transformation project teams from different countries

At the moment, many authors are exploring the issues of digitalization of universities and the need to develop digital competencies. The importance of transferring project activities to a digital platform is also actively discussed. However, the problem of the lack of sound digital competencies for university transformation project teams is relevant and has not yet been fully resolved in many countries. In accordance with this, the purpose of the research presented in the article was to identify a set of digital competencies that are most important for the implementation of transformation projects of universities in different countries. The scientific hypothesis tested in the course of the research sounds like an assumption that a certain set of digital competencies of team members is required for the success of transformation projects and their significance in the overall structure of competencies is high. The conclusion hypothesis was the statement that digital tools and the corresponding digital competencies are currently being used insufficiently by universities. The study was conducted in 2021-2022 in two stages using semi-structured interview and questionnaire methods. The questionnaire survey was conducted in four countries — Russia, Georgia, Serbia, and Iran. The survey covered 203 experts — representatives of universities in these countries with extensive experience in project activities. Interviews were conducted with 116 representatives of the administrative and managerial staff of five major universities in Russia. The main results were: firstly, the influence of competencies on the success of university transformation projects was confirmed; secondly, the high importance of digital competencies in the structure of other groups of competencies required for teams of university transformation projects is revealed; thirdly, facts are presented that indicate that digital competencies are used, but to an insufficiently high degree. These results have scientific novelty, as they contribute to the development of the concept of competence approach, clarifying digital competencies, as well as the development of project management, clarifying the requirements for the qualitative parameters of project teams in the context of digitalization of universities. The practical significance of the study is that universities receive information about the directions of development of digital competencies of transformation project teams.

Framing in International Student Recruitment: A Cross-Country Comparison of the Online Corporate Identity of Universities

The global mobility of students is on the rise and the recruitment of international students is high on the agenda of institutions in higher education. By communicating a distinctive corporate identity on their websites, universities can distinguish themselves from competitors and generate a positive image to attract talented international students. In this study, the online corporate identity of top universities in 12 countries is compared by semantic network analyses. This cross-country comparison demonstrates that universities in different countries create a distinctive online corporate identity by using different (combinations of) frames within four identified themes: internal characteristics, student resources, external position and affairs, and corporate citizenship. These insights are useful in the development of communication strategies by universities and national governments.

Peculiarities of the nostrification of higher education diplomas

This article examines the problems of nostrification of foreign diplomas in Ukraine and the recognition of educational programmes, taken by graduates of foreign universities. Ukraine today is a wide market of professions, where our citizens with foreign diplomas and foreigners, who were educated at home, find jobs. The state is also guided by the educational process, which takes place in European countries and has its own characteristics and traditions. Work on universalization of education should have a positive impact on faster and better implementation of programmes of exchange of scientific and pedagogical experience between countries, academic mobility of students, postgraduates, teachers, etc. The article also mentions the traditional exchange of students and professors, the exchange of scientific achievements between universities in different countries, building mutually beneficial partnerships, which is why Ukrainian universities have to focus on the European labour market.
 The article also discusses the peculiarities of the document flow for nostrification of diplomas, lists the main documents and reveals the problems, associated with their processing. The research problem has an interdisciplinary status, because it raises problems of documentation work, recognition of diplomas and problems, faced by graduates of foreign universities

Un(COIL)ing the Pandemic: Active and Affective Learning in Times of COVID-19

ABSTRACTThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a global effect on higher education. Overnight, entire degree programs had to be moved online. Whereas this meant that teaching and learning in political science and international relations also went into “emergency e-learning” mode, as a recent teacher spotlight in PS: Political Science & Politics termed it, moving online also offered opportunities. One opportunity is collaborative online international learning (COIL) that enables students from universities in different countries to work on a common project. This article argues that working together collaboratively online not only mitigates the pandemic’s physical restrictions and sustains a global space of learning; it also provides for a particular active and affective learning in an intercultural virtual environment that substantiates classroom experiences even in post-pandemic higher education. To support this argument, this article reflects on the experiences of a British–Japanese COIL project that investigated political responses to COVID-19.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND METHODICAL PROBLEMS OF DISTANCE LEARNING OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, since March 2020, medical universities in different countries have been forced to switch to distance or blended learning formats. The article discusses the limitations and advantages of distance learning through a meta-analysis of the research results and the authors' own experience. The article describes different options for conducting current classes, intermediate and final online certification, the peculiarities of establishing new methods of communication and changes in student-teacher communication. Practical recommendations are offered for solving organizational, methodical, educational, technical and informational problems of RUDN University and A. I. Yevdokimov MSMSU, associated with distance learning of future doctors.

Intercultural Education in the Latin America University Context

Aims: This research is focused on investigating whether intercultural education is a predominant factor in the quality of university education. Therefore, it arose as a research question; What is the approach that has been given to intercultural education in the university context to achieve educational quality? In view of this, the objective of the study is to carry out a critical review of several articles related to intercultural education in educational quality in the university context, published in scientific journals currently indexed in the most prestigious international databases.
 Study Design: Qualitative approach, systematic review.
 Place and Duration of Study: The research considered scientific articles based on intercultural education in several universities in different countries between the years 2017-2019.
 Methodology: The search for scientific articles was carried out from October to December, for which various search criteria were used, including primary source: Pro Quest, Dialnet, Scielo, Scopus and EBSCO Host. The year of publication of the articles, which corresponds to the years 2017-2020 was considered.
 Results: The articles where there is more research on the subject belong to the Scielo search engine, representing 30% of the information, followed by the Pro Quest and Scopus search engines with 20%, then EBSCO Host with 20% and finally Dialnet with 10%. It was evidenced that 90% of the articles present a qualitative approach and 10% represent descriptive research.
 Conclusion: The research findings confirm that beyond the rhetoric and official discourse, intercultural education is still a concept to be researched, which requires the analysis of intercultural sensitivity, to dismantle the asymmetries that restrict the possibilities of articulating the spheres of the generation of knowledge and coexistence, which allow the proper development of all students without distinction of cultures.

THE ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH RESULTS OF STUDENT EVALUATIONS WHEN CONSIDERING THE SECTION "ELECTROMAGNETISM" IN UNIVERSITIES

This article is devoted to the analysis of the results of students ' assessment studies when considering the section of electromagnetism in Universities. The urgency of introduction of modern system of control of knowledge is shown. The main purpose of the educational work of these universities is to implement a comprehensive system of professional training of highly qualified specialists, allowing them to be in demand in any of the above areas of engineering. It is proved that the quality of education is one of the priorities in Universities. Based on the results of the study, a new system of knowledge control is proposed. The comparison of system and traditional approach of mastering by students ' materials is considered, the analysis of research results is carried out. Also, as a result of the research, a comparative analysis of the evaluation results for different Universities in different countries was carried out.

Some characteristics of the systematization of Joint International Programmes in Higher Education

This article discusses the issue of systematization of international joint programmes in higher education. The authors analyze the criteria for differentiating between various types of international joint programmes. In particular, the authors propose to distinguish between international double degree programmes and dual degree programmes. Different classifications of international joint programmes are substantiated through the analysis of successful experience of their implementation in Russia and abroad in the context of globalization and international educational integration. The article also gives ground to the general criteria of the effectiveness of the implementation of various types of joint educational programmes. It is concluded that the systematization of international joint programmes will allow to avoid confusing terminology, and considering the fact such programmes are developed and implemented by universities with different backgrounds from different regions of the world, sometimes even from different education systems, this approach will greatly simplify academic cooperation between universities of different countries in the context of cultural differences and particular features of different national legislative regulations. Considering the different types of joint international programmes and the practice of their implementation in universities, the authors proceed from the fact that all these programmesrepresent effective ways of creating a single European higher education area, an important tool for implementing the principles of the Bologna process. Regarding the task of improving the competitiveness of universities that implement international joint programmes, the article also identifies the significant benefits for students acquiring specific intercultural, communicative, as well as interdisciplinary professional competencies and, respectively, advantages in employment, both in their own country and abroad.

Technology Acceptance Model Validation in an Educational Context: A Longitudinal Study of ERP System Use

Although Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been implemented and extensively studied in corporate contexts, there is a lack of research that focuses on educational settings. This study intends to fill this gap by validating the technology acceptance model (TAM) in an educational context to better understand the factors that influence students’ intention to use ERP systems. The research model was empirically tested using data collected from students enrolled in ERP courses in two public universities in different countries at two points in time. The results of this longitudinal, cross-cultural study indicate that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness predicts behavioral intention, with perceived usefulness the strongest predictor. As students use the ERP system in class, their perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and intention to use the system are more favorable. Along the same lines, students with previous experience in ERP systems have more favorable perceptions of ease of use and usefulness than students with no experience. Contributions of the study and recommendations for future research are proposed.

Generation Z and student volunteering: A national culture perspective

Introduction. Volunteering in the modern world is one of the basic resources for solving society’s problems, an activity that helps students in different countries to build personal and professional competencies. The limited research that makes it possible to analyse the cross-cultural elements of student volunteering has led to a scientific interest in the problem of matching the cultural context and volunteer activities of students from universities in India, Russia and Croatia. The new research perspective covered the perception of volunteering, the behaviour of Generation Z, to which the students of the three countries under consideration belong, as well as the significance of the peculiarities of national culture for the volunteering activity of university youth.The aim of this study is to assess the national cultural context and the level of its significance for the perception of volunteering, motivation and the experience of volunteering of students of management specialties at universities in India, Russia and Croatia.Methodology and research methods. Comparative sociological research is implemented based on the theory of generations, Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions and the cultural factors of the macro level defined by him. The study involved students from regional universities in three countries: India, Russia and Croatia. The main method for collecting primary data was questionnaire survey. The questionnaire consisted of several blocks of questions, which allowed assessing the subjective perception of volunteering by students, their personal experience and motivation for volunteering, demographic characteristics of the respondents. The total sample was 943 people; the average age of the respondents was 21 years. Students participated anonymously on a voluntary basis, without any incentives. A one-way analysis of variance, the Leuven test, was used to analyse the data. The collected data was processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 program.Results and scientific novelty. The results of the study showed that, in general, Generation Z actually has certain specific characteristics regarding volunteering and volunteering, while these characteristics do not depend on the national culture of a particular state. On the basis of the respondents’ answers, the factors influencing students’ volunteering were identified. Thus, the results of the study proved that the motivation of students for volunteering in the present and in the future does not differ significantly in the compared countries. The study results also did not demonstrate differences in the importance of utilitarian and altruistic motives for volunteering students from different countries. It was found that university students in India are more motivated to volunteer due to utilitarian motives; they are more likely to volunteer in comparison with students from Russia and Croatia. The level of uncertainty avoidance by students, personal benefits from volunteering, and their perception of the value of volunteering in general were measured. The authors provide an overview of the development of volunteering in the three compared countries, defining the social and cultural context in them.Practical significance. The conducted research in the context of popularisation of volunteering as a direction of practice-oriented education at universities in different countries enriches the field of knowledge about student volunteering and its cross-cultural elements.The results of this work can be useful both for universities in the implementation of the “third mission” for the development of the local community, and for all those involved in the promotion of volunteer activities and recruitment volunteering both locally, nationally and internationally with the aim of more engaging Generation Z in the volunteer movement.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE LEARNING PROCESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE PANDEMIC COVID-19

The aim: To analyze the challenges and approaches used in medical universities in different countries during the transfer of training from offline to online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: Electronic databases of Scielo, Scopus and PubMed were searched using keyword searches. Conclusions: The use of a large number of online tools and ICTs to develop the clinical skills of medical students has become a real pedagogical breakthrough in medical education. Innovations and technological efficiency of educational tools will change medical education forever. But it is difficult to give an unambiguous assessment of the delayed effects of these changes, since not much is yet known about the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the medical education.

Psychometric Properties of the Attitudes Scale towards Electronic Tests among Graduate Students

The current study aimed at identifying the Psychometric Properties of attitudes scale towards electronic tests among graduate students, the researchers briefly explained various electronic test types used to asses students achievement. The study's significance lied in providing a valid and reliable scale, as well as demonstrating the appropriateness of electronic tests whether they meet the aims of distance education or not. Thus, universities can develop the tests' quality and improve them. The sample of the study consisted of (690) students (male and female) of the Amman Arab University. A scale of (56) items was built for the study. Different procedures were done to assure the validity of the scale such as Exploratory factor analysis, construct validity, and discriminatory validity, as for the reliability Cronbach's Alpha, Split Half, Standard Error of Estimate, and Hoyt equation were used. All these indications showed appropriate and reasonable results for the scale. The arithmetic means and standard deviations of students' attitudes towards electronic tests were calculated. The statistical results showed that the attitude scale has acceptable psychometric properties, as students had positive ones. It also showed statistical differences in students' attitudes attributed to gender in favour of female students due to their personal circumstances. However, there were no statistical differences found attributed to faculty or to the interaction between faculty and gender. The general results of this scale could encourage other researchers to implement it on various universities in different countries and to integrate technology with traditional teaching in their coming courses.

Increasing Pluralistic Education Through Cross-Cultural Interprogram Collaboration

PurposeAchieving professional competence requires a wide-ranging approach of preparation through education. Instructional approaches to advance proper training of future clinicians should contain an array of academic and field experiences that translate into clinical competency; this includes immersion in varied sceneries and exposure to different contexts. For that end, it is crucial to embrace the most current societal paradigms.ConclusionsThis tutorial describes activities devised to promote higher education pursuits through intercontinental partnership, using recent and ongoing cooperation between two universities in different countries as a backdrop for reflections. The ultimate goal of this tutorial is to summarize collaborative efforts in order to promote similar pursuits. Activities devised to foster international scholastic partnerships aimed at increased professional competence are described.

ПРОЦЕССЫ ИНТЕРНАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИИ ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ: ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ И СТРАТЕГИИ (Higher Education Internationalization Processes: Opportunities and Strategies)

Russian Abstract: Систематизированы основные тенденции академического сотрудничества и международного обмена между университетами разных стран. Авторами сделан вывод о том, что проблемы глобализации академической среды университеты решают, в основном, ориентируясь на обучение за рубежом. Унификация образовательных программ создает интегральную университетскую среду и способствуют межкультурным обменам. English Abstract:The main trends in academic cooperation and international exchange between universities in different countries are systematized. The authors concluded that universities solve the problems of globalization of the academic environment, mainly focusing on studying abroad. The unification of educational programs creates an integral university environment and fosters intercultural exchanges.

The New Normal?

The article discusses the preliminary results of the forced transition to entire online learning in the higher education system in the context of the general growth trend of the corresponding form of education in various universities around the world. The ideology defining this trend is considered. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the reality of a sharp increase in the level of control of both teachers and students by the creators of training platforms, as well as the possible consequences of this situation. It is shown that universities in different countries are seeking suitable forms of supplementing regular education with remote ones. The overall trend is a steady growth in online learning with significant variations across countries (examples include the United States, Australia, Germany, and China). It is obvious that national education systems differ significantly from each other, and with certain general trend towards online learning, each educational system is looking for its own, most suitable for the national culture, forms of education. It is also necessary to understand how online learning can be integrated into existing system without harm. At the moment, this is not clear either on the content level or methodological one. The article analyzes the temporary and long-term problems associated with the transition to distant education. The problem of technical support is probably the easiest to be solved. More serious and requiring new technologies is the problem of changing the nature of communication, which requires quite different efforts of both teachers and students if compare with the usual ones. Working on the platforms that are intended to radically change the educational environment under the slogans of ensuring an individual educational trajectory, in fact leads to the opposite. The author dwells on the problem of possible widespread replacement of conventional courses with recorded ones and, especially, the ideology of transition to online learning in the format of virtual reality, which allows the creators to exercise full control over the individual. The problem of monitoring of educational activities is discussed, which already in the current conditions makes it possible to record any actions and states of all participants in the process. The article is a reaction to the beginning of the process of widespread introduction of online technologies, and this approach, according to the author, allows to observe vividly the most painful aspects of the new situation (like the first impression of a meeting with the unknown).

Is it time for transition from the subject-based to the integrated preclinical medical curriculum?

In the 60s of the last century, a number of new universities in the world began to apply an integrated program of medical education, the cornerstone of which was problem-oriented education. Thus, the Flexner model of higher education adopted by that time in most countries of the world, with its characteristic segregation of teaching of the theoretical and clinical disciplines, which had ceased to satisfy the needs of modern healthcare, was gradually replaced by a new system that put the student in the center of the educational process and opened the way to active methods of teaching being focused on the end result – training of graduates whose qualifications most fully satisfy the needs of society. Over the half-century history of its existence, this system has been adopted by most medical universities in different countries of the world, in many of which it has undergone significant modifications in accordance with the needs of national educational standards. Many medical universities in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union showed interest in this system, some of the medical faculties of our country accepted certain elements of it. However, up to date no integrated preclinical medical education program has been applied in any of the Russian universities. Hereby we are undertaking an attempt to analyze the reasons and assess the possible perspectives for the transition of medical universities in Russia to teaching of fundamental and biomedical disciplines using the integrated curriculum.

Improving the Quality of Education by Integrating Network Universities and Business

Goal – this article’s main goal is to show the need for the integration of universities on the basis of the processes of network interaction between business and education as one of the conditions for improving the quality of education in the country, and accordingly the index of education and the human development index of the country. Research methodology – the authors used analytical, economic, statistical methods of data analysis, conceptual and empirical research. Score/results – the article reveals the essence and substantiates the need to implement of the practice‑oriented education system by using the dual training system and creating of network interaction between universities in different countries. The advantages of such a model are revealed in comparison with the traditional form of training for the employer, educational institution, future specialist and the state. The instruments and forms of development of trilateral integration are described. Originality/value – the article presents the results of a comparative study of the human development of Belarus and its four neighbouring countries (Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine), has theoretical and practical significance, contains the author’s generalizations and conclusions.