A Fit between Logistics and Supply Chain Management Education and Jobs Market Need in Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to explore a fit between Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) related course content and the industry needs in the Nepalese context. Since this study is undertaken using the Nepalese sample, the knowledge and skills prioritized by employers, it can be of value to educators while designing their LSCM course content. Desk-based research involving content analyses was done to understand the supply side information i.e. relative coverage of LSCM topics in business-related courses and degrees offered at selected five Nepalese Universities and for the demand side information i.e. analysis of job description of the LSCM related vacancies in the Nepalese job market over eighteen weeks. The study reveals that the inclusion of LSCM courses in the business programs at Nepalese Universities is currently negligible as none of them offered a separate program dedicated to LSCM. Besides, the LSCM courses were limited to just one course per program weighing not more than three credit hours. Instead, there seems to be an unprecedented number of business schools and colleges leaning towards more sellable traditional business degrees related to finance, marketing, human resource management, IT, and hospitality. Finally, when comparing the relative coverage of LSCM topics in the curriculum to the relative demand for such knowledge by the employers, there seems to be an over-emphasis or under-emphasis of courses related to LSCM both at the bachelors and masters level indicating a mismatch between the expectations of employers and education offered by the universities.

Enhancing Academic Advising In Credit Hours System Using Dss

Academic advising plays a vital role in achieving higher educational institution’s purposes. Academic advising is a process where an academic advisor decides to select a certain number of courses for a student to register in each semester to fulfil the graduation requirements. This paper presents an Academic Advising Decision Support System (AADSS) to enhance advisors make better decisions regarding their students’ cases. AADSS framework divided into four layers, data preparation layer, data layer, processing layer and decision layer. The testing results from those participating academic advisors and students considered are that AADSS beneficial in enhancing their decision for selecting courses.

Experience of Online Learning the Elective Course “Competency-Based Approach in Pharmacy Education” in Bogomolets National Medical University

The article focuses on the experience of online learning the elective course “Competency-based approach in Pharmacy education” for pharmacy students of the first year of study at the Bogomolets National Medical University. Course was designed to discuss actual information on the development of competency-oriented higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine and increase Ukrainian students’ understanding of actual role of the pharmacist as health care professional. The 3.2-credit hours elective course consisted of five lectures (ten hours), ten seminars (twenty hours) and independent work of students (sixty-six hours). The article represents information about the structure of the course and its online form organizing due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/2021 academic year. There were 162 students enrolled in this course. The course was evaluated using student evaluation survey. Overall, students felt that the course was educational, engaging, and well organized with effective delivery of material. This elective course was successfully conducted achieving the high level learning outcomes and was well received by the students.

Ethics and accounting education: does teaching stand-alone religious courses affect accounting students’ ethical decisions?

Purpose Undergraduate accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia is a unique case. The program includes 147 credit hours of which 28 credit hours are religious courses. This study aims to examine the effect of teaching these religious courses on students’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted for a sample of accounting students at Umm Al-Qura University. The sample was divided into two groups; the first group includes students who did not study religious courses, while the second group includes students who study religious courses. The questionnaire contained three groups of questions that aimed to explore students’ perceptions of ethics in general, students’ perceptions of business ethics and explored their ethical attitudes regarding some accounting decisions that involve ethical dilemmas. Independent two-sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to determine whether the responses of the two groups were significantly different. Findings The findings of the study revealed that teaching religious courses led to an improvement in students’ perception of business ethics and an improvement in students’ ethical decision-making. However, the results of the independent sample t-test showed that this improvement was not significant. The results of the study also revealed that male students tend to make less ethical decisions than female students. Research limitations/implications The findings offer an indication for those responsible for managing the accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University to start developing the program so that some of the general religious courses are replaced with specialized courses in accounting ethics that focus directly on ethical dilemmas faced by the accountant when practicing the accounting profession. Originality/value This study contributes to the current literature related to examining the effect of teaching ethics courses on the ethical perception of accounting students by focusing on accounting students in Saudi Arabia as a context that has not been examined before.

493 Awardee Talk: Filling Knowledge Gaps in Quantitative Genetics Through Online Education

The genomic revolution has been compared to the industrial revolution, with caveats that it has happened faster and will have a far greater impact on our lives. Interpreting and using knowledge emanating from this revolution requires unique skills. Providing education in quantitative genetics that keeps pace with that need, particularly where expertise and funds are limited, remains challenging. One solution is sharing resources and capacities across-institutions to deliver high-quality instruction online. Beginning with 4 universities in 2007, expanding to 7 in 2012, a multi-state U.S. consortium built an online Masters-level curriculum in quantitative genetics and genomics. Sixteen courses were developed, each revised based on review by 2 academic peers and an instructional designer. Over 330 students from 34 U.S. and 5 international institutions have completed over 1,200 credit hours. Anonymous student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The curriculum was established with funding from two USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge grants. In 2015 it was integrated into AG*IDEA, a national consortium offering online courses in agriculture. A permanent infrastructure was thereby established with students earning formal academic credit. Only students matriculated at one of 19 AG*IDEA member universities can enroll directly, sadly limiting access, especially to international students. A potential constraint of online instruction is a disconnect with students. In some courses, a blended-learning format has been introduced with a weekly virtual recitation session. To increase engagement, an experiential learning opportunity also is offered. This entails a web-based simulation game—CyberSheep—where students apply genetic principles to a virtual breeding cooperative. Additionally, CyberSheep is typically played by 400 undergraduate students at 5 U.S. universities each academic term, contributing to their learning of animal genetics. Outcomes of these initiatives demonstrate that online training can be an effective tool to fill knowledge gaps in quantitative genetics, with opportunity to reach a wider audience.

Lon Fuller: A Progenitor of the Pedagogy of Skills?

This essay examines Professor Fuller’s Mediation—Its Forms and Functions article for passages that describe a number of the specific skills that students learn in law school mediation courses today and that reflect his recognition of, and admiration for, their essentiality. Professor Fuller passed away in 1978, long before the legal academy’s reorientation toward a pedagogy of skills. Influenced by the MacCrate and Carnegie Reports and Roy Stuckey’s Best Practices and by the recommendations of its Task Force on the Future of Legal Education, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved Standard 303 in 2014, pursuant to which law schools must offer a curriculum that requires each student to satisfactorily complete six credit hours of experiential course(s) in the form of a simulation course, a law clinic, or a field placement that “integrate(s) doctrine, theory, skills, and legal ethics, and [that] engage[s] students in performance of … professional skills. …” (ABA Standard 303(a)(3)(i), 2017–18)....

Catholic Studies Programs and Catholic Identity

After the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the structure of required courses dramatically changed at most Catholic universities. Before the council, it was typical that all students, regardless of their major, were required to take at least eighteen credit hours (six courses) mainly in philosophy and some theology (mostly grounded in the thinking of the thirteenth-century theologian Thomas Aquinas). Once those requirements were dramatically reduced and what was then offered covered more than Christian religions, doubts began to spread among some faculty as to whether the university had lost its Catholic character. By the 1980s, Catholic studies programs began to be created that included more disciplines than theology and philosophy and typically also offered opportunities for the moral formation of students. Controversies erupted between faculty who questioned the academic legitimacy of these programs. This chapter provides an evaluation of the nature and academic legitimacy of these programs.