Asia Pacific Education Review最新文献

Cambodian upper secondary education is divided into two tracks: science and social science. Students make their track selection in grade 10 and begin their enrollment in grade 11. The enrollment in the science track has witnessed a steep decline from 96% in 2014 to 34% in 2020, while the enrollment in the social science track has seen a remarkable surge from 4% in 2014 to 66% in 2020. This tendency poses a significant challenge to the government’s endeavors aimed at promoting workforces in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This survey study aimed to examine factors influencing students to leave science-track classes. The survey was administered to 696 grade-12 students from 20 upper secondary schools. The two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that at the individual level, age, ease of national examination, high passing rates, preference for good grades, expense on private tutoring, STEM major choices at the territory level, attitudes toward science, parental advice, and family income significantly influenced students’ decision to opt for social science track over science track. At the school level, school location was a significant predictor of track choices. The findings were discussed with practical implications to improve enrollment in the science track at Cambodian upper secondary schools.

Adoption of the “Double World-Class” policy in China has led to substantial changes in the country’s higher education governance system. Thus, to examine whether any undesired effects have occurred, in this study, we conducted document analysis along with purposive interviews to gather pertinent data on one local university that has been selected for inclusion in the national “Double World-Class” initiative as well as the Guangdong Province’s “High-Level Construction Universities” project. This investigation is guided by de Zwart’s (Theory and Society 44:283–297, 2015) concept of the “unintended but not unanticipated consequences” and a clear distinct perspective on how these consequences arise. Application of this analytical framework on unanticipated consequences of purposive social action allowed us to identify selective neglect, utility maximization, and the pursuit of the “world-class university” label to perpetuate the myth of superior educational quality as the main drawbacks of the recent policy change. The impact of these factors on the quality of higher education in China is discussed, along with the strategy that can be adopted to mitigate the noted drawbacks in future.

This study aims to explore and compare the experiences of international academics in government-funded research institutes in Korea and Japan and focuses on their integration through primary roles and contributions, reasons to stay, and the challenges they face in their academic and daily lives. Although international academics are critical human resources in academia, their experiences in northeast Asian research institutes, instead of universities, require thorough investigation. Additionally, policy initiatives and projects in these countries tend to emphasize international academics in universities instead of those in research institutes. The study conducted semi-structured interviews between October 2020 and July 2021 with 15 international academics from government-funded research institutes in Korea and Japan. We intend to illuminate their experiences outside of universities and demonstrate that a clear academic role, a (relatively) horizontal organizational culture, and systemic support are the major reasons for their decision to stay and integrate. We also highlight the challenges they face in relation to policy, language, and family issues. International academics help create an internationalized work environment, although they frequently struggle to bridge domestic and international academia. All interviewees were male academics working in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields; thus, further studies are required to explore the experiences of female international academics and those working in other areas and to compare between the academic cultures of universities and research institutes in Korea and Japan.

It is essential that students develop the skill of reading comprehension during their schooling, although it has been defined in various ways. The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates that a substantial proportion of students fail to develop sufficient reading skills during their schooling. While it is easy to understand the concept of reading comprehension, the various factors and processes involved in it make it quite complex as a task, and many factors can affect the performance of reading comprehension. This study, using an e-book experiment, explores the factors that predict reading comprehension ability among indigenous Taiwanese high school students using different teaching methods (teacher read aloud and teacher questioning). The participants were indigenous students studying at a high school in Hualien County, Taiwan. Using five scales, the study investigated correlations among two teaching methods and prior knowledge, reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading attitudes, and reading motivation. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression were conducted to assess the impact of the two main teaching methods on reading comprehension scores and predictive factors. The results indicated that both methods showed a significant positive correlation with prior knowledge and with reading comprehension scores. In the teacher read-aloud method, reading motivation showed a significant positive correlation with reading comprehension scores, while for the use of teacher questioning, reading strategies provided a significant positive correlation with reading comprehension scores. This study sheds light on the predictive factors for reading learning among indigenous Taiwanese students under different teaching methods, which holds considerable significance.

This study explores the influence of educational ideologies and practices of donor countries on the educational systems in recipient countries in the context of international cooperation. Previous research on international education cooperation has focused on international cooperation policies, ignoring the educational systems of both donor and recipient countries. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining how Japan’s dualistic model of inclusive education is reflected in the Strengthening Teachers’ Ability and Reasonable Treatments for Children with Disabilities (START) project in Mongolia. This study reviews the literature on inclusive education in Japan and Mongolia, and analyzes documents produced through the project. It finds that despite some instances of inclusive practices in Japanese schools, special needs education in Japan is still predicated on individualized and medicalized approaches to disabilities. Conversely, Mongolia has struggled to provide children with disabilities with accessible and quality schooling since its transition from a socialist to a capitalist regime in the early 1990s. The START project aims to identify children’s disabilities as early as possible, provide individualized support and guidance, and develop educational settings that allow the inclusion of children with disabilities in their peer groups. In implementing the project, Japanese-style inclusive education is negotiated between Mongolian teachers and officials rather than imposed by Japanese experts. By embracing the dualistic nature of Japanese inclusive education, Mongolia can better promote the ideal of inclusion for all children.

Over the past two decades, family structures have diversified. International migration has led to a rise in the number of families in which at least one parent is foreign-born. Increases have also been observed in both the rate of partnership separation, leading to a greater number of single-parent households and an increase in the number of families where grandparents have assumed caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Evidence indicates a strong relationship between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. Parental involvement is well documented as a key ingredient for the educational success of children. Drawing on Taiwanese multi-wave survey data (Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement) and a machine-learning-based propensity score algorithm for multiple treatments, this paper aims to determine the various relationships between children from different household structures (two-parent households, skipped generation households, single-parent households, and immigrant households) and their cognitive knowledge (measured by test scores). Key findings reveal that children from skipped generation households achieve the lowest performance scores and that those from immigrant households tend to perform even better than children from traditional two-parent households in certain disciplines. Our results suggest that policy interventions targeted at providing remedial education and/or financial assistance are needed to support children from skipped generation families to redress existing educational disadvantages in Taiwan.

Amid concerns about creating internationally recognized world-class universities in China, this study aims to explore the factors that influence the selection of two prestigious universities in China, namely Tsinghua and Beida, by high school students. In light of concerns surrounding the establishment of globally renowned universities in China, this study applies Simon’s Bounded Rationality Theory (Q J Econ 69(1):99–118, https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852, 1957, Models of bounded rationality, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982) to examine the decision-making tendencies of students when faced with limited information. The study analyzes survey data collected from 10 senior high schools in Henan province. Our findings reveal that students lack clarity regarding Chinese universities and majors. Students’ misconceptions about Tsinghua and Beida are linked to insufficient information and socially entrenched images of these two universities. Students’ social environment may subtly influence their choice between Tsinghua and Beida, with different socioeconomic backgrounds resulting in varying expectations. Additionally, we identified enrollment strategies that impact high school students’ choices. The study provides policy implications for Chinese elite universities and suggests that universities can enhance enrollment strategies by effectively promoting their institutions.