Micro-credentials Life & Employability Skills: Evaluating Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Implementing Micro-credentials in Higher Education

This research examines the barriers and facilitators to employers’ engagement with higher education institutions. The data were collected through interviews with a set of employers (n = 19) in the Northern region of Portugal, V.N.de Famalicão, in 2019. We begin by exploring employers’ engagement activities as a potential solution to address local-level skill problems. Empirical evidence suggests that the engagement activities are mostly passive as firms use higher education largely as a recruitment channel. The differences in organizational goals and culture are the most cited barriers to the lack of more active engagement. Some efforts have recently been made to strengthen the ties between higher education and employers, notably through a local multi-stakeholder partnership as a potential broker. However, it will take time for this to bear fruit and contribute to reducing skill gaps and shortages. The data show that despite employers’ apparent willingness, more effort must be made to encourage active engagement.

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Cultural aspects of future specialists training in modern conditions

LAPLAGE EM REVISTA ◽

10.24115/s2446-622020217extra-d1077p.117-126 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (Extra-D) ◽

pp. 117-126

Author(s):

Galina Bohatyryova ◽

Yurii Horban ◽

Oksana Koshelieva ◽

Olga Bigus ◽

Oleksandr Chepalov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Quality Education ◽

Cultural Environment ◽

Cultural Characteristics ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Cultural Aspects ◽

Multicultural Environment ◽

Teachers Attitudes ◽

Education Of Students ◽

Cultural Features

This study is based on the results of the OECD (2018) structured survey of 1,093 teachers at universities in Australia, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Malta, Vietnam, Turkey, and Argentina, examined policy, the practice of cultural characteristics in training specialists, and teachers' attitudes to cultural diversity. The attitude and perception of cultural features by teachers does not determine the practice of forming a cultural environment and managing this environment to ensure quality education of students of different nations. The main culturological aspects of training are self-expression of cultural and ethnic identities, expression of cultural characteristics and their value through multicultural activities in universities, teaching students to combat ethnic or cultural discrimination. Therefore, the formation of a multicultural environment in higher education occurs through the activities of students and teachers, which complement each other.

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MOOCs in Initial Teacher Training

Macro-Level Learning through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8324-2.ch013 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 222-249

Author(s):

Carlos Monge López ◽

Patricia Gomez Hernández ◽

David Montalvo Saborido

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Teacher Training ◽

Online Courses ◽

Massive Open Online Courses ◽

Training Design ◽

Future Teachers ◽

Educational Training ◽

Education Practice ◽

Teachers Attitudes ◽

Insight Into

The main aim of this research is to understand future teachers' attitudes, knowledge and needs about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These courses may be a supplementary resource in higher education that can fill fields of knowledge which the curriculum could not encompass. In addition, this type of course can contribute significantly to both initial and continuing teacher training. For this reason, understanding students' perspectives on MOOCs is essential. For this reason a questionnaire was administered to students of the Bachelor in Teaching of Childhood Education, Bachelor in Teaching of Primary Education and Master in Training Teachers of Secondary Education (n=145). The results indicate that a large part of the sample confirm not that they do not know anything about MOOCs. The chapter concludes that universities need to train future teachers in MOOC culture. Keeping the focus on the book section “RIA and education practice of MOOCs”, this chapter provides a valuable research insight into the topic of “educational training design.”

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Teacher, Students, and MOOCs

Teacher Training and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5631-2.ch075 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1623-1648

Author(s):

Carlos Monge López ◽

Patricia Gómez Hernández

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Teacher Education ◽

Online Courses ◽

Massive Open Online Courses ◽

Elementary Teacher Education ◽

Future Teachers ◽

Teacher Students ◽

Service Training ◽

Education Degree ◽

Teachers Attitudes

The main aim of this research is to understand future teachers' attitudes, knowledge and needs about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These courses are a supplementary resource in Higher Education that can fill fields of knowledge in which the curriculum could not encompass. In addition, these types of courses can contribute significantly to teachers, both in initial and in-service, training. For this reason, the students' perspectives towards MOOCs are essential in these terms. In this way, fundamentally a questionnaire was administered to the students in the Degree in Teaching of Childhood Education, Degree in Teaching of Primary Education, and Masters Degree in Teacher Training of Secondary Education (n=145). The results indicated that a large part of the sample confirmed that they did not know anything about MOOCs. Therefore, Universities need to train competent future teachers in MOOCs culture. This chapter provides insights into the topic of advancing next generation elementary teacher education through digital tools and applications.

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A Design Thinking Odyssey

Applying Design Thinking to the Measurement of Experiential Learning - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7768-4.ch008 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 123-133

Author(s):

Alvin Sim ◽

Paulin Tay Straughan

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Real World ◽

Design Thinking ◽

Employability Skills ◽

The Future

Co-curricular experiences should be warranted a fair amount of attention in higher education, particularly for their ability to help students develop real-world employability skills and a platform for them to critically reflect upon and expand their perspectives. These are crucial in developing the future-ready graduate – the type of graduate the Singapore Management University (SMU) strives to nurture. Yet, the authors have discovered that many students go from one activity to another without understanding what they can actually be getting out of these activities and how each activity connects to life after university. This has led the authors to seek to address the problem: “How might we rethink the purpose and delivery of co-curricular learning?” As part of the design thinking odyssey, this chapter details the prototype SMU has embarked on to measure and document students' learning in the co-curricular space.

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Exploration of Employability Skills in Business Management Studies Within Higher Education Levels

International Journal of Sustainable Economies Management ◽

10.4018/ijsem.2020010105 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 52-69

Author(s):

Husam Helmi Alharahsheh ◽

Abraham Pius

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Literature Review ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Business Management ◽

Collective Responsibility ◽

Employability Skills ◽

Knowledge Based ◽

Education Levels ◽

The Uk ◽

The Way

Higher education in the United Kingdom is becoming more responsible to focus beyond teaching and learning process; this is evolving to further reflect the needs of the marketplace, engagement with firms within the industry, responsibility to enhance talent, and to close the skills gap to prepare students for employment opportunities during studies and after graduation. The purpose of this study is to provide the key employability skills in business management studies within higher education with further focus on the UK as one of the leading Western and knowledge-based economies through a systematic literature review process. The study also aims to highlight employability skills reported in the selected studies by categorising them into three main categories: very common employability skills required, common employability skills required, and uncommon employability skills required. However, throughout the studies included in the review, focus on specific skills varied due to the way researchers assessed as well as external factors taken into consideration such as cultural differences, external environment changes, the type of educational institutions, and the way curriculum was delivered, as well as the variations of specific interests of employers from a sector to another. The review is organised in six key sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Analysis, Discussion, and lastly, Conclusion and Implications. The reported employability skills resulted in the review can be taken into consideration to further enhance understanding of how employability skills can be embedded into curriculum within business management schools in the UK and other organisations that are responsible for articulation of employment related policies for students and recent graduates. The review can also establish that enhancement of employability skills should be a collective responsibility including universities, employers, policymakers, and students to ensure that educational outcomes are meeting the needs of the market. Higher education providers should aim to close the gap of employability by the point of graduation stage and to be ready to compete in the overcrowded labour market.

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CLIL Teacher Training for Reducing Rejection Towards Bilingual Education at University

Teacher Training for English-Medium Instruction in Higher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-2318-6.ch012 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 257-273

Author(s):

Candela Contero Urgal

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Teacher Training ◽

Bilingual Education ◽

University Teachers ◽

Negative Beliefs ◽

Training Courses ◽

Teachers Attitudes

The present study is aimed at presenting CLIL university teachers' attitudes towards the implementation of bilingual education at university. Results show that content teachers who take part in CLIL teacher training courses tend to agree on certain positive as well as negative beliefs regarding bilingual education at university. Once the information obtained from the survey has been examined, this chapter will focus on the reasons identified as to reject the implementation of CLIL in higher education. This work will then offer possible solutions to the hindering zones identified in CLIL teaching by describing a CLIL teacher training formula which should help future CLIL professors in their daily tasks.

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Am I Fit for Tomorrow’s Labor Market? The Effect of Graduates’ Skills Development during Higher Education for the 21st Century’s Labor Market

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12187746 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 7746

Author(s):

Omar Habets ◽

Jol Stoffers ◽

Beatrice Van der Heijden ◽

Pascale Peters

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Labor Market ◽

21St Century ◽

21St Century Skills ◽

Employability Skills ◽

Skills Development ◽

Perceived Fit ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Higher Education Curriculum ◽

New Graduates

This study contributes to the employability skills debate by investigating how students’ self-perceived 21st century skills relate to the self-perceived fit between their higher education curriculum and their future labor market for a sustainable entry to this labor market. Survey data from 4670 fourth-year students over a period of four years were analyzed. Furthermore, out of this group, 83 students were monitored longitudinally over their full educational student careers. Results showed a positive relationship between students’ self-perceived 21st century skills and their self-perceived “education-future labor market fit”. Among more recent cohorts, a significant improvement in their self-perceived 21st century skills was found. Overall, this study indicated that in order to deliver “employable” graduates, students need to be thoroughly trained in 21st century skills, and their development should be retained and expanded. This is one of the few studies that uses a vast amount of both cross-sectional and longitudinal data on skills and labor market perspectives among new graduates.

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Identification of Variables that Predict Teachers’ Attitudes toward ICT in Higher Education for Teaching and Research: A Study with Regression

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12041312 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1312 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Francisco D. Guillén-Gámez ◽

María J. Mayorga-Fernández

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

University Professors ◽

Teaching And Research ◽

Face To Face ◽

Survey Technique ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Teachers Attitudes

The aim of this research is to analyse the attitudes towards information and communication technologies (ICT) of higher education teachers from an affective, cognitive and behavioural model for teaching and research. It also aimed to explore different factors that can predict such attitudes. A non-experimental study was proposed using a survey technique and descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out using a multiple linear regression model (MLR). In total, the sample was formed by 867 university professors from Spain belonging to different areas of knowledge. The results show that these teachers have a medium total attitudinal level, so the lowest attitudes have been represented by the behavioural ones, followed by the affective ones. Regarding the predictor variables, variables that can predict such attitudes were found to be age, participation in projects, gender and teaching in face-to-face and/or online universities (ordered from highest to lowest priority).

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