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This paper considers aspects of local academic knowledge generation in Uzbekistan by focusing on the mentor – mentee relations and the 'ustoz' and 'shogird' mindset of supervisees concerning their mentors. By doing so, it analyses how these perceptions may represent the challenge in improving the research quality among young Uzbek faculty members. Drawing on a survey of young university teachers, this study argues that the obstacles are not just policy-related but also cognitive and culture-related. This study uses a Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) to identify metaphors associated with the apprenticeship in Uzbekistan and how these relate to images and expectations of supervisors among supervisees in contemporary Uzbekistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to university is a time of great change and adjustment. The challenges of university life can lead to numerous negative consequences for the students. Despite the importance of successful transition for both the student and the university, the current body of literature comprises methodological inconsistencies and disparate analytical goals that make it difficult to identify the most salient and effective factors that help predict transition success. This paper presents a systematic review of research linking personal level risk and protective factors to the outcome of academic achievement among students making the transition to university. This is part of a larger review, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guidelines, preregistered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, CRD42022330515), searching PsychInfo, Web of Science, and ERIC databases. Records were included if they studied ‘traditional’ first year students transitioning to university and were longitudinal in design and excluded if they looked at specific subgroups of students (e.g. international students). The search yielded 27 articles that were eligible, highlighting a broad range of salient factors ranging from personality traits to procrastination and perfectionism. The findings are discussed in relation to moving the research forward towards an intervention to enhance the probability of successful student transition to university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Undergraduates' collective epistemic agency is critical for their productive collaborative inquiry and knowledge building (KB). However, fostering undergraduates' collective epistemic agency is challenging. Studies have demonstrated the potential of computer‐supported collaborative inquiry approaches, such as KB—the focus of this study, and reflective assessment to foster collective epistemic agency. Objectives: This study used a quasi‐experimental design to examine the impact of reflective assessment on undergraduates' collective epistemic agency and the mechanisms of this impact. Methods: An experimental class, comprising 40 undergraduates, engaged in KB inquiry enhanced by analytics‐assisted reflective assessment, while a comparison class, comprising 41 undergraduates, engaged in portfolio‐supported reflective assessment in KB inquiry. Classroom observations, audio recordings of group discussions and reflections, and student artefacts were collected in both conditions. Results and Conclusions: The experimental class demonstrated significantly higher levels of collective epistemic agency than the comparison class, as indicated by their collective knowledge advancement and epistemic and metacognitive actions. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed that reflective assessment enhanced the undergraduates' collective epistemic agency through their collective monitoring and regulation of inquiry and ideas, negotiation and synthesis of the community's ideas, conceptualization of collective theories and identification of collective inquiry trajectories with an internal reflective structure. Major Takeaways: Higher‐level metacognitive actions are critical for productive collaborative inquiry and higher‐level epistemic agency that does not often occur naturally and should be promoted by appropriate scaffolding strategies. Students need data from learning analytics and accompanying prompt sheets to help them develop the internal metacognitive structure for agency and learning. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic?: Undergraduates' collective epistemic agency (CEA) is critical for productive KB.Analytics‐assisted reflective assessment (AARA) are promising in fostering CEA. What does this paper add?: AARA has positive influences on students' CEAAARA helps students develop CEA through the following mechanisms.AARA supports students' collective regulation and negotiation of collective ideas.AARA enhances conceptualization and deepening of collective trajectories with an internal reflective structure. Implications for practice/or policy: Higher‐level metacognitive actions are critical for collaborative inquiry and CEAAnalytics‐assisted RA can enhance students' higher‐level metacognitive actions.Students should be provided with learning data and appropriate scaffolding strategies.These data and strategies can develop students' internal metacognitive structure crucial for agency and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the role of management programmes in students' development of management competences. Data were drawn from supervisors' assessments of the actual achievement of these competences among students on the IQS Undergraduate Programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management. The results over a sample of 121 students show that students develop management competences excellently. Furthermore, mean comparison analyses carried out to explore possible differences in students' achievement of management competences show that students' gender and internship subsector are in some cases significant. These findings indicate that the degree programme's academic curriculum fulfills its core objective of adequately preparing future leaders for management roles in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developing structure of Omani higher education sector depends upon a culturally diverse group of international academics who outnumber their Omani colleagues. This creates a unique group composition that is inconsistent with the largely Omanising workplace context. Drawing on data gathered from a case study, this paper explores the reasons and the effects of group instability resulting from faculty's national diversity on establishing a group's social identity, the latter being an antecedent for establishing an intellectual capital. The findings of the study suggest that national diversity is associated with a number of factors that impede longevity within work groups thus affecting identification with a common group prototype. These include human resources management practices, such as outsourcing recruitment, inconsistent recruitment standards, low faculty agility and a number of personal factors that emphasise individual identity. The paper concludes by arguing that the absence of social identity in higher education hinders establishing an intellectual capital that represents a cornerstone for establishing a knowledge-based economy that fuels the realisation of Oman 2040. The findings have implications to the GCC1 contexts that are characterised by depending on largely nationally diverse workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws attention to empirical work on widening access to understand the silence on race matters in English higher education. This work repurposes a critical race theoretical framework that offers a glimpse of how the issue of unequal access to higher education has been framed in the research field. It is argued here that the framing of widening access reveals a persistent colour-evasiveness that is dominant. The findings show that widening access policy has not benefitted students of colour as they are not accessing higher education with the same kind of success as their white peers. The paper concludes for a call for race-conscious interventions to remedy the continued race inequity in accessing highly rejective institutions based on the evidence gathered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scoping review provides insight into the empirical evidence on the effects of disability-related services, health promotion, testing accommodations, social and academic integration on academic success of students with disabilities in higher education. A systematic literature search was conducted in EBSCO, ERIC, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Sociological Abstracts, Cochrane Library, and LIVIVO. Empirical studies published between 2008 and 2022, in English and German language, were included. In summary, 46 studies met the inclusion criteria. The results were categorised into four intervention groups and catalogued through a system of categories. The paper demonstrates contrasting effects of the interventions on academic success. The qualitative studies showed that students evaluated the interventions as important for adaption on campus and academic success. However, quantitative studies lacked from sufficient sample sizes and causal relationships of the variables could not be established. The interventions of disability-related services, and testing accommodations did rarely show statistically significant effects on academic success. Health promotion, and social and academic integration showed significant effects of the interventions on success outcomes. The findings of this study have practical implications for university's staff and disability services, helping to promote the academic success of students with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching sports geography in higher education on the surface seems like it would be a great course to draw students in, get them exposed to geographic concepts, tools, and techniques, and the perfect forum for using examples to which students can relate. However, there are few instances of a sports geography course being in a regular rotation of courses. A deeper look at why this is reveals some challenges both administratively and academically. This reflection paper discusses some of these issues from the perspective of faculty members in the U.S. higher educational setting as well as some challenges of including physical geography in such a course. Although students tend to understand how geography and sports are intertwined from human geography concepts, physical geography concepts are also an important part of this understanding and do not get a lot of attention during these types of discussions. This reflection does consider the many ways that physical geography needs to be part of academic courses on sports geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of e‐exams in higher education is increasing. However, the role of student diversity in the acceptance of e‐exams is an under‐researched topic. In the current study, we considered student diversity in terms of three sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, and second language) and three dispositional student characteristics (computer anxiety, test anxiety, and technology openness). Objectives: The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between student diversity and acceptance of e‐exams. Methods: Our research combined cross‐sectional analyses (N = 1639) with data from a natural experiment on the introduction of e‐exams versus the established paper‐pencil exams (N = 626) and used both self‐report and institutional data. Sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics were indirectly related to pre‐exam acceptance via expectancy variables from the Technology Acceptance Model framework. Results and Conclusions: Comparisons of post‐exam acceptance showed that practical experience with the e‐exam led to a significant increase in e‐exam acceptance, and that students with low openness toward technology particularly benefited from this effect. Students' exam performance (i.e., grades) was unrelated to the exam format or their pre‐exam acceptance of the e‐exam format, and this was true across students' sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics. Takeaway: Student diversity plays a role in e‐exam acceptance, but its influence is mitigated by first‐hand experience with e‐exams. The practical implications for higher education institutions aiming to implement e‐exams are discussed. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The use of e‐exams in higher education is increasingThe role of student diversity for e‐exam acceptance is unclearTechnology acceptance is predicted by expectancies towards new system What this paper adds: We investigated students' sociodemographic and dispositional diversityDiversity predicted e‐exam acceptance via the expectanciesIn a natural experiment, first‐hand experience increased e‐exam acceptanceNo difference between performance in e‐exams and paper‐pencil‐exams found Implications of the study findings for practitioners: Higher education institutions implementing e‐exams should consider diversitySupport for older students and students with low technology openness neededNo student groups systematically disadvantaged by e‐exam implementationPractice rooms can increase experience with new system before exam [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a longitudinal research project that followed the undergraduate entrants of 2013 into, and through their university time, this paper provides a novel conceptualisation of transformative transitions via looking at the four dimensions of non-linearity, multiplicity, diversity and structure. To do so, it builds on Archer's (2000, 2003, 2012) relational realist approach and work on reflexivity to show how students select and merge a diverse set of personal concerns to arrive at a modus vivendi. This capstone paper closes a series of publications from a four-year tracking study that collected interview data from a diverse group of 40 students on a yearly basis (n1=40, n2=40, n3=38, n4=33) at an English northern red brick university. The paper explores the changing focus of student experiences, from the social aspects of acclimatisation, to learning to be academic, and finally, becoming a graduate. The results presented here also point to the structural enablements and constraints that higher education institutions and policymakers should mitigate in responding to the inequalities of access and experience. In the context of a large-scale societal crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic, it is key that we understand how university can remain a transformative experience for all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education can be hugely transformative for students and has an important role in empowering human capital, innovation, and society's social, cultural, and environmental development. The expansion of higher education has promoted access for a more heterogeneous mix of students, but ensuring access does not guarantee academic success. This paper aims to analyse predictors of academic achievement in 447 first-year students in their 1st and 2nd semesters, considering variables including sex, age, parents' educational level and grades on entering higher education, along with levels of students' academic engagement and self-efficacy after some weeks at university. Results show statistically significant paths for sex, age, and GPA to 1st-semester achievement, for parent's educational levels to perceived self-efficacy, for students' academic engagement to 1stsemester achievement, and 1st-semester achievement to 2nd-semester achievement. Students' academic engagement also had an indirect effect on the 2nd-semester achievement. The correlation between academic engagement and self-efficacy was positive, strong, and statistically significant. The model explained 35.2% of the variance in 2nd-semester achievement and 15.0% of the variance in 1st-semester achievement. Knowledge about predictors of academic achievement and the importance of engagement and self-efficacy will support timely interventions, promoting success and preventing failure and dropout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 80,000 children in England were being looked after in Local Authority care in 2020 and a further 40,000 people were defined as 'care leavers'. Although a significant body of research highlights the prevalence of educational low achievement in the care experienced population, official government figures show that around 13% of care experienced pupils progress to higher education by the age of 19. In a climate of 'widening participation' in which universities encourage inclusion and student diversity, this research invited students with a care background to discuss their experiences of settling into university life. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with 42 students from four universities and an online survey completed by 192 students in 29 universities in England and Wales. Findings revealed that although care experienced students overcome significant challenges to progress to higher education, over half considered dropping out. Others reported feeling isolated and inadequately supported, both financially and pastorally, by their institution. This paper uses a lens of resilience to consider the environmental factors that impact upon student transitions, and concludes that universities must act to balance inequalities in order to appropriately welcome and appreciate care leavers for the skills and experience they bring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic advising is an integral component of higher education that impacts student achievement, university retention, and graduation rates. Given the current competitive arena in Thai higher education, advising plays an increasingly critical role in students' and universities' success. However, advising is a complex process, and what actually occurs, with whom, when, and where is complicated. Furthermore, little is known of the current state of advising in Thai higher education as in the extant literature there are as yet no articles in English on the subject. The present article presents an auto-ethnographic reflection of the author's lived experience in conducting advising at a university in Thailand between 2020 and 2022. The purposes of this article were to shed light on the current state of advising in Thai higher education by sharing the author's lived experience, and to connect this experience to broader issues in advising at Thai universities. Suggestions are given to further the professionalization and quality of advising in Thai higher education, including a call for a paradigmatic shift from a traditional, prescriptive approach to a developmental, holistic one. Given the lack of English literature on advising in Thailand, this paper provides needed insights into the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the viva being an essential component of all PhD and other doctoral qualifications in UK universities, there is little research into their accessibility for autistic students, or the process of adjusting them to individual students' needs. Autistic student voices about the viva are almost completely absent from the literature. This paper is the first to employ a collaborative, ethnographical case study to explore the doctoral viva voce experience of an autistic student, directly from their perspective and from the perspectives of non-autistic academics central to the process. The experiences we share highlight the limitations of 'reasonable accommodation' plans, if they offer only generic support based on a diagnostic label, rather than taking account of the individual needs, and the importance of recognising the unique role that the viva voce holds within doctoral studies. We present a 'reasonable accommodations' discussion document, to facilitate autistic student-centred discussions and ensure the viva process is fair and accessible. We further assert that accommodations should be formally noted within the examination report as to their use and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of affirmative action on the incentives to human capital accumulation are ambiguous from a theoretical perspective and the scarce empirical evidence on the matter provides mixed results. In this paper, we address this issue by investigating the impacts of Brazil's Law of Quotas on the students' performance in the college entrance exam, the ENEM. We provide causal evidence that the law fostered incentives to pre-college human capital accumulation, inducing students to attain higher ENEM scores. Moreover, the effects of the quotas were greater in quantitative-intensive subjects and these impacts increased throughout the first years after the law's implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Academic success is a measure of students' ability to attain their educational objectives, often assessed through regular evaluations or examinations. To establish effective policies and programs that align with academic accomplishments, conducting comprehensive data analysis is pivotal. Hence, this systematic review aimed to synthesize the factors impeding the academic achievements of Ethiopian students in higher education. Methods: A comprehensive review was conducted on studies involving Ethiopian university students from 2013 to 2022. The review encompassed 24 papers that were gathered from different databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, African Journals Online, Scopus, and Web of Science. Results: The findings of this research revealed that inadequate classroom environments, experiencing dysmenorrhea, and engaging in excessive social media usage were all linked to a decline in academic performance. Conversely, adopting healthy sleep habits, achieving high scores in entrance exams, and avoiding recent substance abuse were all factors positively influencing academic success. In addition, there was a positive correlation between academic excellence and being a health science college student and age range of 20 to 24 years old. Conclusion: To enhance academic performance, it is crucial to address the negative factors identified, such as inadequate classroom environments, dysmenorrhea, and excessive social media usage, while promoting positive factors like healthy sleep habits, high scores in exams, and avoiding substance abuse. Additionally, being a health science college student and belonging to the age range of 20 to 24 were found to be associated with academic excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a large sample of students from a Dutch university to describe variations in academic performance following a change in the strictness of academic dismissal policies. The research setting includes one moment in which the performance threshold for academic dismissal has been changed, keeping constant other characteristics of the educational system. Using a descriptive approach, we show that after the threshold has been raised the number of credits earned by academically weak students increases. A higher threshold level also brings their study effort forward in time, as evidenced by a decrease in the number of no-shows and an increase in the number of credits earned during regular exams. We also show that some students perceive the minimum performance level as a target level. The evidence suggests that variations in the implementation of academic dismissal policies affect students' tendency to procrastinate, especially among weaker students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Jackson and Mazzei's thinking with theory, this paper centers the stories of three researchers who practiced critical self-reflection while engaging in secondary analysis of data from The Pedagogy of Student Success Project, a study intended to learn about graduate students' evolving conceptualizations of student success. In particular, the researchers were interested in how their individual theoretical leanings influenced how they interacted with the data and how their collaborations in turn shaped their thinking. To explore this phenomena, the authors analyzed qualitative data from two participants, wrote reflective memorandums, and held conversations about their theoretical leanings. The three researchers addressed how the Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework, Black Feminisms, and Intersectionality shaped their analysis of qualitative data. Findings reveal how scholars' theoretical leanings inform how they analyze and interpret student success research, in addition to showing how research collaborations play a role in thinking with theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the importance of 'time spent' in understanding the international student experience. Short‐term mobility programmes (involving stays of between 1 week and 2 months) attracting less privileged students, such as the relatively new Turing Scheme in the United Kingdom, have been hailed as a potential 'solution' to the fact that, traditionally, wealthier individuals have been far more likely to engage in study abroad. However, we do not yet know how short‐term and longer duration programmes compare in terms of the value they confer to students (in relation to their experiences and outcomes). How likely is it that short‐term mobility at undergraduate level is as valuable, according to different measures, as mobility lasting 6 months to several years (as with degree mobility)? This paper reviews some of the evidence to date on shorter duration mobility, addressing how value in international study is constructed and conferred and how this relates to 'time spent'. The paper concludes by arguing that the picture is mixed: although short‐term mobility will be beneficial to students, those engaging in longer term exchanges (usually more privileged students) are likely to derive greater benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, there has been a dramatic change in the educational landscape, and traditional classroom instruction has shifted to the online environment. Previous research has yielded contradictory results regarding the effect of different instructional modalities on student achievement. This study aimed to examine the impact of teaching mode (online vs. face-to-face) on academic outcomes in the context of Spanish as a foreign language in China. A comparative analysis was conducted between two cohorts of students, one receiving online courses and the other undergoing in-person instruction, and their respective scores for Spanish tests are reported. Additionally, a questionnaire was administered to the online cohort to gain insight into their learning motivation. The results showed that students who received online instruction outperformed those who received face-to-face instruction. Regarding the potential factors underlying the superior academic outcomes of online learners, examination of questionnaire responses pertaining to their learning experience reveals that students' motivation, learning strategies, self-regulation, and self-efficacy are crucial factors of successful learning results and may have positively contributed to such outcomes. Plain Language Summary: How do online and f2f learning differ in SFL students' academic achievements and experience? The paper examines the effect of learning modality (online vs. face-to-face) on SFL student's academic achievements during COVID-19. Previous research indicated mixed findings on the effects of learning modality on student achievement. Few previous studies have focused on the effect of teaching mode in a Spanish as a foreign language setting. Based on naturalistic data, we compared two groups concerning academic achievement. The online group also answered a questionnaire about their attitude toward learning modes, motivation, strategies, and self-reported skills. The study is a mixed design; academic achievements were measured with two exam scores on both groups (before and after the implementation of online teaching), and the answers from the questionnaire also provide some insight into possible reasons for the difference. The main findings are: (1) The online group outperformed the face-to-face group after online learning. (2) Results of the questionnaire are discussed related to the literature. (3) Possible explanations for online learners' success include learners' motivation, learning strategies, self-regulation, and self-efficacy; multiple activities in the online course that can improve learners' participation and provide them instant feedback; students, instructors, and universities' preparedness for online teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the emotional responses towards research assessment reflect both social position and strategy in the struggle for scientific authority. This is examined through interviews with humanities researchers conducted as a part of a study on the implications for research practice of the Danish Bibliometric Research Indicator (BFI). Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of practice and Scheer and Matthäus' conceptualisation of the affective habitus and emotional practices, our research suggests that emotions can be conceptualized as strategic practices closely tied to the hierarchical position of the researchers. Established researchers deployed emotional practices as a form of resistance against compliance-based research assessment to retain their scientific authority and autonomy, while early-career researchers generally wanted to resist but their precarious positions did not afford them the possibility to do so. The study thus highlights the potential of studying emotions in relation to resistance and reproduction of dominance in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the intersection of income and race in structuring access to higher education among students that participate in a national high-stakes exam in Brazil. Our objectives are (i) to estimate the probability of students coming from different income strata, racial groups, and performance levels to access higher education and (ii) to decompose income and racial effects into direct (net of educational performance) and indirect effects (through educational performance). Our data comes from a panel of high school graduates tracked between 2012 and 2017 and allow us to describe the following findings. Firstly, the probability of entering higher education is always higher among candidates from higher income strata. Second, there is a convergence in admission probabilities across the performance scale. Third, the admission curve across a performance scale is much steeper among applicants from low-income strata compared to richer students. In all of these results, students self-identified as black, brown, or indigenous (BBI) are less likely to transition to higher education than whites, even though they are in the same income and performance strata. We suggest that students from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds benefit from alternative entry strategies, such as paying tuition at less competitive private colleges. For students from low-income strata, the main alternative for entering higher education is through high academic performance. By decomposing racial effects, we show the cumulative effect of racial stratification; the gap between white and BBI students is both related to higher propensity of transitioning to higher education and higher educational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formative assessment is considered to be helpful in students' learning support and teaching design. Following Aufschnaiter's and Alonzo's framework, formative assessment practices of teachers can be subdivided into three practices: eliciting evidence, interpreting evidence and responding. Since students' conceptions are judged to be important for meaningful learning across disciplines, teachers are required to assess their students' conceptions. The focus of this article lies on the discussion of learning analytics for supporting the assessment of students' conceptions in class. The existing and potential contributions of learning analytics are discussed related to the named formative assessment framework in order to enhance the teachers' options to consider individual students' conceptions. We refer to findings from biology and computer science education on existing assessment tools and identify limitations and potentials with respect to the assessment of students' conceptions. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Students' conceptions are considered to be important for learning processes, but interpreting evidence for learning with respect to students' conceptions is challenging for teachers.Assessment tools have been developed in different educational domains for teaching practice.Techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning have been applied for automated assessment of specific aspects of learning.What does the paper add Findings on existing assessment tools from two educational domains are summarised and limitations with respect to assessment of students' conceptions are identified.Relevent data that needs to be analysed for insights into students' conceptions is identified from an educational perspective.Potential contributions of learning analytics to support the challenging task to elicit students' conceptions are discussed.Implications for practice and/or policy Learning analytics can enhance the eliciting of students' conceptions.Based on the analysis of existing works, further exploration and developments of analysis techniques for unstructured text and multimodal data are desirable to support the eliciting of students' conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies debating the applicability of conventional human resource management to higher education institutions relating to particular characteristics of academic staff members and their roles have not considered Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan. This research explores challenges to incorporating effective human resource management in Jordanian higher education institutions based on in-depth interviews with 21 academics with experience working in public and private universities in Jordan. Five major challenges were identified: (1) the lack of a comprehensive evaluation system for academics; (2) the negligence of the significant role human resources departments may play; the nature and characteristics of academic institutions themselves; (3) the underdevelopment of human resource management practice in Jordan; (4) the ethos of academic staff members; and (5) the role of wasta (a local variant of nepotism) in influencing various human resource-related decisions. This paper provides unique insights on the successful management of human resources in academic institutions locally, regionally, and possibly internationally, giving due consideration to contextual factors (e.g. national culture) that affect operations. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are presented at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, while conceptual in nature, is informed by both research and practice. Exploring the "engagement interface" as the site for student engagement (SE), we offer a conceptual contribution in engaging with the Kahu and Nelson (2018) model by bringing in a fuller understanding of SE grounded in the higher education context rather than being uncritically transplanted from a compulsory education context. This involves consideration of the multiple facets of SE as well as the dynamic, shifting and multilocal nature of the construct. The paper then proceeds to enhance the details of the model, grounding them in a finer-grained reading of the literature and relating educational constructs to the model's proposed "mechanisms" in a conceptually substantiated way. This further extends Kahu and Nelson's aim of illuminating the "black box" of SE. Our third contribution is to practice by proposing tactics: informed by the literature, we invite practitioners to consider ways in which they can increase the likelihood of facilitating engagement with, and by, students more constructively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance assessment is permeating increasingly diverse domains of higher education, even in areas previously perceived to be too complex and idiosyncratic to quantify. The UK's attempts to assess 'research impact' within the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are illustrative of this trend and are being closely monitored by several other countries. A fundamental rationale for employing narrative case studies to assess impact within REF, rather than taking a (less resource intensive) quantified approach, was that this would allow for the variation, complexity and idiosyncrasy inherent in research impact. This paper considers whether this promise of narrative flexibility has been realised, by analysing a combination of REF impact case study reports and interviews and focus group discussions with actors involved in case study production. Informed by this analysis, our central argument is that the very quality which allows narratives to govern is their ability to standardise performance (albeit whilst retaining a degree of flexibility). The paper proposes that REF impact case studies position narratives of impact as technologies of governance in ways that restrict the 'plot line' and belie the far more complex accounts held by those working to achieve research impact. This is partly because, as research impact becomes institutionalised within universities' measurement infrastructures, higher education institutions become impact gatekeepers, filtering out narratives that are deemed overly complex or insufficiently persuasive, while perpetuating particular approaches to recounting tales of impact that are deemed likely to perform well. Crucially, these narratives not only describe impact but actively construct it as an auditable phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumerist views have increased in English higher education. At the same time, the wellbeing of university students is of growing concern. Some research suggests that consumerist views amongst students link to lower wellbeing and achievement. This prompted the current paper which speculates that the concept of autonomy (as depicted in self-determination theory) might provide a useful lens through which to analyse consumerist attitudes in UK higher education and their possible effects on students. Self-determination theory posits that people are fulfilled and have optimal motivation when their basic needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy are met. These three basic needs are complementary. Each could provide a lens for examining the facilitators or barriers to optimal motivation within higher education. This paper focuses on autonomy and explores possible links between a consumerist orientation and student wellbeing and achievement in English universities. Using self-determination theory, autonomy-enhancing ways of framing policy and managing the student experience and teaching and learning are outlined. The concept of autonomy offers a useful framework for potential enhancement of student motivation and wellbeing at policy, institutional and programme levels. Further empirical work could usefully explore and refine the hypotheses advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-pandemic, many universities are seeking ways to better engage students and support them to stay with and succeed in their studies. Immersive scheduling, whereby students complete units over shorter time periods than the traditional 12–15 week semester or trimester, may be a way to do this and improve academic outcomes at scale. This paper focuses on the impact of an immersive scheduling model at a public Australian university where higher education is being delivered over 6-week terms using active learning pedagogy. Student grades (N = 9,655) and unit feedback survey responses (N = 3,267) were collected from a suite of non-award pathways, sub-bachelor and Bachelor units offered in the immersive scheduling model in 2021 and the traditional trimester model in 2019. Results were compared across the two models for commencing, continuing, pathways, undergraduate, on-campus, online and mixed-mode students. Success rates improved in the immersive scheduling model compared to the traditional trimester model to a statistically significant degree for all cohorts, with particularly strong achievement enhancements observed for online students. These improvements exceeded results for a control group of units delivered in the traditional model in both years. Strong improvements in the pathways units, which were delivered using active learning pedagogy before and after the implementation of immersive scheduling, demonstrate that the more focused way of learning created through the model may be an important factor underpinning improved academic success. High levels of unit and teaching satisfaction were maintained in the immersively-scheduled units, indicating that the model supports high student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Florida Senate Bill 1720 drastically changed developmental education, beginning in fall 2014. This paper considers affected faculty members' perceptions and experiences with the passage and implementation of reform, according to focus group data provided by 294 participants at 21 Florida College System institutions between 2014 and 2019. We found that faculty members experienced feelings of powerlessness and meaninglessness—the two main components of policy alienation—related to the passage of SB 1720, with some reported opportunities for discretion and innovation at a local level. Despite feelings of alienation, faculty worked hard to facilitate student success through the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adds to the literature on the relationship between procrastination and academic performance. We measure procrastination as the speed with which students do an online math course on the ALEKS learning platform. This pre-admission course is mandatory for students that are weak in math. Using a large dataset of undergraduate students at a Dutch school of economics, we estimate linear probability models for dropout and graduation rates. Controlling for students' background characteristics, we find that procrastination increases dropout rates and decreases graduation rates. The coefficient estimates indicate that the influence of procrastination on dropout and graduation rates is sizable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveys with rating scales are often used in higher education research to measure student learning and development, yet testing and reporting on the longitudinal psychometric properties of these instruments is rare. Rasch techniques allow scholars to map item difficulty and individual aptitude on the same linear, continuous scale to compare respondents' development against scale challenge. This paper uses an example from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) to demonstrate how Rasch modeling can help researchers improve their instruments over time. Results indicate that adding more difficult items, particularly related to behavior, improved scale performance from one time point to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and guiding instructional management require student performance evaluation. Traditional evaluation and analysis methods based on absolute scores, on the other hand, have certain flaws and are unable to fully reflect the information contained in student performance, thus limiting the impact of student performance evaluation on teaching and learning management. Data mining is regarded as the backbone technology for future information processing, and it introduces a new concept to the way humans use data. Schools must analyse and evaluate the performance of students in the same grade level and secondary school in a timely and staged manner. Clustering is a type of data mining that uses similarity rules to classify sample data into groups with a high degree of similarity. To address the difficulties caused by the wide variation in course difficulty in student performance evaluation, a method based on the K-means clustering algorithm is proposed. The K-means algorithm and the improved K-means algorithm with student information are investigated. The test results showed that the K-means clustering algorithm, the improved algorithm in this paper, and the fast global mean clustering algorithm all cluster the same randomly generated data set with noisy points, but the clustering time of the algorithm in this paper is only 0.04, which has obvious advantages. As a result, the clustering algorithm-based higher education management and student performance evaluation mechanism provides some insights for future research on student learning patterns. It is hoped that instructional administrators will gain a better understanding of students' learning characteristics so that they can better guide their teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the experiences of a PhD student researcher grappling with a highly complex project. We examine a number of issues relating to teaching in the multilingual university and question the powerful role of English in the PhD journey. We focus on the implications of relying on English academic resources, the problem of the predominance of English in research and publications, and the supervisee–supervisor relationships (including the development of academic voice). We have chosen to present our paper in the form of a conversation (supervisee–supervisor) to help highlight the issues which came to light not only in the student's experience but also how these were seen or understood by both people in this academic relationship. Following the exploration of these issues, we shall challenge readers to consider the relevance of the issues for the higher education context, and consider opportunities for 'doing things differently'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moldova traditionally relies on the agricultural sector, rural population representing one third of labor force. The agricultural education and research system in Moldova is characterized by the aging of the teaching and research staff, the reduction of the number of students below the critical level, unattractiveness of science and education for the young generation, the weak connection between education, science and production, but also the inefficiency of the institutional activity. All these represent a major danger for the sustainable development of the rural areas. The aim of this paper is to analyze the major factors affecting the academic performance of research and teaching staff in agricultural higher education of Moldova. The study is based on field surveys of academic personnel of State Agricultural University, the only agricultural higher education institution in Moldova. The data set includes 120 respondents. Main analyzed indicators are related to academic performance as: professional motivation, research activity in projects, published research results and achievements, main problems and challenges within the institution related and other relevant factors. As result, income level remains an important factor for staff motivation in achieving higher performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses register data to study how a particular age reward feature affects admission into two highly competitive study programs: medicine and law. The Norwegian admission system to higher education is centralized, and applicants compete in two quotas: one quota almost entirely based on grade point average from upper secondary education and one quota where students can compete with improved grades and where being older automatically increases the chance of acceptance, by awarding age points. For these study programs, we find that the admission system creates a waiting game, as gaining admission in the second quota is nearly impossible without accumulating a substantial amount of age points. If age predicts completion in higher education, this waiting game might be justified. However, if anything, we find the opposite to be true. Our paper suggests that age should carry less weight in admission decisions and that countries and/or higher education institutions should carefully consider how their admission system affects student incentives and how applicants are selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares Anglo-American and Chinese approaches to the outcomes of higher education, primarily but not solely collective outcomes, by examining the Western domain of 'public good' and 'public goods' and parallel or near parallel activities in China. It reviews scholarly discourses of society, state and higher education in the respective political cultures ('traditions'), including individualism and collectivism, university autonomy, the critical function, higher education in civil society, and global tianxia and global common good. A key issue in symmetrical cross-cultural comparison is the position from which it is made; and as well as elucidating similarities and differences the paper develops what Sen calls a 'trans-positional' view based on integrating the two positional views. The two traditions are not closely aligned. However, aside for the Anglo-American public/private dualism in economics (which occludes collective outcomes), all ideas in both traditions can contribute to transpositional understanding of the individualised and collective outcomes of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequality in students' degree outcomes has been a concern for the higher education sector and the UK government for more than a decade. Since its inception in 2018, the Office for Students in England has prioritised the need for evidence of causality through requiring institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives as set out in Access and Participation Plans. This policy development responds to several reports which identify a dearth of evidence-based interventions and scant knowledge of 'what works'. This paper traces the interplay between policy and research, focusing on the assumptions they make about causality. It concludes that unwarranted positions are taken in both spheres of practice, making progress unlikely. A conception of causality situated in extant formal theory on evidential pluralism and that draws on current practices would help us address inequality more effectively. Alternative framings of the problem of inequality in students' degree outcomes is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the changing landscapes of higher education, a large body of research has studied how scholars make sense of academic identities and careers. Yet, little is known about how academics actually 'work' on their identities to navigate normative demands and complex career structures. This paper explores how scholars negotiate career scripts trough identity work. Drawing upon 35 interviews with early career academics in political science and history, the analysis discerns four patterns of identity talk through which academic identities are constructed: achievement talk (signalling achievement and competitiveness), authenticity talk (signalling genuineness and being true to self), loyalty talk (signalling loyalty and willingness of helping out), and personation talk (adjustment to privileged identities). Defining what to display and how to correctly embody its corresponding values, these patterns convey different ways in which scholars manage their identities according to the perceived rules of recognition. Identifying several contrasting understandings of what it means to act and to represent worth, the study shows that successful identity management requires a certain feel for the game of recognition. Involving the symbolic struggle of 'fitting in' and 'standing out,' strategies for identity work are shaped by scholars' social class background and gender. In demonstrating how the prevalence of project-based work accentuates the importance of identity performances on academic markets, the findings suggest that the concept of identity labour may open up new avenues of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies in higher education have attempted to study the impact of quality management practices on organisational innovation processes and outcomes in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, there is relatively limited research examining the impact of multidimensional quality management practices (QM-practices) on academics' innovative behaviour and performance. This paper aims to explore the relationship between QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour and examine how innovative behaviour affects academics' innovative work performance. A total of 586 responses were collected from public and private universities with self-accreditation status in Malaysia. The results indicated a significant and positive relationship between Social QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour. Also, a significant and positive relationship was found between innovative work behaviour and work performance. However, there is no direct impact between Social and Technical QM-practices on academic work performance. The relationship between Social QM-practices and work performance is indirectly established through innovative work behaviour. The findings signified the importance of innovative work behaviour on academic's work performance and highlighted the indirect impacts of Social QM-practices on innovative performance through innovative work behaviour in Malaysian HEIs. Efforts to improve Social QM-practices especially in promoting leadership for quality management, developing strategic vision, and providing effective educational support, as well as training may facilitate innovative work behaviour and enhance work performance at Malaysian HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although higher education has become more accessible to people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, the transition to university is more difficult for first- compared to continuing-generation students. Previous research showed that social identity processes are key to understand differences between first- and continuing-generation students' experiences at university. In the present paper, we argue that social background identity concealment may occur as a coping process among first-generation students. A longitudinal study among 829 first-year university students showed that first-generation students indeed concealed their social background at university more than continuing-generation students. This was especially the case when they had experienced concerns about their social belonging at university, indicating that identity concealment resulted from concerns to fit in at university. Finally, social background concealment was related to a decrease in well-being, suggesting that concealment is a costly social identity management strategy. Instead, universities should put in efforts to increase first-generation students' sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights findings from the first phase of an ongoing qualitative Youth Participatory Acton Research (YPAR) study with a group of students with foster care experience at a large public university in the Northeastern United States. The first phase of data collection consisted of a focus group designed and carried out by co-researchers, amongst themselves. Data was analyzed in two ways, by a faculty member and doctoral student, using thematic content analysis, and through a collaborative analytic process with student co-researchers using an adapted version of Carol Gilligan's, "Listening Guide" in which co-researchers created, analyzed and performed "I Poems" from the focus group transcript. Findings from each data analytic process were compared and contrasted; discrepancies amongst themes from each analytic process led to the merging and creation of new modified themes. Findings illuminate the barriers and facilitators to completion of high school, and applying to college for this cohort of students, as well as barriers and facilitators to retention once in college. Additionally, recommendations are made for university professionals to become more affirming of scholars connected to foster care systems. This study is unique in that it is the first known study to engage with college students with foster care experience in a participatory research process that centers their voices, concerns and priorities in both research design and data. Student organizing and action emanating from the PAR approach are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans children have become more visible in primary schools in recent years. Arising from a qualitative study with twelve parents of trans children (aged 5–13) and six primary school educators in Ireland, this paper explores how trans children experience two very different forms of celebratory rituals that are entangled with life in primary schools: birthday celebrations and religious rituals. These rituals are experienced as moments of affectively intense rupture for trans children, moments that shunt the violence of the disciplinary framework of gender into view. Informed by theorizing on gender norms and affect, this paper makes visible the cruel conundrum of navigating a gender frame that acts violently but at the same provides the very terms through which trans identities can be asserted and apprehended. Ultimately, this paper provides an empirical illustration of the messiness of gender and argues for the necessity to complicate the framework of gender in primary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the successes and challenges of a Supplemental Instruction/Peer Assisted Learning (SI/PAL) scheme at an Irish Higher Education Institute that was the outcome of a co-working approach between academic staff and the Students' Union. It considers how novel approaches can enhance student experience, support student learning and develop inter-disciplinary skills. The paper reviews three years of data, including student surveys, result outcomes, attendance data and input from representatives of the programme to evaluate the success of this SI initiative. The paper also provides recommendations for other Higher Education institutions seeking to provide, and sustain, Supplemental Instruction within a resource-limited environment through collaborative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of students with chronic illnesses in UK universities. Sixty-seven students with chronic illnesses completed an online survey with open-ended questions about their experiences in higher education. Questions covered four main topics: academic work; university staff; social and extracurricular activities; and participants' miscellaneous opinions. Using thematic analysis, the data were analysed with references to the social model of disability and social representations of chronic illness. Participants wrote of misconceptions surrounding chronic illnesses, a sense of inequality, and feeling undervalued. Many staff members seemed to lack understanding and so 'policed' academic regulations rather than accommodating for their chronic illnesses. However, some participants wrote of social and academic 'allies' who offered understanding and proactive support. The findings add substance to the chronic illness literature with the focus on students at university, and we offer recommendations to universities for improving inclusivity for students with chronic illnesses. Disabled students with energy-limiting chronic illnesses are frustrated by a lack of support and feel that they have fewer opportunities than non-disabled students. Some university staff may hold negative views of disabled individuals, and so provide inadequate support. This can lead to students' reluctance to disclose chronic illnesses. Students with chronic illnesses felt that some staff and peers did not class chronic illnesses as 'real' disabilities and felt that they were perceived lesser than those with visible disabilities. Some students proudly owned the label of 'disabled' to educate others, including staff, who sometimes used university regulations inappropriately to excuse not adjusting support for disabled students. Some staff and students were perceived as supportive allies. Universities must listen to disabled students and those with chronic illnesses to ensure they fulfil their legal and moral obligations of providing equality of opportunity, enabling all students to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of China's Education Modernization Plan 2035 has signified the Chinese government's commitment to advancing the quality of education. Recent studies have shown that the prioritization of instructor continuous professional development (CPD) through the Ministry of Education mandates has positively affected talent development and student achievement at the K12 level; however, examination of the reform's impact on Chinese higher education is limited. This paper explored the effect academic optimism, institutional policy and support, and instructor self-efficacy had on instructors' CPD within Chinese higher education institutions. This study collected data from 456 Chinese higher education instructors, employing a structural equation model to examine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Findings indicate academic optimism and institutional policy and support have a significant positive effect on CPD, β =.645 and.2, respectively, while instructor self-efficacy has nearly no effect on CPD, β = −.031. Institutional policy and support have a significant, influential effect on academic optimism, β =.652; however, there is nearly zero impact on instructor self-efficacy, β =.032. The implications of the findings indicate that institutional leadership is crucial in developing an academic culture that promotes and supports continuous professional development; however, individual drive to pursue CPD is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technologies and teaching practices can provide a rich log data, which enables learning analytics (LA) to bring new insights into the learning process for ultimately enhancing student success. This type of data has been used to discover student online learning patterns, relationships between online learning behaviors and assessment performance. Previous studies have provided empirical evidence that not all log variables were significantly associated with student academic achievement and the relationships varied across courses. Therefore, this study employs a systematic review with meta‐analysis method to provide a comprehensive review of the log variables that have an impact on student academic achievement. We searched six databases and reviewed 88 relevant empirical studies published from 2010 to 2021 for an in‐depth analysis. The results show different types of log variables and the learning contexts investigated in the reviewed studies. We also included four moderating factors to do moderator analyses. A further significance test was performed to test the difference of effect size among different types of log variables. Limitations and future research expectations are provided subsequently. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Significant relationship between active engagement in online courses and academic achievement was identified in a number of previous studies.Researchers have reviewed the literature to examine different aspects of applying LA to gain insights for monitoring student learning in digital environments (eg, data sources, data analysis techniques).What this paper adds Presents a new perspective of the log variables, which provides a reliable quantitative conclusion of log variables in predicting student academic achievement.Conducted subgroup analysis, examined four potential moderating variables and identified their moderating effect on several log variables such as regularity of study interval, number of online sessions, time‐on‐task, starting late and late submission.Compared the effect of generic and course‐specific, basic and elaborated log variables, and found significant difference between the basic and elaborated.Implications for practice and/or policy A depth of understanding of these log variables may enable researchers to build robust prediction models.It can guide the instructors to timely adjust teaching strategies according to their online learning behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As universities around the world have begun to use learning management systems (LMSs), more learning data have become available to gain deeper insights into students' learning processes and make data‐driven decisions to improve student learning. With the availability of rich data extracted from the LMS, researchers have turned much of their attention to learning analytics (LA) applications using educational data mining techniques. Numerous LA models have been proposed to predict student achievement in university courses. To design predictive LA models, researchers often follow a data‐driven approach that prioritizes prediction accuracy while sacrificing theoretical links to learning theory and its pedagogical implications. In this study, we argue that instead of complex variables (e.g., event logs, clickstream data, timestamps of learning activities), data extracted from online formative assessments should be the starting point for building predictive LA models. Using the LMS data from multiple offerings of an asynchronous undergraduate course, we analysed the utility of online formative assessments in predicting students' final course performance. Our findings showed that the features extracted from online formative assessments (e.g., completion, timestamps and scores) served as strong and significant predictors of students' final course performance. Scores from online formative assessments were consistently the strongest predictor of student performance across the three sections of the course. The number of clicks in the LMS and the time difference between first access and due dates of formative assessments were also significant predictors. Overall, our findings emphasize the need for online formative assessments to build predictive LA models informed by theory and learning design. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Higher education institutions often use learning analytics for the early identification of low‐performing students or students at risk of dropping out.Most predictive models in learning analytics rely on immutable student characteristics (e.g., gender, race and socioeconomic status) and complex variables extracted from log data within a learning management system.Prioritizing prediction accuracy without theory orientation often yields "black‐box" models that fail to inform educators on what remedies need to be taken to improve student learning.What this paper adds Predictive models in learning analytics should consider learning theory, pedagogy and learning design to identify key predictors of student learning.Online formative assessments can be a starting point for building predictive models that are not only accurate but also provide educators with actionable insights on how student learning can be improved.Time‐related and score‐related features extracted from online formative assessments are particularly useful for predicting students' course performance.Implications for practice and/or policy This study provides strong evidence for using online formative assessments as the foundation for predictive models in learning analytics.Student data from online formative assessments can help educators provide students with feedback while informing future formative assessment cycles.Higher education institutions should avoid the hype around complex data from learning management systems and instead rely on effective learning tools such as online formative assessments to revolutionize the use of learning analytics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective teaching of STEM has become a significant concern for teachers' professional development (PD). Many teachers are not familiar with STEM strategies and do not possess the disciplinary knowledge or pedagogical strategies demanded by STEM teaching. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to explore the path and model of Chinese teachers' professional development about STEM understanding based on their participation in the Zhejiang-Indiana STEM summer programme. This programme capitalises on strategies referred to as the observation-discussion-reflection (ODR) framework. The participants were 82 teachers who specialise in science, technology, or mathematics and who attended the training activities. There were two weeks of training interventions. Statistical analysis of two groups of teachers' pre-test and post-test, as well as the comparative analysis of two groups, were conducted. The changes in teachers' STEM discipline knowledge as well as their abilities and attitudes were investigated. Overall, the findings indicate variations in how teachers understand the different components of STEM knowledge with integrated knowledge requiring the most attention for further professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant issue in the teaching, learning and summative assessment of practical science is that the underpinning model of scientific methods is based on a fairly simplistic and linear account that does not represent how scientists actually do practical work. In this paper, we examine how science teachers in England and Wales view scientific methods included in teaching and summative assessment of practical science. Following on a survey of 51 secondary teachers' views, we focus on the outcomes of a professional development programme where science teachers were introduced to a framework called Brandon's Matrix that presents a diversity of scientific methods in the context of Project Calibrate. Through in-depth qualitative analysis, we investigated how three teachers engaged with this framework having taught it to their students. The findings illustrate that teachers conceptualise practical science as a mainly hands-on activity, while they express the need for the inclusion of more minds-on skills in the high-stakes assessment of practical science. In addition, the findings show that teachers are quite receptive to adapting new frameworks, such as Brandon's Matrix, for their teaching. Although the teachers did not see a significant departure of the assessment questions from the regular high-stakes tests taken at age 16, they did recognise that there was a valuable element of thinking skills embedded in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]