The Day the Classroom Flipped: Lessons Learned from Interdisciplinary Science Education Online

The Covid‐19 pandemic, evolving needs of students & mentors, and the drive for global educational equality are collectively shifting how courses are packaged/distributed, ushering a more holistic approach and blending of fields. We recently created interdisciplinary courses in chemical biology aimed at massive open online and small private levels. These courses cover biology, chemistry, & physics, and concepts underlying modern chemical‐biology tools. We discuss what we learned while creating/overseeing these courses: content optimization and maintaining material freshness while fostering a stimulating learning environment. We outline mechanisms that help sustain student attention throughout rapidly‐moving courses, how to integrate adaptability to students’ needs in the short & long term, and speculate how we could have improved. We believe this will be an important guide for anyone wanting to develop online learning formats ideal for nurturing interdisciplinary scientists of tomorrow.

Determinants of Equal Access to Higher Health Education Opportunities in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background: Today, the health higher education system has a privileged position in maintaining, rebuilding, producing, and creating new knowledge and responsibilities in medical universities. Solving these problems requires adopting a scientific and research approach in order to provide fair conditions and equal educational opportunities. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the determinants of equal access to higher health education opportunities in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated contextual, input, process, and output indicators. Samples included the documents and statistics of seven schools of KUMS and 358 students of these schools in the academic year 2020 - 2021. Census sampling was used for the documents, and relative stratified random sampling was applied for the descriptive sections. Data analysis was performed in SPSS using TOPSIS and multiple linear regression models in a stepwise manner. Results: The independent variables were significant regarding the variable of inequality in educational opportunities among the medical students of KUMS (F = 590.11; P < 0.001). The variables of the model explained 99.7% of the variance of the dependent variable, indicating inequality between the KUMS medical schools in terms of the studied indicators. Conclusions: Government policies should be focused on the development of educational equality in medical sciences on all levels of health, education, and technological developments. Our findings indicated differences between the medical schools of KUMS in terms of educational indicators and the location of the schools in less privileged, semi-privileged, and privileged areas.

Speech and Language Therapy Service for Multilingual Children: Attitudes and Approaches across Four European Countries

Educational equality and the reduction of discrimination are among the UN’s Sustainability Goals. Previous studies as well as policy recommendations suggest that the extent to which these are implemented in the field of speech and language therapy for multilingual children depends on sufficient knowledge and material. To this end, an online survey was carried out with 300 Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) from Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, investigating their attitudes and approaches regarding the service provision for multilingual children. Their responses were analyzed taking the SLTs’ language background, experience, and country of origin into account. Results were interpreted in the context of country-specific SLT service-related policies and SLT training as well as migration history. There seems to be a gap between the SLTs’ knowledge about the specific requirements for providing Speech Language Therapy (SLT) for multilingual children and their common practice, which—despite the continuous need of further training—points to sufficient awareness but a lack of materials or resources. We found experience in working with multilingual children to be the most influential factor on attitudes and approaches towards multilingualism. This suggests the importance of improving pre-exam and early-career professional experience to foster SLTs’ development of mindful attitudes and appropriate approaches towards multilingualism in their clinical practice.

The Ambiguity of Men's Hegemony In American

Women in male domination and at the same time defends men with the dominance they have. This shows that there is an ambiguous attitude of a woman in responding to the discourse of male domination, injustice in the role of women and affirming women's resistance to male domination. From this, the main problem is the subject's response in dealing with the discourse of male domination through women's resistance strategies through participation in society. The concept or theory and research method used is hegemony. The results obtained are the idea of equality in education being used as a resistance strategy in the discourse of male domination and at the same time strengthening women's resistance to male domination. In addition, the strategy also developed the idea of women's strength based on educational equality, namely through access to higher education

REGULATING EXPRESSION AND EQUALITY IN COLLEGIATE ESPORTS

Competitive professional computer gaming or “eSports” has grown rapidly over the past decade, and has extended into collegiate play, where educational institutions have begun sponsoring eSports teams, leagues, and events. However, the expansion of eSports has been accompanied by concerns regarding the online gaming culture from which eSports proceeds. Copious research establishes that women are routinely subjected to gender-based harassment in computer games and game-related activity. In the context of American collegiate eSports, this implicates the law of educational equality known as “Title IX.” Institutions subject to Title IX are required to maintain a learning environment in which educational opportunities are not impeded by sexual harassment, which will be required of eSports as it has long been required for physical sports. Yet, unlike sports played in physical space, computer games are necessarily mediated by software, which has consistently been held to constitute protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In this paper we examine the First Amendment constraints on the regulation of eSport computer games under Title IX. We argue that to the extent that choices among gaming content may be dictated by the constraints of Title IX, care must be exercised to accommodate both the statutory requirements of educational opportunity and the constitutional requirements for expressive freedom.

International Students’ Perspectives on e-Learning During COVID-19 in Higher Education in Australia: A Study of an Asian Student

Given that online higher education shows no sign of abating during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, understanding the nature of e-learning and e-learners in this particular setting is much needed. However, little is known about the e-learning approaches that international students apply, or about how they experience the process of e-learning. This article is a critical reflection on the misalignment between an international student’s (Author 1) e-learning behaviours and the expectation of online education. It outlines the autoethnographic method and employs self-study to explore why Author 1 behaves in a certain way with particular reference made to the Biggs’ 3P model. In so doing, the study attempts to shed light on the values and interests of international students that have been silenced in the discourse of e-learning design in Australian universities. With the aim of obtaining a profound insight into the effectiveness of e-learning, the present study challenges the notion that the virtual university is a means of achieving educational equality; it suggests the potential of online education in undermining the social inclusion agenda of internationalised universities. The findings show that while the participant could engage with the curriculum to some extent, there are signs of disconnection, isolation and emotional instability associated with the establishment and development of the e-learning environment. Illustrations of these emerging issues could help educators better understand the downside of e-learning and e-practice by identifying various influential elements, including individuals’ socioeconomic status, cultural heritage and environmental learning settings. The study points out that international students’ education outcomes could be compromised, and expectations could be unfulfilled via e-learning. Thus, there is a further need to prepare learners for e-learning environments.

Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice and the OECD PISA Global Competence Framework

Globalisation has become increasingly important in education, and national systems are no longer defined only by the nation-state. The role of intergovernmental organisations such as the OECD has also become increasingly important, particularly through the development of the PISA tests and the publication of international comparison tables. With a growing recognition of educating for an international and globalised future, the OECD assessed global competence for the first time in 2018, with results released in October 2020. The power that the OECD exerts over its member states, and indeed further, in the field of education through the global competence assessment demonstrates social reproduction. This article examines the OECD’s 2018 Global Competence Framework from a Bourdieusian perspective. An analysis is undertaken of the framework using Bourdieu’s thinking tools of habitus, field and capital, and the mechanisms of pedagogic authority, pedagogic action and pedagogic work, demonstrating an unconsciously agreed power differential between social groups. The OECD, as well as policy-makers at a national level, must consider such implications in anticipating future policy developments in order to enable systemic injustices to be overcome and educational equality to be achieved.

How teacher rotation in Japanese high schools affects the clustering of teacher quality: Comparing the distribution of teachers across public and private education sectors

I examine a unique facet of Japan’s public education system: jinji idou, a mandatory teacher rotation system governed by the prefectural board of education where teachers are systematically transferred to other schools throughout their careers to appropriately staff schools, facilitate varied career paths, and identify future leaders for administrative roles. Although not a formal goal, this centralized system may also produce a more equal distribution of teacher quality across schools compared to the decentralized teacher labor market found in private schools. Because this system is present in public schools and absent in private schools, comparing sector differences offers a look at its impact on teacher quality distribution. Using a sample of 1,456 teachers nested in 49 schools, private vs. public group comparison tests indicate that, for most of the teacher quality traits examined, the public sector distributes teachers more equitably. Furthermore, the public sector has higher mean levels of teacher quality, intimating that education labor markets can be structured in ways that simultaneously minimize variation between schools without hindering quality, findings germane to scholars interested in educational equality.

Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der Krise: Welche potenziellen Auswirkungen hat die Corona-Pandemie auf die frühe Bildung?

Die Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Covid-19-Pandemie trafen Familien mit kleinen Kindern besonders hart: Ausgangsbeschränkungen, die Abriegelung von Spielplätzen und allem voran die Schließungen von Kinderbetreuungseinrichtungen stellten nicht nur den familiären Alltag auf den Kopf, sondern haben möglicherweise auch langfristige Folgen für die altersgerechte Entwicklung und den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern. Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Frage, welche Auswirkungen sich aus den Einschränkungen des Kita-­Betriebs in der Corona-Pandemie auf die Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der frühen Kindheit ergeben können. Da keine vergleichbaren historischen Ereignisse zur Prognose von potenziellen Auswirkungen herangezogen werden können, werden zum einen die Ergebnisse von Wirksamkeitsstudien zu institutionalisierter früher Bildung aufbereitet und zum anderen erste Befunde aus ad-hoc Erhebungen des ersten Lockdowns im Frühjahr 2020 analysiert. Bilanzierend werden aus den Befunden mögliche kurz-, mittel- und langfristige Auswirkungen abgeleitet, die Bildungsungerechtigkeit bereits in der frühen Kindheit verstärken können. Abstract: Educational Equality in the Crisis: What Impact does the Corona Pandemic have on Early Childhood Education? The actions taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic hit families with young children particularly hard. Social restrictions, the closure of playgrounds and, above all, the lockdown of day-care facilities did not only turn everyday family life upside down, but could also have long-term consequences for child development and acquisition of skills. This article is devoted to the question of what effects the measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic can have on educational equality in early childhood. Since no comparable historical events can be used to forecast potential impacts, the results of efficacy studies on institutionalized early education are reported on the one hand and initial findings from ad-hoc surveys conducted during the first lockdown in spring 2020 are ana­lyzed on the other. The findings suggest short, middle and long-term effects of the corona measures taken that can intensify educational inequality in early childhood.

The Dark Side of Detracking: Mixed-Ability Classrooms Hurt Low-Achievers’ Math Motivation

We tested how detracking school reforms, which abolish ability grouping and introduce mixed-ability classrooms, affect students’ math motivation. To do so, we made use of data from two unique natural experiments (N Study 1 = 78,376, N Study 2 = 2,257) and compared student cohorts before and after detracking. In both studies, we found low achievers’ math motivation to be substantially lower after the reform, whereas this was not the case for high achievers. Our study reminds researchers and policymakers that detracking school reforms can have unintended side effects on student motivation. Only when such negative side effects are reduced or eliminated, detracking school reforms can unfold their full potential in establishing educational equality.