Major influences on the teaching and assessment of graduate attributes

Efforts to systematically integrate graduate attributes across university curricula have relied on academic staff acceptance and ability to translate top-down policy into teaching practice. The literature and anecdotal reports over the past two decades show limited success in the area using this approach. Why is this so? Teaching staff across 16 Australian universities were surveyed, as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council-funded grant, regarding their beliefs about graduate attributes and their willingness and confidence to teach and assess them. The study found that although 73% of academic staff surveyed believed graduate attributes were important, there was a substantial difference between beliefs and actual emphasis reported in practice. We consider the major influences on the teaching and assessment of graduate attributes, the implications for policy development and implementation, and propose a rethink in relation to how to work towards improved graduate attribute outcomes in universities.     

“Do I Really Belong Here?”: The Stigma of Being a Community College Transfer Student at a Four-Year University

ABSTRACT

Students who begin their educational journeys in community college face many obstacles trying to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Much research has been dedicated to identifying academic factors that predict successful transfer and degree attainment, but relatively little research investigates how the community college experience affects these students once enrolled at the four-year university. Here, we present the results of a qualitative study that explored the challenges faced by 14 community college students during and after transfer. Specifically, we focus on student reports of a sense of stigma from having attended community college and how students overcame these feelings. Recommendations are provided for how community colleges and four-year universities can better equip their students with the knowledge and resources to combat this perception of stigma.     

The perceptions of high-level officers in Cyprus about intercultural education and their underlying assumptions

Abstract

This article is based on a year‐long study of elementary to secondary transition in rural Ontario, Canada. The study considered the experience of transition for rural students within the political context of recently mandated changes to the transition years in Ontario. Research elsewhere suggests that the strong academic orientation of the secondary school creates a polarized and fragmented school culture which leads to student alienation and high drop‐out rates. These issues were regarded as less relevant in the rural area where the study took place and, thus, the teachers, parents and students who participated were sceptical about the need for change. The article examines the influence of contextual factors, including the rural setting, school structure and size, and teacher experience, on school culture and curriculum, and participants’ experiences of transition and their perspectives on change. A dialogical approach to enquiry was taken which attempted to bring together, through dialogue, the disparate views of research and participants to achieve new understandings on the critical issues of rural transition.     

Adolescents’ conceptions of learning and education about sex and relationships

Abstract

In order for adolescents to learn about sex and relationships, the education must be of significance and meet their needs and interests. The study investigated adolescents’ conceptions of learning and education about sex and relationships. A phenomenographic approach was used. Six focus group interviews were conducted with adolescents ages 18–19 in Sweden. The results showed that stable ground for learning implies select issues of importance, that is, values and prejudices, up-to-date knowledge, and practical skills. These issues should be dispersed throughout the school years in relation to the students’ own maturity. This seemed to enable internalization of different aspects of sex and relationships. Learning about sex and relationships can create meaning for youth and generate progress by fostering autonomy and identity, correcting misconceptions, counteract prejudices, not in isolation rather in society in a defined culture.     

PROCRASTINATION AND THE 2 × 2 ACHIEVEMENT GOAL FRAMEWORK IN MALAYSIAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

The present study investigated academic procrastination in the context of the 2 × 2 goal achievement theoretical framework within a population of 450 Malaysian undergraduate students, aged 18 to 25 years. Participants completed the Achievement Goal Questionnaire and the Tuckman Procrastination Test. Approach dimensions of both the mastery and performance goal orientations were found to be positively correlated with procrastination, but the avoidance dimensions of the mastery and performance goal orientations were not associated with procrastination. In regression analyses, mastery approach was the strongest predictor of procrastination, suppressing the effect of performance approach. The results suggest that the Western values underlying the achievement goals portrayed by the goal achievement model may not accurately reflect the motivations that are intrinsic to non‐Western individuals. Further research is required to either validate such a tool in non‐Western cultures or, alternatively, investigate alternative factors that may potentially influence procrastination within this demographic.     

Entrepreneurial orientation in turbulent environments: The moderating role of absorptive capacity

The literature on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has confirmed the positive relationship between EO and firm performance and that relationship's dependence on several contingencies. The present study connects the resource-based view and its dynamic capability extension to introduce absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a moderator of the relationship between EO and firm performance. This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 219 small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany. Our empirical findings are that ACAP strengthens the EO–performance relationship in turbulent markets.