Educational Research for Policy and Practice最新文献

Team-based learning (TBL) is an alternative instructional method that has been shown to lead to positive concrete academic performance outcomes. However, whilst academic performance is important, we should also not neglect other non-tangible student outcomes such as the emotions experienced during the TBL sessions and improvements in student’s learning. Hence, in the current study, we aim to examine (1) the academic performance of TBL vs traditional lessons, (2) the differences in achievement emotions of student in TBL vs traditional lessons and (3) the perceived effectiveness of TBL lessons. A within-subjects research design was employed in which students participated in sessions using the TBL approach followed by sessions using the normal approach. Participants were 239 postgraduate students (81 men and 158 women) enrolled in the field of education. Measures used were the achievement emotions questionnaire, a perceived effectiveness of TBL questionnaire and the students performance on a quiz at the end of the module. Results indicated that students had a higher level of enjoyment and a lower level of boredom and anger in TBL lessons. From both the individual and team perspective, students had positive perceptions about the effectiveness of TBL. However, students performed better for topics that were taught via traditional methods compared to topics taught via TBL.

Sustainable service-led universities actively promote sustainability initiatives and service provision. In this context, servant leadership is relevant for higher education, since it ensures sustainable performance over time, encourages the idea of serving stakeholders (e.g., students, staff, and beyond), and is in alignment with the concept of turnaround leadership for sustainability in higher education (TLSHE). However, with few exceptions, the topic of servant leadership for sustainability in higher education is under-researched so far. Our study contributes to closing this research gap by examining the impact of behaving ethically and conceptual skills, as two of servant leadership’s dimensions that are closely related to the interpersonal and intellectual capability dimensions of TLSHE, on three outcomes, namely job satisfaction, affective commitment, and work motivation. Due to the implementation of higher education harmonization policies in Southeast Asia, we focus on Malaysia, as a well-established educational hub in this region, and use a sample of 449 academics with science-related backgrounds. These scholars play an important role in achieving a few of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as in dealing with societies’ present and future demands through educating students in STEM areas. We find support for the servant leadership dimensions’ role in explaining and predicting work motivation via job satisfaction and affective commitment. Subsequently, we discuss the findings’ practical implications and provide recommendations for future research in this area.

The study aims to determine whether the pleasing experience of learning management systems (LMS) during the pandemic can translate into the desirability of pure online classes even post-pandemic. Drawing from the insights of the Technology Acceptance Model, this qualitative study initially argues that student’s positive perceptions of the usefulness of LMS may lead them to favor the mainstreaming of pure online classes even after the COVID-19 pandemic. Through convenience participant-recruitment, the study involved 27 college students enrolled in different higher learning institutions in Metro Manila, Philippines. They were requested to provide narrative responses on the written interview form sent online. The qualitative data were then organized and subjected to thematic analysis. The results indicate three significant themes: the usefulness of LMS and its power to facilitate quality learning (and teaching), the acceptability or likability of LMS on account of its usefulness, and finally, that despite the LMS likability, it fails to translate into the acceptability of pure online classes in a post-pandemic scenario. Core findings suggest that the LMS cannot guarantee the acceptability of pure online classes in post-pandemic scenarios due to technical and material limitations (internet and other related costs), personal preferences in the learning setup, and specific course demand. Should such direction be pursued, improvement in information and communication technology infrastructures and subsidizing online education among poor students must be explored. The potential implications of the study extend to policy development, infrastructure improvement, financial support mechanisms, and a global perspective on the challenges and opportunities associated with the widespread acceptance of online education post-pandemic.

Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, commented poignantly that a country’s citizens are only as good as its teachers. This underscores the important role that teachers play not just contributing to a high-quality education system but also to the more pivotal role of nation-building. The mission of teacher education in preparing teachers to rise up to this grand challenge of nation-building becomes of primary importance. The papers of this special issue stem from a webinar where five scholars recounted the underpinning philosophy of the initiatives they had led and implemented in their tenure as deans of teacher education of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. They provide an “insider” look at the challenges and opportunities faced. This editorial will expound on the key trends of teacher education as reflected the contributors in this special issue and discuss them against the concerns in each educational phase of Singapore’s journey before suggesting the continued importance of providing a relevant, responsive, and high-quality teacher education for the nation’s sustained growth and development amidst a rapidly changing global educational landscape.

This article addresses university teachers’ perspectives, gathered via interviews, on issues involved in their students’ decreasing attendance in formal taught-events, before and during the pandemic, and the implications of this for university teaching in the future. The research was part of a broad enquiry into learning and teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic, conducted in one research-led university in New Zealand by a research team of 19 university academics from multiple departments in this institution. We undertook 11 semi-structured interviews with eight professors, one lecturer and two teaching fellows, anonymous to all but the interviewer. A sub-group (authors of this article) used a general inductive approach to seek an underlying structure of experiences evident in participants’ interviews, in the form of emergent and reoccurring themes in the data. Self-determination theory was used as a theoretical framework for analysis. Themes suggest that university teachers may be stressed about attendance, increasingly uncertain about the links between how they teach and what and how students learn, and feel personally rather than collectively responsible as they address matters that they perceive to be only partially under their control. Researchers concluded that interviewed teachers may be collectively experiencing some form of crisis of confidence relating to their roles, responsibilities and identity as university teachers. Although perceptions of limited autonomy, relatedness and competence all suggest solutions at the institutional level, their combination and link to generic academic identity suggests that Covid-19 may have exposed broader limitations in university teaching as a collegiate, rather than professional, activity.

Policy implementation is vital for the realization of predetermined policy goals. In the last decades, several studies have analyzed higher education policy reforms. Nevertheless, studies on institutional politics and the implementation of higher education policy reforms in the Tanzanian context are scant. Drawing on new institutionalism, this paper examines the implications of institutional politics in the implementation of higher education policy reforms in Tanzania. The paper paid a specific focus on higher education financing, access, and quality as its analytical dimensions. Data collection was grounded on semi-structured elite interviews conducted with 32 key informants elites purposively selected from the institutions covered in the study. This was supplemented by data generated from the analysis of documents. Findings suggest that political interests directed the implementation of higher education financing and access policies, which in turn affected the quality of education delivered. The paper recommends for a policy guarantee on the autonomy of higher education institutions (HEIs), the need for HEIs to stick on academic requirements to counter financial temptations, and refraining from the politicization of financing education. Political determination is stressed as core for building the foundation for effective policies in higher education and education in general.

While a great deal has been published about the educational value of social networking sites (SNSs) for teachers, less has focused on teachers who are arguably more dependent on these virtual platforms for informal professional learning due to financial constraints and a lack of regular in-service professional development. Situating this study in Vietnam and focusing on teachers teaching English as a foreign language, we examined how these teachers have adapted SNSs, a tool typically used in leisure and social life, into online personal learning networks. The evidence was collected from 393 teachers’ responses to an online survey. The results from descriptive and non-parametric inferential tests revealed three main findings: (1) Teachers engage in a variety of professional learning activities using SNSs with high frequency, regardless of their self-perceived levels of technology competence or teaching experience; (2) Teachers make use of online groups on SNSs for professional topics and their preferences of topics are not likely to be determined by their experience, except for the topics of classroom management techniques and knowledge about learners; (3) The most decisive factors these teachers associated with effective professional learning on SNSs include time availability, reliability of information and materials, personal information privacy and desire to learn. Teachers’ perceptions about these factors are influenced by the frequency of their SNS use and professional work experience. The implications of these findings for teacher professional development in Vietnam, and other countries in similar economic circumstances, are also discussed.

This paper examines the extent to which refugee girls and young women were able to access learning during COVID-19 education closures in Pakistan, and the role that EdTech played in their learning access. It is based on findings from a survey with 403 Afghan refugee students, along with in-depth interviews with six young female refugees. The research shows that, while the majority of female refugee students were able to continue accessing education in some form during school closures, learning access was nevertheless limited, and a sizable minority were not engaged in any learning during this time. Teacher and institutional support was either absent or inadequate for many students, and infrastructure and devices that serve to support remote learning were not always reliable or accessible. Although male respondents were less likely than females to engage in independent study during the closures, refugee girls and young women were significantly less likely than their male counterparts to own the devices they needed for learning. The findings demonstrate how targeted investment in specific types of EdTech and teacher professional development, as well as supporting educational institutions in the establishment of remote learning opportunities, could help sustain learning during future periods of educational restriction.