The effects of faculty behaviors on the academic achievement of first-year Cambodian urban university students

Research on the faculty impact on students’ academic achievement has been disproportionately confined to the context of countries with developed higher education systems. Few studies have been undertaken in the developing world like Cambodia. This study employed hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationships between faculty behaviors and the academic achievement of university students in Cambodia, using the data of 923 first-year students from nine universities in Phnom Penh City. Results indicated that faculty behavior, namely their support and feedback to students, was a unique factor that had a strong and positive influence on students’ academic achievement. Its effect was the same for all students regardless of their pre-university academic experience and geographical origin and partially moderated by student engagement in time spent on course-related tasks outside the classroom, assigned homework/tasks, class participation, and class preparation. Contrary to existing findings from faculty impact studies, no relation was found for faculty’s instructional organization and clarity or classroom practices that challenge students on academic achievement. Practical implications for assessment policies and instructional practices are discussed.     

The action researcher as tempered radical and strategic entrepreneur in higher education: a personal reflection

This article describes the discovery of action research by a ‘conscious incompetent’ in higher education. The influences on the development of an action researcher’s individual philosophy are discussed. These shape a specific investigation into the implementation of international staff exchange in a post-1992 UK university from the position of an ‘outsider within’, a tempered radical. Ontological and epistemological concepts of quasi-objectivity, subjectivity, participation and commitment are discussed in relation to entrepreneurship in the higher education context, concluding that action research is a methodology suitable for tempered radicals and strategic entrepreneurs and that the action researcher can play these roles to research the execution of international faculty mobility in higher education.     

The Effect of Informational Characteristics and Faculty Knowledge and Beliefs on the Use of Assessment

Increasing the use of learning outcome assessments to inform educational decisions is a major challenge in higher education. For this study we used a sense-making theoretical perspective to guide an analysis of the relationship of information characteristics and faculty assessment knowledge and beliefs with the use of general education assessment information at three research institutions with similar organizational contexts. Study findings indicate that the likelihood of using assessment information increases when assessment evidence is action oriented and viewed as of high quality and when faculty members are knowledgeable, have positive dispositions toward assessment, and have a perception of institutional support for engagement in assessment activities.     

建构主义教学与学习评估方法的探讨

简要分析建构主义教学的特征,并从建构主义教学的角度,对目前英美等国许多大学普遍采用的大学生学习评估方法以及各种方法的利弊进行阐述和比较。同时,对提高中国高校学习评估的可靠性和有效性提出建议。     

Competency-based curriculum development: An experimental model for social service workers

The call for relevance in higher education has opened the doorway from the classroom to the community. Creative methods to provide viable academic exercises within this context are being sought by increasing numbers of faculty and administrators. Competency-based curriculum development is one method being proposed as having strong potential. This article describes a competency design and documentation process that was developed during a one-year research and demonstration program for social service workers. The process was found to provide greater accountability for learning situations that link theory and fieldwork. It was also found to revitalize dialogue between field professionals and academic faculty, with students as active participants.George C. Burrill received his Ph.D. from the Union Graduate School (Yellow Springs, Ohio).     

Connecting assessment practices with curricula and pedagogy via implementation fidelity data

Globally, higher education institutions aim to assess and improve students’ learning. However, assessment practices often do not culminate in improved learning. For instance, in the United States, empirical examples of learning improvement in higher education are exceptionally rare. A disconnect between assessment practices and instruction at the classroom level likely contributes to scarce evidence of improvement. In the current study, we provide a didactic example of how outcomes assessment data can be integrated with data concerning the educational intervention students received. This type of information – referred to as implementation fidelity data – allows faculty to more accurately interpret outcomes assessment results, make informed modifications to educational interventions, and link learning improvements back to specific interventions. As more faculty purposefully integrate outcomes assessment data and implementation fidelity data, higher education will better demonstrate its worth.     

A Study of Faculty Perceptions of Summer Compressed Course Teaching

Students take summer and compressed courses for a variety of reasons and research indicates that learning outcomes in these courses are similar to those gained in traditional semester or quarter courses. This quantitative study was an attempt to clarify faculty perceptions about summer compressed courses. One hundred and fifty-one faculty members teaching at a large, multicampus institution completed a survey addressing teaching methodology, approaches to student assessment, and other pedagogical issues relating to such courses. It was determined that many faculty did make adjustments in teaching methods and approaches to student assessment. In addition, perceptions were different between experienced/tenured faculty and inexperienced/nontenured faculty.Mark Kretovics is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel at Kent State University. He received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University and his research interests include the assessment of student learning, business practices in higher education, distance education, and pedagogical issues in compressed courses. Mark had over 20 years of administrative experience within higher education before transitioning into his current faculty role. Alicia R. Crowe, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies at Kent State University. Her areas of interest and research include teacher education, social studies education, teacher learning, and technology integration. Eunsook Hyun, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies at Kent State University. Her area of research interests include teacher education, critical pedagogy, curriculum theorizing, and higher education curriculum     

Spanish university assessment practices: examination tradition with diversity by faculty

Classroom assessment is crucial to understand how students approach course materials, even more so in a competitive environment such as higher education. Our aim was to explore the current situation of assessment in higher education to consider further institutional and training actions. Every syllabus from all public universities in Spain was entered into a database, from which 1,693 syllabi were selected completely at random for a content analysis. It was found that: (1) university teachers use a greater variety and number of assessment instruments than did their counterparts of decades ago, (2) final examination score is still the highest-weighted source of information for the final grade, (3) the cluster of assessment practices show that conventional approaches are still the most prevalent ones, (4) formal peer and self-assessment practices are still extremely rare in the classroom, (5) assessment practices barely change between first and fourth-year courses, and (6) most variations in assessment are explained by differences on faculty/academic divisions. This research has implications for European legislation, university regulation and university teacher training programmes.     

Accelerating the introduction of the case method into Chinese business schools: an action research approach

ABSTRACT

This paper is unique in that it demonstrates how a national education department used action research to stimulate the use of the case method of teaching in business schools and other departments in universities in China. It illustrates how four different players; a teacher, her students, a government department in charge of setting education policy and selected faculty in Chinese universities were involved in the research. The research suggests that, contrary to widely held beliefs, given a well-trained and motivated Chinese instructor and careful course design Chinese students will readily accept the case method of teaching. Methods used in influencing potential adopters of the case method are discussed. Current faculty and institutional related barriers to the introduction of the case method are noted along with a proposal to institute the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as a potential solution. The paper also illustrates how videotapes of classroom processes can be used in multiple ways within an action research project.     

An international online survey of the practices and perceptions of higher education professors with respect to the assessment of learning in the classroom

In a context where public action must demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency, and where the links between teaching and the quality of learning are regularly highlighted, it seems relevant to identify the trends and logic that govern university professors’ decisions with respect to the modes of learning assessment favoured within the framework of their delivery of teaching services. Moreover, given that university teaching practices are changing rapidly due to the introduction of different views of the learning process, one might conclude that the same holds for assessment practices. Through our research work, we led to the development of a trilingual (English, French and Spanish) online survey devoted to an international investigation into the classroom assessment practices of higher education teachers. This survey proposes an online platform that will allow institutions of higher learning to document some of their current practices and to compare observed trends with what is happening elsewhere, in accordance with differing missions and traditions. These research notes are thus intended to describe the survey itself and to show how the questionnaire and individual items were structured, in addition to providing an overview of treatments within and between institutions that followed the testing.     

Developing undergraduate research skills in a faculty of education: motivation through collaboration

This paper explores motivational factors underpinning undergraduates’ learning of research skills through individual research projects with collaborative tutorials. Research has long pointed to group support, positive affect and scaffolding as important for motivating and facilitating learning. Furthermore, UK government priorities have placed an increasing emphasis on the need to develop the key skills of inquiry and working with others. However, this is set in a context of assessment and practice in higher education that encourages individualist and instrumental perspectives on gaining competencies and knowledge. Traditionally undergraduate research skills have been taught through lectures and small‐scale projects chosen by the students with individual tutorial support in a faculty of education. Here our action research introduced collaborative tutorials as another element of teaching. We examine the process of collaboration to explore factors that support motivation to learn through two principal theoretical frameworks.     

In-Service Improvement of Teaching

We examine the validity of peer observation of classroom instruction for purposes of faculty evaluation. Using both a multi-section course sample and a sample of different courses across a university's School of Business and Economics we find that the results of annual classroom observations of faculty teaching are significantly and positively correlated with student learning outcome assessment measures. This finding supports the validity of classroom observation as an assessment of teaching effectiveness. The research also indicates that student ratings of teaching effectiveness (SETEs) were less effective at measuring student learning than annual classroom observations by peers.     

Women's talk in the ivory tower

Inequities in higher education persist, as revealed both by statistical indicators and in continuing reports by women students and faculty that the academic environment itself is alienating. Our review of the research on academic settings, including classroom interaction and the patterns of interaction among and between females and males, leads us to identify the structure of classroom talk itself as one reason many women find the classroom inhospitable. The norms of classroom interaction are more closely aligned with typical male patterns of interaction than with typical female patterns. We suggest that both can exist in classrooms side‐by‐side, as important resources for females and males. We conclude with suggestions for teaching and research.     

Assessment moderation in an Australian context: processes,practices, and challenges

Moderation is a quality assurance process that plays a central role in the teaching, learning, and assessment cycle in higher education. While there is a growing body of research globally on teaching, learning, and, to a lesser degree, assessment in higher education, the process of moderation of assessment has received even less attention. In a context of heightened accountability and greater transparency in the tertiary sector, the formalising of moderation processes has not been a part of established practice. In light of these changes, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and investigate current marking and moderation processes and practices operating within one faculty in a large urban university in eastern Australia to gain insight into the challenges to effective moderation. The findings suggest the need for moderation to be considered holistically as an inherent part of teaching and learning, and the need for ongoing staff development.     

Group work experiences: Domestic MBA student experiences and outcomes when working with international students

This article forms part of an exploration into the results of a single-case, embedded study that was conducted to explore how domestic part-time graduate business students in the United States experience group work for summative assessment. Multiple information collection methods were utilised, including open-ended and semi-structured interviews, case study documents and student journals. The aim of this larger study was to understand the unique experiential factors that contribute to a student's perceptions of positive group work outcomes within a graduate-level context. However, this article will detail only one of the more unexpected findings of this study, which involves how international students affect the perception of positive group work for domestic part-time students. Since key informants of this study included only domestic part-time MBA students, the limitations and ethical implications surrounding this finding will also be addressed. This article suggests noteworthy implications in the area of professional and organisational development for faculty and administrators in higher education with regard to the use of group work in the graduate classroom. This includes the importance of utilising existing institutional resources and structures to prepare and develop administrators, faculty and staff to make more informed decisions regarding group work within a graduate context.     

Multiplying perspectives and improving practice: what can happen when undergraduate students collaborate with college faculty to explore teaching and learning

Traditional structures in higher education support a separation between faculty members’ and students’ perspectives on classroom practice. This is in part because student-faculty interactions are typically defined by a focus on content coverage and by a clear delineation between faculty and student roles in engaging that content. This paper focuses on key findings from an ongoing action research study that aims to address these basic questions: (1) What happens when faculty and students engage in structured dialogue with one another about teaching and learning outside of the regular spaces within which they interact? and (2) How can such dialogic engagement become a part of both students’ and teachers’ practice? The study takes place within the context of a program that supports undergraduate students and college faculty members in semester-long partnerships through which they explore teaching and learning. The goal of these explorations is to examine, affirm, and, where appropriate, revise pedagogical practice. Constant comparison/grounded theory was used to analyze discussions among and feedback from participants. It was found that partnership facilitates both faculty and students multiplying their perspectives in ways that have the potential to improve teaching and learning. Participants consistently describe gaining new insights produced at and by the intersections of their experiences and angles of vision. Furthermore, they discuss how these insights deepen their own self-awareness and their understanding of others’ experiences and perspectives. Finally, they indicate that, as a result of gaining these insights and deepening their awareness, they are inclined to embrace more engaged and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.     

MAKING THE CONNECTION THROUGH STAFFING: MECHANISMS TO INCREASE CONSISTENCY BETWEEN UNIVERSITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION COURSES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LAB SCHOOL PRACTICES

Abstract

A team of early childhood teacher education faculty developed the 3‐D talent development model of teacher education, blending theory and research from many sources. These sources include research on talent development, nonuniversal development, and roles of teachers and their professional growth. The faculty integrated constructs from these sources into a program rooted in principles of social constructivism. Using the 3‐D model, the faculty team identified their task as taking students of teaching through the phases of discovery, discipline, and divergence. Assessments that we developed needed to correspond to this conceptual framework, moving us away from traditional types of student assessment. In this article we offer a synopsis of the talent development model; review five of the approaches to student assessment we use, including alternative assessment activities, “Employmee” feedback forms, electronic portfolios, state teacher evaluation frameworks, and action research projects; and articulate the linkages between our approach to assessment and the talent development model of teacher education.     

提高高职院校教学质量路径研究——基于生态学理念

本文借鉴生态学中能量流动的原理及理念,通过类比分析,剖析高等职业院校校领导、学院(系部)、教师、学生各层级的"能量"源、流动去向及效率,认为当前影响高等职业教育内涵发展的主要因素是课程质量和师资队伍水平,制约高等职业教育人才培养质量的"瓶颈"之一就是学校教学工作中的课堂教学实际效率,并提出提高职院校教育教学工作"生态"效率的有效途径。