Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Your Story, Your Life, Your Learning: Autobiography Reveals Basis For Supporting Personalized, Holistic Pedagogy, Michael Maser

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Each person ongoingly experiences the world uniquely through vital processes shaping their subjectivity, personhood and sense of self. Learning, an innate characteristic or modality of each human life, of living, likewise arises subjectively or idiosyncratically. In this paper, a phenomenological lens is applied to auto/biographical excerpts concerned with various learning experiences to help reveal essential, subjective characteristics of emergent learning. The insights help establish a basis for challenging the primacy of objectivist learning evaluations. The insights also confirm the importance of personalizing learning as a pedagogical gesture nurturing and enfranchising student learning in significant ways beyond conventional educational approaches …

“A Word For Nature”: A Reflection On A Contemplative Teacher-Training Course In The Desert, Netta Baryosef-Paz, Nirit Assaf

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper reflects on an interdisciplinary, environmental, and contemplative course the authors taught at Kibbutzim College of Education in Tel Aviv. Entitled “I am in Nature,” the course was co-taught by an ecologist and a literary scholar. It included a two-day base camping and hiking experience in the Negev Desert and three on-campus meetings. The students read Nature Writing and Ecopoetry, practiced guided mindfulness meditations in the field, and kept contemplative-writing journals. In this community voices piece, we offer an innovative pedagogy for higher education that centers on the integration of the learner’s mind, body, and heart through interdisciplinary, contemplative, …

Healing Racial Trauma From Public School Systems, Lisa Y. Collins

Journal of Research Initiatives

Oregon needs Black educators in the K-12 public school system. In 35 school districts throughout the state, the number of students of color has risen by over 40% in recent years (Oregon Chief Education Office, 2019). The number of educators of color in the state is under 10%. The number of Black educators is even lower. Research has shown that Black educators improve all students' academic, cultural, and social aspects, especially Black students. Nationally, Black educators were impacted by the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. At that time in history, Black communities fought for civil rights as they experienced …

Can I Live: Examining The Self-Worth Of Black Men Enrollment In Community College, Lavon Williams

Journal of Research Initiatives

T

This study aimed to describe Black men’s self-worth and lived experience in community college. According to research, community colleges are the first option for many Black men. Through qualitative research methods, this study examines the believed self-worth of Black men enrolled in community college and matches its findings to Jay Z’s (1998) classic song Can I Live. Findings from this study identify the internal fight Black men have pursuing an education as a means to achieve upward mobility. Lastly, this study provides insight to aid policymakers, higher education practitioners, and Black families to understand better how to address Black …

Reflective Perspectives Of Host And Guest Participants Of An International Professional Development Experience, Melanie J. Miller Foster, Joseph Y. Cho, Laura L. Rice, Brad Kinsinger, Daniel Foster, Nur Husna Abd Wahid

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Global competence is a skill set that has become a necessity in every discipline in the agricultural sciences. With an increasingly diverse student population in our school systems coupled with an increasingly complex global agrisystem, now more than ever we need globally competent educators and learners to develop a globally competent workforce and society. A common intervention in cultivating global competency is the study abroad immersive experience for the traveling participants, but little is known about the global competency gains in hosting individuals. The immersive study abroad experience provided the opportunity for school-based agricultural educators (both candidates and practicing educators) …

Racism Without Race: The Racialization Of Middle Eastern And North African Students At U.S. Colleges, Hannah Mesouani

Dissertations

Although a growing body of literature covers the experiences of international students at U.S. colleges, the stories of those who do not fit into the U.S. racial schema remain untold. This study examined how Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) students understood their racial identities given the United States’ tense history with Islam and the MENA world. Using foundational texts on critical race theory, current scholarship on Arab Americans and foreign-born students, and facets of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS), this study examined the experiences of MENA students who study amid a national backdrop of xenophobia and racialized Islamophobia. This …

Translanguaging In World Language Higher Education, Alessia Barbici Wagner

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study …

Toward A Social Justice Emphasis In Preservice Teachers’ Inquiries In Small Liberal Arts Contexts, Lucy Mule

Journal of Practitioner Research

Scholars underscore the need to study core features and outcomes of preservice teacher (PST) inquiry. This qualitative study identifies facilitation as a key feature, and a social justice inquiry stance as an important outcome. The author analyzed PST inquiry reports from a graduate-level course, noting that fewer than half of the reports were focused on social justice and, despite a weak program emphasis, PSTs were adopting this inquiry stance. Analysis of student feedback surveys and instructor notes revealed that providing clear and structured processes, consistent written feedback, and frequent meetings with facilitator and peers were effective facilitation strategies. Additional strategies …

Digital Intercultural Education: A Comparative Study Of Self-Access Learning Experiences, Gareth Humphreys

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: Two sets of intercultural learning resources incorporating Global Englishes learning content were developed for self-access use in the higher education context. The resources were investigated in terms of student learning experiences across two contexts in Japan: an English language major program and a nonlanguage major program. The aim was to develop an understanding of student learning experiences to inform practical implications for self-access learning in these areas.

Method: The educational resources were investigated in a qualitative content analysis of reflective writing and supporting survey data from 30 students across the two university programs to understand how (and if) they …

Accreditation Of Teaching And Research Universities In Afghanistan: A Policy Implementation Analysis, Sayed Javid Mussawy

Doctoral Dissertations

The quest for quality has encouraged many countries to establish quality assurance and accreditation models to sustain and improve quality. While some established their own procedures, a great majority of the countries including those in the developing world have adopted quality assurance policies developed in the Global North to respond to internationalization and to participate in the knowledge economy. However, most universities in developing countries lack adequate infrastructure to implement accreditation standards. Thus, investigating the implementation of accreditation policies in developing nations provides new insight into the opportunities and challenges posed by internationalization of quality assurance and accreditation. This study …

知源育利用のガイド, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

知源育を応用するための様々な角度からのヒントを学ぶことができるガイドです。実勢んをしながら、時々このガイドを参照することで、より高いレベルでの実践が可能になるでしょう。

A Conceptual Exploration Of Anti-Fragility In The Context Of Confucian Heritage Culture Education, Alwyn Lau

Journal of Research Initiatives

It is a common but not unrealistic stereotype of Asian students that educational success is a matter of personal identity and status. As such, achieving distinctions in as many subjects as possible (the popular target of becoming a ‘straight A’ student) is usually a non-negotiable objective nurtured by both parents and educators. Such an obsessive pursuit of academic excellence produces both laudable outcomes (e.g. the tendency of Asian students to outperform their counterparts) as well as dangerous ones (e.g. worrying rates of mental health problems). This theoretical paper hopes to apply the concept of anti-fragility developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, …

How Do They See Me? Examining The Experiences Of Faculty In The Context Of Classroom Whiteness Factors, Papia Bawa, Diantha Watts Dr.

Journal of Research Initiatives

Today polarized attitudes and aptitudes have created a subtle but steady paradigm shift in the way equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) issues are seen by stakeholders. As a result, focusing on critical aspects of equity relationships and the fallout from discriminatory attitudes towards marginalized groups has become ever more needed. While diversity issues exist in all societal, professional, and personal realms, its impact within educational institutions is perhaps the most deeply profound. This Hermeneutic Phenomenology study examines the experiences of six higher education faculty who teach predominantly white student classrooms to identify issues and recommendations with respect to their relationship …

Global Engineering Ethics: What? Why? How? And When?, Rockwell F. Clancy Iii, Qin Zhu

Journal of International Engineering Education

Even though engineering programs, accreditation bodies, and multinational corporations have become increasingly interested in introducing global dimensions into professional engineering practice, little work in the existing literature provides an overview of questions fundamental to global engineering ethics, such as what global engineering ethics is, why it should be taught, how it should be taught, and when it should be introduced. This paper describes the what, why, how, and when of global engineering ethics – a form adopted from a 1996 article by Charles Harris, Michael Davis, Michael Pritchard, and Michael Rabins, which has influenced the development of engineering ethics for …

Trauma-Informed Practices For Test-Taking Anxiety At The Elementary Grade Level, Kate Campbell, Shalini Mathew

Journal of Research Initiatives

Test -Taking Anxiety (TTA) is a challenging experience for children of all ages. Childhood exposure to trauma and adverse experience has been increasing. Fortunately, trauma-informed practices, such as mindfulness activities have become more widespread in schools throughout the last few years. Existing school counseling literature offers limited perspectives on how school counselors can support elementary students for TTA. This conceptual article explores the effects of trauma-informed practices on elementary-age students' test anxiety and overall academic success in schools and offers implications for practice.

Remote Learning - The Future Of Education: Effective Instructional Strategies Used By Parent Educators And Recommendations For Building Capacity, Raelene Ferguson Haugen

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to identify the remote learning instructional strategies used by expert Southern California parent educators for implementing the anticipatory set, modeling, checking for understanding, and guided practice elements of Madeline Cheek Hunter’s Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) framework. The study sought to identify how expert Southern California parent educators rated the effectiveness of the remote learning instructional strategies in the aforementioned elements of Hunter’s ITIP framework. Additionally, the purpose was to generate recommendations from expert Southern California parent educators to build capacity in the identified effective instructional strategies.

Methodology: The classical …

English Teachers' Opinions On Challenges Face In Teaching English As Foreign Language: The Case Of Jalalabad Selected Secondary Schools, Fahim Rahimi, Hangama Samadi

Journal of Research Initiatives

One important goal of teaching is to achieve learning outcomes. It has been observed in universities that many students have different levels of English language proficiency. However, they study in the same English courses at the school level. The main objective of this study is to learn the challenges that exist in teaching the English language as a foreign language in secondary schools that affect the English proficiency of students. In addition, ways in which these challenges will be overcome is reviewed. The data collection tools were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from English language teachers in selected …

A Case Study Of Afghan Foreign Language (Fl) Teachers' Attitudes Towards Literature As A Method Of Teaching, Omid Wali, Kishwar Zafir

Journal of Research Initiatives

For the last two decades, teaching foreign languages through literature has been advocated as an effective method and trend. Literature also plays a vital role in the language curriculum and teaching. Many instructors believe in using literature as a remarkable strategy for teaching foreign languages effectively. However, many others argue why and how literature should be embodied in the language curriculum. Teachers' attitudes toward literature as a fundamental tool for teaching the four integrated language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are inconsistent. Therefore, the study aims to survey the perceptions and attitudes of Afghan foreign language teachers towards literature …

Valuing The Local Within The Global: A Discourse Analysis Of Professional Development In A U.S.-Kurdish Transnational University Partnership, Thomas A. Highley, Connie Kendall Theado

Journal of Global Education and Research

In an effort to support higher education in developing countries, partnerships between U.S. and international universities have surged, raising questions concerning the social equity of such linkages. Using a New Literacy Studies approach to discourse analysis, online transcripts from one such university partnership were analyzed to determine how language was used to negotiate a more equitable partnership through the adaptation of the social context of professional development activities. Discourse analysis of three relevant linguistic markers in the data suggests that cultural perspectives on professional development influenced the language choices made by university partners, reshaping the power structure toward greater social …

Virtual Free-Writing Journal Portfolios In An Intensive English Program In Iraq, Charles Mckinney

MA TESOL Collection

Middle-Eastern English language learners (ELLs), specifically Iraqi students, are often not well equipped to succeed in university settings where English is the medium of instruction (EMI) for their intended graduate and undergraduate studies. Oftentimes, they are weaker in their academic literacy skills, when compared to listening and speaking, and need extra scaffolding and/or remedial instruction to develop their reading and writing dexterity for overall academic success. One way to support their writing development is to implement free-writing journal projects that will enable them to cultivate an original writer voice, to think quickly and critically in the L2, and to integrate …

The State Of Speech-Language Pathology In Guatemala: A Case For Creating A New Post-Graduate University Program, Amanda Blackwell

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Speech-language pathology is part of a broader discipline of allied-health professions including occupational therapy and physical therapy. The professionals in these disciplines work alongside doctors and nurses to provide rehabilitative care for people with congenital or acquired disabilities across the lifespan. The organization and application of the field of speech language pathology is in various stages of development in countries around the world. The current dissertation seeks to understand the state of speech-language pathology in the Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) of Guatemala and suggest a specific plan for the creation of a new graduate program for this discipline.

Utilizing Comparative Education As A Platform For Deepening Student Engagement With Catholic Social Teaching: An Exploratory Case Study In Study-Abroad, Bryan Meadows

Journal of Catholic Education

Central to the mission of Catholic higher education are the themes of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). This contribution to the Education in Practice section recounts a 15-week undergraduate course that deepened student engagement in CST themes through comparative education studies and a study abroad experience to Japan. A detailed description of the course main segments draws on artifacts of student coursework and post-interviews. The contribution of comparative education is that students are provided a platform upon which they can explore deeper, underlying principles to individual CST themes. This contribution further provides practitioners step-by-step guidance in how to develop similar learning …

Advances In Global Education And Research: Volume 4, Waynne B. James, Cihan Cobanoglu, Muhittin Cavusoglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the fourth volume of the Advances in Global Education and Research Book Series. This volume has the following parts:

• Part 1: Adult Education
• Part 2: Curriculum and Instruction Development
• Part 3: Educational Technology
• Part 4: Education in Other Specialties
• Part 5: English as a Second Language
• Part 6: Global Competence
• Part 7: Higher Education and Educational Leadership
• Part 8: Inclusive Education
• Part 9: International Education
• Part 10: PreK-12
• Part 11: Research Methods in Education

ISBN: 978-1-955833-04-2

Adult Education

• Teaching for knowledge transfer: Best practices from a graduate-level educational psychology distance learning program
  • Bobby Hoffman
• A study on the …

Teacher Professionalism In Light Of Biometric Controls On Teacher Mobility And Autonomy, David L. Knott

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I investigate the introduction of biometric technology, specifically fingerprint scanners, for the purposes of managing faculty members’ working hours at a higher education institution (HEI) located in the Middle Eastern Gulf States. Utilizing semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data, three expatriate teachers of English discussed their experiences before and after management installed the fingerprint scanners, discussing the influence such a change has on their professional identities and the additional impacts on their teaching, their identification with the institution, and the overall culture of the HEI. The results show that the existence of the fingerprint scanners adversely affects …

Mechanisms Of Biases And Cultural Literacy In International Language Education: One Such Story To Carry, Yukari Birkett

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Despite equity and inclusion initiatives, the English based colonial model has permeated the kindergarten to college systems, teaching/learning, theories and methods, the perception of second language acquisition, multiculturalism, and language education (Knowles et al., 2015; Macedo, 2019; Phillips & Abbot, 2011; Battiste, 2013). Additionally, cognitive neuroscientific discoveries of the complexity of language learning, emotional intelligence, and cultural literacy systematically failed to reach educators. Few studies have focused on what factors impact on cultural biases of foreign language learners, or what factors in learning facilitate the dismantling of durable biases. What are the hidden agendas for teaching and learning foreign languages? …

Raising Cross-Cultural Awareness Among The Undergraduates Through Intentional Design In A Culture Course In The Us—An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Experimental Design, Hua Wang

Dissertations

The cultivation of intercultural competence is a growing trend globally, and integration of intercultural competence into coursework was widely acknowledged as a valid strategy to achieve this goal. The purpose of this study is to examine (1) the effects of the intervention of connecting one’s own culture to affect students' cross-cultural awareness development in American colleges; and (2) students’ perceptions of their own cultural‐awareness changes. Data was collected through pre-and post-questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. This study also compared between-group participants’ posttest ratings on a cross-cultural awareness scale, as well as pre- and post-test ratings within each group. The quantitative and …

Investigating Indonesian Master's Students’ Perception Of Critical Thinking In Academic Writing In A British University, Millatul Islamiyah, Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri

The Qualitative Report

Critical thinking is generally valued as expected outcomes of university graduates although the concept of it is controversial. Students are required to display it in academic writing which is the default of university assessment. However, international students from “non-Western” backgrounds in particular, frequently experience difficulty in demonstrating critical expression in their written texts. The current study, in the light of interviews with four Indonesian master’s students, therefore, aims at investigating their perception of critical thinking, exposing some factors perceived to be influencing the application of critical thinking in academic writing, and exploring their development of critical thinking. The results of …

Insights From Academics Teaching International Students In Australia, Dawn Joseph Dr, Kay Hartwig Dr

The Qualitative Report

Australia continues to be an attractive destination in the world for international students. For higher education institutions to remain globally competitive there is a need to deliver high quality teaching and learning programs and adequate support structures. This paper forms part of a wider study on improving work placement for international students, their mentors and other stakeholders at Deakin University (Australia) and adds to the body of knowledge on international students as seen through the eyes of academic staff. It explores the lived experiences of seven academics as they navigate what is required of them when teaching international students in …

Reimagining The Philosophy Of Evaluation, Assistance, And Certification (Eac) Project: The Ials Model Reform In Legal Education, Sreejith S.G.

St. Mary's Law Journal

In 2017, the International Association of Law Schools (IALS) launched its Evaluation Assistance and Certification (EAC) Project. The Project, essentially meant to enable law schools to raise themselves to international standards in legal education, has not only advanced the work of IALS but also broadened its mandate, giving IALS a new philosophy and outlook. The renewed philosophy of IALS is a philosophy of ambition, solidarity, self-becoming, and the pursuit of excellence. This article, after conceptualizing the modalities of the Project, examines that philosophy, exploring the impact it will have on law school performance and on legal education at large. Finally, …

Students’ Perceived Cultural Intelligence Outcomes Based On Their Participation In Undergraduate Courses That Embed Short-Term International Travel: A Case Study, Margaret Arrison Nolan

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

Cultural intelligence (CQ) refers to an individual’s capability to successfully adapt to new or unfamiliar cultural settings (Earley & Ang, 2003). The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of CQ within the context of higher education pedagogy. This study explored undergraduate students’ perceived outcomes of CQ based on their participation in full semester courses that embedded short-term international travel (SIT). The researcher conducted a qualitative, phenomenological case study that explored, in depth, the nuances of students’ shared lived experiences in SIT, and how these experiences intersected with students’ perceived CQ outcomes …