Literacy Development, Higher Education, and the Achievement Gap

2022 ◽  
pp. 166-190
Author(s):  
Brittany Ann Garling ◽  
Lucas DeWitt

This chapter will explore the challenges of students entering college who have gaps in their literacy development. Historical events within education that have led to some of these skills set gaps will be reviewed. Additionally, causes and current remedies to help students as they try to navigate higher education while needing additional support with their literacy skills will be discussed. Finally, the issue of how colleges are forced to react to students who do not have the skills to compete with the expected academic rigor and steps needed to help both high school educators and professors remedy these instructional challenges will be reviewed.

Author(s):  
Amber M. Epps

With changes in technology, the needs and expectations of learners, and a number of environmental factors, enrollment in online courses continues to increase. Additionally, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions have recognized the importance of having a learning management system in place, online courses that provide academic rigor comparable to classroom-based courses, and instructors who are trained and prepared to teach in a virtual environment. It is equally important to ensure that students who are planning to participate in online learning possess characteristics that will allow them to be successful. A student who does not possess these characteristics can still become an online learner but may require additional support or resources to encourage success and persistence. This chapter discusses the success factors for online traditional and nontraditional students and the differences that exist among the success factors for each group as well as solutions and recommendations for higher education institutions to encourage persistence.


Author(s):  
A. TKACHENKO

The article represents the results of the analysis of specific characteristics of the development of higher education in Ukraine during the first two decades of the 20th century as an object of historical and pedagogical searches. In the course of research, the content differences of such attributive characteristics of the evolution of high school of the specified time as polymorphism (extraordinary typological diversity), context (the whole set of systemic connections of the historical and pedagogical phenomenon), peculiarities of periodization (parallelism of the development of higher education in regions that are different its national-state affiliation, versatility and polycontextuality of historical events, heterochronous processes of social development), trends of development (increased I diversity of types and the total number of higher education; the growth of the mass of higher education and the access of women to it; the liberalization of higher education management, the complication of teaching systems, the content of teaching, methodological provision of disciplines in high school; an increase in the  proportion of practice-oriented methods and forms of study in higher education institutions education, decolerization of the content of education by increasing the proportion of profile disciplines, the revival of the Ukrainian national component in the activities and content of higher education education).


2003 ◽  
pp. 4-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Grebnev

The dynamics of several demographic indicators of Russia - child and teenage cohorts in 1970-2000, life expectancy in 1995-2000, migration flows among federal districts in the period between two censuses of 1989 and 2002 - are considered in the article. The author puts forward the hypothesis about the influence of these indicators on the level of education in narrow and broad senses - in educational institutions and the society as a whole. He estimates the perspectives of regional higher educational institutions under conditions of absence of plan distribution of graduates and the double cyclical fall in the number of high school graduates. The agenda for the development of a two-stage system of higher education corresponding with international integration processes is formulated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Khodi ◽  
Sayyed Mohammad Alavi ◽  
Hossein Karami

AbstractThe present paper appraises a standardized test, the entrance exam of Iranian universities, known as “Konkur” that is administered annually as a means of gaining admission to higher education in Iran. This norm-referenced test is administered for students majoring in mathematics, experimental sciences, and humanities whose scores along their weighted GPAs in the last 3 years of high school are used as indicators of students’ rank. Based on the rank achieved, they would find the opportunity to select the highly regarded university for their education. Due to the importance of such a high-stake test which may bring about social and long-time consequences for the participants, the present paper tries to evaluate the test and its psychometrics aspects. It is ostensible that the exam provides a limited  situation for measuring the participants “knowledge of language” rather than their “knowledge about language.” Therefore, the dimensionality and validity of the test are debatable. Thus, the present review tries to characterize Konkur examination and discusses the rooms for untouched aspects for the betterment of its quality.


Author(s):  
Shahrokh Nikou ◽  
Milla Aavakare

AbstractDigital technologies fundamentally transform teaching and learning in higher education environments, with the pace of technological change exacerbating the challenge. Due to the current pandemic situation, higher education environments are all now forced to move away from traditional teaching and learning structures that are simply no longer adaptable to the challenges of rapidly changing educational environments. This research develops a conceptual model and employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Partial least Squares (PLS) to examine the impact of information and digital literacy on 249 Finnish university staff and students’ intention to use digital technologies. The findings show the complex interrelationship between literacy skills and digital technologies among university staff and students. The results illustrate that information literacy has a direct and significant impact on intention to use; while, unlike our expectation, digital literacy does not have a direct impact on the intention to use. However, its effect is mediated through performance expectancy and effort expectancy. The authors suggest that to understand the changes that are taking place in higher education environment, more attention needs to be paid to redefining policies and strategies in order to enhance individuals’ willingness to use digital technologies within higher education environments.


Author(s):  
Joanna Zawadka ◽  
Aneta Miękisz ◽  
Iwona Nowakowska ◽  
Joanna Plewko ◽  
Magdalena Kochańska ◽  
...  

AbstractThis article presents the results of a survey on yet under-researched aspects of remote learning and learning difficulties in higher education during the initial stage (March – June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2182 students from University of Warsaw in Poland completed a two-part questionnaire regarding academic achievements in the academic year 2019/2020, living conditions and stress related to learning and pandemic, as well as basic demographic information, and Dyslexia Diagnosis Questionnaire (DDQ). The analyses were carried out in three sub-groups of students: who self-reported having a formal diagnosis of dyslexia (CDYS), self-reported reading difficulties, but had no formal diagnosis of dyslexia (SIDYS), and who reported no reading difficulties (CON). The results of the survey revealed that compared with the CON group, more students from CDYS and SIDYS groups did not pass at least one exam in the summer semester. CDYS and SIDYS groups experienced higher stress due to epidemiological restrictions, they had more difficulties than CON with the organisation of learning and obtaining credit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate a need for special consideration of additional support for students experiencing reading difficulties (whether or not they have a formal diagnosis).


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