Thinking about going to university? Segmenting undergraduates

Choosing a university is a crucial decision in a person's life because, most of the time, the acquisition of a university degree allows him access to better working conditions. Universities are interested in knowing the factors that students cite as impacting their choice of university. This study aims to classify future university students according to different evaluation criteria that could help university administrators to improve their recruitment and positioning strategies. Building on the growing body of knowledge related to the marketing of Higher Education Institutions, the current study seeks to further explore the existence of segments featuring different selection patterns. The main goal of this study was tested by applying Latent Class Analysis as a segmentation method, also referred to as Latent Class Cluster Analysis. This study found that students have different sets of motivations for their choice of Higher Education Institutions, and also found significant differences in the motivations of males and females with regard to university selection. All of these findings are of great importance to the managers of university brands, particularly at the university under study.

About Students’ Abstractions - Evaluation of Items Requiring Abstract Thinking Competence

thinking is one of the most important competences in computer science. When starting my research, there was no complete definition of the competence nor was there a tool to assess first-semester students’ competence level. Thus, I developed a competence model of abstract thinking, which allowed me to derive an assessment tool. In this work, I will present first insights gained by analyzing the tests of 134 incoming students of computer science and scientific computing. The analysis confirms the assumption that incoming students often lack in this essential competence. Moreover, the overemphasis of the data aspect of classes in object oriented programming can be confirmed for university level education. Further investigations will follow. In the future, the insights gained can be used to develop teaching units or whole teaching concepts.

Creative writing and Critical Thinking Enhancement at Higher Education

Currently, educational policymakers identify Critical Thinking (CT) as an essential aspect of progress and knowledge growth in any field and in the broad society. Peer interactions and individual writing are helpful pedagogical strategies for CT development that could be enhanced by the use of technologies (Guiller, Durndell, & Ross, 2008). Starting from the above-mentioned evidence, a university module was designed by combining collaborative and creative writing with the critical analysis of literary texts and the fruition of figurative arts. 123 students worked in groups and their CT level was assessed at different times of the course. Most of the students’ groups showed an increase in their CT level whilst a few did not. The difficulties in the management of group dynamics corresponded to the decreasing CT level. On the contrary, groups able to organize their work improved their CT throughout the course. Additionally, students’ work modes had an impact on their performance at different CT tasks. The research results could be used to improve university course design for CT education.

From scribe to YouTuber: A proposal to teach the History of the English Language in the digital era

The present paper deals with a proposal for enhancing students’ engagement in the course ‘History of the English Language’ of the Degree in English Studies (Universitat de València). For the purpose, the traditional lectures will be combined with a research project carried out by groups of students (research teams) in which two digital tools will be used: electronic linguistic corpora and YouTube. Electronic linguistic corpora, on the one hand, will allow students to discover the diachronic development of certain linguistic features by looking at real data and making conclusions based on frequencies by themselves. YouTube, on the other, is a most appropriate online environment where students will share a video lecture so that their classmates can benefit from the research work they did, fostering peer-to-peer learning. The expected results are to make students more autonomous in their learning process, as they will be working on their project from the very beginning of the course; and to engage them more effectively since they will be working in a format that resembles what they do at their leisure time.

Cooperative learning and the use of blogs in Higher Education. An initiative oriented to promote a deeper understanding of social and ethical issues between teacher students

The objective of this article is to evaluate the promotion of cooperative learning through the use of blogs in several courses of sociology of education oriented towards undergraduate teacher students. Cooperative learning entails that the student interaction is continued and profound, as well as oriented to obtain a major social and ethical deep learning among students. Each group of students have to create a blog with different information useful for the course developing. Students, from the previous knowledge presented in class, have to define the task (objectives, plan, schedule and final product). Accordingly, each group have to self-manage the work to do (participation of each member, planning, revision...).We combine situations in class with teachers and also cooperative learning among students. In this sense, appears the process of shared knowledge towards cooperative learning. Evaluation questionnaires have shown positive assessment by students. Findings show that their learning is deeper and more social and ethical, but, students pointed out the workload it entails.

Navigating curriculum transformation: charting our course

The 2015 student-led #FeesMustFall campaign in South Africa initiated at some universities, and accelerated at others, indepth discussions and reflections about curriculum transformation within the perceived ivory towers of learning. Three years later, the mandate to implement transformation is clear from all levels but what is uncertain is the operationalization of the official transformation framework at the University of Pretoria. The aim of the project presented is to chart the process followed by one of the four Schools of the Faculty of Health Sciences to deconstruct this transformation framework. As part of a three phased programme, a workshop of diverse staff using a modified nominal technique was held in 2018. It resulted in a visual tool of 19 specific statements considered evidence of personal practice that supports and advances the drive for transformation. This tool will be used to share practices and instil individual and School accountability for everone’s role in curriculum transformation. In conclusion, complex policy ideals and technical terminology can be translated into practical, appropriate actions by a diverse group of staff and students. The use of a modified nominal group technique was an efficient way to do this by generating an easy to use visual tool.

Added value of post-secondary education in Estonia

Education is seen in the human capital literature as one of the determining factors for labour market outcomes (Blázquez et al., 2018), measured through multiple variables. The aim of the current study is to examine the change in the earnings of graduates from Estonian post-secondary education institutions. This is achieved by comparing graduates who had studied from 2013 to 2016 in four fields: engineering, information technology, economics and natural sciences. To assess the change in pre- and post-entry earnings difference-in-differences regression was used. The results indicate there are differences between disciplines in terms of added value. In economics gender differences have the smallest and entrepreneurial activities the largest impact for the change in earnings. The study contributes to our understanding of added value of post-secondary education by combining educational, tax and social data, and analysing the change in graduates’ earnings pre- and post-entry. Keywords: Post-secondary education; earnings; value added; Estonia; labour market success

Self-efficacy in first-year university students: a descriptive study

The study and analysis of the self-efficacy beliefs of students has become an important line of educational research. The purpose of this study, conducted at the University of Mondragon (Spain), is to explore the different perceptions concerning the creative and entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students on their entrance to university. Results revealed clear patterns with regards to discipline and gender. Students commencing their degrees in social sciences show lower creative and entrepreneurial self-efficacy perceptions than their peers in other disciplines. Women show lower scores than men across different disciplines with the exception of women commencing engineering studies. Self-efficacy has been related to student motivation and learning and has been found influential in the choice of the professional career. The high significance of this construct in education makes the results of this study have clear implications for the development of learning environments that address the differences found between gender and disciplines. Directions for future research are also indicated.

‘Centering’ Teaching Excellence in Higher Education

This paper explores the complexity of ‘teaching excellence’ (Kreber, 2002) in contemporary higher education. It describes how a university academic, who has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards, questions if they really are an ‘excellent teacher’ and if their student-centered philosophy is sustainable. An analysis of data related to teaching and learning effectiveness over a seven year period highlights a significant weakness in how the academic approached the teaching of undergraduate students. This had a subsequent negative effect on several levels. The paper concludes by describing the merits of academics ‘centering’ themselves between the corporate university and the needs of students in striving for ‘teaching excellence’.