Asia Pacific Education Review最新文献

This study explores how parents in Lebanon select schools and how their choices contribute to educational inequality, especially during the ongoing severe economic, political and refugee crises. Using an exploratory methodology within a qualitative research design, the study included 30 semi-structured interviews with parents of school-aged children, chosen through purposive convenience and snowball sampling technique. Thematic analysis reveals widespread parental preference for private, fee-paying schools as opposed to public schools that are free at the point of entry. However, the ability of parents to choose private institutions, unsurprisingly linked to socioeconomic status, has been exacerbated by the recent crises. This study offers insights into a new socio-economic group of parents, previously part of the middle class, who are facing difficulties in selecting schools that align with their aspirations for their children. It found them strategically moving their children between private and public schools and making compromises based on factors such as the perceived importance of the educational stage and the child’s perceived academic abilities. Moreover, it shows parents exhibiting harsh practices, favoring private schools for high-achieving children while sending children with lower levels of academic performance and children with disabilities and/or specific educational needs, to public schools. The study underscores the challenges stemming from diminished trust in public education, detailing the difficult decisions some parents are forced to make due to unprecedented crises. It also highlights the growing educational inequality in this conflict-affected context and emphasizes the urgent need for systemic interventions to address widening disparities in Lebanon’s education system.

Educational assessment is a part of accountability in K-12 education, and teachers often face ethical dilemmas in assessment practices. We conducted a comparative mixed-methods study of teachers’ perspectives on educational assessment practices in the United States and China. A survey with 255 teachers based on 14 assessment scenarios within seven categories revealed that American teachers and Chinese teachers had consistent views on five scenarios, and they referenced common assessment guidelines in their justifications for whether they view certain practices as ethical or not. They disagreed on nine scenarios, prioritizing different guidelines to support their views about whether certain practices were ethical or not. Within each culture, teachers’ views of certain scenarios differed based on gender, academic degree, years of experience, and grade levels taught in certain scenarios. The differences in teachers’ views and reasoning were shaped by their cultural backgrounds, educational and professional experiences, and educational systems and policies. The findings can help raise educators’ awareness of assessment practices shaped by cultural contexts, guide teaching, learning, and assessment, and inform educational policymaking and program development.

The aim of this study is to reveal the impact of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) on students’ ability to come up with the rules of divisibility themselves and on their academic achievement in the 8th grade Mathematics course as well as to obtain students’ views on the learning and teaching process, through the use of a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. The quantitative part of the study was composed of a one-group pre-test–post-test design, while the qualitative part involved a case study design. The sample group consisted of 20 students studying in the 8th grade of a secondary school in the 2020/21 academic year. At the end of the procedure, interviews were held with four students. The relevant data analysis indicated that the students’ level of readiness regarding the divisibility rules was not at a sufficient level, and that the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores was statistically significant with a high positive effect size on the students’ academic achievement. The results based on student views revealed that the rules forgotten due to memorization turned out to become permanent with the use of the IBL activities for learning the divisibility rules, that the students understood the subject matter better, that they came up with the divisibility rules themselves during the implementation of the activities, and that they enjoyed such a learning process.

This paper aims to review and conceptualize how researchers with different human interests understand and approach self-regulated learning (SRL) for their specific purposes. In this narrative literature review, three paradigms of inquiry into SRL guided by Habermas's three human interests (i.e., technical interests, practical interests, and critical/emancipatory interests) are presented in an interpretive way. It was found that, with various human interests, researchers' definitions of SRL, the understandings of the roles of students and social contexts, inquiry interests and intentions, and the methodologies adopted vary. By incorporating Habermas's three human interests into SRL inquiries, this article offers a comprehensive and critical narrative review of the three paradigms in SRL. Discussions about the extension of the established paradigm and the alternative approaches to SRL, emancipatory transformative practices, and the strengths and weaknesses of the three paradigms and their integrated application provide insights and implications for SRL research and practices.

Education on computational thinking skills has been a focus in many countries. Previous studies have investigated educational board games based on computational thinking skills. However, there is a lack of research on the cognitive behaviors and cognitive styles promoted by these educational board games. Therefore, in this study, educational board games are adopted as a tool to explore the learning effectiveness and behavioral patterns of students with different cognitive styles. A total of 74 students participated in this study, and the educational board game used was a set of coding poker cards. The results showed that educational board games contribute to students’ computational thinking skills, especially regarding operators. For students with different cognitive styles, holist-style students experience greater learning effectiveness when using educational board games than serialist-style students. In addition, it is found that students need to analyze the choices and arrangements of cards while playing educational board games, which improves their thinking in terms of problem solving. Furthermore, through cognitive behaviors, students can use the concepts of computational thinking skills and then achieve the learning goals of computational thinking skills. Finally, suggestions for teaching and future research are proposed based on the results of this study.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of 12 Korean traditional parenting virtues (KTPV), a set of cultural norms from ancient Korea guiding how parents ought to love and discipline their children, among Korean-American immigrant (KA) parents. This study examined 1) how KA parents practice KTPV, 2) which virtues KA parents desire to develop, and 3) the changes in the application of KTPV after receiving the Ottuki Parenting Program (OPP). The first phase of the study (Study 1) was a community needs assessment with 22 KA parents (13 Korean Speaking and 9 English Speaking) living in the greater Seattle area. Parents participated in focus group interviews and completed surveys. Results showed that both Korean-speaking parents and English-speaking parents had common perceptions of self-cultivation, responsibility, sacrifice, and respect. However, differences were noted in 8 of 12 virtues including example, patience, authority, attention, teaching, generosity, trust, and devotion. Korean-speaking parents desired to develop example, and generosity, authoritative while English-speaking parents desired to develop example. These findings led to the development of the Ottuki Parenting Program (OPP) for Korean-speaking parents. In study 2, 57 Korean-speaking parents participated in the OPP intervention. Post-intervention results showed a significant increase in the practice of self-cultivation, devotion, patience, authority, respect, and generosity among participants. These findings provide guidance for developing, implementing, and adapting parenting programs for immigrant families and demonstrate the importance of parenting programs for immigrant families to decrease disparity in parenting practices and promote equity in early childhood development.

University-industry collaboration (UIC) has emerged as a focal point in the contemporary global higher education landscape. Nevertheless, the underlying objectives for endorsing UIC often vary across national contexts despite a consensus on its collective benefits. This study endeavors to juxtapose the social imaginary surrounding UIC within three economically vigorous Asian countries: China, Japan, and Singapore through a multimodal discourse analysis. Findings reveal a consonant priority placed on the role of UIC as an innovation driver in all three contexts. However, whereas China has exhibited a pronounced tendency to harness industry sector dynamics to reform pedagogical frameworks within its higher educational institutions and promote economic development, Japan’s approach to UIC is more motivated by the intention to maintain international competitiveness and address societal challenges peculiar to the nation. Meanwhile, Singapore places research collaboration and internationalization at the heart of its UIC agenda and highlights them as the key factors driving its leadership in global cutting-edge technology. Practical implications for governments include placing equal emphasis on both education-focused and research-oriented UIC, fostering stronger R&D collaboration frameworks between universities and industries, designing policies that promote cross-sectoral trust-building, and aligning long-term goals with the more immediate needs of the industry.

This study analyzes the relationship between college quality and obtaining first job after graduation among new graduates in the Japanese labor market. Although lively debate prevails in Western countries regarding the economic effects of college quality, no consensus has been reached concerning the effects of college quality on labor market outcomes. Additionally, few studies have examined the effects of college quality on labor market outcomes in Japan owing to data limitations. Therefore, this study analyzes the correlation between college quality and obtaining first job after graduation in Japan using newly available data that accurately match individual-level survey data and institutional-level data. This study’s empirical results indicate that college quality has a limited relationship with first job after graduation in the Japanese labor market—similar to previous studies’ findings. College characteristics do not appear to be a determining factor for recent graduates in obtaining first job after graduation in the Japanese labor market.

Lifelong learning is pivotal for developing future-oriented capabilities required for addressing the challenges in the rapidly changing world of work and other areas of life. This paper firmly positions adult educators as integral lifelong learners and explore the intricate interplay between personal and environmental factors. These factors include education, age, gender, lifelong learning beliefs, self-efficacy, employment status, industry experience, income, professional development support, and the type of employer they are associated with. Our primary aim is to unravel the intricate connections between adult educators’ engagement in lifelong learning and these personal and environmental factors, thereby paving the way for a more strategic and informed approach to bolstering their professional development and capabilities. We harness data from the first nationwide survey on adult educators in Singapore focusing on their work-related learning activities and non-work-related learning activities. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the roles of personal and environmental factors to support lifelong learning and professional development. By taking an integrative approach, this paper advances the existing body of knowledge on adult education and learning on the determinants of learning activities amongst adult educators. It acknowledges the indispensable significance of both work-related and non-work-related learning, and also sheds light on the often-neglected realm of informal learning. In doing so, it provides a more comprehensive framework for examining skill development that considers a broader spectrum of factors and outcomes beyond individual economic benefits.