Predicting Study Abroad Intentions Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

The emphasis on study abroad programs is growing in the academic context as U.S. based universities seek to incorporate a global perspective in education. Using a model that has underpinnings in the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we predict students’ intention to participate in short‐term study abroad program. We use TPB to identify behavioral, normative, and control beliefs pertinent to the study abroad context. Our research model hypothesizes that intention is predicted by affordability, willingness to pay, and desire. Moreover, willingness to pay is explained by future job prospects, family expectations, and administrative support. We believe that the elements of TBP are reflective of categories of factors that have been demonstrated as important in the context of short‐term study abroad decisions, but that have not been included in previous studies applying TPB to a study abroad context. We test our research model through a survey of 254 undergraduate business students at a southern U.S. university, and find support for all our hypotheses. Results from our study aid in the understanding of students’ decision‐making process to participate in a short‐term study abroad program and have implications for education and learning in the study abroad context. We also contribute to the extant research in TPB by applying it to the context of studying abroad programs and by identifying, and finding support for, a mediated relationship between beliefs and intentions.     

The determinants of progress to the doctoral degree

The time doctoral students expect to take to complete their degree is investigated in a model which stresses the effects of economic factors. The model also accounts for the interdependency among such variables as employment hours, study hours, household income, and part-time study. We find that field of study, amount of borrowing, household income, and study hours have direct effects on expected time to degree. Indirect effects also occur from employment hours and the amount of fellowship, scholarship, or grant aid. When the sample is separated into foreign and U.S. students, we find that U.S. students underestimate their time to degree. Also, household incomes are higher for U.S. students and increase the time to degree, while the opposite is true for foreign students. Teaching assistantships increase the time to degree for foreign students while research assistantships reduce it.     

Solutions to Efficient Provision of Accommodations for Universities in China

Chinese universities are facing a series of challenges in their accommodations,of which a pr\edominant one is how to provide both students and staff with enough accommodations of a large scope and good quality in good time and with limited budgets,In order to find applicable approaches to solve this problem,the current situations of the Chinese higher education reform and the resulted rapid growth of student numbers whereby the requirement of lodgings is greatly incresed are discussed.It is elucidated that in providing enough accommodations for staff and students,Chinese universities are confronted with difficulties including demand too big,lack of funding support,time limitation and incapability in both project management and facilities management.Industrialized building approach is demonstrated to be a desirable access to build large quantities of accommodations of good quality in limited time.and Private Fuinancial Initiative(PFI) appears to be a prosperous solution to the fund shortage,Regarding project and facilities management,qualified professionals are available by either employing exterior consultants or training related staff of universities for such occupations.     

“双一流”政策对高校本科生源质量的影响研究

本研究主要基于软科中国最好大学排名2016—2020年高校生源质量(新生高考成绩)排名数据,运用中断式时间序列准实验方法中的单组时间序列实验法,分析了“双一流”政策对高校本科生源质量的影响。研究发现:“双一流”建设高校生源质量差异较大,但区间分布相对比较稳定;“双一流”政策对本科生源质量存在一定影响,38所985高校和67所211高校进一步巩固了生源质量的优势地位;3所进入一流大学建设名单的211高校和19所进入一流学科建设名单的非211高校,生源质量均有一定提升;原来生源质量较好但未进入“双一流”建设名单的高校,生源质量呈下降趋势。这是由政府资源投入的持续性、社会人才需求的导向性和大学自身发展的稳定性所决定的。     

美国研究生教育发展中的若干关键问题

美国虽然不是世界上最先发展研究生教育的国家,但却是20世纪以来研究生教育最为发达的国家。从19世纪中期现代研究生教育在国内落地生根开始,美国就在业内讨论发展研究生教育的目的,并很快得到各大学的认同及长期落实;在确定目标的基础上,美国大学成为研究生教育发展的主体,它们从理想和现实层面落实研究生教育的目标;与研究生教育相关的其他利益群体,也从维护自身利益出发,积极参与大学关于研究生教育发展方向的讨论。有目标、有行动、有监督的美国研究生教育体系很快就得到了社会各界的认可,并成为世界研究生教育发展的典范。     

Non-linear improvement in generic problem-solving skills of university students: a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

Problem solving has been characterized as one of the ‘employability skills’ due to the high demand for such abilities in a modern workplace. Most universities do not monitor progress of the generic problem-solving skills (PSS) of their students due to a lack of available assessment tools. We used previously reported 15-min tests to measure the generic PSS of students over the first three years of university. More than 600 students participated in this study, including 144 who wrote PSS tests in Year 1 and then again in Year 3 of their studies. Two versions of the PSS test were administered in September and December of both years. We observed a non-linear increase in PSS test scores with a significant growth during the first three months of Year 1, a similar increase over the next 21 months, then no change during the first three months of Year 3. Further studies are necessary to pinpoint the instructional techniques and situational factors facilitating the PSS development of students over the first three years of studies. Moreover, the plateau we observe in the third year indicates that proactive steps by universities and individual instructors are required to advance this important skill set in upper-year students.     

Breaking the tyranny of office hours: Overcoming professor avoidance

ABSTRACT

Studies have found that Faculty–Student Interaction (FSI) has many positive benefits for students including academic support, professional development, mentoring, and career planning. Research-intensive universities exhibit the lowest levels of faculty–student interaction within higher education. This article utilises qualitative methods to explore faculty, student, and staff perceptions of faculty–student interactions, particularly those that take place out of the classroom, at a research-intensive public U.S. university. We identify social distance between faculty and students based on unequal status within a rigid, hierarchically-organised culture as a key barrier to FSI. We then discuss methods that some of the faculty in our study used to mitigate their social distance with students in an effort to increase FSI.     

若干留学大国的留学生辅助项目研究

文章介绍了美国、加拿大和澳大利亚等留学大国的留学生辅助项目。研究表明，留学生辅助项目的确能够帮助留学生缩短文化适应期，减弱甚至克服文化冲击带来的各种不适。目前中国大学中，留学生学习和生活方面的辅助项目要么没有，要么非常肤浅，不能满足留学生的现实需要。随着来华留学生人数越来越多，留学生辅助指导工作也越来越重要。比较和借鉴接收留学生的大国比较成熟和系统的留学生辅助指导措施，对我们大力发展留学生教育有着重要的现实作用。     

Cross-Cultural Differences in Student Expectations

ABSTRACT

International students represent a growing market segment for colleges and universities in the U.S. As universities begin to target international students, it will become imperative that university administrators and faculty understand what these students expect once they arrive on campus. The present study, utilizing 686 U.S. and 338 Australian business students was designed to explore university service expectations from a cross-cultural perspective. Results indicate that expectations of Australian students are greater than those of U.S students on three dimensions of service quality. Implications for university administrators and faculty, along with future directions, are discussed.     

Using psychological constructs from the MUSIC Model of Motivation to predict students’ science identification and career goals: results from the U.S. and Iceland

ABSTRACT

We investigated students’ perceptions related to psychological constructs in their science classes and the influence of these perceptions on their science identification and science career goals. Participants included 575 middle school students from two countries (334 students in the U.S. and 241 students in Iceland). Students completed a self-report questionnaire that included items from several measures. We conducted correlational analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. Students’ class perceptions (i.e. empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) were significantly correlated with their science identification, which was correlated positively with their science career goals. Combining students’ science class perceptions, science identification, and career goals into one model, we documented that the U.S. and Icelandic samples fit the data reasonably well. However, not all of the hypothesised paths were statistically significant. For example, only students’ perceptions of usefulness (for the U.S. and Icelandic students) and success (for the U.S. students only) significantly predicted students’ career goals in the full model. Theoretically, our findings are consistent with results from samples of university engineering students, yet different in some ways. Our results provide evidence for the theoretical relationships between students’ perceptions of science classes and their career goals.     

Can you earn a Ph.D. in economics in five years?

We investigate graduate school outcomes for students who entered economics Ph.D. programs in fall 2002. Students in Top-15 ranked programs and those with higher verbal and quantitative GRE scores are less likely to have dropped out, but no more likely to have graduated. Those with undergraduate degrees from Top-60 U.S. liberal arts colleges and from foreign universities have lower attrition and higher completion probabilities. There are important differences in the characteristics associated with retention and completion probabilities between U.S. citizens and non-citizens and between men and women.     

Methods and Strategies for Working with International Students Learning Online in the U.S.

With the increase of internationalization and globalization in higher education, more international students are arriving at U.S. higher education institutions, especially from China. At the same time, the increase in online courses and programs at U.S. colleges and universities has led to many of the international Chinese students taking online courses while in the U.S., whether voluntarily or involuntarily. This article discusses methods and strategies for working with international students in online courses and ways to effectively teach them (with a stronger focus on Asian learners) based on existing literature and the results of a phenomenological study of six international graduate students. There is a demonstrated need for the instructors to be more culturally aware when teaching to improve the online learning experiences of international students although the international students themselves also need to be more prepared for online courses. Recommendations are provided for instructors as well as international students.     

国际化教育对大学生主动环境行为的影响研究

在国际化教育成为主流的背景下,高校对学生主动环境行为培养具有重要的作用。随着社会对国际化人才需求的日益提升,我国高校人才培养体系中尚缺乏环境意识与环境行为的相关教学环节,因此,本文旨在探索高等教育加入国际化因素后对大学生环境行为更深层次的影响。以能源类高校学生为样本,通过对环境行为理论的分析,确定大学生清洁能源意识及环境可持续发展意识、环境行为等相关因素,收集数据并建立相关模型,利用Spearman相关分析,检验模型的准确程度。基于此模型得出,国际化教育能够通过影响学生的清洁能源使用意识对其环境行为产生影响,进而提出通过提升国际化教育水平的方式,促进高校学生主动性环境行为的建议。     

Development of Rationale and Measures of Noncognitive College Student Potential

In considering and evaluating approaches to the admission of college students, the usual approach is to try to measure past academic achievement and primarily verbal and math ability on the assumption that these abilities will predict subsequent college academic grades and achievement. These measures do predict classroom achievement, though far from perfectly so. It is also the case that most universities claim to develop students in areas not well represented by classroom grades such as leadership, social responsibility, integrity, multicultural appreciation, and others. In our work, we have adopted a model employed by industrial/organizational psychologists in personnel selection. We began with a “job analysis” of the “job” of undergraduate students. We developed a list of expectations universities claim to have of students and derived a list of constructs that were hypothesized to be essential to success. This set of constructs has been central to the development of a series of measures we use to assess student potential as well as a set of outcome measures that we believe is a better representation of the totality of relevant college student outcomes.     

基于社会需求导向的应用型本科院校教学改革的探讨

目前,大学生的就业问题日益严峻,用人单位拿来就能用的呼声越来越高,这对大学生的实践能力提出了更高的要求。然而,大部分应用型本科院校仍存在着办学模式陈旧、理论与实践脱节、教学与社会需求不匹配、人才培养模式单一等问题。为此,应用型本科院校应以社会需求为导向,进行人才培养模式的转换,培养具有解决生产和管理中实际问题能力的应用型本科人才。同时,要开展应用型科学研究和技术的转化,服务地方经济和社会发展,以解决大学生就业的问题,实现毕业生零适应期、准员工化。     

美国研究型大学的投入与产出分析

美国研究型大学是美国培养高级科技人才和产出高水平科研成果的重要基地,研究美国研究型大学20世纪80年代以来的经费投入及其教育产出和科研产出对经济发展的贡献,探讨美国研究型大学自身发展与社会经济发展的关系,对于我国实施"科教兴国"战略,创建研究型大学具有重要的借鉴意义.     

Undergraduate Understanding of Climate Change: The Influences of College Major and Environmental Group Membership on Survey Knowledge Scores

A survey covering the scientific and social aspects of climate change was administered to examine U.S. undergraduate student mental models, and compare knowledge between groups based on major and environmental group membership. A Knowledge Score (scale 0–35, mean score = 17.84) was generated for respondents at two, central East Coast, U.S. universities (n = 465). Elements of student mental models examined include environmental issue confusion, skepticism, and self-reported understanding. This study finds that students frequently confuse climate change with other environmental issues, and that a substantial majority of students do not have an understanding of climate change that closely matches the scientific model. These misconceptions extend to their understanding of mitigation actions. Environmental group membership is shown to be a greater determinant of climate change knowledge than enrollment in a science major.     

新时代“岩体力学”“七步法”实验教学模式探讨

针对当前高校"岩体力学"实验教学过程中出现的本科学生多、实验设备不足、实验教学学时相对较少、学生创新意识不足等一系列问题,结合工程教育认证中学生的毕业标准,提出了"以现场问题引入实验教学"、"鼓励学生创新实验方法"和"利用新技术多途径实现实验教学"的新时代改革方向,并以岩石单轴压缩试验为例,详细阐述了"七步法"实验教学模式的主要内容。该实验教学模式符合工程教育认证要求的学生毕业标准,解决了当前高校"岩体力学"实验教学存在的诸多弊端,可为新时代高等院校"岩体力学"的高质量实验教学和高水平人才培养提供指导。     

西部大开发中新疆高校汉语教学质量思考

西部大开发对少数民族双语人才提出了更高的要求，而培养少数民族双语人才的关键是过好汉语关。近两年高校扩招后，少数民族学生数量大增，但其汉语入学成绩总体呈下降趋势。今后应加强少数民族人才培养的计划性，引入竞争机制，壮大汉语教师队伍。     

International Demand For Spanish University Education: an analysis in the context of the European Higher Education Area

In the current context of globalisation it seems inevitable that the international openness of universities would also lead to efforts to attract foreign students. In the case of Spain, this is more necessary, insofar as the drop in population, the existence of other quality educational offerings, and the greater number of public and private universities have made students a target to compete for. Cutbacks in public funds have accentuated this trend. This article analyses the international demand at Spanish universities in order to determine whether there are significant differences because of the level of local competition faced by universities and public or private ownership. The Herfindhal index and analysis of variance are used to this end. Using data from the Statistics on University Students for the 2005‐2006 and 2011‐2012 academic years, we found that the creation of the European Higher Education Area partially affected international demand at Spanish universities. The overall international attractiveness of the Spanish university system improved considerably and universities have assumed an international view, regardless of the competition in their respective areas. Therefore, local competition is no longer a decisive factor to explain the international demand. In contrast, although public or private ownership does not determine the international attractiveness of universities, it does serve to explain their type of international demand.