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Learning experiences are widely recognized as crucial in developing students' attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Vocationally-oriented polytechnics and universities provide distinct learning experiences that may significantly influence students' STEM self-efficacy, expectancy-value and career interest. The study explores how the unique learning experiences shape students' STEM attitudes among 487 students during their fourth semester at vocationally-oriented polytechnic and university. The S-STEM survey was adopted as the measurement instrument. The result showed that university students displayed a more favorable overall STEM attitude compared to students enrolled in vocational-oriented polytechnic. University students demonstrated greater STEM self-efficacy than polytechnic students, but no significant difference in STEM expectancy-value was detected between the two groups. From the perspective of intergroup comparison, university education consistently fostered students a heightened sense of STEM self-efficacy, expectancy-value and career interest in science, whereas vocationally-oriented polytechnic education boasted its unique strengths in cultivating robust attitudes and career interests towards science and engineering/technology. However, students in both institutions exhibited a relatively less positive attitude towards learning mathematics. The findings highlight the importance of learning experiences in shaping students' STEM attitudes and career interests.

The objectives of this research were 1) to study components and indicators for adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges, 2) to study the current conditions, desirable conditions, and needs to develop adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges, 3) to create and develop the model development for adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges, and 4) to study the results of using the adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges. The methodology was research and development conducted in 4 Phases as follows according to the objectives. The results of the research found that 1) the components and indicators of adaptive leadership consist of 7 components and 25 indicators, the results of assessing the suitability of the components and indicators overall are at the highest level. 2) The current conditions of the adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges overall are at a high level, the desirable conditions overall are at the highest level, and the overall need for developing the division heads in technical colleges, the PNI modified mean is 0.23. 3) The model development for adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges consists of 1) Principles, 2) Objectives, 3) Contents of activities, 4) Method of Leadership Development, and 5) Evaluation. The results of the model evaluation overall are appropriate at a high level, and the possibility, and utility overall are at the highest level. And the evaluation results of the manual for using the format as a whole are appropriate at the highest level. 4) The results of a study of the use of the model development for adaptive leadership of the division heads in technical colleges found that 1) the adaptive leadership behavior of the division heads in technical colleges before using the model overall average mean is at a moderate level, and after overall mean is at the highest level that higher than average before are statistically significant at the 0.05 level, and 2) The results of the division head's satisfaction assessment as a whole is at the highest level.

The need for competent and qualified trainers is of paramount importance for an effective technical training system that, in turn, helps to produce competent and employable graduates for the country's economy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of trainers' competence on the employability of polytechnic college graduates in Dire Dawa. The study employed a descriptive-correlational-explanatory research design with a quantitative research method. The sample for quantitative data consisted of 351 randomly selected graduates, trainees, trainers, and administrators. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that trainers' competence was positively correlated with graduates' employability. Specifically, predictors such as knowledge-related competence, assessment-related competence, skill-related competence, and managerial competence were found to have significant and positive effects on the employability of polytechnic college graduates in Dire Dawa. Therefore, the study recommends that the Dire Dawa city Labour Skill and Technology Development Bureau and Polytechnic colleges should give greater emphasis on improving trainers' competence, which in turn enhances the employability of graduates.

This study investigates the relationship between the transformational leadership of academic leaders and the job satisfaction of academic staff in polytechnic colleges located in the North Shewa Zone of Ethiopia. This study used a correlational research design and simple random sampling techniques to select 264 academic staff members. Respondents completed a rating version of the multifactor leadership questionnaire and a job satisfaction survey. Data analysis uses descriptive and inferential statistics like Pearson correlation and linear regression. The study found that transformational leadership was found to positively correlate with and predict academic staff job satisfaction, though it was weak. The findings also revealed that academic staff was dissatisfied with their jobs, despite perceiving their leaders as having a moderate degree of attributes of transformational leadership style. Educational planners can use the findings to transform administrative and academic leaders' leadership programs. Leadership training boosts academic staff morale and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction also improves staff retention and minimizes turnover. Thus, academic leaders should grow themselves and seek opportunities to improve their transformational leadership skills. To better understand the leadership style elements that have the greatest impact on job satisfaction, further research is necessary due to the limited variability or unexplained variance in the ability of transformational leadership styles to predict job satisfaction. Further investigation is also needed to explore the mediating factors that impact the link between two variables in an Ethiopian context.

This article presents the findings of a comprehensive skills-and-competencies analysis conducted among incoming Engineering and Health Sciences freshmen at a leading technological university in Mexico. The primary objective was to determine whether these students possessed an ideal competency profile that would effectively prepare them to meet the evolving demands of their future professional training. The study focuses on evaluating complex thinking macro-competency, recognizing its critical importance in equipping individuals to tackle the multifaceted challenges and intricacies they will encounter in their academic and professional journeys. More precisely, this research focuses on the assessment of scientific thinking as a meta-competency of complex thinking macro-competency and considered a cornerstone competency essential for success in the fields of Engineering and Health Sciences. The statistically significant findings demonstrated marked disparities in the perception and development of complex thinking macro-competency and, specifically, in the meta-competency of scientific thinking among incoming students in the Engineering and Health Sciences domains, as opposed to their counterparts in Humanities and Social Science. This observation gains particular importance in the context of the requisite competency sets for career paths in Engineering and Health Sciences, accentuating the students' proficiency and preparedness to excel in their selected fields. These results emphasize the criticality of conducting competency assessments at early stages and advocate for the modification of educational methodologies to foster the specialized competencies vital for prospective success in these disciplines. The results are analyzed in terms of their suitability for aligning educational goals with the evolving demands of the Engineering and Health Sciences fields. Overall, this study centers on the fundamental aspects of education, highlighting its importance not only due to its relevance but also for its capacity to drive meaningful changes in the future landscape of higher education.

This research paper attempts to investigate the organization and effectiveness of vocabulary notebooks by distinguishing several benefits the implementation of this technique brings in the acquisition of technical terminology through an "English for Specific Purposes course". When tackling with language learning, it is needless to emphasize the noteworthiness and the importance of vocabulary in this process. Appertaining to technical terminology, this plays entirely pertinent. Various studies have concluded that vocabulary notebooks (henceforth VN) efficiently expose different learners' strategies within this single strategy, which led us to research VN. These research data were obtained mainly by applying the observational research technique, a vocabulary oral and written exam, and a comprehensive questionnaire on the effectiveness of the Vocabulary Notebook. Mechanical Engineering, Textile Engineering, and Hydrotechnical Engineering students at the Polytechnic University of Tirana were selected to obtain the data. The observation is partly overt and partly covert. Students of Mechanical Engineering and Textile Engineering (75 students) are the treatment group wherein the Mechanical Engineering students are an overt group and the Textile Engineering students serve as the covert observational group while on the other hand, the Hydrotechnical Engineering (45 students) students are the control group. The data were obtained during and at the end of the semester. Throughout the observation all along the 1st semester, it was perceived that most of the students organized their VN by utilizing mainly Microsoft Word downloaded on their Smart Phones, while the rest used the traditional paper notebook to organize their technical VN. The organization of the VN reflected the strategies each of the students implemented to learn technical terminology. At the end, students were tested on their acquired terminology through an oral and a short-written exam and then a questionnaire was handed to them. The students of the overt group making use of a digitalized form of a Notebook resulted to have acquired most of the technical vocabulary. In the main, the overt group outperformed the covert group on the acquisition of technical vocabulary, while the control group's score on the oral exam was significantly below, compared to the all-inclusive treatment group. Students' questionnaire revealed that overall students had a positive approach to this strategy and they embraced the autonomy acquired throughout the semester by implementing this strategy. With the exception of the effectiveness on vocabulary acquisition, which was on higher levels, this strategy proved itself once again to be an enhancer and promoter of learner autonomy. [Note: The page range (315-334) shown is incorrect. The correct page range is 315-333.]

Active teaching-learning methodologies are a reality at the School of Education and Social Sciences of the Polytechnic of Leiria (Portugal), namely through the articulation with institutions of the community. The qualitative research presented in this article intends to analyse the perception of the students who are attending the Higher Professional Technical Course in Sociocultural and Sports Intervention, specifically concerning the importance of these methodologies in a project carried out with the District Hospital of Leiria. During the development of this partnership, 42 students were challenged to collaborate throughout the training process and, at the end, they were asked to write a report, which was considered the data collection instrument. These individual reports include descriptions, analyses and reflections that were processed through content analysis, using categories, and adopting an exploratory approach. The results showed that the students considered that this methodology of teaching-learning allows them to acquire know-what, know-why and know-how competencies. Moreover, they admit that the articulation with external institutions contributes to a better acquisition and mobilisation of practical knowledge that they will be able to apply to different situations, spaces and times in their future professional lives.

This article reports on the self-perceived impacts of service-learning experiences from the perspective of alumni who graduated from a technical university in Taiwan. Drawing on the alumni responses in a focus group interview, the study investigated how the respondents perceived the impacts of participation in a service-learning project. Findings suggest that these experiences fostered a lasting change in the alumni personal development, communication skills, ability to adapt and persevere, learning attitude and commitment to service. In addition, the alumni reported not just these practical and personal benefits derived from the service-learning experiences, but also critical transformation that empowered them to face challenges after college.

Immigrant students are served in adult basic education programs across the country. This includes internationally trained professionals who often face nonrecognition of their foreign credentials and experience, leading to underemployment and a devaluation of skills. This article explores this issue from the perspective of a local program at Georgia Piedmont Technical College, where staff are attempting to create solutions to address the problem. Strategies implemented include credential evaluation, college and career pathway opportunities, and diverse funding sources.

Interprofessional education (IPE) is a method that can support the collaboration of two or more health professions to create ideal teamwork. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) in the learning process among three (3) departments of health professions in the Health Polytechnic of the Ministry of Health Jayapura. In this exploratory qualitative study, the data were collected from second and third-year students of health profession at The Health Polytechnic of the Ministry of Health, Jayapura. They were tasked with understanding the scenario of patients with malaria, they used the Maastricht seven jump method for PBL: (1) Clarify Concept, (2) Define Problem, (3) Discuss analyze a problem, (4) Identify Possible Explanation/solution, (5) Set Task/Learning Objective, (6) Research Solutions, (7) Synthesis Results/Solution/ Reflect. Data collection is conducted with in-depth interviews and document analysis conducted on interprofessional education competencies. The fully transcribed data from both the process were thematically analyzed. The qualitative data analysis, showed there are gaps in the implementation of interprofessional education learning activities as well as commitments to the implementation of programs that are not adequate. The implementation of interprofessional education at the Jayapura Ministry of Health Polytechnic can be implemented by learning various problem-solving strategies.

Education and training are critical components for the development of high-quality human resources. Teachers are the most important factor in determining the overall quality of education and training system in any country. As a result, in order to improve the quality of human resource training, it is necessary to first improve the quality of teacher education. It is necessary to have a contingent of teachers who are capable of teaching according to the approach to practicing competence; that is, they must know how to accurately determine the standards of practice competence of the students and then design programs, organize teaching, and evaluate teaching results according to those competency standards in order to train qualified human resources to practice. This study resulted in the development of a scale to evaluate teaching in the direction of approaching the performance capacity of technical pedagogy universities. The results also revealed that both lecturers and students had access to competency-based education during the entire academic duration. The old methods, on the other hand, were still used extensively and frequently up to 90-100 percent of the time in the teaching process. Fifty to one hundred percent of modern methods and materials, however, have not yet been fully explored or utilized. The study recommends arranging adequate funds to universities for conducting additional research into other aspects of teaching and learning to ensure performance improvement.

The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) has developed and deployed a set of distinctive and dynamic capabilities in alignment with the UAE national agenda. These capabilities drive an ambitious strategy that anticipates and ensures future readiness; creates student-centric value; enables and empowers human capital; exploits the full potential of digital enablement; leverages through smart partnerships and resource optimization; builds capacity for knowledge exchange; and synergizes through collaboration, co-creation, and stakeholder orientation. This study presents HCT's methodology as a case study to develop its capabilities portfolio, structure, main connectors (internal and external forces), and business operational model and capabilities dynamics that support HCT's continuous transformation and leading position. The study proposes a model and practices to develop and unify standards for higher education institutions (HEIs) in their journey towards building distinctive and dynamic capabilities and achieving excellence maturity.

The training programs that polytechnic students undertake focus on practical and real-world application skills for their future careers. In the process, students need career counseling that strengthens their career decision-making. Web-based career counseling has a great deal of potential for increasing students' career decision-making capabilities in a significant way. This study's purpose is to investigate the efficacy of web-based career counseling in enhancing prospective polytechnic students' career decision-making. The research used an experimental research design. A simple randomization strategy was used to assign the 37 polytechnic students from a Nigerian polytechnic to either the web-based career counseling group (n=18) or to the control group (n=19). The data was gathered using a career decision-making scale. The duration of the web-based career counseling intervention was 6 weeks; each online session took place two times per week and a two-week follow-up was done after three months. The duration for each web-based career counseling session was 75 minutes. It was found that web-based career counseling intervention significantly enhances students' career decision-making, and as a result, career practitioners and counselors can benefit from similar research endeavor as they continue to support students in their career development journey.

Mathematics is one of the most emphasized subjects and has grown immensely to provide a strong base for programs in science, engineering and technology. Training students in this field will give them the opportunity to improve their high order thinking skills (HOTS). But the students' HOTS level is at low stage due to the learning approaches employed in classrooms. As a result, the study aimed at looking into the effect of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in improving polytechnic students' level of HOTS. Quasi-experimental design was used in this study involving two sampled National Diploma II classes. There were 73 students participated in this study (36 students for experimental group and 37 students for control group). HOTS questions and worksheets based on IBL are the instruments used for this study. At the [alpha]=0.05 (p=0.000) level of significance, the results of the independent-sample t-test revealed a significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the experimental group and the control group. Moreover, the students' overall HOTS level was discovered to be (applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) improving through this approach. In conclusion, IBL can have a positive effect on the HOTS of polytechnic students in mathematics classroom.

The purpose of the research was to discover the views of three groups of International students who were undertaking their Higher Education (HE) in a publicly-funded college, rather than a university setting. A comparative survey was undertaken by International students attending an American Community College, an Australian Technical and Further Education Institute and a group of English colleges which offer Higher Education. All three groups were satisfied with their provision. The college setting was perceived to offer higher levels of support than would have been available at a university, plus enhanced employability prospects and lower fees than those charged by a university. The status of an Australian, English or American HE qualification was important, as was the reputation of their particular college. The market for International students is highly competitive and largely driven by universities. The English experience suggests that colleges should focus on the marketing of specialist courses. In all cases, the fact that teaching staff were primarily teachers, rather than researchers was highly valued by respondents, as was their currency in their subject. However, there were strong feelings about value for money and the ability to engage with Home students and wider Australian, British or American culture. International students choose to study abroad because they want to broaden their own horizons and learn more about other cultures: many respondents found these opportunities to be limited. In order to help address this, an International student recruitment Checklist for senior college staff is presented as part of the research findings.

This research paper sought to review the way and manner the conversion of polytechnics in Ghana to technical universities were done to ascertain whether the process conformed to standard best practice. The inequality in terms of placement of polytechnic graduates in the public sector as compared to the traditional university graduates, lack of direct academic progression for polytechnic graduates with Higher National Diploma, low enrollment and the departure of experienced staff from the polytechnics to the traditional universities due to poor conditions of service leaving the polytechnics with less staff compelled the government to initiate the reform. Institutional reform has been a long-standing practice in the educational sector; however, the implementation of new policies remains a challenge to many public institutions in Ghana. The one-size-fits-all approach to managing change must give way to a multi-faceted approach that takes into consideration the diversity of the various stakeholders affected by the change. The adoption of an appropriate change model and proper engagement of stakeholders as well as handling the transition as a project rather than treating it like the usual work of the ministry of education would have eased the tension and agitations which characterized the conversion process. Despite the conversion period spanning almost four years, the stakeholders are yet to reap the full benefits of the reform.

This article discusses the internationalization capacity building project at the Karaganda Technical University ('KTU') in Kazakhstan. The project, entitled "Capacity building for the internationalization of a technical university by means of digital learning technologies," was supported by the fund "Scientific foundations "Mangilik el" (education of the 21st century, fundamental and applied research in the humanities)" for scientists 2020-2022. The project's primary purpose was to explicate a sustainable strategy for internationalizing a Kazakh technical university, considering the national and international contexts, evaluating internationalization capacity needs, formulating and implementing a capacity-building response for internationalization, and enhancing the qualifications and abilities of students and teachers to an internationally comparable level. In addition, the project delivers a set of strategies for internationalization and a benchmarking methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of internationalization processes. The benchmarking analysis of the internationalization process of a university has been conducted through a classification method, comparative analysis, multi-factor SWOT analysis, and correlation analysis.

This study aimed at investigating the outcomes of the cooperation practices, which were utilized to enhance the quality of work-integrated learning at Nong Khai Technical College. The investigation covered the following three aspects: 1) the changes that had arisen from the development of specified indicators; 2) the learning that occurred, and 3) the body of knowledge, which had been obtained from the practice. A participatory action research methodology was adopted during two semesters. There were 19 teachers and 30 students involved in the project. The results of the study revealed three key features. Firstly, the post-practice evaluation in both the first and the second cycles was higher than in the pre-practice evaluation. Secondly, the researcher, research participants and the college learned from various issues of the practice. This learning included gaining an awareness of the importance of collaborative work, the importance of studying the theoretical perspective in order to enhance the existing knowledge and experiences, and the importance of planning, practice, observation, and reflection in comprehensive work. Finally, the knowledge gained was found to correlate with Kurt Lewin's Force-Field Analysis which consists of the following elements: 1) expected change, 2) driving factors for change, 3) resistance to change, and 4) overcoming resistance.

Senior leadership at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore decided to make service-learning the signature pedagogy of the polytechnic and to infuse at least one service-learning module (i.e., course) in every diploma so that all students would have a service-learning experience. Evidence is provided that, in 3 years, the rapid institutionalization of service-learning met and exceeded all of Furco's (2002) dimensions for institutionalization at the quality building level, his intermediate level of institutionalization. In addition, a bold, visionary institutional strategic plan, the Service-Learning Roadmap, is presented that not only achieved this growth but also extends institutionalization beyond current models. Finally, implications and recommendations are offered to guide institutionalizing service-learning, thereby providing a model for other institutions globally.

In Fall 2016, the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chartered the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) initiative. NEET aims to educate young engineers to build the new machines and systems that will address societal needs of the 21st century. Students enter NEET in their sophomore year and join one of five threads, namely Advanced Materials Machines, Autonomous Machines, Digital Cities, Living Machines, and Renewable Energy Machines. Threads are cross-departmental pathways of subjects and projects in interdisciplinary areas. NEET students earn an SB degree in their declared major as well as a NEET Certificate in their thread, within the usual four-year duration. Enrollment in the program has increased from 28 students in Fall 2017 to 187 in Fall 2020. NEET students practice the 12 NEET Ways of Thinking, which are cognitive approaches for tackling complex challenges. Thus far, we have incorporated the Ways of Thinking into the program curriculum in two ways: (a) standalone Modules on four Ways of Thinking, i.e., Ethical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Learning How to Learn, which were developed, piloted and taught in 32 sessions from Fall 2018-20 by MIT experts from outside of the program; and (b) an elective class last fall that introduced first-year students to the five threads and to four Ways of Thinking, i.e., Creative Thinking, Systems Thinking, Analytical Thinking, and Making. We learned from the emergency teaching pivot last spring and from remote teaching in fall, and now plan to launch another first-year class that will focus exclusively on Creative Thinking and Systems Thinking along with a semester-long challenge as well as introductory learning vignettes covering each Way of Thinking separately. In this paper we describe how the Ways of Thinking were and are being implemented, share key lessons we have learned, and describe our plans for further incorporation and assessment of the Ways of Thinking into the program.

This article describes one program's thoughtful and strategic transition to a college and subsequent innovations to its curricular framework. Acknowledging that such a change affords honors practitioners the opportunity to implement best practices established within the honors community, authors describe the unique evolution of the honors college experience at their institution by way of expanding collaborative transdisciplinary courses, offering a new diploma option, and increasing opportunities related to undergraduate research. Collaborative transdisciplinary courses encourage critical thinking about complex problems in a small group setting. A new diploma option combines disciplinary depth with transdisciplinary capabilities through a four-year, multidisciplinary studio curriculum. Expansion from a single research training course to a suite of course offerings, or "guided research experiences," strengthens the college's goal of fostering undergraduate research. Authors suggest that the innovative curriculum provides opportunities for students to develop as change agents and global scholars. The triad of changes are derivative of the college's core values: to foster meaningful and sustained relationships with faculty, provide resources for independent learning, promote engagement in undergraduate research, yield and advance place-based and problem-focused experiences, guide students through intellectual engagement in global contexts, and seek to better engage students in their learning processes while preparing them for graduation.

NMITE's Master's in Integrated Engineering (MEng) was created with a unique philosophy of integrating not only traditionally separate strands of engineering, but also of integrating engineering with other disciplines such as arts, humanities, and business. This broad and deep integration is made possible by adopting the principles and practices of problem-based learning (PBL) and embedding them within predetermined module challenges. In this way, each PBL challenge highlights and hones areas of engineering expertise and embeds liberal subjects whilst maintaining the integration intrinsic to the programme. Overall, this method supports the use of block learning with deep integration of employers and the community in the educational experience.