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1. Entrepreneurial Decisions and Problem-Solving: A Discussion for a New Perspective Based on Complex Thinking

Author

Patricia Esther Alonso-Galicia, Adriana Medina-Vidal, and Simona Grande

Abstract

This work addresses the importance of innovation in entrepreneurial and business education to ensure that students develop the ability to make complex decisions and solve complex challenges. The intention was to incorporate the complexity theory in decision-making and problem-solving in business and entrepreneurship. To achieve this, we present the results of the first phase of our project, aiming to scale the levels of complex thinking in university students, discuss the need for business and entrepreneurship students to develop complex thinking competency (including its sub-competencies of critical, systemic, scientific, and innovative thinking) in the complexity of the business environment, analyze the relevance of system elements, apply their inductive and deductive reasoning, and create appropriate and relevant solutions. Our findings suggest that an educational model focused on developing complex thinking and its four sub-competencies can enable entrepreneurs to integrate sustainable development, increase their social engagement and critical thinking, develop their imaginative intelligence and discursive and reflective skills, and thus improve their decision-making and problem-solving processes. In the future, we plan to extend this analysis to the behavior of real-life entrepreneurs. [For the full proceedings, see ED654100.]

Published
2023

2. Decolonial Practices in Higher Education from the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Maryluz Hoyos Ensuncho

Abstract

Higher education institutions have been complicit with the ongoing coloniality project that reinforces and perpetuates inequities, dismisses interests, knowledges, alternative discourses, and world views different from Western European thought (Bell, 2018; Dastile & Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013; Harms-Smith & Rasool, 2020). Education is rooted in colonialism, which raises doubts about the feasibility of universities implementing a decolonial agenda (Dhillon, 2021). To contribute to the conversation about decolonial praxis and the documented efforts in the literature on how to enact a decolonial rehumanizing agenda, this paper presents a systematic literature review of works from the Global South that attempt to disentangle universities from colonial practices in higher education. The works reviewed describe a variety of practices from pedagogical practices, curriculum changes, and institutional connections with marginalized communities that make visible knowledges, languages, and perspectives traditionally excluded from universities.

Published
2023

3. Using Multilingual Analytics to Explore the Usage of a Learning Portal in Developing Countries

Author

Protonotarios, Vassilis, Stoitsis, Giannis, Kastrantas, Kostas, and Sanchez-Alonso, Salvador

Abstract

Learning analytics is a domain that has been constantly evolving throughout recent years due to the acknowledgement of its importance by those using intelligent data, learner-produced data, and analysis models to discover information and social connections for predicting and advising people's learning [1]. Learning analytics may be applied in a variety of different cases, but their role in understanding the multilingual requirements of users of learning portals is of an outstanding significance. As the adaptation of existing portals in multilingual environments is a cost- and time-consuming aspect of the development of a portal, the outcomes of learning analytics may provide the requirements on which further multilingual services of a portal will be built, ensuring their efficiency. This paper aims to identify and interpret the behavior of users from developing countries in a multilingual learning portal using the log files of the portal by applying the methodology defined in a previous work by Stoitsis et al. [2] The paper also aims to identify the aspects that should be studied by future related works by focusing on specific regions and countries that exhibit special interest for further adaptation of the portal to additional multilingual environments.

Published
2013

4. International Student Mobility: Trends in First-Time Graduate Enrollment

Author

Figueroa, Carmen I., Morales, Betsy, and Sharma, Anand D.

Abstract

The academic programs at the graduate level are increasingly interested about the enrollment management challenges in terms of international student mobility. Understanding fundamental enrollment concepts to attract international students provides the essential key to consider the competitive environment concerning university resources, academic program potential, complex cultural dynamics, and workplaces among others. Based on a six-year quantitative and descriptive statistical study, this paper addresses the trends of first-time graduate enrollment and patterns of international student mobility by faculty at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Results revealed the sustained trend of graduate enrollment of international students mainly from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean among others. Moreover, the presence of international graduate students adds a dimension of diversity to UPRM between teaching and research undertakings that enhance the Colleges of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, and Business Administration. The international student mobility has a consistent tendency mainly in the Colleges of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Agricultural Sciences. This consistency resembles the quality and reputation recognized by educational institutions and organizational world rankings. In-depth, understanding the trends related to international graduate enrollment and mobility should be considered by institutional leaders and administrators at UPRM to make knowledgeable decisions and to effectively set priorities to recruit highly qualified international students.

Published
2012