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Following Swales' (1990) influential study on research article (RA) introductions, some attention has increasingly been paid to other rhetorical units of both expert and learners' writing, including titles. A key and effective discursive means through which titles are constructed and presented is the syntactic configuration. The present study, thus, investigates the syntactic structures employed by authors of conference paper titles (CPTs) in Applied Linguistics. A qualitative content analysis was employed to study a corpus of 592 CPTs from a popular conference for researchers, scholars, and practitioners of Applied Linguistics worldwide, supported by some descriptive statistics. The analysis of the data of the study identified three main title styles: Single Unit Title, Compound Unit Title, and Complex Unit Title. The analysis showed that, out of these three title styles, Compound Unit Titles were preferred by researchers. Further, the colon was the dominantly used punctuation mark in separating the components of Compound Unit titles. The final point was that authors preferred prepositional phrases in the post modification of the noun phrase structure of CPTs. The findings of this study have implications for the scholarship on titlelogy, academic writing pedagogy as well as further research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the meanings assigned by pre-service teachers to the wastepaper basket and waste (crumpled) papers in their drawings of a scientist. The study was carried out with 220 pre-service teachers during the 2015-2016 academic years. A phenomenological research method was used. First, the pre-service teachers were administered the 'Draw-A-Scientist Test' in order to identify their images of a scientist and then they were asked to describe and explain the scientist they drew. And a semi-structured interview was performed with the 34 pre-service teachers who included a wastepaper basket and waste paper in their drawings in order to identify the meanings assigned to the wastepaper and wastepaper basket by these teachers. The data were analysed by using content analysis. The results of the analysis showed that with these figures the pre-service teachers revealed their belief that when scientists conduct research, they follow a confirmatory experimental process in a similar manner to the way school science experiments. Based on these results, it can be suggested in the analysis of the drawings that waste paper and wastepaper baskets can be regarded as indicators of the stereotypical image of scientists and of the scientific method they use.

In the study, the data for the field of visual arts in BILSEM have been revealed by studying postgraduate theses and articles related to the field of Visual Arts given in Science and Art Centers in between 2007-2017. In the research, the document was examined with the scanning model. In the scope of the research, it has been scanned from Google Scholar with keywords such as "BILSEM", "Art Education", "Visual Arts Education" and "Linear Development" in the YÖK database thesis and related theses and articles between the years 2007-2017 examined in terms of type, subject, sample, university and institute, national/ international, thesis method, data collection tools. In laser scanning, Visual Arts given in BILSEM in 2007-2017 years in Turkey related to Education "Science and Art Centers", "BILSEM", "Arts Education", "Visual Arts Education" and "Linear Development" screening using keywords according to the results of 6 theses (4 Master, 2 PhD) and 8 articles have been found. According to the results of the study, it is seen that there are no postgraduate thesis and articles about Visual Arts Education given in BILSEMs in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and studies have been intensified in between 2012-2017.

This article focuses on the dilemmas science educators face when having to introduce Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to science student teachers in a predominantly paper-based distance learning environment. It draws on the premise that science education is bound by the Nature of Science (NOS), and by the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI). Furthermore, science educators' own PCK, and the limitations of a predominantly paper-based distance education (DE) model of delivery are challenges that they have to face when introducing PCK and authentic inquiry-based learning experiences. It deprives them and their students from optimal engagement in a science-oriented community of practice, and leaves little opportunity to establish flourishing communities of inquiry. This study carried out a contextual analysis of the tutorial material to assess the PCK that the student teachers had been exposed to. This comprised the ideas of a community of inquiry, a community of science, the conceptualization of PCK, scientific inquiry, and the 5E Instructional Model of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. The analysis confirmed that the lecturers had a good understanding of NOS, NOSI and science process skills, but found it difficult to design interventions to optimize the PCK development of students through communities of inquiry. Paper-based tutorials are ideal to share theory, policies and practices, but fail to monitor the engagement of learners in communities of inquiry. The article concludes with a number of suggestions to address the apparent lack of impact power of the paper-based mode of delivery, specifically in relation to inquiry-based teaching and learning (IBTL).

The purposes of this study were to examine the extent to which literature was used to discuss findings in selected papers from Zimbabwe Journal, and to compare the quality of reviews in this journal with other international journals. The study was largely qualitative in nature and used convenient sampling. In the study, the Zimbabwe Journal was chosen because of easy access. Three papers were conveniently selected based on personal interest and areas previously studied. Content analysis was used to compare the quality of discussion of literature in the sampled papers. Findings suggest that authors cite relevant literature extensively in the background to the study but use the same literature sparingly in the discussion of their results. Further, in the discussion of findings, the use of literature was limited to confirming what was already known, and does not show how the new studies reported contribute to knowledge. The study concluded that the journal studied was failing to attract authors who write high quality papers. Perhaps the journal should broaden its brief and target an international audience, because at present as evident in the three cases cited, the journal can only reach out to practitioners within (Southern) Africa.

Mission statements have become increasingly important for the accreditation of business universities and colleges. Thus, understanding similarities and differences in the content of business school mission statements is especially timely. The mission statement is also the first component of the strategic management process. It provides the framework or context within which strategies are formulated. This descriptive/informative study aims to present a background that describes and explains institutional mission statements and removes the so-called uncertainty encompassing the foci while preserving exceptional quality--a necessary quality for a compelling mission statement. We question whether all California State University (CSU) and The State University of New York (SUNY) business colleges/schools have developed enduring and inspiring mission statements for their employees and students? While no specific rule regarding length exists, we examined the word count length of these two school system mission statements. Institutions must not make their mission statements too long or too short, or they will risk losing focus and missing essential elements to guide their organization. The mission statement must be long enough to achieve its purpose. Based on our findings, we recommend that all CSU and SUNY campuses embrace a more straightforward, easy-to-understand, hard-hitting, lasting, and inspirational mission statement for their business colleges/schools, one directly relevant to faculty, staff, students, and their families.

The present review attempted to address the direction of plagiarism literature in Turkish context. 15 studies conducted in Turkey on plagiarism were analyzed through content analysis. The context, purposes, methodological issues and results of researching plagiarism were categorized. The findings of this review indicated that although plagiarism's raising legal and ethical concerns is acknowledged by Turkish researchers, there are limited numbers of studies exploring the plagiarism perceptions, views, situations and reasons of Turkish graduate students and professors.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is increasingly drawing the attention of researchers and educators as an effective solution for filling the gap between learner ability and individual differences. This study aims to analyse the content of twelve papers, where the UDL was adopted. The articles were chosen from several databases and journals based on four criteria: 1) peer-reviewed papers, 2) provision of empirical results, 3) focused on UDL as a framework, and 4) published from 2012 to 2015. Then, these studies were analysed according to seven themes: type of results, study beneficiary (learners, teachers, both), sample features, geographical region, data collection techniques, data analysis techniques, and learning modes. Most of the selected studies applied the UDL in a traditional or a blended learning mode, whereas only two studies evaluated its effectiveness in online learning environments. It is noteworthy that the majority of the experiments were carried out in the USA. Additionally, positive results of UDL implementation were yielded in eleven papers. These outcomes suggest that UDL is an efficient approach for designing flexible learning environments and accessible content. Such designs can match a wide mix of learner needs, abilities, background knowledge, educational experience, and cultural differences. However, further research is required in order to confirm the positive impacts of UDL in different educational settings and cultural backgrounds.

It was aimed in this study to reveal the general tendency of studies in the field of education by examining the papers in the high-impact A-class SSCI journals, to which qualified papers are accepted from all around the world, in terms of their dependent-independent variables, sample or study groups, research designs, data collection instruments, and data analysis techniques. The descriptive survey model was used in the research. The population of the research was all the journals surveyed in the field of educational sciences by SSCI. The journals and papers examined were selected with the purposive sampling method. 169 papers from six journals were subjected to examination within the scope of the research. Descriptive analysis and content analysis methods were used for analyzing the data. It was consequently seen that the papers used dependent variable of "student" the most which was followed by "teacher." The most studied variable along with "student" was "academic performance." It was found that a quite large number of dependent variables were used in the papers examined. It can be understood that studies on students among all study groups occupied the largest place, which was followed by teachers. It was seen that quantitative data analyses and experimental research studies was addressed more in the papers. Several documents and tests were mostly preferred as data collection instruments. It was noticed that the most used data analysis method was the regression analysis. Finally, some recommendations were developed in accordance with the research results.

Introduction: This paper deals with what academic texts and datasets are referred to and discussed on Twitter. We used document object identifiers as references to these items. Method: We streamed tweets from the Twitter application programming interface including the strings "dx" and "doi" while simultaneously streaming tweets posted by and to the authors of the tweets captured. By doing so we were able to capture tweets referring to a digital object as well as the replies to these tweets. Analysis: The captured tweets were analysed in different ways, both quantitatively and qualitatively: 1) Bibliometric analyses were made on the digital object identifiers, 2) the thirty of these most mentioned and retweeted were analysed and 3) the conversations with at least ten tweets were analysed using content analysis. Results: Research from the natural sciences was most prominent, as was research published in open access journals. Different types of conversations relating to the digital objects were found, both when looking at them qualitative and their visual structure in terms of nodes and arcs. The conversations involved academics but were not always academic in nature. Conclusions: Digital object identifiers were mainly referred to for self-promotion, as conversation starters or as arguments in discussions.

In this study, we carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of abbreviations in 300 randomly collected research paper titles published in the most prestigious European and US-based Astrophysics journals written in English. Our main results show that the process of shortening words and groups of words is one of the most characteristic and recurrent features in Astrophysics research paper titling construction. In spite of the convenience of abbreviations as a mechanism for word-formation, some of them may pose certain difficulties of understanding and/or misinterpretation because of their specificity, ambiguity, or overlapping. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a series of options which with no doubt would lead to a better interaction among the different branches of Astrophysics in particular and of science in general and would definitely improve how research is currently performed and communicated.

University education has been massified in South Africa and this has disrupted conventions and practices of assessment. Universities are perceived as promoting complex achievements and complex skills through rigorous curriculum specifications and assessment instruments. Due to experiences in high school and the novelty of university education, students have begun to enquire about the "scope of the paper." This enquiry has tended to destabilise the reliability of assessments and judgments in universities in South Africa. Grades and symbols certified by some universities have become both indeterminate and ambiguous. A qualitative, quantitative design was adopted to identify and interrogate university research participants' views on experiences about examinations at university level. In the process, the meanings that first-year degree-level test-takers ascribed to the concept of "the scope of the paper" were unpacked. It was determined which aspects of the test scope students had studied in order to prepare for tests. Inferences were made about the concepts that the students marginalised because they were perceived to be "out of the scope" of the examination. A holistic and broad educational experience for university students is recommended in spite of the daunting numbers enrolled in certain university courses.

Introduction: Theory papers have been the most commonly employed method to assess learning outcomes in medical education. In these papers, both recall abilities and higher-order cognitive functions need to be assessed giving proper weightage as per relevance. Hence it becomes necessary that valid assessment methods are employed to evaluate the required objectives/competencies. The objective of the study was to develop a method for analyzing postgraduate question papers of various specialties. Methodology: A rubric matrix was created with three broad objective criteria to assess framing and layout of the questions in each paper, analysis of different sets for same examination, and finally an overall assessment of all the papers for each subject. Results: A total of 28 specialty papers were available. A total number of papers analysed = 340. The overall mean score out of total 60 marks was 38.64 ± 4.5. It was seen that the majority (60%) of the departments have been graded as fair on analysis of the theory papers. None of the departments were graded as very good, while 7% of them were graded as good. Although a very minuscule percentage of the papers had grammatical errors and duplication of questions in the sets, only 57% of the departments had done a proper moderation and 21% had used higher domains of learning for assessment. Conclusion: Analysis of postgraduate question papers showed that the questions asked for postgraduates are more recall-based instead of higher taxonomy of cognitive domain.

This qualitative study investigated how pre-service teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) experienced and learned from their completion of a reflective project, including a reflection paper and digital storytelling. The participants were 20 graduate students in a program for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at a university in the United States. This study aimed to identify participants' experiences when completing the project and its influences on their learning. The findings demonstrated their diverse performance and perspectives during the tasks, as well as their learning in language, culture, education, and technology. Based on these findings, dialogic hybrid learning and the pedagogical implications are discussed.

Adoption of digital technology by older adults has become an important topic in academia and the public sphere within the debate on digital inclusion. Likewise, this topic has gained traction in the print media also. This paper assesses the representation of older adults in print media in the past 20 years in The Netherlands and Flanders. A total of 281 articles in the Dutch language were analysed to determine the representation of older adults and their level of agency. We found that they were represented in three manners: a) ambassadors of digital skill acquisition; b) naturally lacking in digital skills; or c) not alone in being helpless. These representations clearly increased during the COVIS-19 crisis. Some representations can be problematic, as the relationship between older adults and digital inclusion is not envisioned positively. Furthermore, they receive no agency to participate actively in the discussion surrounding their own digital inclusion and are too often used as the automatic example of the digitally illiterate – which is not particularly encouraging older adults towards digital skills acquisition.

The deep penetration and global impact of mobile devices has led the scientific community to undertake a thorough analysis of the implications of this phenomenon. Researchers need to determine their true real effect and how they can best be used to manage information and build knowledge. This study has examined recent investigations on the subject of mobile learning and carried out a descriptive analysis of a sample of registers indexed on the Web of Science research platform in 2015-16. An exhaustive content analysis has revealed new areas where M-Learning is being implemented, especially in the teaching of foreign languages, the emergence of social interaction methodologies in Secondary Education, evolving forms of collaborative relationships, work with clearly defined student profiles and the use of virtual immersive and innovative spaces in Higher Education. This paper also emphasizes the presence of previously unknown, transcendent problems associated with M-learning, such as the collateral addiction effect, and its interference in the classroom. Finally, our study suggests that teachers could embrace these technological proposals and include them in their strategies. Indeed, it might be necessary to flip the process, so this research could be the start of the generation and design of innovative guidelines to manage these forms and content.

The number of ELT doctoral dissertations is growing every year, and these are great sources to spot the leading research trends and the research gaps in the field. Previous studies have been conducted to explore research trends in Turkey, accordingly journal articles and conference proceedings were examined. However, little research has aimed to investigate doctoral dissertations. As the number of graduates increases every year, a current study exploring the research trends of ELT in Turkey is needed. Therefore, the present research aims to fill this gap by examining 252 doctoral dissertations published between 2010 and 2020. Content analysis was conducted on the titles and abstract parts of the dissertations and then, coding was applied with the help of a priori codes suggested by the relevant literature. Findings have suggested that Teacher Professional Development is the leading research topic while Culture, Social, and Gender Issues are found to be under-researched. The results imply that these areas need improvements on both local and global scales. In light of the findings, further research in certain areas is suggested for local researchers.

Introduction: Theory papers have been the most commonly employed method to assess learning outcomes in medical education. In these papers, both recall abilities and higher‑order cognitive functions need to be assessed giving proper weightage as per relevance. Hence it becomes necessary that valid assessment methods are employed to evaluate the required objectives/competencies. The objective of the study was to develop a method for analyzing postgraduate question papers of various specialties. Methodology: A rubric matrix was created with three broad objective criteria to assess framing and layout of the questions in each paper, analysis of different sets for same examination, and finally an overall assessment of all the papers for each subject. Results: A total of 28 specialty papers were available. A total number of papers analysed = 340. The overall mean score out of total 60 marks was 38.64 ± 4.5. It was seen that the majority (60%) of the departments have been graded as fair on analysis of the theory papers. None of the departments were graded as very good, while 7% of them were graded as good. Although a very minuscule percentage of the papers had grammatical errors and duplication of questions in the sets, only 57% of the departments had done a proper moderation and 21% had used higher domains of learning for assessment. Conclusion: Analysis of postgraduate question papers showed that the questions asked for postgraduates are more recall‑based instead of higher taxonomy of cognitive domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools develop mission statements in part to communicate their purposes of schooling to internal and external audiences. The goal of this study is to employ text analytic techniques to analyze school mission statements. Focusing on Arizona and New Jersey's schools, we seek to understand: 1) what themes (topics) emerge from their mission statements, 2) whether local context (politics) and institutional factors (being a charter) mediate topic prevalence, and 3) how similar school mission statements are to one another overall and across select factors. Using structural topic modeling we find that five topics emerge as particularly prevalent, and they address key purposes within the US context related to social, academic, and civic development with an emphasis on a safe environment and a sense of community. Local political leanings have a minor impact on the prevalence of topics but being a charter has a distinct influence. Compared to regular schools, charters are more likely to include themes related to preparing for college, academic approaches, and character and family ties, but they place lower emphasis on community and citizenship themes. School missions display moderate levels of similarity, indicating that a common set vocabulary has permeated schools' missions, though differences remain, including between states. Overall, this study deepens our understanding of the varieties of schools' missions and reveals text analytic techniques are well suited for uncovering them.

This article presents a possible framework for the cooperation of mathematics and physics education research domains. Moreover, the potential topics for such a scientific collaboration are explained by means of a structuring qualitative content analysis of current handbooks and conference proceedings in Germany and Vietnam. These topics can form a basis for further projects on the connection of subject-related didactics. One of these projects is an interdisciplinary course in teacher training at the Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) as part of the Inter TeTra project between the HNUE and the University of Siegen.

This study applied a content analysis methodology in two ways to evaluate first-year students' research topics: a rubric to examine proposed topics in terms of scope, development, and the "researchability" of the topic, as well as textual analysis, using ATLAS.ti, to provide an overview of the types of subjects students select for a persuasive research essay. Results indicated that students struggle with defining an appropriate and feasible focus for their topics and that they often select topics related to education, health, and the environment. These findings were used to implement a new information literacy instruction model that better supports student topic development.

This paper provides a descriptive content analysis of biology education research papers published in eight major academic journals indexed in Social Science Citation Index [SSCI] of Thomson Reuters® from 1997 to 2014. Total of 1376 biology education research [BER] papers were examined. The findings indicated that most of the papers were published in the JBE and IJSE, and frequently studied topics were environment and ecology, genetics and biotechnology, and animal form and function. The findings were also indicated that learning, teaching and attitudes was in the forefront as the frequently investigated subject matters, undergraduate and secondary school students were mostly preferred as sample group and sample size mostly varies between 31-100 and 101-300. In addition, it was found out that interactive qualitative research designs were mostly preferred. Besides, that single data collection tool was generally used and this data collection tool included questionnaires, interviews and documents. Finally, frequency/percentage tables, central tendency measures, statistical analysis such as t-test and ANOVA/ANCOVA and content analysis were commonly used as data analysis.

"Go to temples of science and ideas of Europe. Imitate the Tugendbund, 'the Union of Virtue', of which thousands of German youth are the members. Always keep the rule of 'Fit soul is in fit body' in mind" (Petrov, 2013, p. 72). This study aimed to show the similarities, in terms of expression, emphasis, and implication, in the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives of various science centers from around the world and in the basic themes derived from Snellman's statement above, namely, Science for all, Science Centers for all, and Human welfare that he made as a challenge to not only his people but to everyone. Document and content analyses were applied in the study. Within the scope of these analyses, this study investigated the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives sections of websites of science centers from around the world (Asia, Europe, Global, Latin America/The Caribbean, North America, Africa). From this investigation, similar basic themes, derived from Snellman's statement challenging his people/everyone to adopt this devotion to science, were found in the areas of i) expression in ASTC, CIMUSET/CSTM, CASC and SAASTEC; ii) emphasis in ECSITE, ASDC, ASCN and NSCF; and iii) implication in ASPAC, ASTEN, NCSM, ABCMC and Red-POP. These basic themes, as found in the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives of science centers, can, in effect, be narrowed down to the one theme of "cultural institutions will be a big part of human life" (Madsen 2017, p. 68) science centers in the global village (Touraine, 2016, p. 121) of the future.

Conventional scholarship within the sociology of education and organizations posits that schools achieve legitimacy by virtue of conforming to normative standards, abiding by government regulations and mimicking the forms of successful peers. Through this study, an examination of a sample of 751 Canadian for-profit colleges (FPCs) is performed, revealing the presence of an alternative logic. Rather than conformity, organizations within this sector engage in niche-seeking behaviour, using promotional materials to carve out unconventional identities. They do so by directly drawing on symbolic resources and affiliations from the industrial sectors which they service. These findings are interpreted through the prism of contemporary theorizing within organizational sociology.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the mission statements of business colleges operating in the United Arab Emirates. To this end, written and visual documents in the websites of business colleges were surveyed to collect data on components of mission such as philosophy, contribution, markets, and distinctiveness. Content analysis was used to analyze the data and the components of mission were classified or measured on a simple scale. The cost of tuition was also examined as, considered together with other findings, it can help point to the business strategy followed by colleges. The findings reveal clusters of colleges sharing similar characteristics and following strategies of differentiation or cost leadership in a segmented and crowded business education market. Predominantly privately-owned and characterized by a market philosophy but often with little distinctiveness business colleges are essentially teaching-oriented institutions. The need for return on investment and profit in a competitive education market has resulted in high tuition fees especially among better-known and internationally-accredited colleges. International accreditation is becoming important as the quality of education receives more attention. One limitation of this research is that conclusions are drawn on the basis of material found in publicly available documents only. The framework used in this research to analyze organizational mission of colleges of business in UAE can be helpful in carrying out similar research of tertiary institutions elsewhere.

There are two indications that Indonesia needs to improve its education quality. The first is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is still at the medium level, and the second is the enrollment rate in higher education, which is also at the low level. MOOCs have the potential to solve both problems. However, implementing MOOCs in a developing country needs a specific analysis to determine the opportunities and challenges. This study aims to identify the opportunities and challenges in implementing MOOCs from an Indonesian perspective. We observed four local MOOCs and analyzed various documents, including literature and government regulations. As a result, this study identified seven opportunities and seven challenges in implementing MOOCs in Indonesia. Recommendations are also provided.

The concept of a Professional Development School (PDS) is not recent phenomenon. A more recent outgrowth of the Professional Development School movement has been an annual national conference dedicated to sharing and showcasing the work of various schools and universities engaged in PDS work. The University of South Carolina in Columbia originated and sponsored the National Professional Development School Conference from 2000 until 2015. During this time the membership of the National Association of Professional Development Schools (NAPDS), a national organization for schools and universities engaged in school-university partnerships, would meet annually at this conference and participate as co-hosts. This paper examines the presentations given at the National Professional Development School Conference over a 13-year period from 2002 through 2014. It was during this time that the conference was firmly established as a national outlet for sharing the work and research being conducted in PDS settings throughout the country. A content analysis of the number and types of sessions provided at the NAPDS annual conference was conducted to see what an examination of the current topics and key areas of debate among those engaged in PDS work around the country would reveal about the nature of the work being done in PDS environments. This study quantified a steady rise in conference presentations over a 12-year span, indicating a growing scope of interest and participation among schools and universities in PDS work. Also of interest was a gradual coalescing of topics that were similar to the original objectives of a PDS, as set forth by the Holmes Group (1990). Researchers also found the lack of representation in conference sessions on topics dealing with school organization or community engagement curious, and worthy of further investigation.

Purpose: This paper presents a qualitative systematic review of Swedish research on vocational education and training (VET) at the upper secondary school level over the past 20 years. The review is based on a theoretical model on curriculum making as social practice that may serve as model for comparative studies between countries. By introducing the model, the ambition is to open for new perspectives on VET curriculum in policy and practice. Questions regarding key themes and the interplay of discourses and processes across multiple sites in the education system have not been addressed in previous systematic reviews of Swedish VET research. Methods: The methodological approach in the present paper is a qualitative systematic research review with an integrative and interpretative purpose and research design. The qualitative review is based on the conceptual model of curriculum making as social practice, seeking to capture the inherent complexity and porous boundaries of education systems and movements of ideas, discourses and actors between sites of activity. The model is used for mapping the research, and a content analysis for identifying main themes and emphases and exploring and discussing the potential gaps that may inform future international research studies. Findings: The results show that the research is focused on the micro and nano sites of curriculum making, with connections to macro site activities of national curriculum policy enactment. Research focusing on the macro site of activity has an emphasis on national policy and policymaking regarding the relationship between academic and vocational knowledge/programmes and apprenticeship and employability. In the micro and nano sites of activity -- which comprise the majority of the research -- the main themes are vocational knowing and identity, teaching, learning and assessment practices and work-based learning. Conclusion: An observation is the absence of principals and middle leaders as actors and informants in the studies. There is little evidence of actors moving between sites of activity and the meso site of activity only comprise a very small part of the research. In this respect, there is a potential gap to be explored, not least regarding how local curricula and syllabi are made and shaped in terms of the influence of representatives from local authorities, companies, trade unions, employer associations, universities and regional agencies. Curriculum making as social practice has the potential to be used for comparative international studies and as a framework that takes national differences in VET education systems into account.

Education, being a process of teaching and learning is evaluated through examination at the end of the learning period. Examination not only serves as a feedback for the trainer to ascertain the level of knowledge acquisition but also serves as a measure of knowledge retention by the trainee. Any misconduct or irregularity distorts this feedback mechanism and gives a false outcome of the learning process. This paper examines the causes and forms of examination malpractice in Nigeria, the consequences on the national development, previous efforts made at curbing it and recommended ways of eradicating examination malpractice in the country. Relevant journals and conference papers consulted, and the writers' personal experiences during examination invigilation were the sources of data used in the paper. It is discovered that the perennial lack of political will on the part of government to enforce the Decree 20 of 1984 and now, Examination Malpractice Act 33 of 1999 has caused the examination misconduct to remain on the increase in Nigeria. This paper recommends strongly that the Examination Malpractice Act of 1999 should be amended to incorporate that section of Decree 20 of 1984 which stipulated twenty-one years imprisonment without option of a fine for a convicted culprit. And the Act should be diligently enforced no matter whose ox is gored.

This article examines some selected Educational Policies of First and Second Cycle Institutions in Ghana and Burkina Faso, in comparison with that of the UK and US. The purpose of the study is to itemise the commonalities and differences in Educational Policies of both developed (UK and US) and developing countries (Ghana and Burkina Faso) in order to learn from the developed countries where necessary, and to improve upon the Educational Policies and Practices in Africa. Data collection for the study includes documents studies that involve integrated literature review. Content analysis is used as the method for data analysis. The results show that several Educational Policies of the countries under review conform to the UN Educational Policy standards and could be adopted in similar context in Africa.

The main objective of this study is to compare the process of the senior secondary school mathematics curricula development in Ethiopia and Australia. The study was investigated qualitatively with document analysis and semi-structured interview research methods. The documents were collected from Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Education website and Australian curriculum website. The documents were analyzed and supported by interviews. The study was conducted based on four themes needs assessment, developing/writing the curriculum, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The study revealed both similarities and differences. The considerable differences in the senior secondary school mathematics curriculum development process are (1) emphasis given to international research results and contemporary issues on mathematics education as inputs for curriculum development (2) the underlying principle of content standard organizations (3) trialing the curriculum before implementation initiated, and (4) monitoring and evaluation strategies. Even though substantial differences exist, the similarities are (1) conducting needs assessment and (2) the adoption of the constructivism approach. Depending on the findings of the study, the suggested recommendations were presented under conclusion section.

This article analyzes three USAID education strategy documents (1998, 2005, and 2011) as well as USAID's requests for proposals for three projects to assess how teachers are represented. The main findings indicate that USAID education strategy documents a) treat teachers as human capital, a human resource input, rather than as human beings and b) characterize teachers as implementers of policy rather than as key stakeholders who should also be involved in dialogue and decision making about educational policy at various levels of the system. These findings are compared with those resulting from a similar analysis of World Bank education strategy documents.

Chinese sayings within the context of transnational education have not been extensively explored within higher education. In this qualitative study, which utilized semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 24 participants to explore their transnational study experience. Chinese sayings, framed within a rich Confucian history, provide a culturally appropriate way for participants to understand their transnational learning experience. By using Chinese sayings and metaphors, the participants found meaning in their transnational education experience for personal growth and to strengthen their communities. The article provides a discussion of implications for higher education contexts and recommendations.

Still rebounding from the impact of the global pandemic, the higher education sector is being challenged even further by the next wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. These technologies have the power to generate in a matter of seconds, quality text, images, music and coding responses to questions or prompts entered into an online chat box. Currently, one of the most accessible and popular text generators is OpenAI's ChatGPT which was released in November 2022. Early evaluation indicates that the quality of the responses exceed standard pass rates for comparable university assessments. Even if academic protocols mandate that text cited from AI sources should be acknowledged and referenced as any other source material, the speed, accessibility and high quality of the AI material justifies a rethink of the purpose of higher education and a redesign of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. An initial suggestion being promoted in the sector is that learning outcomes and assessments should move away from a focus on content memorisation and recall, to development of higher order thinking skills such as critical analysis, evaluation, resilience, creativity, problem solving, appraising and mastery of verbal communication and computer literacy. This preliminary paper examines some of the literature to date, which discusses potential risks and threats, as well as the opportunities to enhance learning, embedded in this new wave of emerging AI technologies in higher education.

The state mandated public hearings concerning school closing proposals in New York City provide a window into a diverse set of policy actors and their deliberations. Opposition to school closures is often cast as entrenched interests, emotional attachment, support for the status quo or at worst negligence. However, content analysis reveals that testimony offered by parent, community, and educator leaders contained a range of substantial critiques of school closing proposals, their motivations, justifications, and expected results. I argue that the hearings did not fully constitute a public sphere by Habermasian criteria, nor a counter-public by Fraser and Dawson criteria. In fact, the hearings had contradictory effects; one school successfully fought closure by both resisting and reifying neoliberal logic in education policymaking. Some data demonstrates that this school's market-based argument resonated with state authorities, while other data indicates that this market-based argument coincided with the state's own interest to defend its legitimacy in policymaking.

The paper focuses on the university academic excellence projects worldwide and tries to explore the higher education institutions experience and trends regarding their language policies within the international landscape and increasing globalisation. The article agrees that English goes as a major medium of instruction at universities that strive for reaching higher positions in world university rankings and takes into account the UNESCO traditions related to language diversity and multilingual education development, as well. The research focuses on language policy issues as language has always been a tool to create, deliver and process knowledge within, across and beyond local and national communities toward the global scale. The study took into account the experience of national academic excellence projects across the world, tried to identify those language challenges that the Russian universities as members of the Russian national academic excellence project are currently facing. The research goal was to map those changes and shifts in the language policies of Russian higher education institutions that could help them boost their academic visibility internationally. The methodology rested on the qualitative analysis of national education programmes, universities' action plans, data on Russian universities strategies and tactics regarding language issues.

This paper examines higher education in Afghanistan. Based on qualitative research, including interviews with key policymakers and stakeholders, the paper examines the primary issues, challenges, progress, and future vision for higher education in the country. The research reveals that one of the most significant issues in the country in the post-Taliban era is female participation in higher education. It also shows the importance of alternative forms of higher education, such as two-year institutions, private education, and technical/ vocational education. The paper also discusses the emergence of quality assurance mechanisms and international partnerships with other universities. Regarding the future direction and vision for higher education, the paper reveals two primary focuses: preparing students for the labor market, and the potential for education to influence democratic values and social cohesion in a divided country.