scholarly journals MScs in railway transport and logistics: State of the art and perspectives for a new programme

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
Luca Rizzetto ◽  
Stefano Ricci ◽  
Marin Marinov

The objective of this paper is to discuss results obtained from a structured survey on MScs in railway transport and logistics, which has been conducted within the RiFLE project. RiFLE stands for Rail Freight and Logistics Curriculum Development and was funded by the Erasmus (LLL) programme of the European Commission. The aim of RiFLE was to develop master courses to be delivered in English language by the participating institutions as separate but shared programmes in their universities. The approach was to analyse, enhance and adapt existing courses already offered by the participating institutions within a modern rail freight and logistics environment. Therefore, the goal of the survey was to define the state of the art of the current offer of MSc ‘railway transport and logistics’ related courses across the European and non-European countries. For the collection of data, a questionnaire has been developed. ‘SuperSurvey’ was used to approach intended respondents. SuperSurvey is a user-friendly online platform for collecting information using questionnaires. The target group included professors, lecturers and masters programmes managers in transport and logistics. Existing relevant programmes from European and other universities and institutions for higher education have been collected and analysed. Information collected helped to define a comprehensive framework of transport and logistics curricula, courses and programmes and to understand different levels of learning and structures of higher education such as single modules, bachelor courses, master courses, as well as mobility programmes and patterns. Keywords: Rail freight and logistics, higher education, innovation, survey, state of the art.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 94-102
Author(s):  
Luca Rizzetto ◽  
Stefano Ricci ◽  
Marin Marinov ◽  
Anna Fraszczyk

The objective of this paper is to describe the Validation process of a new MSc Programme in railway transport and logistics which has been designed within the RiFLE project. RiFLE stands for Rail Freight and Logistics Curriculum Development and is funded by the Erasmus programme of the European Commission. The innovative idea of RiFLE is that the courses developed will run in the participating institutions, and they will be compatible to allow the students to attend some of their modules in the other universities. Moreover the possibility of a joint programme and degree is currently under evaluation. In particular RiFLE developed 26 rail freight and logistics Subjects combined in four Curricula, each of them corresponds to the perspective of a student entering the Programme from one of the four participating Institutions. The Validation process of the four Curricula has been carried out against both the European Educational Standards for Mscs and Industry requirements, implementing a stepwise methodology. Validation against Standards has been performed developing an extensive overview of the existing educational standards for Master programmes in Europe and the guidelines on how to meet them. Validation against Industry requirements has been achieved through a Workshop, during which over 30 external experts of Academic Institutions and Companies active in the Rail and Logistic sectors expressed their judgment on the RiFLE Programme and gave suggestions for improvements. Keywords:  Rail Freight and Logistics; Higher Education; Innovation; Survey; State of the Art.


Author(s):  
Carlos Rodríguez-Hoyos ◽  
Ignacio Haya Salmón ◽  
Elia Fernández-Díaz

<p>This paper presents, for further discussion, a review of the scientific literature produced internationally on the use of Social Network Sites (SNS) in different levels of education and settings. A total of 62 articles published in international scientific journals with peer review have been analysed. The main objective of this paper is to discuss the most recurrent lines of research since the emergence of these tools in education. The level of education in which research is carried out is also analysed, as well as the paradigms and methods used for data collection. The analysis leads to the conclusion that most of the studies analysed have been carried out in higher education, from a quantitative paradigm, focusing on the use of SNS as educational tools. This article shows that research into SNS in education is at an early stage of development, and it demonstrates the need to widen lines of research on SNS in media education to include as yet unexplored dimensions.</p><p> </p>


2014 ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Ontje Helmich ◽  
Michael A. Herzog ◽  
Christian Neumann

This document describes the concept and prototype for an “assembling” IT intergration portal to be used in higher education. Through the use of profiles, good usability and display of concentrated information students should be bound to the portal and university throughout their studies and their life. The proposed solution, to use Elgg as an information portal and social media platform, bridges the gap between the closed nature of university IT infrastructure and user-friendly, communication enhancing advancements of state-of-the-art web applications.


Author(s):  
Carmen Burgos Videla ◽  
Javiera Martinez Diaz

This research aims to learn about the perception about didactics of professors who teach English in the study programs of Bachelor of Education and English Pedagogy, and Bachelor of English and English-Spanish Translation at the University of Atacama, Copiapo, Chile. For this, a qualitative pilot research was conducted, using the case study approach and the associative letters method for data collection, using as an inductive concept ‘didactics of the English language’. This, in order to gather information about didactics in English teaching, given through the four production and comprehension language skills: writing, reading, speaking and listening. The first findings show a lack of innovation in the field of teaching and unawareness of it. Within the data of the pilot sample, the concepts ‘skills’ and ‘methodology’ stand out as central elements in the English Language Teaching didactics. From this small pilot research, the idea of the importance of communication and methodology as key concepts to be included in the next investigation is reinforced, so that the data collection is meaningful, and a close intervention could be achieved, where the teachers reflect on the didactics used in a more comprehensive and less recursive way. Keywords: Didactics, higher education, innovation, language teaching, second foreign language.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-596

Technology plays a crucial role in the self-guided learning of a second language in general and English in particular. Nevertheless, many students in different contexts still ignore the application of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in enhancing their foreign language proficiency. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English-language learning (ELL) among English majors at one university in Vietnam. To collect data, 197 English majors participated in finishing the questionnaire, and 20 students were invited to join the interviews. The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high. In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant difference in attitudes towards and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of the year of study. However, students of different levels of academic achievements have different attitudes towards using TELL tools and use TELL tools to learn English differently. Received 2nd May 2019; Revised 16th July 2019, Accepted 20th October 2019


Author(s):  
Л. Е. Бєловецька

The problem of external independent evaluation in English for admission Master`s degree programs in Ukraine is considered in the article. The perspective for further improvement of English teaching and learning standards at Ukrainian universities has been found. The correspondence to the CEFR basic levels and English proficiency has been identified. Conceptual Principles of State Policy on the Development of English in the Field of Higher Education are considered. The study included 1546 participants. The age of students, who studied to gain the first higher education, was between 17 and 20. The students were not familiar with the structure of External Independent Evaluation and they have never passed it. The research was carried out during the period 2018–2019. The relevance of English language competence in the professional context is noted emphasized as a key point of the presented research. The necessity to provide a sufficient competitive level for Ukrainian graduates through improving correspondent English language training has been considered. The study is based on a study of reports by British experts and contemporary scientific publications presented international researchers have focused on the problems of internationalization and perspectives for Ukrainian universities in the English language dimension. The relevance of studying and adaptation of the UK higher education successful practice has been highlighted. The problems and potential ways of improving students` English language proficiency in the given context are identified. In particular, the study contains important recommendations regarding the number of contact hours and the required levels of English proficiency for the main groups of participants in the educational process in higher education according to international standards.


Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-211
Author(s):  
Nazila Zarghi ◽  
Soheil Dastmalchian Khorasani

Abstract Evidence based social sciences, is one of the state-of- the-art area in this field. It is making decisions on the basis of conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the best available evidence from multiple sources. It also could be conducive to evidence based social work, i.e a kind of evidence based practice in some extent. In this new emerging field, the research findings help social workers in different levels of social sciences such as policy making, management, academic area, education, and social settings, etc.When using research in real setting, it is necessary to do critical appraisal, not only for trustingon internal validity or rigor methodology of the paper, but also for knowing in what extent research findings could be applied in real setting. Undoubtedly, the latter it is a kind of subjective judgment. As social sciences findings are highly context bound, it is necessary to pay more attention to this area. The present paper tries to introduce firstly evidence based social sciences and its importance and then propose criteria for critical appraisal of research findings for application in society.


Fachsprache ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 94-121
Author(s):  
Marian Flanagan ◽  
Carmen Heine

As teachers of English as a second language (L2) in web communication, our aim is to help L2 students improve their spoken and written English language skills. Teacher feedback has been shown to do this in some cases. However, only using teacher feedback can put huge pressure on the teacher, both in terms of time and resources. This paper describes and discusses our attempt at introducing peer feedback as an additional way of providing students with feedback on their English writing. Before conducting this study, we did not know if peer feedback would be feasible in our teaching environment or whether it would benefit the students and teachers. Our aim was to establish a status quo of our students’ abilities in providing and implementing peer feedback. We introduced peer-feedback tasks and focused on the types of feedback provided by the students, the phrasing of the feedback, both when implemented and not implemented by the students, and the types of revisions made by the students. Our findings allowed us to develop peer-feedback process guidelines for web communication as a way towards improving written feedback processes in higher education, and hopefully for others to adapt and implement in their own communication classrooms.


2016 ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Martha Concepción Macías ◽  
Francisco Mendoza Moreira

RESUMENLa universidad ecuatoriana, en los últimos seis años, a partir de la aprobación en el año 2010 de la Ley Orgánica de Educación Superior, ha sido expuesta a nuevos retos y desafíos que comprometen a cada uno de los tejidos institucionales participantes en su gestión. Este artículo analiza siete de esos retos en el marco de la ley, de la reflexión epistemológica y las metas que se le plantean como sistema sustancial en el cambio de la matriz cognitiva, productiva y de servicio del país. Los resultados son reflexiones propias de actores del sistema educativo superior que se desenvuelven en diferentes planos de intervención, quienes proponen acciones inmediatas y mediatas para alcanzar una Universidad adaptable a la Era de la Complejidad.Palabras clave: Sistema de Educación Superior, Era de la Complejidad, Ley Orgánica de Educación Superior. Challenges of Higher Education System in Ecuador for the Age of ComplexityABSTRACTIn the last six years since the adoption of the Law on Higher Education in 2010, the Ecuadorian university has been exposed to new challenges compromising every institution participating in its management. This article analyzes seven of those challenges within the Law framework, the epistemological reflection and the goals presented as substantial in changing the cognitive, productive and service matrix in the country. The results are reflections by actors in the higher education system working at different levels of intervention, who propose immediate and mediate actions to achieve a University adaptive to the Age of Complexity.Keywords: Higher education system, age of complexity, Law of Higher Education.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document