International and Comparative Education Commons^™

Wmu International News Spring 2010, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

Confucius Institute opening ceremony dazzles campus and community

Japanese alumni reunion celebrates successful fundraising campaign

Former Dominican Republic swimmer head recruiter for WMU

Childhood experiences overseas spark interest in global studies

Editor's Notes And Front Matter, Suzanne Majhanovich

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Higher Education For Displaced Persons On The Thai-Burmese Border Areas, Aranya Kengkunchorn, Scott A. Hipsher

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The internationalization of education has been promoted as a method to prepare students for working and living in a world where national borders are becoming increasingly porous. Being prepared to work and live internationally is especially important for refugee students who do not at present have the option to return to their land of birth. Currently there are approximately 150,000 refugees who are living in closed camps communities along the Thai-Burmese border. Scenarios and recommendations concerning refugees attending international university programs in Thailand, bringing distance education programs into the camps, allowing refugees to attend Thai institutions of higher education in …

Capacity Building In Accounting In An Australian University – Lessons For South East Asia, Roger L. Burritt

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Consideration is given to the promotion of and barriers to developing the intellectual capital of academics in triple bottom line accounting for countries in South East Asia. A range of considerations that promote intellectual capacity building in accounting are outlined. The main problems associated with development are also outlined.

Le but de cet article est d’analyser le pour et le contre de la formation des universitaires en comptabilité, tout en adoptant une vision de responsabilité sociale (ou de Triple Résultat) dans les pays du sud est asiatique. L’auteur discute des moyens nécessaires pour promouvoir le développement de compétences en comptabilité. …

Cambodian National Education Policy: Global Wants Or/And Local Needs?, Kelly Crowley-Thorogood

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper will explore the problems associated with educational reconstruction in post-conflict Cambodia using a globalization theoretical perspective. The main questions to be addressed are: to what extent is globalization influencing education policy development in post-conflict Cambodia? and how have multinational financial agencies influenced the creation and adoption of national education policies in post-conflict Cambodian society? This paper will offer an introduction to globalization theory and provide a policy analysis of recent Cambodian and multinational policy documents and directives. The policy analysis will demonstrate that the agendas of several major multi-national organizations have influenced educational policy in Cambodia due to …

An Analysis Of The Students’ Perceptions Of Physics In Science Foundation Studies At The National University Of Laos, Phimpho Luangrath, Thongloon Vilaythong

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper presents the situation of physics teaching and learning at the Science Foundation Studies program at National University of Laos. The study has focused on the students’ understanding of concepts in mechanics, and the situation of the laboratory work activities. The research tools used in this study were the Force Concept Inventory test, interviews and questionnaires. The results show that in an international comparison the Lao students reveal a low level of conceptual understanding in mechanics. They also show no improvement in their conceptual understanding after teaching. The students have little experience of laboratory work. They had expectations that …

Learning To Become Lifelong Global Citizens, Soveacha Ros

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This study examines transition practices of four international male graduate students from Cambodia pursuing social science degrees at Northern Illinois University (NIU). An interview guide was designed and grounded in three questions: (1) How do informants describe their academic and social experiences during their first year at NIU?; (2) What adaptation resources do they have at their disposal (i.e. on NIU campus, in DeKalb and neighbouring communities, social networks in Cambodia and America)? How do these resources help them to adjust; (3) How do they view themselves as international students at NIU? And, how does this view play a role …

Towards Capacity Building: Rejecting Hiring Practices Based On Accent And Skin Colour, Teresa L. Van Deven

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

As Cambodia begins the process of capacity building in higher education, now becomes the crucial time to revisit language policies practiced in other parts of Asia as a way of caution to the prevailing philosophical, educational and theoretical ideologies that are so very much a part of language education. This paper looks at the hiring practices based upon accent and skin colour. It includes part of a critical ethnographical study that looks at various linguistic and pedagogical fallacies which continue to promote the dominant fiction of native-speaker authority. This paper addresses implications on language education within a system which perpetuates …

Higher Education In Cambodia And The Atypical Example Of The History Department At Rupp 2, Henri Locard, Tha Leang Ang

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

In the past few years, Cambodia has seen an explosion in the growth of Higher Education that has been, to a large extent, absorbed by the dramatic rise in the number of private Universities. There are now some 106 campuses across the country. In the academic year, 2007-8, there were 110,090 bachelor degree students enrolled, among which 46,395 were in public Universities and 63,695 in private ones, according to Ministry of Education figures. There were also 15,802 Associate Degree students and 11,209 post –graduate students (over twice the number of the previous year).The vast majority of students - even in …

Conference On Higher Education In Southeast Asia Centre For Khmer Studies In Siem Reap, January 2008

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Education And Girls' Development In Malawi: Promotion Of Girls' Education In Relation To Sustainable Development, Helen Momoko Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Girls' education plays a key role in the development of a nation. There are various barriers to girls' education that prevent them from being given an equal opportunity as their male counterparts. As a result they are not enabled with the skills or knowledge that they require to further themselves, their families, their communities and their nation. Several approaches have been made to strive to improve the situation of girls' education in Malawi. This study takes an in depth look at the factors that make girls' education so critical to development and how the various approaches taken have or have …

Software Internationalization: A Framework Validated Against Industry Requirements For Computer Science And Software Engineering Programs, John Huân Vũ

Master's Theses

View John Huân Vũ's thesis presentation at http://youtu.be/y3bzNmkTr-c.

In 2001, the ACM and IEEE Computing Curriculum stated that it was necessary to address "the need to develop implementation models that are international in scope and could be practiced in universities around the world." With increasing connectivity through the internet, the move towards a global economy and growing use of technology places software internationalization as a more important concern for developers. However, there has been a "clear shortage in terms of numbers of trained persons applying for entry-level positions" in this area. Eric Brechner, Director of Microsoft Development Training, suggested …

Designing Successful Online Courses - Part 2, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Once again, our major goal is to provide faculty with consistent guidance through the many instructional decisions and design steps they need to pursue in this process. This process is a fantastic opportunity to craft a virtual learning space in which people can engaging in learning beyond the constraints of time and space.

Five Strategies For Successful Writing Of Reports And Essays, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Many people cannot get started with their literary projects because they do not know where to start. In this brief article, I share insight from years of teaching students and professionals of all ages how to prepare professional work.

Full Issue 2(1) 2010, W James Jacob, Val D. Rust

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

What Have We Learned About And From Rankings?, Ellen Hazelkorn

Other resources

The presentation discusses the pros and cons of higher education rankings, and examines the impact and influence that rankings are having.

School Cultures As Contexts For Informal Teacher Learning, Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe, Lesley A. Rex

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

This study descriptively compares international social contexts for teacher workplace informal professional learning from the teachers’ perspectives. Set in elementary schools in the U.S. and Lithuania, the study illustrates how teachers make sense of and engage in learning within the historical, political and administrative contexts within which they work. A sociocultural framework brings into view different opportunities for teacher informal learning. These appear in teachers’ discourse about their schools’ missions, building structures, classroom environments, organizational arrangements, traditions, and professional relationships as referenced in teachers’ discourse. The study argues for the importance of acknowledging teacher informal learning as a method of …

International Graduate Students And U.S. Innovation, Svetoslav I. Semov

Gettysburg Economic Review

This paper attempts to empirically evaluate the contribution of international graduate students to U.S. innovation. The main framework used is a simplified version of the ―national ideas production function‖. Two econometric specification are estimated – one in which a time trend is incorporated to observe the short-term relationship between the variables and one in which no time trend is included with the goal of capturing the variables‘ long term equilibrium relationship. The results suggest that in the long-term the number of international graduate students significantly (at the 10% level) affects innovative activity. However, when the short-term relationship of the variables …

Free Textbook Distribution Process In Sindh, Pakistan: A Study Of Stakeholders Perceptions, Wasim Qazi Dr., Khalid J. Rawat, Shams Hamid, Halah C. Simon

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Placed amongst the lower middle income countries (The World Bank 2010), a large segment of the population of Pakistan is unable to afford the expenses on basic amenities including education. In year 2003, the Government of Sindh, initiated a free textbooks scheme. This study investigates the transparency and efficiency of distribution process; examines the challenges and opportunities of the procurement and delivery process; and assesses the perceptions and feedback of the stakeholders. The study was conducted in all the districts of Sindh Province. The data were collected through analysis of documents, field survey, focus group discussions and interviews. The study …

Role Of Private Sector In Higher Education Of Pakistan: Predicaments And Insights, Wasim Qazi Dr., Halah C. Simon, Khalid J. Rawat, Shams Hamid

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The nationalization of industry and education in the early 1970s resulted in the deterioration of private sector with minimal investment in this field. This continued into late 90s with Pakistan recording comparatively low public spending on education as a percentage of GDP . Thus the government of Pakistan, in an effort to enhance intellectual capital and enrollments, established the Higher Education Commission (HEC) assigned to evaluate, improve and promote the higher education and research culture in both public and private sectors in Pakistan. Since its establishment in 2002, the HEC has “undertaken a systematic process of implementation of the five-year …

Rehabilitating Closed Schools: A Daunting Challenge For Pakistan, Wasim Qazi Dr., Khalid Jamil Rawat, Shams Hamid

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty and Staff Scholarship

There are 6034 non-operational schools in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh further complicating the work of the donor agencies; more than half of these non-operational schools (3843) only exist on papers. These shadow schools exist only to usurp international aid earmarked for education. Our research shows that proximity to the population; unavailability of teachers; and lack of infrastructure are some of the fundamental causes driving the closure of more than thirteen percent of schools. Our position is that a large number of these schools can be rehabilitated but that requires a three-phased plan. If implemented, proposed plan would enhance transparency …

Faculty Survey Summary Report, Jason T. Burkhardt

American Council on Education Internationalization Laboratory

This report is a summary of the information and data gathered through a faculty survey for the American Council on Education Internationalization Laboratory. 490 or 11.5% of Western Michigan University faculty, graduate assistants and staff responded. Faculty and staff of WMU believe that the university has made definite progress towards the internationalization of WMU, but that there are many ways that the university can improve its level of internationalization.

A Capsule Of The International History And Philosophy Of Andragogy To 2010, John A. Henschke Edd

Adult Education Faculty Works

This capsule on the International History and Philosophy of Andragogy is mainly limited (with a few exceptions) to a chronological history and the accompanying philosophy of andragogy, in line with when the English language documents were published and personal descriptions of events were written down. Some of these documents, however, presents aspect of the events and ideas which recount the years and contexts prior to the time in which they appeared in published form. To date, more than 330 documents have been discovered, but space limitation in this chapter allowed the inclusion of only a fraction of that number. Each …

Creating Sustainable Education Projects In Roatan, Honduras Through Continuous Process Improvement, Arjan Raven, Adriane B. Randolph, Shelli Heil

Faculty Articles

The investigators worked together with permanent residents of Roatán, Honduras on sustainable initiatives to help improve the island’s troubled educational programs. Our initiatives focused on increasing the number of students eligible and likely to attend a university. Using a methodology based in continuous process improvement, we developed tutoring programs, college preparation workshops, long-term plans for a local school, and solicited involvement by an island educational coalition. Lessons learned from these initiatives may be used to expand other efforts on the island and can be generalized to other programs in Central America.

Entrepreneurial Inclination Of Students At A Private University In Malaysia, Manjit Singh Sandhu, Kamal Kishore Jain, Mohar Yusof

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Most past studies on students’ entrepreneurial intention tend to focus on the phenomenon in developed countries.There is limited research on entrepreneurial intention of university students from developing nations. This article intends to close this gap by providing some insights into students’ entrepreneurial inclination in a developing country, Malaysia. A total of 234 students from three faculties at both graduate and undergraduate levels were surveyed to examine their entrepreneurial inclination and also to examine the relationship between their demographic and social characteristics with entrepreneurial inclination.The study found strong entrepreneurial inclination among the students. Significant difference was found between students studying part …

American Council On Education Internationalization Laboratory Report, Haenicke Institute For Global Education, Wmu International Education Council

American Council on Education Internationalization Laboratory

Building on its long history of international initiatives, Western Michigan University elected to participate in the American Council on Education Internationalization Laboratory process. The Laboratory facilitated a wider discussion on campus about global education and provided a forum for setting priorities to further international activities.

Sites Of Refuge: Refugees, Religiosity, And Public Schools In The United States, Bruce A. Collet

School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications

In this article the author examines public schools in the United States as sites where immigrants and refugees express their religious identities as part of their integration processes. In particular, the author examines the schools as “sites of refuge” for refugee students. Although public schools provide refugees with opportunity for study without regard to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (areas of potential persecution under the 1951 UN Convention Regarding the Status of Refugees), owing to their liberal and secular nature they necessarily put constraints on the degree to which students may exercise their …

Transnational Students' Perspectives On Schooling In The United States And Mexico: The Salience Of School Experience And Country Of Birth, Edmund T. Hamann, Víctor Zúñiga, Juan Sánchez García

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Students in Mexican schools with previous experience in US schools are transnational students. To the extent their Mexican schooling does not recognize or build on their US life and school experience and their American school experience did not anticipate their later relocation to Mexico, these students are incompletely attended to by school. Yet these students, like all students, are agentive and have some control over how they make sense of their schooling.

As schooling becomes an increasingly common institutional presence across the world and as decided majorities of children now attend at least some version of primary school, it is …

Revelations Of Adaptive Technology Hiding In Your Operating System, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Pre-publication version of a chapter about the assistive technology tools and resources available for free in Windows OS and Mac OS. Introducing higher education faculty to free resources, features and programs which they can recommend to their students or perhaps use for themselves (for instance for fading eyesight or hearing). In addition, the chapter briefly shares strategies and examples of how they might be used.

The book will have an entire chapter dedicated to assistive technology as well. This is a popularized assistive technology chapter for generalist, NON special education, faculty to become acquainted with readily available and free resources. …

A Comparative Examination Of Career And Start-Up Expectations In South Korea, Ukraine, And The United States, Sherrie Human, Thomas D. Clark, Charles H. Matthews, Julie M. Stewart, Candace R. Gunnarsson

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Relatively few comparative studies have examined how perceptions across cultures might converge or diverge regarding careers in general and new venture careers in particular. Our research addresses this gap by providing a comparative study of career perceptions among undergraduate business students in three countries with different levels of experience with capitalism: Ukraine, South Korea, and the United States. Results suggest both surprising differences and interesting similarities between undergraduate students in the three countries with regard to how they perceive characteristics associated with entrepreneurial careers. Findings are discussed in the context of distinct differences and commonalities across cultures and implications for …