The effectiveness of online teaching and learning tools

This study investigates how students in a distance-learning upperlevel accounting course perceive the effectiveness of different online teaching and learning (OTL) tools that are commonly used in business courses taught online. This topic is of critical importance, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more courses to be OTL. A midsemester anonymous survey in an Accounting course at a public US university was conducted to measure students’ perceptions about different OTL course tools. Students were asked to provide their general assessment about how effective these tools were and how they believe these tools helped them learn. Analyses and discussions of the effectiveness of different tools and their link to earlier literature and how instructors can utilise the results of the OTL survey are presented.

Book Reviews

Paul N. Courant of Edward M. Gramlich Distinguished University Professor and Provost Emeritus, University of Michigan reviews “Like Nobody’s Business: An Insider’s Guide to How US University Finances Really Work” by Andrew C. Comrie. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Discusses the essentials of university funding, reviewing the business and finances of higher education in terms of its six functional elements—state and trustee governance, university administration, teaching, research, public service, and students and the broader community.”

Seeing the Woods for the Trees Again: Analyzing Evolutionary Diagrams in German and US University-Level Textbooks

Phylogenetic trees are important tools for teaching and understanding evolution, yet students struggle to read and interpret them correctly. In this study, we extend a study conducted by Catley and Novick (2008) by investigating depictions of evolutionary trees in US textbooks. We investigated 1197 diagrams from 11 German and 11 United States university textbooks, conducting a cross-country comparison and comparing the results with data from the 2008 study. A coding manual was developed based on the 2008 study, with extensions focused on additional important aspects of evolutionary trees. The US and German books showed only a low number of significant differences, typically with very small impacts. In both samples, some characteristics that can render reading trees more difficult or foster misconceptions were found to be prevalent in various portions of the diagrams. Furthermore, US textbooks showed fewer problematic properties in our sample than in the 2008 sample. We conclude that evolutionary trees in US and German textbooks are represented comparably and that depictions in US textbooks have improved over the past 12 years. As students are confronted with comparable depictions of evolutionary relatedness, we argue that findings and materials from one country should easily be transferable to the other.

Experiences in moving beyond traditional education

Khangeldieva The article is devoted to the problems of modern higher education, the current challenges of the digital revolution to leading university practices, its impact on the development of society and education in general. The author draws attention to three scenarios for the development of the future proposed by the Israeli researcher, J. Harrari (conservative, radical and superradical). The article presents the experience of the new alternative US university, which has no analogues in the world, is fully built on the basis of digital technology and conducts the educational process only in an online format. The university is positioned as one of the answers to the challenges to education by the digital revolution. The article analyzes the main features of the digital university-startup “Minerva”, reveals the reasons for its occurrence, the specifics of its development and functioning, determines both its positive 102 qualities and some problem areas, presents the logic of the educational process and educational technology, which the founders of the University of Minerva interpret as your own educational know how. An assumption is made about the multiplicity of options for future digital universities.

Interculturality at a US university: International faculty’s experiences with intercultural communication

Purpose This paper aims to present the experiences, beliefs and perceptions of international faculty at a Research 1 institution in the Southern US regarding the perceived differences between their and their students’ and colleagues’ cultures and first languages. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews were conducted with four international faculty from Europe and Asia who held appointments at a Research 1 institution in the Southern US. The interviews focused on the participants’ communication experiences with students and colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds. Findings The findings have implications for academic and professional development and support as they show that understanding cultural aspects of language and communication can be challenging for individuals who may not be aware of possible cultural differences. Originality/value This study is unique because it presents stories of faculty from different backgrounds, who were born on different continents and who learned English at different ages but are all working in a linguistically homogeneous context. Also, the originality of the study comes from examining the intercultural communication between the participating faculty and their students, as well as their colleagues.

Exploring a critical research approach in fibre art studies in the United States

The purpose of the study was to reveal the central elements of combining a critical research approach with hands-on activities in fibre art studies. The article is based on ethnographic data gathered in two fibre art courses at a US university in the autumn of 2018. Intersectionality and interconnectedness, the material context and the process, emerged as the most important concepts of the critical research approach under study. These ideas were combined with hands-on activities so that the students learned both the basic skills and the broader social, cultural and material meanings related to their activities. The students appreciated the critical research approach which broadened their perspectives on fibre art. The low status of fibre art at the academy was revealed and associated with the gendered tradition. Study findings recommend the development of pedagogies that implement a critical research approach in art and craft education.