scholarly journals Using Peer Review for Student Performance Enhancement: Experiences in a Multidisciplinary Higher Education Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Juan Jose Serrano-Aguilera ◽  
Alicia Tocino ◽  
Sergio Fortes ◽  
Cristian Martín ◽  
Pere Mercadé-Melé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
University System ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Learning Technique ◽  
The University

Nowadays one of the main focuses of the Spanish University system is achieving the active learning paradigm in the context of its integration into the European Higher Education Area. This goal is being addressed by means of the application of novel teaching mechanisms. Among a wide variety of learning approaches, the present work focuses on peer review, understood as a collaborative learning technique where students assess other student’s work and provide their own feedback. In this way, peer review has the overarching goal of improving the student learning during this process. Peer review has been successfully applied and analyzed in the literature. Indeed, many authors also recommend improving the design and implementation of self and peer review, which has been our main goal. This paper presents an empirical study based on the application of peer review assessment in different higher education BSc and MSc courses. In this way, six courses from different studies at the University of Malaga in Spain are subject to the application of peer review strategies to promote student learning and develop cross-wise skills such as critical thinking, autonomy and responsibility. Based on these experiences, a deep analysis of the results is performed, showing that a proper application of the peer review methodology provides reliable reviews (with close scores to the ones from the teacher) as well as an improvement in the students’ performance.

scholarly journals Effects of Socio-Academic Intervention on Student Performance in Vulnerable Groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7673
Author(s):  
Tarquino Sánchez-Almeida ◽  
David Naranjo ◽  
Raquel Gilar-Corbi ◽  
Jessica Reina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Academic Intervention ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
University System ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
The University

In Ecuador, affirmative action policies enable students from vulnerable groups to preferentially enter universities. However, these policies are limited to admission and do not include academic or socio-economic support mechanisms that, according to the literature, promote student insertion in the higher education system. In this study, the effects of socio-academic intervention on the academic performance of vulnerable students are presented. For this, 41 students were selected among 164 vulnerable students entering the Escuela Politécnica Nacional in the second term of 2019. The 41 students attended a socio-academic intervention course for one term, while the remaining 123 attended the Escuela Politécnica Nacional levelling course directly. Once both groups of students finished the levelling course, their performance in each of the course subjects was compared. The results showed that the academic performance of the students in the intervention was significantly higher in mathematics and geometry compared to the students who had no intervention. These results show that the socio-academic intervention promotes the real insertion of vulnerable students in the university system.

The Indian University in a Comparative Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.R. Madhava Menon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
University System ◽  
Current State ◽  
The World ◽  
The University

The purpose of looking at Indian universities in a comparative perspective is obviously to locate it among higher education institutions across the world and to identify its strengths and weaknesses in the advancement of learning and research. In doing so, one can discern the directions for reform in order to put the university system in a competitive advantage for an emerging knowledge society. This chapter looks at the current state of universities in India and highlights the initiatives under way for change and proposes required policy changes.

The Role of Librarians in Blended Courses

2018 ◽  
pp. 122-138
Author(s):  
Lesley S. J. Farmer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Ict Literacy ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Blended Courses

This chapter investigates the intersection of instructional design and implementation, blended learning, ICT literacy, and academic librarians within higher education. Using the TPACK, pedagogy 2.0, and community of inquiry models, the chapter explains how librarians can help academic instructors design blended courses that effectively address physical and intellectual access to a wide variety of resources, especially digital materials, in order to optimize student learning.

The Elite, Elitism, and Ensuing Conversations in Ghana’s Higher Education: Myth or Reality?

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 787-808
Author(s):  
Delali Amuzu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
The Other ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
University System ◽  
Elite Group ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Education In Ghana ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Contemporary higher education in Ghana and many parts of Africa has European colonial antecedents. In spite of the many goals that it aspired to achieve, a preoccupation was to nurture an elite group. Though widely used, the concept of elite and elitism is vague and hardly conceptualized. It hoovers from status—occupants of the apex or top echelons of an organization/society, to consumption—people with immense wealth. Influence, on the other hand, seems to be a common denominator in both cases. But, does this capture the scope of the phenomenon? This article engages people who have worked in different capacities in Ghana’s higher education space to examine the deeper meanings that could be embedded in elitism, elicits conceptualizations of elitism, and further finds out how elitist higher education is in Ghana. Ultimately, the article intends to initiate a conversation on whether indeed there are elites being produced from the university system. This study was done with reference to an empirical study on decolonizing higher education in Ghana.

scholarly journals An Unintended Effect of Financing the University Education of the Most Brilliant and Poorest Colombian Students: The Case of the Intervention of the Ser Pilo Paga Program

Complexity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Pablo Medina ◽  
Natalia Ariza ◽  
Pablo Navas ◽  
Fernando Rojas ◽  
Gina Parody ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
University Education ◽  
Entrance Exam ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Unintended Effect ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
New Students ◽  
The University

In this paper, we show an unintended effect of the program Ser Pilo Paga (SPP) that was a flagship program of the Colombian government between 2014 and 2018. It was designed as an intervention in the Colombian Higher Education System (CHES) by awarding, in the steady state, individual funding to about 40,000 students. Every year, 10,000 new students were chosen from the best applicants in the top decile of the population in the entrance exam to higher education in Colombia that also came from families that live under the level of poverty according to a national survey. Our approach, based on an intensive study of the changes in the statistical distributions of the exam scores during these four years, provides evidence of student performance improvements not only of the beneficiaries of the program, but also of the whole student population. This shows that the program opened similar opportunities for all the students, especially for the poorest ones. The program drove a reduction in the gap between students of the upper strata of the population and those of the lowest strata that usually did not access a high quality institution of higher education due to the lack of funding. This result has opened a debate about the optimal way of funding higher education.

scholarly journals Tensions in the Sustainability of Higher Education—The Case of Finnish Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annina Lattu ◽  
Yuzhuo Cai
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
University System ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The University

Universities are increasingly engaged in marketization and are also expected to transform into more sustainable institutions and be change-agents pushing forward the movement of sustainable development. This article introduces an analytical framework originated by Hahn et al. (2015) for understanding tensions concerning corporate sustainability to the context of the Finnish university system in order to answer the following questions: What are the tensions relating to Finnish universities’ social and economic sustainability, and what strategies might universities use to cope with these tensions? Through analyzing interviews with university managers and officials from the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland, we find that Hahn et al.’s framework is generally applicable in analyzing tensions of sustainability in universities, and we identify six tensions relating to the sustainability of Finnish universities. The tensions are related to (1) academic leadership and management legitimacy, (2) regional political tensions and university profiling, (3) political power over the university system, (4) changing academic work and profession, (5) academic autonomy and the role of the state, and (6) the future role of the university institution. Moreover, the article discusses issues regarding how to adapt the framework of corporate sustainability to the context of higher education.

scholarly journals An Astronomy Degree Course in the U.K.: Syllabus and Practical Work

1990 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 11-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.M. Dworetsky
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Practical Work ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
University System ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Higher Education Systems ◽  
The University

What is the purpose of an astronomy degree? Why should students wish to take such a course? What will they do after graduation? In what way would such a course uniquely differ from a physics degree with a little astronomy tossed in? And given that we are called upon to provide such a course, what syllabus might we teach? These are some of the questions that occurred to me as I was preparing this paper.One obstacle to giving clear answers is that the higher education systems of various countries differ greatly in structure. As one who was trained in one system (U.S.A.) and who teaches in another (U.K.), I am perhaps in a better position than most to appreciate the differences in approach, and to weigh the advantages and shortcomings of each system. But, as Shakespeare’s Dogberry said, “Comparisons are odorous,” and I do not propose to do this! What I describe refers to current practice in the university system of England and Wales, and I will use my own institution’s long-standing astronomy degree as an example.

scholarly journals Design, implementation, and assessment of an interactive simulation to teach undergraduate immunology students hemolytic disease of the newborn

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-306
Author(s):  
Maurizio Costabile
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Interactive Simulation ◽  
Hemolytic Disease ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interactive Simulations ◽  
Blood Grouping

Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) is a potentially fatal condition caused by a Rhesus (Rh) antigen incompatibility between a mother and fetus. As a result, determining the Rh status of expectant parents is a routine clinical assessment. Both the physiological and immunological basis of this condition are taught to undergraduate students. At the University of South Australia, some undergraduate immunology students find this topic challenging. The author designed, implemented, and assessed the impact of an interactive simulation to facilitate student learning of HDN. The students were actively engaged in determining the blood grouping and Rh status of an expectant mother and father and then determining the possibility of developing HDN. The simulation was found to take only 15 min to complete yet led to a significant increase in student performance in an end of semester exam question. Student perceived understanding was found to significantly improve following the introduction of the simulation, even though the content had been covered in a formal lecture. Student feedback was highly positive of this learning approach. In conclusion, short, interactive simulations can be used effectively to enhance student learning of challenging concepts.

scholarly journals Academic Management and Contemporary Gaps

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 199-211
Author(s):  
Kenia Kodel Cox ◽  
Robélius De-Bortoli
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Professional Qualification ◽  
Academic Management ◽  
Institutional Reputation ◽  
The University ◽  
Positive Results

It is challenge to contemporary academic management to fullfil the demands of the labor market, and to have improvements with the this, considering the scientific development; through the analysis of intangibles like student performance, which can generate positive results with repercussion on institutional reputation. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2018) the adequate professional qualification results in employment for qualified individuals; while activities more prone to automation are observed, and greater chance of unemployment for those with low qualification. In this research there was the reading of 447 abstracts of publications, obtained by refinements applied on 4,491 initial registers, and selected 20 considering the performance of the students as a parameter of the university administration, with the objective of identifying gaps of academic management, resulting: to contemplate student learning as a dependent variable, and to extend to the documents the origin of the research data.

scholarly journals EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF PROVIDING ARCHIVED ONLINE LECTURES TO IN-CLASS MATH STUDENTS

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radu C Cascaval
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Web Survey ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Online Lectures ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Math Students

The present study examines the impact of the online archiving system developed at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on the in-class students enrolled in traditional math courses. A web survey has been designed for collecting data on potential changes in attitudes and behaviors (such as study habits), on the dynamics of professor-student relation, and on overall student performance enhancement. The results indicate that the presence of the archived lectures and lecture notes adds significant value to the learning process with notable improvements in the perceived student performance and overall experience in the class.

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