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This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the decolonisation of higher education in Africa in the aftermath of the 2015 'Rhodes Must Fall' student uprising. An overview of the literature reveals a rich debate on defining 'decolonisation', starting from a critique of Eurocentrism to propositions of alternate epistemologies. These debates are dominated by the Global North and South Africa and their experiences of curriculum reform. Our focus is on the experiences of political scientists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. These countries share the same Anglophone political science traditions but represent different political trajectories that constitute a significant condition for the discipline. The 26 political scientists we interviewed acted toward increasing local content and perspectives in their teaching, as promoted in the official strategies of the universities. They noted that what was happening in lecture halls was most important. The academic decolonisation debate appeared overambitious or even as patronising to them in their own political context. National politics affected the thematic focus of the discipline both as far as research topics and students' employment opportunities were concerned. Although university bureaucracies were slow to respond to proposed curricula changes, new programmes were approved if there was a market-based demand for them. International programs tended to be approved fastest. Political economy of higher education plays a role: dependency on foreign funding, limited national resources to conduct research and produce publications vis-à-vis international competition, and national quality assurance standards appeared to be most critical constraints for decolonising the curriculum., Author(s): Liisa Laakso [sup.1] , Kajsa Hallberg Adu [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/05q84se63, grid.451863.d, 0000 0001 2194 5036, Nordic Africa Institute, , Uppsala, Sweden (2) https://ror.org/026vcq606, grid.5037.1, 0000 0001 2158 [...]

I. Introduction II. Background A. Critical Race Theory (CRT) 1. CRT Past and Present 2. State and Federal Efforts to Regulate CRT B. Iowa's CRT Ban 1. Legislative History 2. [...], In 2019, Critical Race Theory (CRT) moved from the pages of law journals to the front page of the newspaper and became the centerpiece of a partisan political battle over the classroom. In response, several states have passed laws to ban CRT from the classroom. Iowa's CRT ban directly regulates speech about race in K-12 classrooms and one Iowa university has used it to limit speech about race in college classrooms. This Article argues that this kind of viewpoint discriminatory law would usually be facially unconstitutional. However, Iowa's CRT law regulates public school teachers and college professors, who exist in a First Amendment twilight zone created by the Supreme Court's employee speech jurisprudence. Even though teachers and professors are having their speech abridged, they cannot get into court on a First Amendment Theory. To fill in this gap, Courts faced with Iowa's CRT ban should clarify the protections for professors engaged in teaching and research and recognize a student's right to receive information. These solutions would put a stop to the current rash of politically motivated tinkering with the K-12 and University curriculum and allow the education system to grapple honestly with past injustice.

Higher education is increasingly concerned withproviding students with experiences that enhance employability. Sitting outsidethe curriculum, extra- or co-curricular activities that focus on career development,leadership, service or recognition can lead to positive employability andemployment outcomes. The extent to which different student groups have accessto and participate in these employability-related activities (ERAs) isunderexplored, along with their relative gains in the labour market. Thisresearch surveyed 84,000 graduates in Australia on their participation invarious activity types and the impact on their sense of preparedness for workand labour force outcomes. Findings demonstrate that over one-half ofrespondents participated in an ERA with groups tending to favour differentactivity types. Overall, the greatest differences in participation were observedby age, gender, disability, citizenship and socio-economic background. Activitiesimpacted differently on employment outcomes with graduates from regional areas,of low socio-economic status and with disability garnering strong benefits. Club/societyroles, leadership/award and mentoring programmes offered valuable developmentopportunities for most graduates, with less favourable outcomes reported forvolunteering and micro-credentials. The study provides important informationfor designing ERAs that can be more easily accessed by increasingly diversecohorts and that better support lifelong learning and transition to work forall students., Author(s): Denise Jackson [sup.1] , Bonnie Amelia Dean [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/05jhnwe22, grid.1038.a, 0000 0004 0389 4302, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, , 270 Joondalup Drive, [...]

Are the ways of engaging with the world that students develop through higher education particular to bodies of knowledge they study? In this article, we examine how students' accounts of the discipline of chemistry in England and South Africa changed over the three years of their undergraduate degrees. Based on a longitudinal phenomenographic analysis of 105 interviews with 33 chemistry students over the course of their undergraduate degrees in four institutions, we constituted five qualitatively different ways of describing chemistry. These ranged from chemistry as something that happens when things are mixed in a laboratory to a more inclusive account that described chemistry as being able to explain molecular interactions in unfamiliar environments. Most students expressed more inclusive accounts of chemistry by the end of their degrees and the level of change appeared to be related to their educational experiences. In contrast to approaches that emphasise the generic student outcomes from higher education, these findings highlight the importance of recognising the distinctive outcomes that students gain from their engagement with particular bodies of disciplinary knowledge. It further highlights the importance of students understanding their degrees as an educational experience that requires them to commit to engaging with these bodies of knowledge., Author(s): Paul Ashwin [sup.1] , Margaret Blackie [sup.2] , Nicole Pitterson [sup.3] , Reneé Smit [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/04f2nsd36, grid.9835.7, 0000 0000 8190 6402, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster [...]

There is increasing pressure within universities to address student mental health. From a whole university or settings-based perspective, this could include curriculum-embedded approaches. There is little research about how this should work or what approaches might be most effective. Semi -structured interviews were conducted with fifty-seven undergraduate students from five disciplines (Psychology, English studies, Nursing, International Politics, and War Studies) to understand students' perspectives. Students reflected on wellbeing module content and, more broadly, on curriculum processes (teaching, pedagogy, assessment) within their degree. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to transcripts, generating three themes: embedding wellbeing in the curriculum; assessment, challenge, and academic support; and social connection and interaction. The findings provide evidence for teaching, pedagogy, and assessment practices supporting higher education student wellbeing. These align with recommended good teaching practices, such as considering appropriate assessment methods followed by effective feedback. Students saw the benefits of being academically challenged if scaffolded appropriately. Strong peer connection, teacher-student interaction, and communication were crucial to learning and wellbeing. These findings provide implications for future curriculum design that can support learning and wellbeing., Author(s): Rebecca Upsher [sup.1] , Zephyr Percy [sup.1] , Lorenzo Cappiello [sup.1] , Nicola Byrom [sup.1] , Gareth Hughes [sup.2] , Jennifer Oates [sup.3] , Anna Nobili [sup.2] , Katie [...]

Purpose Health and social care professionals are ideally placed to identify and address gender-based violence (GBV), yet research continues to demonstrate that the subject is being poorly covered at undergraduate level. This qualitative study explored health and social care students' and educators' views on GBV education, with a view to identifying 'best practice'. We aimed to capture students' and educators' experiences and perceptions of GBV education across participating countries; how participants thought GBV should be taught/learned within their curricula; and their views on how GBV education might be 'optimized'. Methods We conducted nine focus group discussions and one semi-structured interview with 23 students and 21 academic staff across the UK, Australia and Chile. Results Thematic analysis yielded three themes: (1) GBV addressed in all but name, (2) Introduce sooner, explore later and (3) A qualitative approach to learning. Educators and students indicated that GBV is largely being overlooked or incompletely addressed within curricula. Many participants expressed a wish for the subject to be introduced early and revisited throughout their study, with content evolving as cohorts mature. Lastly, our findings indicate that GBV education could benefit from adopting a 'qualitative' approach, prioritizing survivor narratives and incorporating dialogue to facilitate student engagement. Conclusion Though time constraints and competing demands within undergraduate curricula are frequently cited as barriers to moving away from traditional didactic methods, our findings suggest that teacher-centered strategies are insufficient and, in some regards, inappropriate for GBV education. The need for a paradigm shift in GBV education is discussed., Author(s): Dana Sammut [sup.1] , Lilian Ferrer [sup.3] , Emily Gorham [sup.1] , Kelsey Hegarty [sup.2] , Jacqueline Kuruppu [sup.2] , Francisca Lopez Salvo [sup.3] , Caroline Bradbury-Jones [sup.1] Author [...]

The aim of this study was to explore knowledge in the context of creating a shared curriculum between research-intensive and vocationally oriented universities of applied sciences. Curriculum knowledge was explored from the accounts of 26 teachers from four institutions in Finland. Shared curriculum initiatives created an environment in which teachers were obliged to negotiate and make explicit their approaches to curriculum knowledge and knowledge practices. The phenomenon of blurring boundaries is approached with Bernstein's sociology of education. The present findings show that institutions have a distinct foundation for curriculum knowledge, but cross-curricular initiatives brought pressure to change towards the knowledge practices of the other institution. Discrepancies were found between knowledge and learning outcomes, and between knowledge as a negotiated artefact and knowledge as enacted in curriculum implementation. Curriculum knowledge emerged with symbolic boundaries and an invisible pedagogic order. This resulted in practices where the official discourse appears to have similar learning outcomes, which are not similar from the perspective of knowledge. Focus on a harmonised degree, as stated in the European qualification framework, obscures the question of knowledge and requires more attention. This is especially the case if the boundaries between degrees and institutions are purposely weakened. If the rationale to weaken the boundaries is on the streamlined educational processes and their efficacy, there is a risk of gaps in knowledge provided for students in the higher education., Author(s): Johanna Annala [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.8993.b, 0000 0004 1936 9457, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS), Uppsala University, , Uppsala, Sweden (2) grid.502801.e, 0000 0001 2314 6254, [...]

The relationship between the breadth of the curriculum which university students followed at secondary school and their degree attainment or their entry to employment is studied using a series of surveys of graduates from Scottish universities between 1960 and 2002. The relationship of the school curriculum to the later experience of students who entered university has not been extensively studied. Scotland is a useful case study for this purpose because breadth of study at school was a core feature of school-leaving assessment from the origins of modern secondary schooling in the early twentieth century until the end of the century. Breadth of learning was also a principle of the dominant university tradition in Scotland from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. The conclusion of the analysis is that breadth was associated with propensity to enter professions rather than managerial occupations, and to avoiding low-status occupations. But also, for students with relatively moderate or low attainment from school, breadth was associated with a lower chance of gaining the highest attainment at university., Author(s): Lindsay Paterson [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4305.2, 0000 0004 1936 7988, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, , Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, EH8 9LD, [...]

Even though oil prices have rebounded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduate enrollment in petroleum engineering has fallen by 75% since 2014, disrupting a long-standing trend linking petroleum [...]

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we [...]

In this article, we present a curricular perspective that can be used to understand students' focus on assessment in higher education. We propose that the degree of alignment between the objectives and assessment of the curriculum plays a crucial role in students' motivation. In case of perfect alignment, all objectives have an equitable probability of being assessed. Thus, all learning contributes to performance equitably. Consequently, the motivation to perform and the motivation to learn should result in the same learning behaviour and performance. However, in reality, a certain degree of cognitive and operant misalignment of the assessment with the objectives is present. Hence, some objectives will not need to be mastered in order to pass certain assessments. Consequently, a distinction arises between assessed and unassessed learning, and only the assessed learning contributes to performance. Thus, the probability of performing well on assessments is higher when students focus their effort on the assessed learning only, instead of dividing their effort between the assessed and unassessed learning. Therefore, students who are motivated to perform have a motivation that fits in a misaligned curriculum. The article concludes with implications of this curricular fit perspective for assessment practices, as well as for motivational research., Author(s): R. Kickert [sup.1] , M. Meeuwisse [sup.1] , K. M. Stegers-Jager [sup.2] , P. Prinzie [sup.1] , L. R. Arends [sup.1] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.6906.9, 0000000092621349, Department of [...]

The pedagogical urge to decolonise student thinking has been at the heart of the drive to embed Indigenous knowledge in universities throughout the western world. Despite ongoing efforts in the Pacific, North America and South Africa, there is little in the way of explicit curriculum scholarship informing approaches to the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges in higher education. Some universities are currently developing policy directed at embedding an Indigenous cultural capability in curriculum. The capability is commonly conceptualised in terms of three main pedagogical approaches: teaching knowledge about Indigenous people, promoting empathy with others and decolonising one's own knowledge and values through reflexivity. The paper highlights how higher education curriculum as representational practice remains largely unproblematised in the application of these three approaches. Two key contributions are presented. The first proposes an understanding of reflexivity as an unconscious enactment of a common world. The second lies in the proposition that narrative is more than a practice of knowing about others, it is a means of bringing people together through the creation of an interdependent life. We draw specifically on Butler's understanding of the performativity of face-to-face narrative as a means of understanding how narrative can be leveraged in university curriculum to support a vision of enhanced social cohesion., Author(s): Neil Harrison [sup.1] , Ivan Clarke [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1004.5, 0000 0001 2158 5405, Macquarie University, , Sydney, Australia Introduction Decolonisation has been at the heart of the [...]

Feedback literacy is an important graduate attribute that supports students' future work capacities. This study aimed to develop a framework through which discipline-specific feedback literacies, as a set of socially situated skills, can be developed within core curricula. The framework is developed through a content analysis of National Qualifications Frameworks from six countries and UK Subject Benchmark Statements for multiple disciplines, analysis of indicative subject content for a range of disciplines and consultation with subject-matter experts. Whilst most of the benchmark statements incorporate the development of feedback literacy skills related to 'making judgements', attributes relating to 'appreciating feedback' and 'taking action based on feedback' are less prevalent. Skills related to 'managing the affective challenges of feedback' are most prevalent in documentation for applied disciplines. The resulting empirically guided curriculum design framework showcases how integrating the development of discipline-specific feedback literacies can be enacted through authentic learning activities and assessment tasks. In terms of implications for practice, the framework represents in concrete terms how discipline-specific feedback literacies can be integrated within higher education curricula. The findings also have implications for policy: by positioning discipline-specific feedback literacies as graduate outcomes, we believe they should be integrated within national qualifications frameworks as crucial skills to be developed through higher education courses. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, we advance conceptions of feedback literacy through a sociocultural approach and propose new directions for research that seek to reconceptualise a singular concept of feedback literacy as multiple feedback literacies that unfold in distinctive ways across disciplines., Author(s): Naomi E. Winstone [sup.1] , Kieran Balloo [sup.1] , David Carless [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5475.3, 0000 0004 0407 4824, Surrey Institute of Education, University of Surrey, , Guildford, [...]

I was in the midst of teaching a 'Politics, Policies, Pop Culture,' course at Cal Poly Pomona when I learned of Kobe Bryant's tragic death. Every single one of my 46 students were fans of all things, Los Angeles. And, there was no one that symbolized and reflected the spirit of Los Angeles more than did Kobe Bryant. His flair, flash, and brilliance on the court, his winning spirit, and his million-dollar smile were all Hollywood. Although his death was mourned worldwide, the trauma of this tragedy was most intensely felt in the city of angels. As a Kobe fan, a Laker fan, and a fan of greatness, I mourned Bryant's death with the same deep despair as his most ardent fans. In my search to highlight his uniqueness as an icon that transcended basketball, my students were assigned a paper that required them to examine Kobe's life and legacy. They were asked to respond to the following questions: (1) How did Kobe Bryant become one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history? (2) How was he able to transcend basketball and become a cultural icon? (3) Why was he loved globally-especially in Italy and China? (4) What is the Mamba Mentality? (5) What is his legacy? Their responses capture the essence of Kobe's transcendent profile. This essay examines the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant from a Los Angeles-based professor's perspective and the perspective of his Cal Poly Pomona students., Author(s): Renford Reese [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.155203.0, 0000 0001 2234 9391, Department of Political Science, Cal Poly Pomona, , Pomona, USA Professional athletes were among those who openly wept [...]

There are many factors that motivate students to choose a particular academic major, whether it is due to interest, salary, or family. Government policies and the curriculum imposed on students may also have an impact. The education and training of future pharmacists offered in various universities should include the skill set necessary for fitness to practice in all the different areas of pharmacy, and not focused on one particular area as this would adversely affect student's perception or interests. In our study, we investigate pharmacy students' views to why they chose to study pharmacy, their chosen future career path, and whether these choices change moving from years 1 to 4. Our results revealed key deciding factors for the profession of pharmacy, include the desire to help improve the populations' health and well-being, the desire to work within healthcare, and salary. These factors remain consistent going from first-year to fourth-year students. Career aspirations consistently highlight hospital pharmacy, with community pharmacy second, with a lower interest in academia and industry. As a conclusion, our data revealed pharmacy students consistently prefer hospital and community pharmacy as a chosen career path, with a stronger preference for hospitals. These figures remain consistent at all levels, and pharmacy students remain committed to their chosen degree, with more than 85% of final year students continueing to look forward to a career in pharmacy. These results are parallel with pharmacy students' applications to their pre-registration or pupillage training, which are predominantly in hospital pharmacy. If this trend continues, the hospital sectors would soon be saturated, while other pharmacy sectors sidelined., Author(s): Mumtaz Hussain [sup.1] , Shariza Sahudin [sup.1] , Syahirah Mohd Fauzi [sup.1] , Nurshahirah Abdul Manaf [sup.1] , Mohd Shahezwan Abd Wahab [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412259.9, 0000 0001 [...]

Introduction: An estimated 21 million Americans meet the criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD), whereas 24% of the population engages in risky alcohol use leading to tremendous health and economic impacts (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2017). Opioid misuse is a national public health emergency, with an estimated 46,802 opioid-related deaths occurring in 2018 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2020). Despite the high prevalence of risky substance use and SUDs, preservice education related to screening for and treating SUDs in health and behavioral health professions is inadequate (Dimoff, Sayette, & Norcross, 2017; Russett & Williams, 2015; Savage et al., 2014: Tabak et al., 2012). A critical need exists for an interdisciplinary, implementation science-informed approach for developing academic training programs in the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) model within higher education systems. Method: We delineate a training model implemented within 5 health and behavioral health disciplines (nursing, social work, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and integrated behavioral health), informed by prominent implementation scientists (Proctor et al., 2011; Rogers, 2003). Results: Faculty surveys (n = 33), interviews (n = 24), and syllabi and training records reviews indicated the Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment model was infused into course content by 89.47% of trained faculty and sustained in 90.47% of course syllabi at project close. Conclusion: The model demonstrated successful uptake and sustainability in higher education systems. Public Significance Statement This study indicated an implementation-science informed training model can be utilized to implement new student training programs in the area of substance use disorder screening and treatment, with high rates of uptake and sustainability by faculty. The findings have implications for addressing the gap in preservice education for preparing the emerging health and behavioral health workforce who must address risky substance use in their post-graduate clinical practice. Keywords: SBIRT, drug and alcohol screening, training programs, education, substance use disorders, With the expansion of the integrated behavioral health workforce, on-the-job training, internships, and fellowships have proliferated as the need for preservice training has become more evident. Evidence-based training programs lag, [...]

Community college students assigned to corequisite mathematic courses instead of remedial courses not only graduate faster, but earn higher wages. These are findings from a study that has been tracking [...]

Author(s): Daniel Bonevac [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 1936 9924, grid.89336.37, University of Texas-Austin, , Austin, Texas, USA Faculty members rarely pay much attention to course offerings outside their [...]

Author(s): J. Scott Kenney [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0000 9130 6822, grid.25055.37, Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, , A1C 5S7, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada Since the mid-1960s, [...]

Author(s): Glenn M. Ricketts [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 0530 867X, grid.437232.3, Raritan Valley Community College, , 08876, North Branch, NJ, USA (Aff2) National Association of Scholars, , [...]

Black history--and Black Americans --are under attack. After a national and international racial reckoning spurred by the killing of George Floyd in 2020, politicians have hit back hard. Since 2021, [...]

In this work, we discuss how analytics is evolving in industry and academia. To assess industry needs, we conducted a text-mining study of online job postings for analytics-related positions. We also conducted a survey of academic programs in analytics-related master's programs to ascertain topic coverage relative to industry needs. Based on these two studies, we discuss gaps that we believe need to be addressed. While industry moves along the analytics maturity spectrum from descriptive to predictive to prescriptive optimization-based analytics, analytics master's programs are focusing less on optimization and more heavily on predictive analytics, thus creating the future potential for a gap in the analytics training provided by academia and the future analytics needs of industry. History: This paper has been refereed. Funding: M. R. Bowers gratefully acknowledges support toward the acquisition of data from the Department of Business Analytics and Statistics in the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee Knoxville. J. D. Camm gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Wake Forest University School of Business Summer Research Program. G. Chakraborty gratefully acknowledges summer research support from Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University. Keywords: analytics education * analytics degree programs * analytics job market * operations research education * operations research job market, Introduction The past decade has seen tremendous growth and interest in the use of analytics in industry. Reacting to this increased interest from industry, we have also seen a dramatic [...]