scholarly journals Online Learning Amidst COVID-19 Emergency: A Case of the University of Malawi’s School of Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 346-364
Author(s):  
Bob Maseko ◽  
Foster Gondwe ◽  
Symon Winiko ◽  
Symon Chiziwa

This paper explores faculty members’ concerns and level of preparedness for open and distance learning (ODL) at the University of Malawi’s School of Education during the recent Covid-19 pandemic within a context that considers ODL as a means of mitigating the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with four experienced academic leaders within the school of education. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), particularly stages of concerns, served as a framework to understand the faculty’s concerns about the implementation of ODL initiatives. Inductive and deductive analysis approaches were used to analyse the interview transcripts to identify emerging themes. Deductive analysis revealed that faculty members expressed several concerns such as awareness, informational, as well as consequences concerns as they talked about their feelings and attitudes towards the implementation of ODL. Inductive analysis on the other hand revealed that faculty members’ perceptions such as minimal preparation, negative orientations, and lack of policy awareness hamper the implementation of ODL. These findings underscore the importance of members’ orientation change to ensure effective implementation of ODL in contexts like the institution under study. We discuss these and propose that professional development could help members develop positive attitudes towards ODL.

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-243
Author(s):  
Cheng Yee Ng ◽  
Zahiraniza Mustaffa ◽  
Kurian V John

Internationalization is defined as a process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the teaching and learning of education.  International co-authorship in research article is one of the means of collaboration towards internationalization.  This paper investigates the impact of international co-authorship in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for a specialised young university (<50 years old).  The study focused on approximately 9450 articles and the citations ranging from 2012-2017.  The impact due to annual article publication, annual citation count, most cited article, annual citation per article and the correlation between the publication and citation were analysed. The finding shows that faculty members of the university have been collaborated with authors from 86 countries since 1997, which dominated by Asian institutions.  Amongst, top 30 countries with highest international co-authored publications were identified, which led by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, United Kingdom and Japan.  Further in detail, annual citation per article (Cpp) showed that collaborations with European countries e.g. Spain, Netherlands, and Hungry, resulting greater mean Cpp.  On the other hand, the analysis on the cumulative citation trend illustrated that the citation count is proportional to the number of articles.  This study evinced that international co-authorship does show positive impacts to a STEM specialised young university. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-247
Author(s):  
Ruaa Ahmed Ibrahim

The aim of the research is to identify the impact of psychological combustion on the job performance of university and higher institutes teachers through a study of analytical by the same academic leaders at the University of Tikrit, The research was based on the analytical descriptive method and the use of the psychometric scale and the performance scale. The research found a number of results, namely that the most academic leadership positions whose performance is affected by the levels of psychological combustion is the head of the department, and that the academic leadership in the practical colleges is the most affected by the performance of the levels of psychological combustion. Also, the female academic leaders are affected by their performance at higher levels of combustion Psychological leadership, and that academic leaders have the degree of assistant professor is affected by its performance more levels of psychological combustion, and that the academic leaders married is affected by their performance more levels of psychological combustion, and that academic leaders The age group of 30 to 40 years is the most affected by the performance of the levels of psychological combustion, and academic leaders with years of experience less than 20 years are affected by their performance more levels of psychological combustion. The research recommended that work should be done to improve the professional and social conditions of academic leaders and faculty members in colleges and higher institutes, and to prepare preventive and guidance programs that help reduce the feeling of work pressure and health monitoring of academic leaders and faculty members to ensure their health and psychological health. The faculty and raise their morale with rewards and incentives, both material and moral, training and qualification of academic leaders and faculty members to increase their ability to think creatively and how to manage time and exploitation Its best possible exploitation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-333
Author(s):  
Souad Mohamed Rjah ◽  
Ahmed Irhayyim Abdullah

The study aimed to identify the impact of inspiring leadership in reducing organizational conflicts among faculty members at the Iraqi University, by highlighting the dimensions of inspiring leadership, namely self-confidence, change management, employee empowerment, and strategic direction. This study relied on the data collected by developing a questionnaire designed for this purpose based on previous studies, distributed to (255) members of the teaching staff in colleges and scientific departments at the Iraqi University. To test the study hypothesis, multiple linear regression used. The most important findings of the study: The presence of a statistically significant effect of the four inspiring leadership dimensions in reducing the causes of organizational conflict, also that one of the most common causes of organizational conflict is the low level of cooperation between faculty members within the university. The study presented some recommendations, the most important of which are: the necessity of developing the dimensions of inspiring leadership by enhancing trust and spirit of cooperation between academic leaders and faculty members because of its direct impact in reducing the causes that lead to the occurrence of the organizational conflict. In addition, reviewing the policies that lead to non-cooperation and harmful and negative competition among them, as it is one of the leading causes of organizational conflict.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 303-312
Author(s):  
Jamal Asad Mezel ◽  
Adnan Fadhil Khaleel ◽  
Kiran Das Naik Eslavath

This empirical study show that the impact of all styles was well moderate. The means of effect of all styles were less than 3 out of 5. It means the expected impact of transformational affect upon the all dimensions of the activities, are not expected due to the traditional styles of leadership and the lack of information about the transformational leadership styles which can guide leaders to use such styles in the organization which may be this results due to lack of trained leaders and necessary knowledge with the leaders in all universities about transformational styles the traditional form of the leadership styles which used by the university leaders affect the communication between all levels of the administration and the faculty members which has consequence because decrease in motivation and a self-consideration from the administration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (9) ◽  
pp. 304-312
Author(s):  
Dr.Deepa Gupta ◽  
Dr.Mukul Gupta

In this research paper, the researcher has attempted to analyse the impact of MOOCs to improve the performance of faculty members concerning Delhi NCR. Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are evolving rapidly, and many kinds of research have been conducted to explore the structure, effectiveness and issues arise in MOOCs. The free accessibility of MOOCs has believed in soon replace the traditional teaching and learning method.


BMC Nursing ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rona Nsouli ◽  
Dimitrios Vlachopoulos

Abstract Background Our transition to an “information society” means that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become integral to our lives. ICT has also become an essential aspect of medical institutions and healthcare settings. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses are required to use ICT in their daily work. In Lebanon, however, due to political factors, many universities have not introduced technology or any form of ICT in their curricula. Institutions of higher education do use technology in various ways, however, successful incorporation of ICT in education requires acceptance by instructors who are expected to use ICT in teaching practices. Although international findings reveal that ICT should be used in nursing education, some faculty members experience difficulty integrating it. Method A mixed methodological research approach was used to investigate the attitudes of nursing teaching staff toward the use of ICT in nursing education. Results Our findings revealed three categories of faculty with differing attitudes to the use of ICT in teaching and learning: pioneers, faculty members who have developed positive attitudes toward ICT usage; followers, faculty members with neutral attitudes; and resisters, faculty members with negative attitudes. Conclusions Identification of the nursing faculty members’ attitude toward ICT and the challenges faced by them contributes to the integration of ICT into nursing curricula and further development of educational practices.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Donald ◽  
Melanie J. Ashleigh ◽  
Yehuda Baruch

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand how universities and organizations have responded to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of preparing university students and recent graduates to enter the global labor market, using the accounting, banking and finance sector as a case study. The two research questions are (1) How can university career services and organizations work individually and collaboratively to best develop early career talent following the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What are the challenges that university career services and organizations face when working individually or collaboratively to develop early career talent following the COVID-19 pandemic?Design/methodology/approachThe data for thematic analysis comes from 36 semi-structured interviews with career advisors (CAs) (n = 19) and graduate recruiters (GRs) (n = 17).FindingsThis study offers some of the first findings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to ensure that organizational behavior and career theory literature reflect the dramatically changing landscape in the university-to-work transition.Originality/valueTheoretically, our contribution comes from applying a framework of the career construction theory (CTT) within the context of a career ecosystem to understand the views of the intermediary, meso-level actors, which, to date, have lacked representation within career literature. Practically, we provide an insightful bridge between universities and organizations, offering opportunities for greater collaboration, and enhanced outcomes for all stakeholders.


2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-314
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdel Salam Mohamed Mahmoud El Balshi ◽  

The current study aimed to develop mechanisms for developing the culture of small information technology projects among university students in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by integrating the development of the culture of small information technology projects in the university’s vision, objectives and strategy, and localizing it in the university environment, activating it in the university’s teaching and learning processes, and strengthening the university’s partnership and the outside community to achieve this. The study used the descriptive approach, and the researcher applied a questionnaire consisting of (37) phrases distributed over (4) axes, and the sample amounted to (136) university professors from (5) Egyptian universities. The study found: The need for the university to emphasize in its objectives the teaching of students to build and manage small information technology projects through the development of knowledge and awareness of it, consolidating the values ​​and beliefs that support them, and that the university is interested in formulating a strategy that supports innovation and creativity among faculty members and students, and that the promotions of teachers and assistant professors be linked to their supportive activities for educating students with small IT projects, and to provide paper or digital brochures on opportunities to build small IT projects in the surrounding environment, and to support the practice of cultural activities, and spread the culture of patent in the information technology sector among its students, and that the university’s learning outcomes target the need for graduates to possess positive attitudes and values ​​towards them. and pay attention to educating students about the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on small IT projects, and that the university link the teaching and learning processes, building and managing small information technology projects, and directing its faculty members towards linking the contents of the curricula with the skills of building and managing small information technology projects, with the need to achieve partnership with the external community through the establishment of exhibitions and platforms for marketing information technology projects, and hosting businessmen in seminars or meetings to inform students of their successful experiences.


Author(s):  
Rachel Koross

<div><p><em>Micro teaching is a method that has been used since 1960s in teaching and learning environments to enhance prospective teacher’ instructional experiences. Microteaching is a remarkable technique that is used in teacher education programs to offer valuable opportunities for trainee teachers to develop effective teaching strategies. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences, competencies, and perceptions of 100 pre-service teacher trainees from the Kiswahili language Education program in the school of education, University of Eldoret Kenya. A combinations of quantitative and qualitative techniques were used and a questionnaire and focus group interview were used to collect data from the respondents. The findings indicate that prospective teachers gained a variety of experiences and competencies from micro teaching and that majority of them have positive attitudes toward micro teaching as a training technique. </em></p></div>


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. p11
Author(s):  
Gloria Nyame

Leadership training for educational leaders in the academia has been considered paramount to empower them both for leadership and management skills, knowledge and experience necessary to bring about quality in teaching and learning. Majority of the academic leaders are appointed without any preparation for the role and tend to struggle on the role in order to be effective. Most studies carried out on academic leaders in Africa focus mainly on challenges, roles and theories of leadership. This study explores the journeys involved in the preparations of academics who become Head of Departments in a selected university in Ghana in order to enable them play their roles effectively. The case study approach was used to study the journeys involved in the preparations of 16 academic HoDs in a selected university in Ghana, focusing on how they accessed their roles, their understanding about the roles, preparations they have had on the roles and the preparations they would have wished for the roles. It sought to describe, understand and interpret the learning journeys of academic HoDs regarding how they became HoDs and preparations they received to be effective in their roles. Interviews and documentary evidence were employed. Semi structured interviews were conducted with sixteen university head of departments. Using thematic analysis, the study revealed among others that most newly appointed academic HoDs were not given formal training before they began to play their roles, Again, the findings revealed different degrees of preparations which were mainly informal and were not directly linked to the roles of the HoDs, which were consistent with the literature that majority of academic HoDs did not receive preparations for their roles and tended to use their experiences to play their roles. Based on these findings, recommendations are that there should be a formal training on the HoD’s duties and their implementations for all newly appointed HoDs to enrich them with the necessary skills and knowledge to make them effective and efficient. There is the need to conduct needs assessment from the HoDs to inform their preparation or training and development of HoDs manual to serve as a reference guide to the HoDs. It is hoped that the findings will contribute to effective preparations of the academic HoDs. The research may also lead to the production of HoD’s manuals. More importantly, it may inform policies to identify areas for effective preparations of the academic HoDs.


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