Asia Pacific Education Review最新文献

Drawing on the framework of social cognitive career theory (SCCT), this work aims to understand whether self-perceived employability (PE) beliefs of STEM undergraduates in China differ by gender, region (urban/rural, and geographical divide), and/or gender-regional intersectionality. 1713 STEM undergraduates from multiple universities in China completed a self-reported questionnaire. Our findings showed that (i) gender impacts perceived employability (PE) such that men report higher PE than women; (ii) region impacts PE in such a way that urban regions report higher PE levels than their peers in rural regions; and (iii) intersectionality affects PE in such a way that women from rural regions report the lowest PE, then men from rural regions, then women from urban regions, with PE being highest for men from urban regions. The findings apply across three dimensions of PE: self-awareness (SPA), perceived program relevance (PPR), and career exploration and awareness (CEA). Theoretical contributions illuminate PE beliefs across gender, regional, and intersectional lines, pinpointing which PE belief dimensions need enhancement. Practical and policy implications suggest ways for individuals, higher education institutions, and society to address gender and regional inequalities, thereby bolstering STEM students' PE.

Over the past few decades, as the number of extraordinary achievements by research teams and science and technology companies has increased, the power behind the justification of only individual-dimension giftedness theories has decreased. This conceptual paper reveals the organizational dimension of giftedness in the background of scientific and technological developments in the twenty-first century and shows how it has become a necessary result of today’s world. In this paper, the emergence of the organizational model of giftedness (OMoG), its four foundational components (supportive and nurturing mentors, individuals with high performance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative outcomes), its structure, and how it functions are explained, inspired by Eyre’s (2016) high-performance learning pedagogy and Amabile and Pratt’s (2016) dynamic componential model of creativity and innovation in organizations. By moving beyond the typical approaches in the field, this innovative model extends the boundaries of giftedness and shifts our giftedness understanding from the individual dimension to the organizational dimension. The model encourages empirical studies in the field to understand better and advance the organizational dimension of giftedness, intending to contribute to educational policy and practices.

This exploratory study utilized a conceptual framework for self-directed computer-assisted professional development (PD) to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of a six-month PD pilot program. The program was designed to enhance the English proficiency of Taiwanese bilingual school teachers through a computer-assisted learning platform. Using a narrative-based methodology, we constructed and analyzed vignettes from seven participating teachers using a conceptual framework that integrates motivation, self-management, platform readiness (ease of use), and self-monitoring. While self-directed computer-assisted PD offers promising opportunities for teacher development, this study reveals significant challenges, particularly in sustaining engagement and ensuring the platform aligns with teachers’ specific needs. Drawing on these insights, we offer several recommendations for schools to enhance the effectiveness of self-directed computer-assisted PD across diverse educational contexts based on the study’s conceptual model. These recommendations convey an overarching message: Self-directed PD should not be viewed as an isolated endeavor for teachers. Specifically, we underscore the importance of appointing a PD program administrator to facilitate the program model and guide teachers throughout the self-directed learning process.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of emotion regulation on the job engagement of novice school counselors while reflecting the variability and context of emotion regulation by utilizing a daily diary method. A sample of 100 South Korean school counselors completed the baseline and diary measures regarding emotion regulation and job demands and resources twice a day for 5 consecutive working days. Multilevel modeling was performed to analyze the nested data and test the research hypothesis. The use of state suppression negatively affected novice school counselors’ job engagement. Cross-level interaction effects on momentary job engagement were found between state reappraisal and job resources, as well as between state suppression and job demands. The findings highlight how daily emotion regulation interacts with contexts at work to impact on momentary job engagement of novice school counselors, underscoring the importance of considering these dynamics when promoting engagement.

This study investigated the optimal feedback intervals for tasks of varying difficulty levels in online testing and whether task difficulty moderates the effect of feedback intervals on student performance. A pre-experimental study with 36 students was conducted to determine the delayed time for providing feedback based on student behavioral data. A formal experiment with 80 students was then conducted to explore the joint effects of feedback interventions and task difficulty on student performance improvement. The findings revealed that feedback conditions had no significant impact on student learning gains in easy or difficult tasks. However, for medium difficulty tasks, feedback delays of 23 and 30 s led to greater academic improvement compared to immediate feedback, while feedback with a 35-s delay resulted in worse performance. Overall, the study highlights the importance of considering task difficulty when determining optimal feedback intervals and suggests that well-timed feedback can significantly enhance student learning, especially for tasks of moderate complexity. This challenges the common practice of providing immediate feedback, which may not always be optimal. Moreover, the findings of this study provide valuable insights for educators and instructional designers when designing online assessments and feedback mechanisms.

Despite posing challenges for teachers and students in English-medium instruction (EMI) contexts, materials are a relatively under-researched area of EMI. Our preliminary study takes a humanistic perspective to examine the extent of English-language material use, and faculty and student perceptions of materials used for EMI in Japan and China. Data in this concurrent mixed-methods research came from two selected-response and one open-ended questionnaire question, as well as interactions during interviews and focus groups with teaching staff and students. Although a wide range of English-language materials are available, many of them are not suitable for use by EFL, ESL and Anglophone students. There is also a lack of breadth of cultural content and of cultural perspectives on content in English-language materials. Therefore, although EMI aims to internationalize curricula, materials, which are usually sourced from Anglophone contexts, may have the effect of Westernizing the curriculum in EMI contexts.

Faculty members are a key stakeholder group in the internationalization of higher education. However, there is scant research on faculty in higher education internationalization, especially in the non-English-speaking world. Taking Taiwan as a case study, this study examines faculty’s perspective on and role in internationalization. Based on the data collected through in-depth interviews with faculty members and participant observation at four universities, the study shows that while faculty unanimously agreed on internationalizing higher education, they held divergent imaginaries on internationalization and different perspectives on internationalization strategies. Furthermore, university internationalization affected faculty’s work lives through performancism in faculty evaluations, the emphasis on international publications for research output, and using English as a medium of instruction (EMI). In response, faculty either took an active role in internationalization by embracing the changes, or a passive role by avoiding, questioning, or resisting internationalization initiatives. Faculty’s imaginaries of internationalization and seniority ranking were crucial in shaping their responses to and roles taken in the internationalization of higher education. This study discusses the impact of higher education internationalization on faculty’s academic profession and illuminates the challenges that universities and faculty face in non-English-speaking countries that aspire to compete in the global market of higher education.

Scholars explain low levels of social engagement of disadvantaged students as self-isolation because they are endowed with lower levels of cultural and social capital. It renders a hopeless class reproduction conclusion, and it also reflects an implicit assumption that students engage academically and socially in parallel. To contribute both empirically and theoretically to student engagement research, we focus on rural students—a major disadvantaged student group in China—and whether they hold a student leadership role—a highly consequential social engagement activity in the Chinese setting. Utilizing a longitudinal survey, administrative records, and in-depth interviews of the 2014 freshmen cohort at an elite Chinese university, we find that rural students who progressed academically seemed to employ a sequential engagement strategy, “academics-first, social-second,” to catch up with urban students in holding a leadership role and have successfully coped with the challenges at both academic and social realms.

Researchers, professional organizations and mathematics education standards emphasize the necessity and importance of mathematical modelling, especially from early school years. It is emphasized by various studies that elementary school students can create their own mathematical models by tackling model-eliciting activities and that students should encounter mathematical modelling and model-eliciting activities starting in the early school years and gather experience. The study aimed to examine the mathematical modelling processes of elementary school third grade students (8 years old) under the cognitive perspective and to determine the difficulties they encounter in this process. During the research process, a focus group study was conducted with four eight (8) years old elementary school third grade students. Data were collected by using task-based interviews. The mathematical thoughts developed by the third grade students in the study during the model-eliciting activities and the written solution process papers they presented were analyzed by descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students had difficulties demonstrating competence in understanding, simplifying, interpreting, and validating the problem.

Rankings dominate higher education policy making, although little is known about the experiences of those involved in perpetuating rankings. This paper explores middle-level academic leaders’ sensemaking about university rankings and related policies in East Asia. Since university rankings have affected higher education policies and strategies more intensely in East Asia than in other regions of the world, our research aims to trace the process of meaning construction and reconstruction of the middle-level academic leaders directly involved with the rankings game. Qualitative data have been drawn from in-depth interviews with key informants across elite institutions in three East Asian countries (Mainland China, South Korea and Japan). Our findings show how even in the well performing countries (Mainland China and South Korea) the “ranking fever” has been replaced by the “ranking fatigue”. There is no running from rankings, but the paradox of not believing in them but engaging with them has created an affective response that is deeper than lack of trust towards the commercial system of ranking: it is a deeply rooted feeling of fatigue. This is leading the discussion on how to find an alternative to rankings and possibly forge a new path forward for East Asian universities, reshaping the geography of higher education in the region.