Low factual understanding and high anxiety about climate warming impedes university students to become sustainability stewards

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1157-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Pfautsch ◽  
Tonia Gray
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
University Students ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Student Community ◽  
Sustainability Literacy ◽  
Warming World

Purpose This study, from Western Sydney University, aims to assess the disposition of students towards climate warming (CW) – a key component of sustainability. CW is a global reality. Any human born after February 1985 has never lived in a world that was not constantly warming, yet little is known about how higher education students perceive their future in a warming world. Design/methodology/approach An online survey, split into three parts, was used to deliver benchmark data on (I) personal information, (II) factual knowledge and (III) sentiments related to CW. Findings Gender and age of students significantly influenced their perception of CW. While self-rated understanding of CW was generally high, factual knowledge about CW was low. Few students recognized that CW was already under way, and that it was mainly caused by human activity. The most prominent emotions were fear, sadness and anger, foretelling widespread disempowerment and fear for the future. Research limitations/implications The study was based on a single dataset and survey response was relatively low. However, respondents mirrored the composition of the student community very well. Originality/value This is the first study revealing large psychological distance to the effects of CW in university students from Australia. Combined with the impression of despondence, the present study suggests that higher education in Australia, and possibly elsewhere, is not providing the prerequisite tools tomorrow’s leaders require for meeting societal, environmental and economic challenges caused by CW. Practical ways to erase these blind spots in sustainability literacy are provided, drawing upon established and novel concepts in higher education.

Higher education amid COVID-19 pandemic: contributions from resilience, positive orientation and grit

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Ghanizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
University Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Academic Resilience ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Positive Orientation ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe major purpose of the present study is to investigate the contribution of academic resilience in accounting for two motivational and attitudinal constructs ? Grit and positive orientation and also probe the predictive power of all these constructs in academic achievement of university students in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19.Design/methodology/approach521 university students participated in an online survey. To measure academic resilience, a scale designed and validated by Kim and Kim (2016) comprising 26 items was employed. The scale contains five sub-factors: perceived happiness, empathy, sociability, persistence and self-regulation. Grit was assessed via an 8-item scale comprising two facets: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). It was designed by Duckworth and Gross (2014). Positive orientation was determined through positivity scale developed by Caprara et al. (2010), consisting of eight items.FindingsThe results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience positively and significantly predicted both grit (β = 0.56, t = 6.41) and positive orientation (β = 0.54, t = 6.35). Resilience also predicted academic achievement directly (β = 0.71, t = 9.12) and indirectly via its impact on grit and positive orientation. It was also found that positive orientation and grit are positively and highly associated (β = 0.77, t = 9.28).Originality/valueThe pandemic COVID-19 brought about substantial changes in university students' education and their overall life style. Many university students around the globe experienced virtual education. Balancing personal and academic roles in these unprecedented conditions seems to be a tough challenge for every university student.

Factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions the most for university students in Vietnam: educational support, personality traits or TPB components?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greeni Maheshwari
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Educational Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Attitude ◽  
Need For Power

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate the influence of personality traits, individual factors and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) components (personal attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) on entrepreneurial intentions of university students. The study further aims to determine which factors have a higher influence on the entrepreneurial intentions of the students.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected using an online survey from 164 students studying in universities in Vietnam. The study used confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression to analyse the data.FindingsResults suggested that educational support has no impact on entrepreneurial intentions but individual factors such as self-efficacy, risk propensity and need for power and all the TPB components influenced entrepreneurial intentions. The TPB components had a higher influence on entrepreneurial intentions of students as compared to individual factors.Originality/valueOnly a few studies have been conducted to determine the strength of factors affecting entrepreneurial intensions of the students. This study demonstrates that TPB components have the highest influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, the study introduces an independent variable, need for power which is rarely used in any such studies and this adds a new component to the already existing research framework and in academic literature.

The relationship between higher education students' perceived employability, academic engagement and stress among students in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 744-762
Author(s):  
Yin Ma ◽  
Dawn Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Academic Engagement ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Employability ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeWith a focus on Chinese higher education students, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students' perceived employability and their levels of academic engagement and stress.Design/methodology/approachThe study engaged 1,155 students from three universities in China. Students responded to an online survey, reporting their confidence in relation to their perceived employability, academic engagement and stress in life. The authors employed structural equation modelling to explore students' confidence in each employability attribute and to assess perceived employability relation to academic engagement and perceived stress.FindingsThe results suggest that self-perceptions of employability are positively associated with students' academic engagement and negatively associated with perceived stress. Perceived employability mediated the majority paths.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies to examine perceived employability in line with academic engagement or stress and the first study to do so in China.

Communicating science in higher education and research institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
Thorsten Schwetje ◽  
Christiane Hauser ◽  
Stefan Böschen ◽  
Annette Leßmöllmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Internal Stakeholders ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Executive Boards ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe paper reports on a research project exploring the change in the organizational context of communicators and communication units in higher education and research institutions (HERIs), the importance of informal processes within their daily work and the great diversity of expectations communicators have to tackle.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review, a mixed-methods study combining expert interviews with 54 German HERI heads of communication units, an online-survey and a document analysis of organizational characteristics was conducted. Findings were validated in four focus groups.FindingsThe study illuminates the impact of organizational and operational structures of HERIs on communicators and their boundary spanning activities. Due to varying expectations of stakeholders, communicators constantly have to switch roles. Members of HERIs' executive boards affect status and working conditions for communicators in the organization.Research limitations/implicationsInterviews with other HERI actors, especially members of the executive board, are proposed to get more thorough insights into the organizational context of HERIs and the mutual expectations of different internal stakeholders.Practical implicationsInsights from the project may help HERI actors to reflect their organizational context and to identify potentially contentious structures or processes.Originality/valueCommunicating science sometimes clashes with complex organizational and operational structures. Despite the “organizational turn” in HERI research, there is a lack of data on the relation between communicators, their communication units and the larger organizational context. The exploratory study addresses this gap.

The professional development needs for the use of educational technology

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kam-Cheong Li ◽  
Billy Tak-Ming Wong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Development Needs ◽  
Hong Kong Higher Education

Purpose This study aimed to identify the professional development needs of academics in Hong Kong higher education for the use of educational technology. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted in 2017, which involved 374 academics from Hong Kong higher education institutions. The survey covered their perception and use of educational technology for professional activities and their relevant professional development needs. Findings The results showed an overall positive perception by the academics of the usefulness of online learning with the aid of technology, which was regarded as an effective complement to face-to-face learning. However, their use of educational technology focused only on general online applications, such as document and video-sharing tools, and e-learning platforms. Among various professional development needs, those related to the use of specific educational software with sharing of practical examples were considered to be most highly desired by the academics. In addition, the academics working in lecturer positions tended to use more online applications and had a higher need for professional development, than those with more teaching experience. Originality/value The findings contribute to identifying the current status of the use of educational technology and the professional development needs among academics in Hong Kong, as well as the differences between academics in different job positions and with different amounts of teaching experience. The results help in designing suitable professional development activities which address the specific needs of academics.

Impact of Social Networking Sites Among College Students With Special Reference to Rural Areas in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 124-147
Author(s):  
T. Balamurugan ◽  
M. Aravinthan
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Normal Activity ◽  
Student Community ◽  
The University

Social networking sites over the years have changed from a few user-based sites into a phenomena that has become a platform for a huge number of users. However, the growth and development of social networking sites have brought great concerns on parents and educational authorities with respect to potential risks that are facing the university students as they use online social networking frequently for gathering information. The use of social networking sites among the university students requires much attention with increasing number of students creating profile and feeding their personal information into the sites. The increasing activity on the sites by student community can negatively impact the normal activity of students' lives. This can also become a hindrance to the academic development as well as social engagement of students. Therefore, there is a need to study, assess, and evaluate the issues revolving the usage of social networking sites among the student community. The study shows that the distribution of respondents according to their influence of SNS. It shows both section-wise distribution and their composite scores. Also, the table shows the respective mean scores and standard deviation. It may be inferred that 77.50% of the respondents have stated that the influence of SNS are high, 18.55% of the respondents have stated that the influence of SNS is moderate, and 3.95% of the respondents have stated that the influence of SNS is low. However, the composite mean score (2.72), standard deviation (0.530) depicts that the respondents have stated that the influence of SNS is high.

Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyang Wang ◽  
Ernest Tak Hei Lam ◽  
Mavis Man-wai Lung ◽  
Dickson K.W. Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
University Students ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Privacy Issues ◽  
And Training ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeSocial networks provide convenient communication and connection among people, and they have become essential in college students' lives. However, problems also come along with increasing concern about trust and privacy issues. This research attempts to investigate the trust and privacy perceptions of university students when using social networks for learning purposes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper investigated the differences in trust and privacy perceptions between undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students through an online survey with 96 subjects in Hong Kong. The authors used the Mann–Whitney U test to compare the differences between the responses provided by UG and PG subjects.FindingsThe authors found that both PG and UG students were generally satisfied with the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for learning. However, PG subjects used SNSs more for learning and were more willing to exchange with classmates than UG and PG perceived higher value of SNSs than UG students. The authors also found a relative lack of privacy awareness of UG students.Practical implicationsBased on the study’s findings, the authors made some recommendations about the application of SNSs for learning purposes. The authors also suggest universities provide more guidance and training to students on the privacy issues of SNSs.Originality/valueEven though some previous studies have focused on studying privacy and trust issues on SNSs, studies that aim at university students in the context of Asia–Pacific are rather limited, especially university students' own trust and privacy perceptions on using SNSs for learning purposes.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2020-0042

Gauging the value of MOOCs

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Rosendale
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Hiring Managers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine hiring managers’ perceptions of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as compared to traditional degree-conferred forms of higher education in relation to hiring and employment decisions. Design/methodology/approach A literature review is presented along with a triangulated theoretical framework. Using online survey data, quantitative methods reveal findings related to the main research question: what are hiring managers’ attitudes toward MOOCs as a form of post-secondary education? Findings Analysis of the data reveals that hiring managers have a clear preference for traditionally educated job applicants but employer demographics, apart from organizational procedures, do not significantly impact their overall perceptions of MOOCs’ value. Research limitations/implications Most of the research is based on anecdotal research. Very little has been written on how to fix this problem. Practical implications This paper illustrates implications of MOOCs’ future development and implementation both in higher education and in the labor-force. The main implication is that MOOCs represent neither a panacea to the issues facing higher education and the American labor-force nor an alarming threat to stakeholders appreciative of the status quo. Originality/value This paper fills a current research gap as evidenced in the literature; employers’ perceptions of MOOC-educated job applicants when compared to traditionally educated/degree-conferred job applicants. By determining the value of MOOCs as employers pragmatically view them, stakeholder groups can better determine their future positioning of MOOC-related resources in addition to time and money allocated in MOOCs’ direction.

The experiences of students studying higher education on a part time basis in English further education colleges

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine King ◽  
Arti Saraswat ◽  
John Widdowson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
Equal Weight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Time Basis ◽  
Further Education Colleges

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report research carried out by the Mixed Economy Group of colleges into the student experience of part time (PT) higher education (HE) delivered in English further education (FE) colleges. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was completed by 352 PT students. Their responses, including free comments, formed the basis of the report. The authors provide a context for the work by referring to research carried out by other national agencies. Findings – The research illustrates the strengths of college-based HE, which largely derives from delivery by staff who are qualified teachers and, often, professionally active in their field of expertise. Whilst valuing this, students also seek recognition of the demands of work and family on their study time, as well as an identity as HE students within the greater FE environment. Social implications – PT HE can drive regional economic growth. By addressing the issues raised by students in the research, local colleges, partner universities, employers and national government can re-build local skill bases. Promoting PT HE develops a vocational ladder to HE, thus widening participation. Originality/value – Relatively little publically available research exists into the experiences of students pursuing PT HE in colleges. This primary research begins an evidence-based debate about how colleges can improve their offer but also reminds Government of the need to give equal weight to the needs of PT students in future changes to the delivery of HE.

scholarly journals Australian motor sport enthusiasts’ leisure information behaviour

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1078-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Motor Sport ◽  
Information Behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the leisure information behaviour of motor sport enthusiasts, examining: their information needs; their information seeking and sharing; what personal information they had; and their satisfaction with their information seeking and personal information management efforts. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study examined participants’ information behaviour from a postpositivist and inductive research approach. An online survey was completed by 81 motor sport enthusiasts. The quantitative survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, whilst the qualitative data were analysed using thematic coding. Findings The research findings highlighted that enthusiasts engaged in mixed serious leisure. They required information before, during and after race events, and sought this primarily from online sources, as well as from other individuals. Totally, 90 participants shared information about their interest in motor sport with family, friends and fellow enthusiasts, primarily via e-mails (69 per cent) and Facebook (49 per cent). They also gathered information about motor sport, including photographs and memorabilia. Participants were satisfied with their information management strategies for their personal collections. Research limitations/implications Participants were limited to motor sport enthusiasts in Australia, hence findings cannot be generalised more broadly. Practical implications Understandings of enthusiasts’ information behaviour provide information management professionals with insights to work with this user community. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the literature about leisure information behaviour of motor sport enthusiasts in Australia. It identifies and provides a typology of the 12 categories of information needed by enthusiasts. Provides a preliminary motor sport information behaviour model guided by the conceptual frameworks of the everyday life information seeking model; general models on information behaviour; and the information problem solving behaviour model.

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