Applying the International Medical Graduate Program Model to Alleviate the Supply Shortage of Accounting Doctoral Faculty*

Accounting has been faced with a severe shortage in the supply of qualified doctoral faculty. Drawing upon the international mobility of foreign scholars and the spirit of the international medical graduate program, this article suggests a model to fill the demand in accounting doctoral faculty. The underlying assumption of the suggested model is that there is enough qualified international accounting doctoral scholars who are willing to work in the United States because of natural and artificial benefits, such as the existence of national innovation, knowledge‐intensive clusters system, favorable working conditions, and career and earning prospects. A 10‐week International Accounting Post‐Doctoral Program (IAPDP) is designed to prepare academically competent international accounting faculty to be qualified to work in the United States at AACSB International‐accredited institutions. A survey was employed to examine the viability of the proposed model. Our results indicate that qualified international accounting doctoral scholars are interested in the suggested model and the nondoctoral U.S. accounting programs will represent the major job market for these IAPDP graduates. This article should be of interest to accounting educators, business schools, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, and the American Accounting Association (AAA).     

Testing the mediating role of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in the relationship between sources of efficacy information and students achievement

The purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of teachers?? self-efficacy beliefs in the relationship between sources of efficacy information and students achievement. For achieving this aim, this study suggests two alternative models, tested by Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. In the first model, sources of efficacy information and teachers?? sense of self-efficacy independently influenced student achievement. In second model, we examined a dependent 2-factor model, consisting of: (a) antecedent variable: sources of efficacy information, (b) mediator variable: teachers?? sense of self-efficacy, and (c) criterion variable: student??s achievement. Among 284 teachers who participated in this study, Sources of the Self-Efficacy Inventory (SOSI) and Teachers?? Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) were distributed. Findings of this study indicated that between two suggested models, the dependent model showed the best overall fit to the data. In this model, teachers?? self-efficacy had mediational role between sources of teachers?? self-efficacy and student??s achievement.     

Forecasting approaches in a higher education setting

Education and Information Technologies - Forecasting the enrollments of new students in bachelor’s systems became an urgent desire in the majority of higher education institutions. It...     

Considering mobile device constraints and context-awareness in adaptive mobile learning for flipped classroom

Today, the mobile technologies and Information and Communication Technology development opened the door on new methods and pedagogies of learning. We are talking here about the mobile learning and the flipped classroom approaches. The flipped classroom means that the activities that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa. The mobile learning and as its name suggests is done in a mobile and changeable environment by mobile learners. Therefore, the context notion plays a significant role in this type of learning. Hence, the usefulness of the context-aware mobile learning systems. These systems take into account the different context dimensions to offer to the learners an adapted learning according to their situations. The approach proposed in this paper called Smart Enhanced Context-Aware for Flipped Mobile Learning “SECA-FML” aims to provide learners with an adapted course content format based on their context by taking into account the different context dimensions and especially the mobile device context. The latter has a significant influence on multimedia content in adaptive mobile learning. The contribution was applied in the context of the flipped learning in order to manage the heterogeneity of context imposed by this approach. To validate our contribution, we have developed an Android mobile application. This application has been made available to learners to try and exploit it. At the end of the experimentation phase, the learner is asked to complete a questionnaire. Based on this questionnaire, we measured the reliability and effectiveness of our contribution, as well as the satisfaction of the learners towards the latter. The evaluation results showed that the use of the context dimensions and specifically the device context in adaptive mobile learning is more beneficial for learners especially in the flipped classroom.     

Organization,management and academic problems in the Arab University: The Kuwait University experience

The modern university is essentially an alien phenomenon in the Arab world where it lacks the societal support base enjoyed by the western university. Moreover, many of the new Arab universities, like Kuwait University, established in 1966, were either modeled after the French influenced Egyptian university — in-turn based on semi-independent colleges — or received their initial administrative and teaching faculty from Egypt. From this legacy is derived a significant share of the obstacles hindering organization and management reform. At the same time a variety of governmental traditions and regulations binding the university to general civil service regulations, an under-developed tradition of university autonomy and faculty participation in university decision-making, and a utilitarian concept of formal education which associates degress with employment status are among the more serious problems confronting the Arab university.Kuwait University can be seen as a microcosm of the organizational, management and academic problems encountered in the Arab university. Although Kuwait University enjoys adequate financial support and is not forced to accommodate an unreasonable number of students, it has peculiar problems arising from unequal admissions standards (Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti), traditional societal values, paucity of indigenous staff, inexperienced administrators, lack of balance in academic ranks, absence of tenure, a fragmented physical plant, inadequate support staff as well as insufficient societal understanding and support. Like most other Arab universities Kuwait University not only reflects the rudimentary societal development but is located on the frontier of that development. Given the small population of Kuwait, the university is especially important in this development role. As the university and its distinctive needs become better understood the total society will be strengthened.     

Differences Among Low‐, Average‐ and High‐achieving College Students on Learning and Study Strategies

Abstract The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the differences between low‐, average‐ and high‐achieving college students on the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory scales. A total of 168 undergraduate students at the United Arab Emirates University participated as subjects. Subjects were classified into three achieving groups based on their grade point average (GPA) scores. Analysis of variance procedures indicated that low‐achieving students scored significantly lower than the average‐ and high‐achieving students on all of the scales. However, no significant differences were observed between the average‐ and high‐achieving groups on any of the scales. Furthermore, a stepwise discriminant analysis revealed that Motivation was the most powerful discriminating factor that separated low‐achieving students from their high‐achieving peers.     

Can images provide contextual support for prose?

This study sought to determine whether contextual organizers presented before prose passages can improve learning and retention among students who have no prior knowledge of the subject. The researchers used two types of organizers — an image and its verbal equivalent. Students who were provided the organizers scored better than control students on tests given two weeks later, but the predicted advantage of images over verbal learning adjuncts did not appear.     

Exploration De La Résilience éducationnelle Chez Des Enseignants

AN EXPLORATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL RESILIENCE OF TEACHING STAFF – This study focuses on the degree of resilience displayed by teaching staff with the aim of promoting their professional development and preventing job-related exhaustion. Seven underprivileged schools in Montreal were selected, and 24 teaching staff with contrasting personal profiles were interviewed on the subject of their work. The Alceste software was used to analyse the conversations, which revolved around techniques applied when dealing with critical incidents. The main analysis identified five different discourses among the respondents. Three of these were associated with the more resilient of the teachers and two were associated with the more vulnerable ones. Resilient teaching staff characteristically discussed dealing with aggressive behaviour, the teaching-learning relationship and the subject of social relationships, whereas vulnerable teaching staff focused on work beyond the classroom, people in positions of higher authority and the community. The authors note that teachers who are just embarking on their careers appear more vulnerable than more experienced teaching staff, which suggests that more resources should be provided to support teachers in their profession.     

The validity of multiple choice practical examinations as an alternative to traditional free response examination formats in gross anatomy

Traditionally, an anatomy practical examination is conducted using a free response format (FRF). However, this format is resource‐intensive, as it requires a relatively large time investment from anatomy course faculty in preparation and grading. Thus, several interventions have been reported where the response format was changed to a selected response format (SRF). However, validity evidence from those interventions has not proved entirely adequate for the practical anatomy examination, and thus, further investigation was required. In this study, the validity evidence of SRF was examined using multiple choice questions (MCQs) constructed according to different levels of Bloom's taxonomy in comparison with the traditional free response format. A group of 100 medical students registered in a gross anatomy course volunteered to be enrolled in this study. The experimental MCQ examinations were part of graded midterm and final steeplechase practical examination. Volunteer students were instructed to complete the practical examinations twice, once in each of two separate examination rooms. The two separate examinations consisted of a traditional free response format and MCQ format. Scores from the two examinations (FRF and MCQ) displayed a strong correlation, even with higher level Bloom's taxonomy questions. In conclusion, the results of this study provide empirical evidence that the SRF (MCQ) response format is a valid method and can be used as an alternative to the traditional FRF steeplechase examination. Anat Sci Educ. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.