Has Excel Become a "Golden Hammer": The Paradox of Data Analytics in SME Clusters

Demand for data analysis skills in the accounting profession is well documented and necessarily informs accounting curriculum and pedagogy. This empirical survey study focuses on small and medium-sized entities (SMEs), finding SMEs continue to use Excel spreadsheets extensively for data analytics tasks. SME cluster research suggests different adoption rates for technology between this segment and large firms. Investigating SME demands for skills and abilities of new job entrants differs from the large organizations that served as the original drivers of analytic skills and technology recommendations. Findings in this study suggest SMEs continue performing their leading accounting tasks using Excel spreadsheets, and lag in adoption of data analytics technology. SMEs are a significant business sector comprising 95-99 percent of firms in the U.S. economy, creating 65 percent of new jobs from 2000-2018 (USSBA 2019), and competing with large firms but with fewer resources. These findings will guide educators in SME markets.

Middle School Teachers and Undergraduate Mentors Collaborating for Culturally Relevant STEM Education

This qualitative multiple case study explores the collaborations between three STEM middle school teachers and three STEM undergraduate mentors of color in an urban school district. Drawing on sociocultural theories and literature on culturally relevant education, we used a comparative thematic approach to explore how mentors contributed to culturally relevant opportunities in STEM curriculum and pedagogy. We found that the partners’ STEM identities, how the teacher positioned the mentor in the learners’ experience, and the teachers’ philosophy of the purpose of engineering influenced the contribution undergraduate mentors could make to rigorous and equitable engineering instruction.

‘When I say “modern”, you say “band”’: A critical narrative of modern band and Little Kids Rock as music education curriculum

This article is based on the lived experiences of the authors engaging with modern band and the organization Little Kids Rock (LKR). We approach this research as critical storytelling to highlight the importance of critique of music curriculum and pedagogy. We identify moments of cognitive dissonance we experienced with LKR and modern band and unpack them through theory. Data included review of LKR materials, journals, text messages, reflective writing and discussion around participation in LKR-sponsored events. We share our critical story through text messages and narration, through which we note issues such as neo-liberalism and indoctrination; language (mis)use through educational buzzwords; identity reformation and the manner in which teachers feel a need to cling to methodolatry or act as change agents. We illustrate the central role critique plays in music teaching discourses and practices to guide music teachers to accept vigilance of curricular resources and pedagogical approaches presented to them.

Defining Rigor in Justice-Oriented EdD Programs: Preparing Leaders to Disrupt and Transform Schools

Faculty in practitioner-oriented EdD programs must continually defend the presence of rigor in their programs. The existence of rigor determines the preparedness of our educational leaders to disrupt and transform educational organizations to bring about equitable and socially just outcomes; however, perceptions of rigor by the larger community impact the overall success of these programs and their students. In this conceptual article, we discuss the ways in which the literature defines rigor within and beyond practitioner-oriented EdD programs. We integrate that the literature with the critical need for social justice leadership, and leadership preparation toward that end, to offer a conceptual framework for designing, assessing, improving, communicating, and defending the rigor of EdD programs centered upon social justice. We posit: EdD programs can claim to be rigorous and centered upon social justice if their faculty: (1) collectively envision and construct rigorous student learning outcomes (rigor as a challenge) connected to the learning of critical theory and the demonstration of critical praxis to improve the lives of marginalized/underserved students; and (2) use backward-design to develop and align curriculum and pedagogy with those outcomes, including scholarly learning experiences (rigor in research) and the elicitation of students’ critical thinking (rigor as complexity).

Teaching Systems Thinking in Higher Education

Systems thinking is recognized as an essential skill for understanding complex problem solving and decision making associated with many of the contemporary issues faced by individuals and communities. In this article, our goal is to contribute to the knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy of formal systems thinking teaching in higher education. We believe that accumulating this knowledge can provide a better foundation for including systems thinking in higher-educational programs. To achieve this goal, the purpose of this study is to examine whether the use of a set of systems thinking concepts and methods can effectively promote systems thinking in higher-education settings. The study shows that systems thinking skills can be promoted effectively through the delivery of a combination of systems thinking methods and concepts.

Address Trainee Counselors’ Perplexities: Integrating Predictors of Self-Efficacy into Counseling Ethics Education

The process of addressing ethical perplexities is challenging and there is insufficiency of clear solutions and proper resources to resolve the ethical quandaries. Thus, this study aims to identify the greatest predictor of trainee counselors’ self-efficacy in addressing ethical perplexities. The greatest predictor of self-efficacy is expected to enhance the existing counseling ethics education curriculum and pedagogy. A quantitative methodological approach was administered through questionnaires. There were 148 trainee counselors selected through simple random cluster sampling and they were all students from private universities in Malaysia. The data gathered were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analyses. Correlation analysis recorded the highest coefficient of r value which was a substantial relationship between self-efficacy and multicultural competence. Next, multiple regression analyses indicated that the three predictors which are multicultural competence, religiosity, and spirituality were predictive of self-efficacy. However, the strength of prediction varied. Multicultural competence had the most powerful prediction on trainee counselors’ self-efficacy, followed by spirituality, and religiosity. These findings revealed the importance of the three predictors in enhancing trainee counselors’ self-efficacy, addressing ethical quandaries, and developing pedagogic counseling education. The process of preparing and developing intuitive counseling professionals is worthy of attention in the counseling training and practice, specifically in addressing ethical perplexities. Thus, the three predictors should be integrated into the counselor education curriculum and pedagogy at all levels. Cultivation of these three predictors in all trainee counselors would build their level of self-efficacy and help in their survival during counseling dilemmas, leading to successful counseling sessions.

The Effectiveness of Collaborative Teaching and Learning and Engaging Students as Partners on English Language Teaching in Saudi Arabia

This paper looks at the effectiveness of Collaborative Teaching and Learning (CTL) strategies in increasing students’ satisfaction in their learning outcomes, experiences, and achievements. The main strategy addressed in this paper is engaging Students as Partners in the CTL. Student engagement correlates with positive learning experiences and outcomes for students. ‘Students as Partners’ principles and approaches are relevant to many aspects of enhancement and innovation in curriculum and pedagogy, particularly in Higher Education. While this may not be a novel or new idea in the West, many countries in Asia and the Middle East have yet to incorporate collaborative approaches in the classrooms. As such, this review hopes to shed light on the possibilities and advantages of engaging learners in aspects that in a traditional classroom, the role that only educators and teachers take on. This paper also explores the potential issues, challenges, and further work required in the application of CTL in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in Saudi Arabia.

Going Deeper into Curriculum and Pedagogical Activity

This chapter takes a deeper dive into curriculum and pedagogy as these are defined and applied within education. Here terminology like pedagogy, curriculum, leadership (including leadership teams) and education itself are defined in terms of a particular ‘educational’ interest. Such an approach also features a mediation among state and national standards and the needs and interests of children. This approach sees the task of educating children as necessarily occurring in the pedagogical relation between teacher and student in classrooms and between formal leader/principal and teacher in schools and between district leader/superintendent and principals. We recognize the value of understanding the foundations of education developed in earlier times of political and cultural uncertainty. We explicitly define key terms for education, curriculum, pedagogy and leadership in school development using foundational understandings amidst the contemporary situation. Application of the concepts is explored through case studies.