scholarly journals Performance-based assessment of students’ communication skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 221258682110062
Author(s):  
Edith Braun

Higher education is a fundamental social institution that supports the latest theoretical developments and builds advanced skills. All institutions of higher education require that undergraduate and postgraduate students acquire performance skills as communication. Despite the fact that nearly every higher education program and discipline includes such skills among their learning outcomes, there are few instruments available with which to assess such complex competences. This article presents the findings of a study in which an instrument to measure communication skills was operationalized according to Habermas’ theory of communication, which distinguishes between strategic and understanding-oriented communication. The instrument introduced and used was based on role-plays that included standardised instructions and standardised observation forms. In addition to the empirical investigation into the theoretical dimensions of strategic and understanding-orientated communication, this study also examined two correlations: the correlation between performance-based testing and self-assessments and the correlation between performance-based testing and non-verbal communication. Two dimensions can be found in confirmatory factors analysis. Furthermore, the study found a medium correlation with non-verbal skills, but low correlation with self-assessments. Following a presentation of the study, the article concludes with a discussion of the benefits as well as limitations of such an instrument.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 56-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Lyalyuk ◽  
O. R. Tuchina

Educational system is the most important social institution, which provides the development of a personality and frames his/her worldview and the conception of subjective well-being. Despite the large number of studies on the issue of psychological and pedagogical security of educational environment, the sphere of higher education still remains underexplored. The available empiric material has not received sufficient methodological justification and conceptualization. This article aims to provide the conceptualization of the risk category as applied to the educational environment of a higher education institution, as well as empiric investigation of the risks within the educational environment as viewed by applicants and students.Materials and methods. 213 applicants and 547 students of the Kuban State Technological University took part in the survey. The following investigation methods were used: expert assessment, interview, questioning, content analysis, analysis of means method, cluster analysis and factor analysis.Investigation results. Comparative examination of the manifestation degree of risks within the educational environment as viewed by applicants and students of higher education institution showed significant differences in the assessment of risk by these groups of respondents. From the point of view of applicants, the main risks are connected with social and psychological aspects of the educational environment of a higher education institution, relations within student groups and interaction with teachers, as well as with the issues related to the educational management and leisure arrangement. As viewed by the students, the risks within the educational environment include external and social and psychological risk factors, motivating risks and risks arising from the learning process organization and management and the related issues. Applicants’ notion of the risks within the educational environment of a higher education institution was mainly influenced by information they received from media and by the opinion of their relatives and age mates.Consideration and conclusions. It was proved that the applicants’ idea of the risks within the educational environment of a higher education institution is determined by the opinion of people they know personally, however it changes during the process of studying in higher education institution and acquiring their own experience of being within the environment. The investigation results allow creating a model of psychological and pedagogical security within the educational environment of a higher education institution. This model makes it possible to forecast main risks of the educational environment, their development, and evolvement and find solution to them. 


Data ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Domingo Villavicencio-Aguilar ◽  
Edgardo René Chacón-Andrade ◽  
Maria Fernanda Durón-Ramos

Happiness-oriented people are vital in every society; this is a construct formed by three different types of happiness: pleasure, meaning, and engagement, and it is considered as an indicator of mental health. This study aims to provide data on the levels of orientation to happiness in higher-education teachers and students. The present paper contains data about the perception of this positive aspect in two Latin American countries, Mexico and El Salvador. Structure instruments to measure the orientation to happiness were administrated to 397 teachers and 260 students. This data descriptor presents descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), and differences (Student’s t-test) presented by country, population (teacher/student), and gender of their orientation to happiness and its three dimensions: meaning, pleasure, and engagement. Stepwise-multiple-regression-analysis results are also presented. Results indicated that participants from both countries reported medium–high levels of meaning and engagement happiness; teachers reported higher levels than those of students in these two dimensions. Happiness resulting from pleasure activities was the least reported in general. Males and females presented very similar levels of orientation to happiness. Only the population (teacher/student) showed a predictive relationship with orientation to happiness; however, the model explained a small portion of variance in this variable, which indicated that other factors are more critical when promoting orientation to happiness in higher-education institutions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Elia Powers

Journalism job advertisements send important signals about valued skills and attributes. How such advertisements articulate journalistic expertise, including interactional expertise, has been studied, but signals about verbal communication usually have been overlooked. Little is known about how journalism employers define the most valued communication skills and the ideal journalistic voice. This signaling theory study explores expectations advertisements convey for how journalists should sound through a thematic analysis of U.S. journalism job listings (n = 510) specifying substantial verbal communication. Requirements for exceptional verbal skills and explicit calls for vocal clarity raise barriers to entry for journalists with speech disabilities or speech anxiety.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-155
Author(s):  
Juli Amalia Nasucha

Some of the themes discussed in this study include: knowing the miniature of Sharia, the field of Fiqh, Islamic governance, and Political Asylum. Some of the conclusions generated from the discussion regarding the Competence and Jurisdiction of Islamic Law include: First, it is necessary to know that there are two dimensions in Islamic law which are closely related to each other, namely the divine dimension and the Insaniyah dimension. Second, as a derivation of the two dimensions contained in Islamic law, then Islamic law is divided into two parts, namely Islamic law as a product of Law / Fiqh or fiqh as a science, while the second is law as a social institution. Third, fiqih as a social institution This then gives rise to jurisdiction in applying Islamic law so that the next discussion that becomes important is the concept of constitutionality in Islam with all its articulations concerning Islamic constitutional politics.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Barton Essel ◽  
Dimitrios Vlachopoulos ◽  
Dickson Adom ◽  
Akosua Tachie-Menson

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics and potential effects of teaching and learning through audio teleconferencing (dial-in) with a cell phone. In addition, the study aims to identify the associations between the audio teleconferencing and video teleconferencing in a 12-week postgraduate course. Design/methodology/approach The study is a cross-sectional survey conducted at the Department of Educational Innovations at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from March to June 2020. The purposive sampling technique was used to sample 100 postgraduate students who registered for a course in the department. The data for the study were collected using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and 17-item self-administered eQuestionnaire. Multiple Linear Regression analysis, ANOVA, Independent sample T-test and Mann–Whitney U-test were used to estimate the differences in course achievements of students who experienced education through audio teleconferencing and those who experienced education through video teleconferencing. Findings In total, 59% of the participating postgraduate students chose to attend the synchronous online lectures via audio teleconferencing (dial-in). The participants gave a high SUS score (SUS > 80.3; Grade A; Excellent) for audio conferencing service. Among the students in the audio teleconferencing cohort, the results evidenced a strong positive linear correlation, (r (57) = 0.79, p < 0.05), between the individual adjective ratings and the SUS scores. There was marginal significance among demography of students in the audio teleconference (AT) cohort with regards to their perception about the dial-in lecture. There was no statistically significant difference, (t (98) = 1.88, p = 0.063), in the achievement test for AT students and video teleconference (VT) students. The instructors and the students were satisfied with the AT. Practical implications Based on the students’ preference, AT offers equal benefit as VT with regards to system satisfaction and perceived quality of online teaching. AT, as teaching modality, should be an option for students who reside in communities with high latency internet connectivity. It is recommended that instructors are trained on how to engage and motivate students via AT. Originality/value Higher education institutions in Ghana are facing decisions about how to continue learning and teaching through flexible pedagogy, while keeping their faculty members and students protected from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these institutions have canceled the brick-and-mortar education and other conventional learning practices and have instructed faculty to adopt online teaching through synchronous video teleconferencing platforms. However, the learning experience is not the same for students who reside in remote or rural communities with low bandwidth. There is very little research in this topic, especially in developing countries like Ghana, and the present study aims to bridge the gap in the literature by exploring the characteristics and potential effects of teaching and learning through audio teleconferencing (dial-in) with a cell phone, in the context of a 12-week postgraduate course.


2013 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Lundquist ◽  
Angela O. Shogbon ◽  
Kathryn M. Momary ◽  
Hannah K. Rogers

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amy Bell ◽  
Lucy Hawkins ◽  
Lorraine Kelleher ◽  
Cath Lambert ◽  
...  

This paper offers a critical perspective on issues around gender and sexual transformation within the context of UK Higher Education. Drawing on qualitative data carried out by undergraduate and postgraduate students, the analysis explores some of the diverse and often challenging ways in which young/er women and men are thinking and talking about gender, sexuality and feminism, as well as their strategies for turning ideas into political action. The research focuses on the activities and opinions of students belonging to an anti-sexist organisation within one UK university, who are engaged in campaigns to raise awareness about the damaging effects of gender and sexual inequalities, as well as promoting the popular appeal of contemporary feminisms. Locating the voices and research findings of the students themselves at the centre of the discussion, the paper is produced collaboratively between students and teachers who are involved in both the activist and research elements of this project. The paper also argues for (and provides evidence of) the transformative potential of alternative and critical forms of student engagement and student/ staff collaboration in relation to gender informed academic activism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Iswadi Iswadi ◽  
Apriyanto Apriyanto

<p><em>E-learning during covid-19 pandemic gives positive and negative effects on students’ psychology. One of the effects of E-Learning is students whose negative and positive perception towards the process of E-Learning. The objectives of the study are to know (1)  The difference perception between male and female EFL post-graduate students of the use of online learning platforms? (2). Impacts psychologically of E-learning during Covid-19 to female and male EFL students in higher education. The method of the study is mixed research with the explanatory sequential design. The participants were 31 EFL postgraduate students in PGRI Indraprasta University. The data collection technique of the study was questionnaires with a Likert scale and an open interview. The data analysis technique of the study is an independent sample t-test with SPSS 22.0 version and collection, reduction, display, and conclusion. The results of the study are: (1) There is no significant difference perception between male and female EFL postgraduate students of the use of online learning platform because the significance value (0.695) which is bigger than 0.05. (2)  E-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic did not  give anxiety, fear, fatigue, and saturation to female and male EFL students in higher education. Implication of this research is University must develop LMS (Learning Management System) for teaching EFL students</em></p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.38) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Nataliya Petrovna Gavrilyuk ◽  
Yana Vladimirovna Kryucheva ◽  
Svetlana Nikolaevna Semenkova

The article covers the issues related to the process of training students for professional activity. The authors introduce a new term "professional integrity". This term is presented by three interrelated structural components: cognitive, communicative, and behavioral. The psychological and pedagogical basis of professional activity is theoretically justified. Diagnostic tools for the problematic area of professional activity are verified empirically. The sources of difficulties and problems faced by a person in professional activity are found out. The authors identify a correlation among the sources of difficulties of a person in the important life spheres. Psychological and pedagogical recommendations on solving problems related to the formation of professional activity at higher education institutions are developed. The findings can be attractive for teachers, psychologists, postgraduate students interested in problems of starting professional activity.  


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