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A well-designed educational programming dataset is a valuable asset for students and educators. Such a dataset enables students to improve their programming performances continuously, provides researchers with significant data sources to identify students' learning behaviours and enhance the quality of programming education. Several existing datasets for programming education are either limited by a small number of participating students or a short span of learning records, bringing great challenges to investigate students' learning patterns in programming. We present a graph-based large-scale dataset specialized in programming learning on Online Judge (OJ) platform. The dataset, named ACcoding, was built by a university teaching group. As of the submission date of the initial manuscript of this paper (May 6, 2022), the dataset contains 4,046,652 task-solving records submitted by 27,444 students on 4,559 programming tasks over a span of 6 years. The large size of the dataset, combined with rich functional features, empowers educators to trace students' programming progress and choose appropriate programming tasks for specific training purposes. We also presents examples of applications used by the dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasingly global cultural exchanges, people are more conscious about the importance of mastering a foreign language. Language translation and helping students in the colleges with their learning abilities to master one or more languages using computer-aided translation and training system has become an important research. Intelligibility is one of the most important indicators for translation evaluation of Chinese language spoken by English learners, but there is a big gap between the automatic translation intelligibility score and the human expert score. Based on this concept, this paper addresses the existing challenges faced by translation detection software to analyze their limitations and characteristics, especially related to learners' Chinese translation experience. To enhance translation recognition accuracy, we employ a data mining approach to identify imaging factors associated with incorrect translation by college students. First, we develop a data mining recognition and detection method, leading to improved accuracy in translation recognition by utilizing association specification and classification. The classifier is then utilized to distinguish various types of translation errors, while also incorporating a translation intelligibility evaluation to provide error correction feedback to learners. The proposed model outperforms standard translation methods and alternative approaches, achieving impressive identification accuracy (94.58%), efficiency (88.12%), and a low missed detection rate (5.32%). Moreover, it significantly reduces the translation mistakes, including grammatical (5.21%), semantic (3.45%), and contextual (2.18%) errors. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier outshines artificial neural network (ANN) classification in error detection, and the suggested scoring system demonstrates its superiority with the highest average correlation coefficient (0.822) compared to expert scoring. Experimental results confirm the improved accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed translation recognition and detection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many social work students and educators had to switch gears quickly and replace face-to-face courses with online delivery. While most had had experience with remote learning, the unexpected and immediate transition was challenging. Students and educators who had chosen in-person instruction had to adapt quickly to a learning paradigm for which they had not planned, while simultaneously coping with the anxieties brought on by the pandemic, such as economic hardships, threat of illness, and new family responsibilities. The pandemic has engendered fear, trauma, grief, and loss, all of which negatively affect instruction and learning. This reflection paper identifies special challenges and issues with regard to teaching and learning in social work clinical practice courses brought on by the pandemic. Utilizing the theoretical frameworks of ambiguous loss, interpersonal neurobiology, and the here and now approach, this paper suggests effective teaching methods and collaborative learning strategies to inform social work education during academic disruption in this and future emergencies (e.g., natural disasters). It is suggested that social presence, as well as group cohesion among students and between students and instructors, can serve as a protective factor to ensure continued productive motivation for teaching and learning while facing the challenges that are experienced during such times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese college English teaching inevitably involves western culture, but actually great differences exist between Chinese culture and western culture. Therefore, how to establish the scientific outlook on western culture has long been a thorny issue for Chinese college English teachers. Commencing with an illustration of the necessity and importance of correct guidance and penetration western culture in Chinese college English teaching, this paper deeply analyzes the problems and shortcomings of present Chinese college English teaching in correct guidance and penetration for western culture and puts forward effective strategies of western culture introduction and penetration in Chinese college English teaching. And the paper aims to provide a useful reference for further improving the actual result of Chinese college English teaching and effectively avoiding cultural conflict between East and West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential of edge computing and artificial intelligence to improve the quality evaluation of physical education (PE) teaching in ordinary colleges. Unlike other discipline-based teaching, PE lacks fixed classrooms, materials, and tasks, making it difficult to uniformly evaluate teaching quality. To address this issue, an edge computing optimization model is proposed to optimize the PE quality evaluation model. The evaluation of physical education curriculum teaching is a critical component of physical education teaching work, directly affecting various aspects of teaching activities. The proposed teaching evaluation model focuses on the physical fitness compliance rate of students' evaluation and reweights the proportion of final examination scores. In addition, a PE teaching health system is designed to monitor teaching quality in real-time, allowing students to evaluate the entire learning process. The system is optimized using edge computing technology, reducing network transmission costs by 20% and increasing transmission efficiency by 15%. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system effectively collects student evaluations and improves the scientific nature of PE teaching goals. The integration of edge computing and artificial intelligence technologies has the potential to enhance the capabilities of the system and improve teaching quality in ordinary colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University teaching practices impact student interest, engagement, and academic performance. This paper presents a study that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to examine students' preferences for university teaching practices. We asked students in various fields open-ended questions about the best teaching practices they had experienced. Due to the large amount of data obtained, we used the AI-based language model Generative Pretrained Transformer-3 (GPT-3) to analyse the responses. With this model, we sorted students' testimonies into nine theory-based categories regarding teaching practices. After analysing the reliability of the classifications conducted by GPT-3, we found that the agreement between humans was similar to that observed between humans and the AI model, which supported its reliability. Regarding students' preferences for teaching practices, the results showed that students prefer practices that focus on (1) clarity and (2) interaction and relationships. These results enable the use of AI-based tools that facilitate the analysis of large amounts of information collected through open methods. At the didactic level, students' preferences and demand for clear teaching practices (in which ideas and activities are stated and shown without ambiguity) that are based on interaction and relationships (between teachers and students and among students themselves) are demonstrable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in online and hybrid education during and after the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the infiltration of digital media into mainstream university teaching. Global challenges, such as ecological crises, call for further radical changes in university teaching, requiring an even richer convergence of 'natural,' 'human' and 'digital'. In this paper, we argue that this convergence demands us to go beyond 'the great online transition' and reframe how we think about university, teachers' roles and their competencies to use digital technologies. We focus on what it takes to be a teacher in a sustainable university and consider emerging trends at three levels of the educational ecosystem—global developments (macro), teachers' local practices (meso), and daily activities (micro). Through discussion of examples of ecopedagogies and pedagogies of care and self-care, we argue that teaching requires a fluency to embrace different ways of knowing and collective awareness of how the digital is entwined with human practices within and across different levels of the educational ecosystem. For this, there is a need to move beyond person-centric theorisations of teacher digital competencies towards more holistic, ecological conceptualisations. It also requires going beyond functionalist views of teachers' roles towards enabling their agentive engagement with a future-oriented, sustainable university mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of wearable device technology, light sensor has been applied in the field of fitness, but in the aerobics teaching in colleges and universities, the use of light sensor technology for motion capture research is still limited. In order to monitor the aerobic exercise process of the students in real time, the experiment converts the movement into the corresponding data information through the sensor, and then the computer is combined with the projector or camera equipment for visual simulation. Therefore, this paper aims to design and develop a wearable device-based light sensor motion capture system for calisthenics teaching in colleges and universities. The research uses light sensor technology to monitor students' movements in real time by integrating light sensor devices into their wearable devices. Sensors collect data about body posture, range of motion, and speed, and transmit it to a virtual system for processing and analysis. Through the analysis of experimental data, it is found that the motion capture system based on light sensor has high accuracy and real-time in the aerobics teaching in colleges and universities. Students can get real-time feedback on posture, amplitude and speed to help them better master the technique of aerobics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The calls for actions to combat climate change have resulted in renewable energy adoption and, consequently, an emerging renewable energy industry. Of course, this has also precipitated the need for more renewable energy expert grounded in hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) software to support the growing industry. Hence, selecting particular software for teaching renewable energy modules for the training of students at a university level is essential. The appraisal and selection of HRES sizing and optimisation software have become crucial for instructors and learners being prepared for the industry. This paper's central contribution is to provide academics, tutors, and researchers in the field of renewable energy system sizing with an idea on how to proficiently and effectively deploy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches in HRES sizing and optimisation software selection problems. A framework that combines fuzzy entropy method and fuzzy-VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) was used to rank HRES simulation software. The performance of the framework was compared with that of the complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method. The article observed a difference between the fuzzy VIKOR and COPRAS solution for ranking the most preferred software; the most preferred option using the Fuzzy VIKOR is the BCHP screening tool, and HOMER for the COPRAS method. They ranked the least preferred software as RETScreen (VIKOR method) and ORCED (COPRAS method). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching about matters related to sustainable development requires not only a personal motivation from educators, but also a variety of competences. This paper reports on a multi-country study, which aimed at identifying the level of importance given to desired competences on sustainable development by teaching staff at a number of higher education institutions. On the basis of the findings, the paper identifies the gaps and outlines some of the needs which should be addressed, via which competence building may help to foster the educational and societal transformation towards sustainability. The implications of this paper are twofold. First, it emphasises the value of and the need for competences on sustainable development. Second, it illustrates some of the needs which should be met to provide a framework among which competences on sustainable development may be further developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the assessment of university teachers. The evaluation of university teaching plays an important role in the university system in the light of the fact, that a part of the financial transfer from educational ministry is based on the quality of teaching. From Statistical point of view the use of regression models has been widely applied in this area. The logistic regression model is particularly used as discrete choice model using dichotomous dependent variable. For many regression analyses the lack of a goodness-of-fit measure is more important than coefficient interpretability. The goal of this paper is to present an overview of a few easily employed methods for assessing the model fitness of Logistic Regression Model by Pseudo- $$R^{2}$$ .Moreover the assessment is carried out through a simulation study to analyse the pattern (behaviour) of each measure, with precise focus on change of multiple correlation among the variables. In this paper a survey on student satisfaction (SS) of university teaching system was conducted. The instrument used in this paper is a questionnaire proposed by a different research group in 2010. The collected data was elaborated by a full reflective Structural Equation Model using PLS path model estimation. The initial results showed that the influence of the Organization and Infrastructures on the Student Satisfaction were statistically insignificant. Therefore a more complex model was supposed, the final results showed that the influence of Organization and Infrastructures on the SS was indirect, that is the Organization and the Infrastructures exert an influence upon the SS through the Didactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To teach the ethics of science to science majors, I follow several teachers in the literature who recommend "persona" writing, or the student construction of dialogues between ethical thinkers of interest. To engage science majors in particular, and especially those new to academic philosophy, I recommend constructing persona dialogues from Henri Poincaré's essay, "Ethics and Science" (1963/1913), and the non-theological third chapter of Pope Francis's (2015) encyclical on the environment, Laudato si. This pairing of interlocutors offers two advantages. The first is that science students are likely to recognize both names, since Poincaré appears in undergraduate mathematics and physics textbooks, and because Francis is an environmentalist celebrity. Hence students (in my experience) show more interest in these figures than in other philosophers. The second advantage is that the third chapter of Laudato si reads like an implicit rebuttal of Poincaré's essay in many respects, and so contriving a dialogue between those authors both facilitates classroom discussion, and deserves attention from professional ethicists in its own right. In this paper, I present my own contrived dialogue between Francis and Poincaré, not for assigning to students as a reading, but as a template for an effective assignment product, and as a crib sheet for educators to preview the richly antiparallel themes between the two works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the hypothesis that the notions of teaching quality used in the higher education sector have a political nature; in other words, they may describe the approaches agents take as regards the duties they perform in institutions of higher education or the model of governance those institutions should adopt. This paper uses the statements academics have made through a survey to describe the prevailing attitudes in Spain's public universities and assess the influence that certain sociodemographic variables may have on the academics' preferred options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As higher education institutions seek to prepare an increasingly diverse population of students for a rapidly changing future, makerspaces offer a pedagogical approach for engaging all learners in active thinking and hands-on learning while promoting creativity, problem solving, and collaboration skills. In this paper, we discuss ways to integrate makerspaces and maker-centered learning within undergraduate and graduate college courses that reach students from majors ranging across the college and university curriculum. We highlight four courses, each taken by students at different points within their academic programs of study: a) digital media production & 3D modeling in a first-year seminar, b) poetry writing and 3D modeling and printing in a flipped learning course, c) wiki page building workshops for future teachers, and d) learning, media, and technology undergraduate/graduate courses. Makerspace experiences are ongoing features of each course, but not in the same ways, offering models that faculty can use in adapting their courses to include more active and applied learning for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in contemplative practices in higher education. Researchers have explored the use of meditation to address the increasing requests for counseling and as a resource for improving student mental health. Contemplative practices have also been incorporated into the fundamental learning objectives in some US universities. This study of teaching methods uses first-person narratives from twenty-three 10-week seminars to examine how meditation practice benefited undergraduate students at a large public university in the US. The seminar, "Contemporary American Buddhism: How Meditation Became a Part of the Mainstream," provided meditation instruction within an historical and cultural context and was taught over a nine-year period. Four hundred undergraduates' reflective writings were included in this study. During the seminars, students participated in structured in-class meditations, practiced mindfulness exercises, read contemporary texts, viewed recent media and wrote reflective exercises. Students learned how meditation has been adapted for contemporary society, engaged in critical thinking, and reflected on their experiences. An examination of their narrative self-reports indicates outcomes similar to studies using highly structured meditation protocols; an improvement in overall well-being, lessened anxiety, better focus and increased emotional control. This study of teaching methodology also shows that students expressed a desire to continue the practice once the seminar was complete. The results suggest that a structured and systematic investigation of this teaching model would add significantly to the discussion on how to teach contemplative practice to college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively extract the multi-dimensional data of teaching quality evaluation and accurately evaluate the quality of network distance teaching quality in universities, an optimal classification algorithm for network distance teaching quality evaluation is proposed. From the perspectives of teaching attitude, teaching skill, teaching skill, teaching content, teaching method and means, the quality evaluation indices of network distance teaching is designed. Combined with the evaluation indices, the multi-dimensional data mining method based on OLAP technology is used to mine the required multi-dimensional data of teaching quality evaluation in the distance teaching data warehouse of universities, the required multi-dimensional data is input into SVM algorithm to solve the optimal classification hyperplane of multi-dimensional data and implement the optimal classification of multi-dimensional data. The quality of distance teaching is evaluated by improving the salp group algorithm and setting the penalty factor and kernel function of SVM algorithm. The experimental results show that the classification accuracy of this method for multidimensional data is over 90%, and the evaluation accuracy is as high as 99%, it can extract multi-dimensional teaching quality evaluation from the network distance teaching data, which has good classification effect and can improve the accuracy of network distance teaching quality evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of network technology, college Chinese teaching needs to be reformed as so to adapt to the network environment. This paper puts forward a new strategy of college Chinese teaching based on SNS (social network services) network platform, constructs the model of college Chinese teaching resource allocation, and designs the college Chinese teaching network teaching platform using SNS network method. The routing nodes of SNS network platform are optimized, and the improved PSO (particle swarm optimization) is used to optimize the location of SNS network platform nodes. Based on the node distribution model of PSO, the node overlay connectivity graph of the new SNS network platform of college Chinese teaching is reconstructed to realize the network coverage optimization. The experimental results show that the proposed SNS network platform has better performance of resource scheduling and network connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how research into approaches to university teaching, from a relational perspective, has been used to develop an inventory to measure the key aspects of the variation in approaches to teaching. The Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) is one of several that derive from the research perspective applied by Marton and colleagues in Europe (Marton, F., Hounsell, D., and Entwistle, N. (eds.) (1997). The Experience of Learning, 2nd edn., Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh) to student learning. A feature of these inventories is that they measure the response of a group to a particular context, rather than more general characteristics of individuals in that group. Studies using these inventories have consistently shown relations between students’ approaches to learning and the quality of their learning outcome. The question of interest to many university teachers is whether there are relations between the way teachers approach their teaching and ways their students approach their learning. This question was answered in a study published in 1999 that used the ATI to show that teacher-focused approaches to teaching were associated with students’ reproducing orientations. Subsequent research revealed that in subjects where teachers adopted more student-focused approaches to teaching, their students adopted a deeper approach to learning. Some recent research using the inventory is reviewed along with an analysis of the validity of the ATI. The current version of the inventory is reproduced in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against a backdrop of rising interest in students becoming partners in learning and teaching in higher education, this paper begins by exploring the relationships between student engagement, co-creation and student-staff partnership before providing a typology of the roles students can assume in working collaboratively with staff. Acknowledging that co-creating learning and teaching is not straightforward, a set of examples from higher education institutions in Europe and North America illustrates some important challenges that can arise during co-creation. These examples also provide the basis for suggestions regarding how such challenges might be resolved or re-envisaged as opportunities for more meaningful collaboration. The challenges are presented under three headings: resistance to co-creation; navigating institutional structures, practices and norms; and establishing an inclusive co-creation approach. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of transparency within co-creation approaches and of changing mindsets about the potential opportunities and institutional benefits of staff and students co-creating learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent call has urged to broaden the conceptualization of university entrepreneurship in order to appreciate the heterogeneity of contexts and actors involved in the process of entrepreneurial creation. A gap still persists in the understanding of the variety of ventures generated by different academic stakeholders, and the relationships between these entrepreneurial developments and university missions, namely, teaching and research. This paper addresses this particular gap by looking at how university teaching and research activities influence universities' entrepreneurial ventures such as academic spin-offs and graduate start-ups. Empirically, we analyse the English higher education sector, drawing on institutional data at the university level. First, we explore the ways in which teaching and research activities are configured, and secondly, we examine how such configurations relate to academic spin-offs and graduate start-ups across different universities over time. Our findings suggest, first, that the evolution of USOs and graduate start-ups exhibit two different pathways over time; and second, that teaching and research both affect entrepreneurial ventures but their effect is different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of unprecedented student mobility, increasingly diverse student populations in many national contexts, and globally interconnected environmental and social concerns, there is an urgent need to find new ways of thinking about teaching and learning. Static assumptions about so-called 'Western' versus 'non-Western' teaching and learning approaches or 'local' versus 'international' students are inadequate for responding to the complex histories, geographies and identities that meet and mingle in our higher education (HE) institutions. In this paper, I use María Lugones' 'world-travelling' as a framework for discussing international and New Zealand women students' reflections on teaching, learning and transition in New Zealand HE. I conclude with some suggestions as to what effective pedagogy might look like in internationalised HE if we think beyond culturalist them-and-us assumptions and recognise students' complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem which this paper addresses is the difficulty of knowing students in large diverse classes in pedagogically useful ways. The paper discusses how the phenomenographic methodology can be employed to address this problem. It describes how phenomenographic studies and their results can enable teachers to 'know their students' at a collective level in terms of a set of qualitatively distinct idealised types rather than at a personal level of individuals with their particular characteristics, and demonstrates the pedagogical utility of this kind of knowing. The means used to describe the approach and to demonstrate its utility when teaching large classes is to present, as a case study, a phenomenographic investigation into the learning practices among students in a large, diverse cohort of entrants to an engineering programme in South Africa. General principles are drawn from the case study and are discussed as they apply to the teaching of large classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is one of the major linchpins of economic, social and political development of any nation. Recent evidence suggests that higher education can produce both public and private benefits. Thus, the role of the state in making education policy, and funding education is indeed critical, and cannot be left to be determined by market forces alone. Nevertheless, the trend of inadequate government funding for universities, loss of autonomy, infrastructural decay, falling academic standards, politicization and privatization of education, etc. appear to be a worldwide phenomenon and not just restricted to the developing world. South African higher education shows much promise with respect to knowledge production and dissemination, to contributing to social equity, economic and social development and democracy, and to the development needs of the Southern African region and the African continent. However, higher education in South Africa is under considerable stress from domestic and international trends that are redefining the nature and role of public sector post-secondary education (PSE) institutions worldwide. The paper will outline the role of PSE in the knowledge economy and the impact of the neoliberal context on the evolution of higher education in South Africa and the world. Given the significant developmental implications of investment in higher education, the authors argue that relegating this important public policy issue to the market forces is likely to promote inequality in the society, along with negative consequences for socio-political stability, economic sustainability, and knowledge generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most universities are working committedly towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The University of Alicante (UA) (Spain) has designed a series of strategies to help crystallize its aims within these goals, including those related to gender equality (SDG 5). Given the context, the aims of this study are (1) to find out whether teachers integrate SDG 5 into their teaching and, if so, what strategies they use, (2) to analyse how they perceive the effects of this and what factors help or hinder the process, and (3) to check for possible differences in these perceptions according to sex and faculty. Some 310 teachers from all the UA faculties participated. A descriptive and comparative analysis was performed, as was a content analysis. Half of the participants were found to be implementing these strategies, with women in general and teachers from the Faculty of Humanities in particular appearing to be most aware of the subject. However, only a minority applied them on a mainstream basis. The most used strategy was inclusive language. Other strategies, such as reflecting on equality, promoting equal participation, visibilizing women in different areas of knowledge, equal treatment of students and gender research, were also present in their narratives but to only a very small degree. Improved professional development for teachers and greater student awareness of gender issues were identified as positive effects of incorporating these strategies. Participants also felt that low awareness and a lack of time and training were obstacles to the process. Universities should therefore establish specific institutional policies aimed at integrating SDG 5 as a quality indicator. Training programmes should be redesigned to take into account a more practical approach, the type of learning (classroom, online or mixed), and subsequent follow-up in the classroom to guarantee effective integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widening participation agenda in Australian higher education heralds changes that demand fresh thinking in university leadership and management of learning and teaching. The findings from interviews, across two national studies in 16 Australian universities, with 50 staff and 89 successful students from low socio-economic backgrounds, provide the basis for new directions related to the leadership and management of university teaching and learning in the context of an increasingly diverse student body. These directions relate to: institutional strategic alignment; reward for and recognition of teachers; appropriate resourcing; and effective structure and organization of teaching and learning support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions are currently undertaking a challenging process in moving from teacher-orientated to student-focused approaches. Students' ability to asking questions is fundamental to developing critical reasoning, and to the process of scientific enquiry itself. Our premise is that questioning competences should become a central focus of current reforms in higher education. This study, part of a broader naturalistic research project, aims at developing a theoretical framework for conceptualizing different contexts for questioning, illustrating the application of the proposed framework (contextual questioning zones) and reflecting about some of the dimensions of teaching and learning, for overcoming some of the challenges that higher education institutions are facing presently. The discussion of two 'opposite' contexts of enquiry is based on qualitative data, gathered through close collaboration with four teachers of undergraduate biology at a Portuguese university. These teachers were observed during their 'daily activity' during an academic year. Data was also gathered by interviewing these teachers and 8 selected students, at the end of the year, and used to sustain the argumentation. The paper concludes with some reflections and suggestions to promote authentic enquiry-based learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the interest to assess the quality of university teaching and research has considerably grown. This paper presents a study concerning the evaluation of the departments of the University of Firenze using Data Envelopment Analysis. It shows several applications with different variables choices to assess the performance both in teaching and in research activities. The reliability of the preferred specification was verified with a heuristic experiment, using different variables and a different number of variables. Particular attention is given to the problem of data availability and quality (e.g. for research output assessment). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces a framework concerning conceptions of teaching and learning of advanced graduate students and the trajectory of change in their conceptions following a formal course on course design and teaching. Students were enrolled in six sections of this graduate course, two offered in a 6-week format and 4 in a 13-week format. The courses were taught by three different instructors. Data were obtained from 88 doctoral students before and after the course using four questions pertaining to the meaning of effective teaching, effective learning, role of the teacher, and role of the learner. Using an open coding procedure, four conceptions were identified. These were transmitting knowledge, preparing context/managing instruction, promoting course learning, and promoting life-long learning. The generalized linear model procedure was used to conduct within and between group pre and post course comparisons. Overall, there was a significant change in response frequency ratios in all four categories across all courses, indicating a decrease in the responses in the first two categories and an increase in the frequency of responses in the last two categories. No significant differences were attributed to course type or instructor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While decades of research on college teaching has investigated several forms of classroom practices, much of this research approaches teaching as falling into mutually exclusive paradigms (e.g., active learning vs. lecturing). This paper enters inside the college classroom using external raters to understand patterns of pedagogical practices embedded in heterogeneous groups of courses. The study used quantitative observation and draws on data from a multi-institutional study of 587 courses across nine institutions to understand the patterns of teaching practices within courses. Latent class analyses demonstrated that there were five patterns of seven course practices that cluster around active learning, lecturing, and cognitively responsive practices: Comprehensive, Traditional Lecture, Active Lecture, Integrative Discussion, and Active Only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on case studies of China and Japan, this study undertakes comparative research on major aspects of university curriculum and instruction-teaching activities of academics, their role in curriculum development, and their perceptions of these activities-between a mass and a universal higher education system. Major findings from the APA (Academic Profession in Asia) surveys administered in the two countries in 2011-2012 with a similar questionnaire provide hard data. However, the study also explores other contextual factors and drivers which might have affected the teaching activities undertaken by academics, their involvement in curriculum development, and their views of relevant activities. The paper argues that, although differences can be found in some aspects of the curriculum and instruction and academics' participation in these activities during the shift from the mass to universal phase of higher education, seen from the two case studies, it is less clear that the differences show the impact of transforming from mass to universal education. The national contextual factors, especially the origins of higher education and ongoing national policies in both countries, appear to play a significant role in how current academics perceived the curriculum development and instruction, and their participation in these activities. More importantly, as fundamental changes do not necessarily occur in all aspects of the curriculum and instruction, as well as the academics' views across universal and mass higher education systems, Trow's research can only be partly applied to the analysis of the curriculum and instruction in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research into the relationship between teaching and research in higher education is mainly normative and atheoretical, resulting in assumptions of a close and beneficial connection between them. We problematise the idea of a nexus by undertaking a critical examination of the concept through the lens of educational ideologies to theorise the changes over time that shape the ways teaching and research are practised. Two hundred seven academic staff in the Humanities and Social Sciences were surveyed in 10 universities in England and Wales; the universities were identified as having strength in teaching, research, or in both. Along with analysis of interviews with senior managers at these universities, findings suggest that systemic forces which separate teaching and research are evident in institutional contexts with implications for the idea of a nexus. While the nexus may exist in theory, in practice, we argue that teaching and research can be pulled in different directions by institutional priorities. Furthermore, in institutions which adopt an enterprise ideology, there are signs of a nascent nexus emerging between research and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate business students present special needs and challenges in respect to the teaching of ethics. Traditional methods of teaching this topic are the subject of criticism in the literature. This paper considers the nature of the target audience while advancing the complementary goals of convincing undergraduate business students that ethical behavior in business is important and increasing the likelihood that these students will make ethical choices in the future. Shortcomings of approaches commonly used to teach this topic are discussed. Specific instructional techniques to supplement or replace traditional pedagogy are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including educational evaluation, college teaching and educational outcomes.

This paper proposes a model of learning-oriented assessment to inform assessment theory and practice. The model focuses on three interrelated processes: the assessment tasks which students undertake; students' development of self-evaluative capacities; and student engagement with feedback. These three strands are explored through the analysis of assessment practice in context. The research method involves in-depth classroom observations of five recipients of awards for teaching excellence across multiple disciplines; and semi-structured interviews with these teachers and a sample of their students. Findings highlight assessment tasks promoting thinking and practicing in the discipline; the use of critical reviews to develop student understandings of quality work; and 'same day feedback' to promote timely dialogues with students. The coherence of the model is discussed and some areas for further exploration are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities in the English-speaking world share a common ancestry that extends back to medieval times. From these beginnings universities quickly developed distinctive qualities as they became integrated within different social and cultural systems of their home societies. A number of comparisons of higher education research have shown major differences developed between North American and non-North American higher education literature inviting conclusions that higher education research communities are largely separate. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of empirical field research this paper reviews the research literature in three North American journals focused on higher education teaching and learning to identify six researchers who the journals' authors consider central to the field. A second level analysis of the citations within this literature revealed that these researchers were associated with developing five distinctive signature concepts used by authors to support their arguments about higher education teaching and learning. By comparing the five signature concepts of the North American field of higher education teaching and learning with the five signature concepts of the non-North American literature this study concludes that there is some, albeit small, conceptual common ground on which to build collaboration between the two distinctive research fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic manifested around the World since February 2020, leading to disruptive effects on many aspects of people social life. The suspension of face-to-face teaching activities in schools and universities was the first containment measure adopted by the Governments to deal with the spread of the virus. Remote teaching has been the emergency solution implemented by schools and universities to limit the damages of schools and universities closure to students' learning. In this contribution we intend to suggest to policy makers and researchers how to assess the impact of emergency policies on remote learning in academia by analysing students' careers. In particular, we exploit the quasi-experimental setting arising from the sudden implementation of remote teaching in the second semester of academic year 2019/2020: we compare the performance of the cohort 2019/2020, which represents the treatment group, with the performance of the cohort 2018/2019, which represents the control group. We distinguish the impact of remote teaching at two levels: degree program and single courses within a degree program. We suggest to use Difference-In-Differences approach in the former case and multilevel modeling in the latter one. The proposal is illustrated analysing administrative data referred to freshmen of cohorts 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 for a sample of degree programs of the University of Florence (Italy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large classes have increasingly become a feature in many countries around the world. This paper present a two-pronged analysis of this phenomenon, drawing on the political economy of higher education as well as the sociology of knowledge to contribute to a principled discussion about why we have large classes, and when a large class is too large. I argue that much of the justification for expansion in higher education is not borne by an analysis of the political economy of higher education. I then explain why the expansion of higher education through increasing class sizes is self-defeating: because contact between lecturers and students is necessary for the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, and it is difficult to achieve such contact in large classes. I conclude that the current discourse on large class teaching, which suggests that lecturers must accept ever increasing class sizes in the name of access and development, is unrealistic, both in terms of the political and economic imperatives, and also in terms of the nature of education, and the conditions for the development and acquisition of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in many universities, class sizes have increased more quickly than teaching and learning resources. A related challenge is the increasing diversity of the student body in terms of socio-economic background, learning styles, English language ability and preparedness. This paper explores ways in which traditional face-to-face teaching methods (such as lectures and tutorials) can be combined with online teaching and learning activities in a 'blended' learning approach to improve teaching and learning and to accommodate student diversity. Using a large first year Economics class as a case study, data were collected on student perceptions of the use of blended learning. A statistical model was used on a sample of 50 students to determine which online activities were most beneficial in improving student performance. The majority of students agreed that replacing one lecture a week with online activities and resources improved their learning, although about 20 % of the class would have preferred more lecturing and fewer online resources. Statistical finding showed that more active online resources, such as multiple choice and graphing questions, were most beneficial in improving student performance, but that more passive lecture capture was also useful in modelling the discourse of the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Ireland as an example, this paper explores the rationale behind various selection criteria currently used to select suitable candidates for initial teacher education courses. It investigates and discusses patterns of association between second-level student teachers' background characteristics on entry to their teacher education programme Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and their achievement in terms of their final academic and teaching practice grades. It draws on a longitudinal analysis of application and examination data collected from eight student teacher cohorts (2000-2007, N = 1,023) who completed their second-level initial teacher education at one Irish university. Special attention will be paid to the predictive value of entrants' prior academic performance and teaching experience for their success in the academic as well as practical components of their teacher education course. The quality rationale behind academic selection criteria is contested on the basis of findings from this study. The positive impact of prior teaching experience on teaching practice performance and the differences in achievement observed between students from different academic fields are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online education is continuing to gain popularity in educational institutions and organizations. Hitherto, most research has occurred at aggregated levels, while few researchers have studied how and why individuals participate in online education. It is essential to examine individual perceptions and relationships in order to understand how students behave in relation to others. This paper investigates how students of higher education participate in online seminars and why they participate in certain ways. An online class that attended asynchronous and synchronous online seminars was studied. Electronic logs were used to examine how students participated and interviews were used to illustrate why they participated. It was revealed that the participation of students varied between aspects such as exchanging information, managing tasks and providing social support and the emphasis of these aspects were related to the tool they communicated through. A number of participation inhibitors were identified and it was also suggested how these inhibitors can be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into blended university teaching using virtual learning environments (VLEs). Interviews with 25 Computer Science teachers in Greek universities illuminated a spectrum of teachers' conceptions and approaches from 'teacher-focused and content-oriented', through 'student-focused and content-oriented', to 'student-focused and process-oriented'. Using VLEs was described as a means of supporting: A-information transfer; B-application and clarification of concepts; C-exchange and development of ideas, and resource exploration and sharing; D-collaborative knowledge-creation, and development of process awareness and skills. The study suggests that pedagogical beliefs and circumstances underpinning face-to-face teaching are more influential in shaping approaches to blended VLE use than VLE system features. The authors propose that the findings could be used to inform educational enhancement initiatives and that there is a need for further discipline-focused research on blended teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities now have a lot to say about tertiary teaching. University policy, teaching units, and promotion criteria have a very specific understanding of good teaching within the academy. This case study of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) found that good teaching has two central features: it is necessarily student centred, and it is `innovative', a characteristic that, at QUT at least, is increasingly equated with the use of technology. This paper – based upon interviews with twenty-four QUT academics across three faculties (Education, Science, and Law), an analysis of QUT's teaching and learning policies, and some additional historical research – will suggest four things. First, that the concept of student centred learning, based on ideals of progressive education, is neither an historical inevitability nor theoretically unproblematic. Second, that irrespective of discipline, all lecturers espouse an underpinning `progressive' teaching philosophy, even though, in practice, teaching style appears to be determined primarily by subject-matter. Third, given that, in practice, the progressive model seems to suit some faculties and subject areas better than others (i.e. Education, as opposed to Science and Law) this has significant professional implications for the lecturers concerned. Finally, that rather than promoting a `progressive' pedagogy, the use of technology in teaching actually appears to reinforce traditional teaching techniques. Consequently, it is suggested that monolithic understandings of good teaching, when applied across the academy irrespective of context, are often inappropriate, ineffective and inequitous, and that universities need to think through their teaching policies and programmes more thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of the effectiveness of an innovative approach to staff development, the conceptual change approach, which attempts to change teachers' frameworks for conceptualising teaching and learning. The evaluation investigated the programme at three levels: the impact on the conceptions of teaching of the participants, the resultant impact on teaching practices, and the consequential effect on student learning. Encouraging results were obtained. The programme brought about detectable conceptual change or conceptual development in two-thirds of the sample group. Subsequently, all the `changed' teachers received better ratings on their teaching practices from their students in the following academic year while none of those who did not change their conceptions showed similar gains in student rating scores. A resultant positive impact on their students' studying approaches was observed for half of the teachers who changed their conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the effects of faculty gender differences on research and teaching productivities, using a sample of 523 four-year-plus institutions of higher education for the academic year 1987-88. Female and male faculty inputs along with an administrative staff input are used to estimate three joint-product production functions for three outputs from undergraduate teaching, graduate teaching, and research. The main research results show that female faculty have significant marginal productivity in research at liberal arts institutions but not at institutions in other Carnegie categories. One explanation for this finding is the limitations with respect to employment and discipline patterns of using research expenditures to measure research output. The results are compared to earlier findings based on individual faculty survey responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop an AI education policy for higher education by examining the perceptions and implications of text generative AI technologies. Data was collected from 457 students and 180 teachers and staff across various disciplines in Hong Kong universities, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Based on the findings, the study proposes an AI Ecological Education Policy Framework to address the multifaceted implications of AI integration in university teaching and learning. This framework is organized into three dimensions: Pedagogical, Governance, and Operational. The Pedagogical dimension concentrates on using AI to improve teaching and learning outcomes, while the Governance dimension tackles issues related to privacy, security, and accountability. The Operational dimension addresses matters concerning infrastructure and training. The framework fosters a nuanced understanding of the implications of AI integration in academic settings, ensuring that stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities and can take appropriate actions accordingly. Highlights: Proposed AI Ecological Education Policy Framework for university teaching and learning. Three dimensions: Pedagogical, Governance, and Operational AI Policy Framework. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from students, teachers, and staff. Ten key areas identified for planning an AI policy in universities. Students should play an active role in drafting and implementing the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research used the qualitative multiple case study and phenomenological designs to explore how, without training, university teachers in Ghana managed large student numbers in the virtual environment during COVID-19. The study examined further the challenges the teachers faced in their virtual instructional delivery. Twelve participants drawn purposively from four large Ghanaian universities participated in individual interviews and follow-up virtual class observations. The findings revealed that the participants employed two management techniques in their virtual teaching—regulating the behaviour of learners and controlling instructional content. The research further uncovered that, although the teachers' complaints generally centred on environmental constraints and inadequate institutional support, those whose difficulties included using virtual tools did not have virtual teaching experience before the COVID period. The study supports the clarion call on university teachers involved in virtual teaching to personally seek a continual update of skills and competency in virtual delivery because it is an approach hinged on evolving technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This invited memoire describes my fortunate life, which has been enriched by meeting many wonderful people. The story starts at home and university, and continues with accounts of St Andrews and trips to the USA, together with musings on the book Solar MHD. The nature and results of collaborations with key people from abroad and with students is mentioned at length. Finally, other important aspects of my life are mentioned briefly before wrapping up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic placed new teaching demands upon faculty that may have exacerbated existing race and gender disparities in the amount of emotional labor they perform. The present study surveyed 182 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty from three small private liberal arts colleges to examine the effect of social and professional statuses on emotional labor (i.e., managing the expression of emotions to meet job requirements) during the emergency switch to remote instruction in spring 2020. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression revealed that white cisgender men performed less emotional labor than Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) cisgender men, BIPOC cisgender women, and white cisgender women and gender non-conforming (GNC) faculty. Student demands for special favors fully mediated the relationship between intersectional race and gender identity and self-directed emotional labor and partially mediated its relationship with student-directed emotional labor. We conclude that the status shield afforded white cisgender men by their race and gender protected them from student demands that would have required them to engage in as much emotional labor as faculty with other intersectional race and gender identities during the pandemic. We discuss considering differences in emotional labor when making personnel decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary results of a qualitative study of the lived experience of teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic are presented. An instructor, a program director and five doctoral students in different stages of their coursework and dissertation proposal development, wrote a reflective journal. Participants varied in their levels of familiarity with technology-assisted education, personal backgrounds and circumstances including work and family responsibilities. Participants' journals documenting their reactions, struggles and coping since the abrupt move of the university from face to face to online classes were content analyzed. The analysis was co-conducted by five participants to identify themes and generate understanding of the experience. Two main themes emerged from the analysis: a developmental process of participants' reactions, perceptions and meaning making of the experience and factors that shaped it. Lessons learned are discussed and recommendations for professional education and directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]