Civic effects of higher education in Russia: religiosity,social capital and the ‘pure teaching effect’ of educational programmes

Tertiary Education and Management - Higher education is valued as one of the main sources of civic participation and social benefit. In spite of the significant growth in the number of students...     

Beyond the Central Dogma: Model-Based Learning of How Genes Determine Phenotypes

In an introductory biology course, we implemented a learner-centered, model-based pedagogy that frequently engaged students in building conceptual models to explain how genes determine phenotypes. Model-building tasks were incorporated within case studies and aimed at eliciting students’ understanding of 1) the origin of variation in a population and 2) how genes/alleles determine phenotypes. Guided by theory on hierarchical development of systems-thinking skills, we scaffolded instruction and assessment so that students would first focus on articulating isolated relationships between pairs of molecular genetics structures and then integrate these relationships into an explanatory network. We analyzed models students generated on two exams to assess whether students’ learning of molecular genetics progressed along the theoretical hierarchical sequence of systems-thinking skills acquisition. With repeated practice, peer discussion, and instructor feedback over the course of the semester, students’ models became more accurate, better contextualized, and more meaningful. At the end of the semester, however, more than 25% of students still struggled to describe phenotype as an output of protein function. We therefore recommend that 1) practices like modeling, which require connecting genes to phenotypes; and 2) well-developed case studies highlighting proteins and their functions, take center stage in molecular genetics instruction.     

Multivariate approach to classify research institutes according to their outputs: The case of the CSIC's institutes

This paper attempts to build a classification model according to the research products created by those institutes and hence to design specific evaluation processes. Several scientific input/output indicators belonging to 109 research institutes from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) were selected. A multidimensional approach was proposed to resume these indicators in various components. A clustering analysis was used to classify the institutes according to their scores with those components (principal component analysis). Moreover, the validity of the a priori classification was tested and the most discriminant variables were detected (linear discriminant analysis). Results show that there are three types of institutes according to their research outputs: Humanistic, Scientific and Technological. It is argue that these differences oblige to design more precise assessment exercises which focus on the particular results of each type of institute. We conclude that this method permits to build more precise research assessment exercises which consider the varied nature of the scientific activity.     

Doing feminist difference differently: intersectional pedagogical practices in the context of the neoliberal diversity regime

At present there is a small, albeit growing, body of literature on pedagogical strategies and reflections which addresses the ways educators attempt to challenge the effects of neoliberalism on higher education. In this article, we reflect upon our pedagogical practices in higher education in this moment of neoliberal transformation wherein, as Sirma Bilge notes, intersectionality is being ‘undone’ in academic feminism. As graduate students teaching in Toronto, Canada, we describe how our commitment to social justice pedagogy works against this ‘undoing’ of intersectionality by embracing vulnerability, discomfort and the possibility of conflict in classrooms that do not simply accommodate, celebrate or include difference. Given that neoliberal renderings of diversity obscure and reinforce unequal relations of power, we demonstrate how we attend to these power relations, particularly racism which is salient to our teaching context, by employing intersectionality as a pedagogical practice and a political intervention to advance social justice.     

Instructor-provided summary infographics to support online learning

Infographics are a visualisation tool that can be used to improve retention, comprehension and appeal of complex concepts. The rise of infographic use in education has facilitated new forms of application and design of these tools. Instructor-provided summary infographics are a new form of infographic, whereby key learning objectives and content are summarised in graphical form at the end of a lesson. However, it is unknown whether these types of infographics can support learning in online environments. This exploratory research investigates student perceptions, retention, applications and activity generation of instructor-provided summary infographics in a massive online learning environment. Using both post-course learner survey data (n = 1,899) and text mining analysis (n = 72,490 words), results present how learners perceived instructor-provided summary infographics as useful and appealing for retaining, clarifying and understanding learning concepts. The research contributes a novel understanding of summary infographics in online learning environments, and supports their use as a design tool for educational delivery in the online space.     

You Learn by your Mistakes. Effective Training Strategies Based on the Analysis of Video-Recorded Worked-out Examples

This paper presents an empirical study on procedural learning from errors that was conducted within the field of vocational education. It examines whether, and to what extent, procedural learning can benefit more from the detection and written analysis of errors (experimental condition) than from the correct elements (control group). The study involved 136 commercial employee apprentices who were working on a videorecorded, worked-out example of a professional procedure involving customer counselling. The results showed no differences between the conditions with regards to declarative knowledge acquisition during the procedure. Additionally, the analysis of errors was demonstrated to be more effective than the analysis of correct behaviours in terms of (1) representing a much more detailed and correct procedure and (2) developing anticipatory knowledge about possible errors to be avoided. The results highlighted the value of the inductive instructional strategy (from the analysis of a single worked-out example to the learning of the general procedure) and opened the field up for future applications of a similar instructional approach combining roleplaying and video analysis of errors in vocational education to develop communication skills.     

Reading to write an argumentation: the role of epistemological,reading and writing beliefs

The general aim of this study was to examine the relations among epistemological, reading and writing beliefs held by psychology undergraduates and the role played by these three types of belief in influencing the degree of perspectivism manifested in a written argumentation task based on reading two texts presenting conflicting perspectives on the same topic. A total of 118 fourth‐year psychology students took part. Only 76 students performed the written argumentation task. The three types of belief were assessed using different questionnaires. The results show that the different types of belief do not occur in isolation, but have an internal coherence. They also indicate that only reading beliefs, together with the degree of perspectivism shown in a prior argumentation task, help to predict the degree of perspectivism in the written task following the reading of the texts.     

Sport as a means of immigrant youth integration: an empirical study of sports,intercultural relations,and immigrant youth integration in Switzerland

The objective of this paper is to examine the role of sport in immigrant youths integration into a host society. The analyses are based on a survey of 454 first-generation immigrant youths from secondary, vocational, and pre-apprenticeship schools located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In short, our results indicate that for most immigrant youth, sport is an important part of their free time, even though the proportion of female immigrant youth doing sport in sports clubs is twice as low as that of male immigrant youth. Our findings also illustrate that female and male immigrant youth who do sports in clubs have considerably more personal contact with Swiss peers during these sporting activities. Moreover, the young people who have frequent personal contact with Swiss peers during sporting activities reported having considerably more intercultural contacts in their free time and among their close friends. Finally, immigrant youths’ contacts with Swiss peers during sporting activities increase their feeling of being integrated in Switzerland.     

European Standards in Russian Higher Education and the Role of English: a case study of the National University of Science and Technology,Moscow (MISiS)

This article considers the current changes in Russian universities, especially moves towards a more outward-looking, international approach, driven in particular by the Bologna Process. It is noted that the speed of change has been uneven, with many institutions slow to embrace reform. The situation at the National University of Science and Technology, Moscow (MISiS) is taken as an example of an institution where reform is moving ahead rapidly. The role of English teaching is examined as a driver of change. Research that informs the reforms is reported and the wider impact of English language teaching on academic quality and institutional culture is described and evaluated.