Once she makes it,she's there!: a case study 1

Computer science is possibly one of the few remaining disciplines almost entirely dominated by men, especially university staff and in the hi-tech industries. This phenomenon prevails throughout the western world; in Israel it starts in high school, where only 30% of students who choose to take computer science as an elective are women, and continues in university and college, where usually less than 30% of the entire computer science student population is female. In this paper we present data describing women taking the undergraduate computer science program at the Open University of Israel. Covering a period of 10 years, we have examined the enrollment and results of thousands of students on 20 undergraduate computer science courses. An attempt has been made to identify whether there is a specific stage in the undergraduate program which is more difficult for women to pass. The good news is that within the Open University of Israel out of the entire population of computer science students the percentage of female enrolments and the percentage of females graduating is almost the same, and the differences in average final grade between men and women are generally not significant. This study is unique because of the large number of students which served as the study population, covering the entire undergraduate program.     

Deaf teacher candidates in hearing classrooms: a unique teacher preparation program

An undergraduate teacher education program at Gallaudet University prepares deaf students in "regular" education. This includes a required full-time internship with hearing students (assisted by sign language interpreters). Graduates then continue in a master's degree program in deaf education, thus acquiring dual certification. Several studies indicate that these deaf candidates progress through the same developmental stages as hearing candidates and that they develop high expectations for deaf learners. Issues related to implementing such a program are discussed.     

对强化式英语学习模式的思考

强化学习模式在我国社会力量办学中普遍存在,这种教学模式在一些大专院校也有所尝试,但是强化式英语学习的效果如何还未见相关的研究报道。本文以强化式英语学习模式中的学习者为着眼点对强化式英语学习对学生学习效果的影响进行了研究。研究表明在强化式英语学习模式下学生的学习成绩明显优于正常模式下学生的学习成绩,这说明强化环境有利于提高学习效果。     

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.     

美国M.D-Ph.D双博士学位计划

M.D-Ph.D双博士学位计划是为培养具有临床实践能力和科学研究能力的医学科学家而设立的.本文首先从招生、培养、毕业去向等方面概述了美国M.D-Ph.D计划新进展,然后以哈佛大学、约翰·霍普金斯大学为例介绍了M.D-Ph.D计划的课程安排模式,并指出该计划在中国的发展现状和试办建议.     

New patterns in higher education cross-cultural learning: The case of a postgraduate english instruction program in China

This paper explores new patterns of learning across cultures in higher education through a case study of a cohort of international graduate students at a university in Chinese mainland. North University (NU) has hosted international students in its Chinese language and culture programs for decades. However, between 2008 and 2010, a new Master’s degree program for international students was established. This attracted 75 graduate students from different disciplinary backgrounds, from 21 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. English is the common language to both students and faculty, but a foreign language to all. This program marks a significant shift for China’s higher education as it reaches out to the world. The paper describes this cohort’s lived experiences in China, including academic, linguistic and sociocultural learning. It analyzes the challenges such programs pose for the Chinese higher education system, explores how these challenges have become opportunities for growth and how barriers have been overcome. It also discusses the implications of this case for the upgrading of higher education quality in China.     

Catching them before they fall: a Vygotskian approach to transitioning students from high school to university

University enabling programs, worldwide, generally target high school students who excel at school, or post-secondary students who have underperformed in their university entry examinations. Murdoch University provides an access program for Year/Grade 12 students who are not on a university pathway during their final year of high school. This intervention engages students at a transitional stage of cognitive development to: (a) determine their readiness to move to the next level of their cognitive thinking; (b) facilitate that process through collaborative learning; (c) support and nurture university aspirations and (d) provide a direct transition pathway from secondary to higher education. The influence of Vygotsky's zones of proximal development in the context of this program is discussed, and by comparing the performance of these students in their first year of university with other domestic-entry students, we argue that this enabling program prepares them for successful transition into higher education.     

Increasing Access for Economically Disadvantaged Students: The NSF/CSEM & S-STEM Programs at Louisiana State University

Increasing college degree attainment for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a prominent component of numerous state and federal legislation focused on higher education. In 1999, the National Science Foundation (NSF) instituted the ??Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships?? (CSEMS) program; this initiative was designed to provide greater access and support to academically talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Originally intended to provide financial support to lower income students, this NSF program also advocated that additional professional development and advising would be strategies to increase undergraduate persistence to graduation. This innovative program for economically disadvantaged students was extended in 2004 to include students from other disciplines including the physical and life sciences as well as the technology fields, and the new name of the program was Scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM). The implementation of these two programs in Louisiana State University (LSU) has shown significant and measurable success since 2000, making LSU a Model University in providing support to economically disadvantaged students within the STEM disciplines. The achievement of these programs is evidenced by the graduation rates of its participants. This report provides details on the educational model employed through the CSEMS/S-STEM projects at LSU and provides a path to success for increasing student retention rates in STEM disciplines. While the LSU??s experience is presented as a case study, the potential relevance of this innovative mentoring program in conjunction with the financial support system is discussed in detail.     

“卓越工程师教育培养计划”下大学生的学习满意度调查研究——以中国地质大学（武汉）为例

＂卓越工程师教育培养计划＂是贯彻落实《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要（2010—2020年）》的重要举措。本文从专业学习、教学与管理、师资与资源和实践环节四个维度出发,分析了中国地质大学（武汉）＂卓越工程师教育培养计划＂下的大学生学习满意度。研究表明：大学生的学习满意度比较高,但该计划对学生学习效果、学习态度及培养方式等需要进一步改进,为此提出了提高学习满意度的建议。     

Robotics for High School Students in a University Enviroment

The Young Scholars Program at the Institute for Systems Research of the University of Maryland at College Park is an innovative summer research experience for high school students from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. Its goal is to steer talented high school seniors toward higher education and careers in science and engineering. One particularly popular component of this program is a two‐week mini‐coursein robotics. This course utilizes the resources of the Intelligent Servosystems Laboratory of the university to introduce and demonstrate theoretical and practical aspects of robotics. This paper reports on the characteristics that make this a unique effort in robotics‐related education for both the Young Scholars Program participants and the small group of University of Maryland graduate students who have been responsible for the development and instruction of this course.     

Action Research Experiences for Scholarly Practitioners in an Online Education Doctorate Program: Design,Reality, and Lessons Learned

The purpose of this paper is to present the design and techniques used by the Educational Technology program at the University of South Carolina to prepare scholarly practitioners with action research methods in an online doctoral program. With an emphasis on students’ local contexts, we will describe the design of experiences and our lessons learned. This paper could aid higher education faculty, administrators, and educators that train scholarly practitioners who engage in scholarship to improve practice.     

Introducing the First Hybrid Doctoral Program in Educational Technology

In 2010 Michigan State University launched the first hybrid doctoral program in Educational Technology. This 5-year program blends face-to-face and online components to engage experienced, working education professionals in doctoral study. In this paper, we describe the design and evolution of the program as well as the response from students. We outline key programmatic challenges and opportunities in offering a hybrid doctoral program side by side with an existing face-to-face program. We conclude with two examples of the hybrid doctoral program in action (redesigning coursework and virtual talks) to demonstrate how we confronted these challenges and opportunities in the design of the program.     

高校图书馆与大学生信息素养教育

高校图书馆是学校对大学生进行信息素养教育的主要阵地。结合图书馆实际工作,本文从新生入学教育、文献检索课改革、与院系沟通合作等几方面探讨了提高大学生信息意识、信息获取能力以及信息利用能力的途径。     

A Case Study of the MBA Market in Western Australia

An earlier paper in this journal has discussed segmentation of the MBA student market, according to demographic criteria, based upon experience at the University of Western Australia. This follow-up paper uses the Western Australia market and particularly the University of Western Australia as a case example of the Australian MBA market. The paper provides an overview of current Australian MBA market conditions and discusses the history, competitive environment, structure, admission policy, tuition and financial aid of the University of Western Australia's MBA program.     

Foreign students as teachers: An untapped educational resource

This paper examines the idea of viewing the many foreign students studying in the colleges and universities of this country as educational resources. It is argued that foreign students have a unique educational perspective and specialized knowledge about their culture to offer to their American counterparts. An overall scheme for using foreign students in a teaching capacity is discussed. An experimental class at the University of Minnesota, which uses foreign students as teachers to illustrate the processes of development on the three countries of Nigeria, Thailand and Turkey, is examined in some detail. The results of a formative evaluation of this class are presented. Some implications of the widespread development and implementation of similar types of courses at other colleges and universities are suggested.     

Closing the Gaps and Filling the STEM Pipeline: A Multidisciplinary Approach

There is a growing demand for degreed science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals, but the production of degreed STEM students is not keeping pace. Problems exist at every juncture along the pipeline. Too few students choose to major in STEM disciplines. Many of those who do major in STEM drop out or change majors. Females and minorities remain underrepresented in STEM. The success rate of college students who are from low-income background or first-generation students is much lower than that of students who do not face such challenges. Some of those who successfully complete their degree need help in making the transition to the workforce after graduation. A program at Lamar University takes a multidisciplinary approach to addressing these problems. It is designed to recruit, retain and transition undergraduates to careers in STEM, focusing its efforts on five science disciplines and on these “at-risk” students. The program was supported by a 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation and is supported through August 31, 2016 by Lamar University and a grant from ExxonMobil. A formal assessment plan documents the program’s success. The program received an award from the Texas Higher Education Board for its contributions towards Closing the Gaps in Higher Education in Texas. This paper describes the program’s theoretical framework, research questions, methods, evaluation plan, and instruments. It presents an analysis of the results achieved using these methods and implications for improvements to the program resulting from lessons learned.     

College Students’ Participation in Fundamental Scientific Research

Russian university students need to be involved in research as part of their educational experience. An example of how this may be done, and the issues that need to be addressed in such an approach, are provided by the program at Perm State University of Pedagogical Humanities.     

Postgraduate Supervision Practices: Strategies for Development and Change

This paper describes strategies for enhancing postgraduate supervision procedures and practices developed at Sydney University in response to a national focus upon improving the quality of postgraduate research education. The results of needs analyses conducted in Departments and Faculties and amongst postgraduate coordinators, supervisors and students are reported, and the subsequent development of an ongoing and systematic training program for supervisors of postgraduate students is described. The structure of the program, training methods adopted, and participant evaluations of the constituent workshops and seminars are discussed. Finally, consideration is given to aspects contributing to or militating against the success of the program and to alternative or complementary strategies for improving the quality of postgraduate research supervision.     

The balanced equation to training chemistry ITAs

In an effort to meet the challenge of preparing new international graduate students in chemistry for assignments as teaching assistants (TAs), an innovative training program was designed which incorporated the collaborative efforts of language, pedagogy, and subject matter specialists. This paper describes the approach taken in providing discipline-specific training for new international TAs (ITAs) by providing the rationale and curriculum for such a program and describing the implementation of this program through the academic year. The paper concludes by describing the results of the project on those ITAs who participated and the benefits and limitations of using this approach.Mark W. Tanner obtained his Ph.D. (1991) in Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently, Coordinator of the International Teaching Assistant Program at the University of Washington. Sara Selfe obtained her Ph.D. (1984) in Organic Chemistry at the University of Washington. She is currently Senior Lecturer in the Chemistry Department at the University of Washington and is working to improve the opportunities for Native Americans in the sciences. Deborah Wiegand obtained her Ph.D. (1990) in Analytical Chemistry at Northern Illinois University. Currently she lectures in the Chemistry Department and is Director of the Women in Science Program at the University of Washington.This article previously was accepted for publication in Lewis, K.G. (Ed.). (1993).The TA experience: Preparing for multiple roles. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.