Motivation of Faculty Members at a Latin American University: A Case Study

The purpose of this study is to analyze the kind of motivation in academia at a university in Argentina, taken as an example of a Latin American country. The study used a questionnaire containing the same 37 attitudinal statements that At-Twaijri et al. used recently for a large university in the Arabian Gulf. Motivators in both universities are compared. Despite being two very different academic cultures, there are analogies between the responses of lecturers: financial rewards are the least motivator in both cases; the most important items affecting the university professors’ motivation deal with the internal reward along with a feeling of accomplishment in the Argentine, and self-achievement and social respect in the Arabian Gulf. This paper also serves to make the international academic community aware of the Spanish ‘Intercampus’ programme. This programme allows the interchange of a significant number of students and professors between universities of Spain and the Latin American community.     

Faculty Members Who Desert the Ranks of Academia:

No abstract available for this article.     

麻省理工学院专职科研人员与专任教师的对比研究

以麻省理工学院为例,通过对该校专职科研人员和专任教师在结构、任用、晋升、考核和薪酬体系等方面的比较研究,为我国高校建设专职科研人员队伍提供借鉴.麻省理工学院的专职科研人员在人数比例上大于该校专任教师,其体系成熟且分类细致,在任用、晋升、考核和薪酬体系方面与专任教师均有所区别.在我国高校中,对科研经费使用比例的规定在一定程度上使得专职科研人员队伍的建设受限.因此,要建立一支大规模和高水平的专职科研队伍,在充实科研财力的基础上还需要配套完善相应的经费管理机制.     

Evaluation of a Study Skills Intervention Programme: A Mixed Methods Study

This article reports on a mixed methods study that evaluated the efficacy of a study counselling intervention programme at a South African university. Quantitative data, collected by means of the Learning and Study Strategy Inventory, indicated that the study skills intervention programme brought about statistically significant improvements in participants' study skills profiles. The qualitative findings that were collected from 10 participants served as a contextual lens to develop a more holistic understanding of the quantitative results. It is argued that multidisciplinary collaboration is required to address the heteregenous needs of students within the higher education context.     

Reshaping Teaching and Learning: The Transformation of Faculty Pedagogical Content Knowledge

A qualitative study of faculty members participating in a campus-wide problem-based learning initiative examined the process of transforming faculty pedagogical content knowledge. Researchers found that faculty existing knowledge and the institutional intervention influenced new knowledge of faculty roles, student roles, disciplinary structures, and pedagogy. Communicating new knowledge solidified the transformation.     

高等学校教师正式群体模式的研究

高等学校教师正式群体是高校教师的基本组成部分 ,我国高校教师正式群体组成模式历经了传统单一的教研组模式向研究所模式转化的过程 ,本文分析了两种模式各自的特点和目前我国高校教师正式群体模式存在的问题 ,并研究了现行综合模式的发展方向 ,并通过范例对教师正式群体的发展模式———网络化模式进行了探讨。     

A Comparison of Student Teachers' Beliefs from Four Different Science Teaching Domains Using a Mixed Methods Design

The study presented in this paper integrates data from four combined research studies, which are both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The studies describe freshman science student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning. These freshmen intend to become teachers in Germany in one of four science teaching domains (secondary biology, chemistry, and physics, respectively, as well as primary school science). The qualitative data from the first study are based on student teachers' drawings of themselves in teaching situations. It was formulated using Grounded Theory to test three scales: Beliefs about Classroom Organisation, Beliefs about Teaching Objectives, and Epistemological Beliefs. Three further quantitative studies give insight into student teachers' curricular beliefs, their beliefs about the nature of science itself, and about the student- and/or teacher-centredness of science teaching. This paper describes a design to integrate all these data within a mixed methods framework. The aim of the current study is to describe a broad, triangulated picture of freshman science student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning within their respective science teaching domain. The study reveals clear tendencies between the sub-groups. The results suggest that freshman chemistry and—even more pronouncedly—freshman physics student teachers profess quite traditional beliefs about science teaching and learning. Biology and primary school student teachers express beliefs about their subjects which are more in line with modern educational theory. The mixed methods approach towards the student teachers' beliefs is reflected upon and implications for science education and science teacher education are discussed.     

民办高校的师资队伍建设

本文分析了民办高校师资队伍建设的重要性和艰巨性,总结了民办高校师资队伍管理的特征,探讨了民办高校师资队伍的管理和培养。     

Collaboration between Faculty Members and School Counselors: An Experience from a Case-based Course

This article describes the experience in Spain of a specific collaboration between university teachers and school counselors, which used case-based approaches in a teacher training program. The collaboration ran for four years and involved 300 graduate students, two university teachers, and six school counselors. Three basic features enabled this collaboration: a) horizontal relationships, b) a spirit of mutual help and confidence, and c) autonomy. The outcome of the experience can be evaluated in terms of both the case-based teaching process itself and its impact on student learning and the professional development of teachers and counselors involved.     

Improving Academic Program Assessment: A Mixed Methods Study

Starting with the premise that better assessment leads to more informed decisions about student learning, we investigated the factors that lead to assessment improvement. We used “meta-assessment” (i.e., evaluating the assessment process) to identify academic programs in which the assessment process had improved over a two-year period. The use of both quantitative and qualitative methods allowed us to understand the factors leading to assessment improvement better. Through these efforts, we discovered that a program’s assessment environment and use of resources were the predominant factors leading to improvement. One resource in particular, assessment consultation, was the most cited reason for improved assessment.     

Kinesiology Faculty for the 21st Century: STEPing into the Future

Kinesiology faculty for the 21st century was one of the featured strands of the 2014 NAKHE Collaborative Congress: “STEPS into the future: Exploring opportunities and facing the challenges for the 21st century.” Following a brief introduction delegates were assigned to discussion groups with conversations focused around six topics/questions spanning the “grand challenges,” work-life integration, learning environments, innovative pedagogies, sharing knowledge, and organizing academic endeavors. The lively discussions are briefly summarized here toward the ultimate goal of strategizing a re-envisioning of kinesiology for the 21st century.     

学习对象的整体教育观——再利用问题之未来方向

学习材料的再利用问题是教育领域内正在显露并且十分重要的问题.一般的看法是学习对象在学科上使用,由于其借助了学习内容的模块化,从而为再利用创造了良好条件.从教育视角认识学习对象,可以区分出两种基本的取向:一种是“分析观”,其与当下流行的学习对象教育技术途径完全一致;另一种是“整体现”,目前尚未被充分认识其价值.同样,还有一些与两种认识取向相一致的问题有待于解决:一种是与分析观相匹配的“小问题”,包括了元数据问题、排序问题和交换问题;另一种是与整体现相匹配的“大问题”,包括了情境问题、教育功能问题和一致性问题.目前,强调了一种以重新编辑代替再次利用、中间产品代替最终产品、呈现模板代替给出实体,以及技术上尽力实现自动化为特征的综合途径正在受到重视,有可能成为解决学习对象再利用问题的一个方向.     

Learning and Study Strategies among First-Year Students at a South African University: A Mixed Methods Study

South African higher education is plagued by low academic success rates. Academic development and support units can play an important role in addressing low academic success rates by assisting students in developing appropriate learning and study strategies. Limited information is available on students’ learning and study strategy profiles and their needs regarding intervention programmes. This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated learning and study strategies among a sample of first-year students enrolled at a South African university. Quantitative data, collected using the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) from a sample of first-year students, pointed to an urgent need for learning and study strategy intervention programmes to be provided. The qualitative data offered a more in-depth understanding of participants’ needs regarding learning and study strategy intervention programmes. Implications for practice and avenues for further research are discussed.     

Characteristics and Correlates of Supportive Peer Mentoring: A Mixed Methods Study

In this mixed methods study, we employed thematic analysis (TA) to examine peer mentors’ perceptions of benefits, challenges, and roles they experienced as mentors, as well as benefits and challenges experienced by first-year college students. We also utilized quantitative student ratings to classify mentors as highly, moderately, or minimally supportive in order to determine whether any subthemes from the TA appeared more or less frequently across the three groups. Highly supportive mentors reported greater camaraderie among their seminar students and fewer unmotivated students, but also fewer opportunities to provide support to students. Moreover, mentors’ and students’ perceptions in the minimally supportive group were discrepant; mentors in this group consistently reported providing more support than was perceived by mentees.