scholarly journals Assessing the dimensionality and educational impacts of integrated ICT literacy in the higher education context

Author(s):  
Tefera Tadesse ◽  
Robyn M Gillies ◽  
Chris Campbell

The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to introduce a conceptual model for assessing undergraduate students’ integrated information and communication technology (ICT) literacy capacity that involves 12 items generated from the modified version of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) questionnaire (Coates, 2010); second, to illustrate the construct validity and internal consistency of the model as implemented in a sample of undergraduate students (n = 536) enrolled in two colleges within a large Ethiopian university; and third, to further demonstrate the criterion validity of the model by examining predictive validity of the identified ICT literacy factors on student learning outcomes. A multi-method approach is used, which comprises correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques. The main finding is the support found for the 4-factor model consisting of ICT use, cognitive process, reading task and writing task. Results of the multi-method approach provide specific guidelines to higher education (HE) institutions using this approach to evaluate ICT literacy capacity and the resultant learning outcomes among their undergraduate students. The paper provides a conceptual model and supporting tools that can be used by other HE institutions to assist in the evaluation of students’ ICT literacy capacities.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Escobar-Sierra ◽  
Alejandra García-Cardona ◽  
Fidel León-Darder

Purpose In this regard, this paper aims to wonder how willing to co-create sustainable practices customers of irresponsible Industry 4.0 (I4.0) companies are? With this purpose, the authors began introducing I4.0 and sustainability, showing their theoretical gaps. Design/methodology/approach I4.0 has recently spread with its technological developments and social, economic and political ambitions, facing challenges-related, for example, to the implementation of sustainable practices and the stakeholders’ participation. Findings Then the authors conduct a literature review following a sequential mix-method approach that begins with a bibliometric analysis and ends with a content study to propose a conceptual model for I4.0 and sustainability. Once the authors understood the theoretical gaps in the framework of the conceptual model, the authors conducted an empirical verification between clients of a Colombian company of the I4.0 belonging to the logistic sector, specifically of the deliveries, asking them about the labor issues that the company faces with delivery people and their willingness to co-create. The authors analyzed the collected data through a structural equation modeling model, where the authors found that customers’ willingness to co-create depends on intrinsic behaviors like “responsible behavior,” followed by extrinsic behaviors such as “helping.” Originality/value In fact, stakeholders may support companies, but customers must learn how to assume a critical posture during their purchase decision.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Noy ◽  
Teresa Capetola ◽  
Rebecca Patrick

Purpose Education for Sustainability in Higher Education (ESHE) sits within and across disciplinary settings that share the need for a framework that provides a basis for pedagogy, assessment and learning outcomes (Kalsoom, 2019). ESHE strives to create transformative learning spaces that help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to understand and contribute to shaping a world based on communities living within the limits of earth’s resources. This paper aims to offer a novel solution to the challenge of teaching students from different disciplines struggling with the complexity of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the development of an interdisciplinary subject designed for undergraduate students from four faculties. It presents a case study of pedagogy that moves away from three pillars/concentric circles approaches towards practices based in systems thinking and interactive transformative learning. It describes the iterative process of developing and implementing an infographic: the “Sustainability Wheel of Fortune” (Wheel), to support constructive alignment of content, assessment tasks and learning outcomes. Findings The Wheel provides a holistic, interconnected and dynamic focus for framing content and teaching. The pedagogy aligns with sustainability competencies, builds in flexibility in response to changing times and student experiences and provides teachers and students with a common framework for interrogating the possibilities for sustainable futures. Originality/value The Wheel is a novel learning tool for contemporary sustainability education. It captures key elements of approaches to and concepts about sustainability, visually reinforces the idea of a holistic interconnected approach and provides a framework that supports the constructive pedagogy of an interdisciplinary sustainability subject.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 16-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruwan Ranasinghe

Each one in eleven jobs in the world are from tourism sector where a well trained, educated and skilled work force is mandetory. Despite the growth in provision of tourism higher education during past 40 years, uncertainties remain about the content and nature of tourism degrees and how these are aligned with tourism industry needs. Substantial evidence is available on designing tourism higher education curriculum but the extent to which tourism higher education meets the industry needs and the job performance of the graduates has not yet been closely investigated. This study aims to identify the impact of tourism education on the job performance of the tourism graduates. Self-administered questionnaire fielded across the Island secured 260 public sector university tourism graduates response. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling in Smart-PLS-3. The study found learning outcomes have a moderate positive relationship on job performance. Tourism graduates showed optimistic perception about tourism education in meeting industry requirements. As recommendations tourism curriculum must be well planned and enriched with supplementary practical exposure. Faculty members must provide a great support for the undergraduates in accomplishing their carrier objectives and the learning outcomes. Conducive learning environment should be facilitated to reach learning outcomes smoothly.


Author(s):  
Polona Tominc ◽  
Vit Paszto ◽  
Samo Bobek ◽  
Simona Sternad Zabukovšek

This research arises from the importance of integration of knowledge of economics/business and spatial sciences for graduates who must think and act in interdisciplinary contexts.The systematic literature review revealed thatthis interdisciplinary field is richly present in original scientific research, and is undoubtedly topical and worthy of research efforts. Themain objective of this paper is toanalyse important factors that contribute to the attitudes of students towards interdisciplinary knowledge, and factors that shape their intentions to use and integrate this knowledge in the future. The conceptual model formed was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Research results confirm the importance of integration of economics/business and spatial sciences knowledge, for graduates. As presented in the paper, results of thestudyhave important implications for higher education institutions, reforming and updating their study programs, as well as for educators in the field of spatial sciences and economic/business sciences, in research and in education.


2022 ◽  
pp. 146978742110730
Author(s):  
Karin Väyrynen ◽  
Sonja Lutovac ◽  
Raimo Kaasila

Previous research has emphasized both the importance of giving and receiving peer feedback for the purpose of active learning, as well as of university students’ engagement in reflection to improve learning outcomes. However, requiring students to explicitly reflect on peer reviewing is an understudied learning activity in higher education that may contribute to the utilization of peer-feedback and promote further learning. In this study, we suggest reflection on peer reviewing as one approach to providing a platform for students to engage in reflective practices and for stimulating active learning in higher education, and to make that learning visible to the educator. We examine 26 undergraduate students’ reflections on peer-review to identify categories of reflection and what students have learnt from the peer reviewing process. Our findings reveal six different categories of reflection suggesting students’ active engagement in learning and pointing to the ways educators can direct and instruct students how to reflect. We discuss how these findings can inform university lecturers in the use of reflection upon peer reviewing as a pedagogical tool in higher education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Acton

Problem-oriented pedagogies have emerged as strategic way for universities to respond to an international higher education agenda that increasingly prioritises innovative, student-centred learning, and the cultivation of both civic and employability competences. Alongside this pedagogic shift is a policy-driven emphasis on monitoring teaching and learning for quality assurance purposes. This article aims to untangle the ways problem- and inquiry-based pedagogies are currently evaluated in universities, and thus consider how ‘quality’ implementation, and the effects of this suite of pedagogic approaches, might be better understood, practised, and measured. Taking a systematic approach to the review of the literature, the article maps evaluation methods that assess the effectiveness of problem-oriented and inquiry-based pedagogies implemented in university settings. The key findings include that evaluation methods in the field (i) prioritise qualification-related outcomes, (ii) are limited in scale and scope, and (iii) often function as demonstrations of performativity rather than as part of an ongoing improvement cycle. The article argues that evaluations that take a multi-method approach from the perspective of a range of stakeholders, with an exploration of civic and social competences in addition to employability outcomes, would significantly strengthen the field.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siv K. Stafseth ◽  
Tor Inge Tønnessen ◽  
Lien My Diep ◽  
Lisbeth Fagerstrøm

Background and Purpose:The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the conceptual model of critical care nursing using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) for intensive care unit (ICU) patients.Methods:An observational study conducted in 2011 using the NAS scores of 219 patients in Norway. The inter-rater reliability (IRR) was tested by parallel classifications. The validity was explored by an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as the measurement models in the structural equation model.Results:Within the paired ratings the Spearman's correlation coefficient was 0.39. The EFA results explained 77% of the variance with six factors. The reduced CFA model resulted in a three-factor model: relationship, prevention and treatment. Conclusion: The findings supported the IRR and construct validity of the conceptual model of the NAS.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Schimmack

Cronbach and Meehl (1955) introduced the concept of construct validity and described how researchers can demonstrate that their measures have construct validity. Although the term construct validity is widely used, few researchers follow Cronbach and Meehl’s recommendation to quantify construct validity with the help of nomological networks. As a result, the construct validity of many popular measures in psychology is unknown. I call for rigorous tests of construct validity that follow Cronbach and Meehl’s recommendations to improve psychology as a science. Without valid measures even replicable results are uninformative. I suggest that a proper program of validation research requires a multi-method approach and causal modeling of correlations with structural equation models. Construct validity should be quantified to enable cost-benefit analyses and to replace existing measures with better measures that have superior construct validity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Astuti ◽  
Diki Rukmana

Purpose The covid-19 pandemic that hit the world has caused several changes in the higher education service sector, including the implementation of the undergraduate thesis examination, where direct interaction between students and examiners is avoided and replacing it with an online bachelor thesis exam. This study aims to develop a conceptual model regarding the variables that can affect student satisfaction with the quality of the implementation of online undergraduate thesis examinations in higher education. Design/methodology/approach The research instrument consisted of 22 survey questions distributed to 583 students taking the thesis trial examination in the even semester of 2019/2020 who came from 12 different study programs. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted to analyze the validity of the instrument and test the hypothesis. The results of the analysis show that the 22 instrument items used have been determined by sufficient variables to check the structure of each. Findings SEM analysis results show that the three hypothesized variables (study program service, examiner performance and quality of video conference applications) positively and significantly affect the level of student satisfaction with the online undergraduate thesis examination 0.187, 0.177 and 0.177, respectively. The total effect of these three factors is 0.737. Research limitations/implications This finding is a reference for those who want to improve the quality of the online undergraduate thesis examination in higher education. Originality/value As the online thesis examination was implemented in higher education in Indonesia as a result of the implementation of the study and work at home policy by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, it is important to conduct research on the implementation of online thesis exams in Indonesia, especially to study the conceptual model of variables affect student satisfaction with the implementation of the online thesis exam. Because even though the implementation of online thesis exams on a large scale is new to some higher education in Indonesia.


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