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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 paper focuses on two aspects of gender inequality in Irish higher education: inequality in participation by gender and inequality of performance by gender, institution and subject. We use a rich set of data from the Higher Education Authority of Ireland which detail inter alia enrolment in institutions of higher education--Universities and Institutes of Technology--and record the class of degree received by graduating students, by subject and gender. The first aspect was the participation of women. Although more women enrolled as full-time undergraduates in universities than did men, the reverse was the case in the Institutes of Technology. This had much to do with the subject structure of universities vis-à-vis the Institutes of Technology in tandem with the subject preferences of women and men. The second issue was inequality in performance. A major conclusion of this paper is that "after" enrolment there was little difference between the success rates of women and men in receiving first-class degrees in the different subjects but there was considerable difference between the institutions.

In higher education, a need is felt to redesign curricula to better prepare students for the evolving 'world of work'. The current exploratory study investigated first-year (N = 414) students' approaches to learning, well-being and perceptions of their learning environment in the context of an innovative educational concept: design-based education. Also, the relations between these concepts were explored. Regarding the teaching--learning environment, it was found that students experienced peer-support to a large extent whereas alignment in their programs scored lowest. Based on our analysis, it seems that alignment did not influence students' deep approach to learning however, as this approach was predicted by their experienced relevance of the program and feedback from the teachers. Student well-being was predicted by the same elements that also predicted their deep approach of learning, and also alignment appeared to be a significant predictor of well-being. This study provides first insights in students' experiences of an innovative learning environment in higher education and raises important questions for further, longitudinal, research. As the current study already shows that certain aspects of the teaching--learning environment can be used to impact students' learning and well-being, answers can help in (re)designing new learning environments.

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.

This study developed a realistic, interactive English blockade-running game that integrates virtual environments and mobile devices to conduct a collaborative and competitive contest to promote English learning among technical college students. In addition, it also explored students' learning effectiveness, perception of peer collaboration, and the use of grouping strategies for collaborative learning. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design and separated 120 participants into four groups (Baseline, Smartphone, Collaborative Learning, and Smartphone + Collaborative Learning). The procedure included the pretest, English blockade-running contest, peer collaboration perception questionnaire, focus interview, and the posttest at the end of the semester. Our findings in terms of learning effectiveness, the Collaborative Learning Group and the Smartphone + Collaborative Learning Group exhibited significant improvements in their scores. In terms of peer collaboration, we also found that the Smartphone + Collaborative Learning Group reported increased perceptions of collaboration in Take Action and Group Organization dimensions when compared with the Collaborative Learning Group. Regarding grouping strategies for collaborative learning, the Smartphone + Collaborative Learning Group used smartphones to ensure continuous communication between team members during both individual and collaborative blockades. Team members performed their respective duties, jointly participated in the contest, and worked together to overcome the challenges of the different blockades. The implications and research limitations are also discussed in this paper.

Enrollment of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in postsecondary education in the United States has been increasing over the past three decades (Chee, Shorty, and Robinson Kurpius 2019). The Tribal College Movement began more than 40 years ago with the establishment of the first tribally-controlled community college in 1968. United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) was established in 1969. Today, there are 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), many of which are located on Native American Indian reservations. TCUs, including UTTC, are specifically designed to support the cultural and educational needs of AI/AN students, many of whom come to college with several factors that put them at risk to college success. Located just outside the city limits of Bismarck, ND, UTTC was founded as a workforce development training center. The purpose of this workforce development training center was to provide a community in which American Indian people can acquire an education and obtain employment. This article discusses how UTTC leverages data for continuous improvement.

Higher education institutions worldwide have embraced remote as a response to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the imposition of stay-at-home protocols. While this shift from the conventional face-to-face mode to remote learning platforms represents a notable innovation in the education circles, we contend that implementing online learning in these times requires faculty to be adequately prepared to use online tools to facilitate learning among students effectively. In this case, a study conducted at a vocational -- a rural community college in South Africa -- we explore the readiness of lecturers (N = 15) to use an institutionally-designed Learning Management System (henceforth referred to as MLMS) to engage their students in learning. The study revealed that the participants were largely unprepared to use the MLMS for teaching. This lack of readiness was influenced by the (poor) MLMS design, lack of user expertise, and inadequate technological resources for lecturers and learners. It emerged from the findings of this paper that the MLMS needs upgrading to improve its effectiveness for online and teaching purposes. The findings suggest that the college should seek the buy-in of lecturers by providing them with further training on the use of the MLMS.

Faculty members play a valuable role in the reputation of higher education institutions and adult learners' academic success. It is imperative for faculty members to be adept at using the institution's learning management system to maintain their instructional materials and teach using a technological system. The purpose of this study was to examine the learning experiences of faculty at a state technical college who were required to participate in a new technology adoption of the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS). A qualitative case study design was used that consisted of semi-structured interviews with eight participants, document review, and observational memos. The findings revealed that the initial training meeting was basic, the training packet was burdensome to complete, the institution's webinars and tutorials were underutilized, and participants designed their own training strategies to learn the system. Two conclusions emerged that indicated: (1) the formal learning methods were insufficient and sufficient and (2) faculty's informal learning strategies created a process of self-directed and collaborative learning approaches that more directly served their needs.

Internships are widely promoted high-impact practices that can have positive impacts on students' academic and post-graduate success, yet how specific features facilitate these outcomes is understudied. Instead, internships are often studied in terms of mere participation, without recognizing that these experiences are complex pedagogic spaces shaped by professional cultures and decisions about instructional design. In this sequential mixed-methods study we use sociocultural learning theory to interpret data from online surveys (n = 435) and focus groups (n = 52) with students at five institutions. Stepwise linear regression analyses of demographic and programmatic variables associated with intern satisfaction, developmental value, and career adaptability indicated that first-generation status, sex, race and income level, and supervisor behaviors were significantly associated with satisfaction and development. Analyses of qualitative data revealed that features of positive (clear communication, availability, feedback) and negative (unavailability, inattention to learning) supervision impacted student experiences. These findings reveal that internships should be designed with careful attention to task scaffolding, student autonomy and supervisor assistance, depending on the professional context and situation. These results highlight the need for colleges and employers to design internships as mentored and culturally shaped learning spaces, provide supervisor training, and consider the cultural backgrounds of students when matching them to internships.

Academic stereotype threat of Chinese adolescents in vocational education is underexamined. The present study aimed to gain an understanding of the effects of academic stereotype threat on academic engagement by examining the potential mediating role of academic self-efficacy and moderating role of perceived social support. A total of 1152 Chinese adolescents (448 boys; mean[subscript age] = 18.26, SD = 1.20) in higher vocational schools completed a survey questionnaire assessing academic stereotype threat, academic engagement (i.e., vigor, dedication and absorption), academic self-efficacy, and social support (i.e., family support, friend support and teacher support). Findings supported the mediating effect of academic self-efficacy, indicating that academic stereotype threat decreased academic engagement by undermining academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, the relationship between academic stereotype threat and academic self-efficacy was moderated by teacher support. Specifically, the negative effects of academic stereotype threat on self-efficacy was weaker for adolescents who perceived high levels of teacher support. This study contributes to the educational/psychological research on academic engagement by providing evidence for the adverse effects, potential mechanism and protective factor of academic stereotype threat in Chinese adolescents of higher vocational education. Implications for further investigations and intervention development are discussed.

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.

Objective: This article analyzes the implementation of two state grant programs in Tennessee aimed at improving the quality of in-demand postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programming at community and technical colleges. We use insights from our findings to propose a conceptual framework for understanding how external funding can reduce institutional capacity constraints in similar contexts. Method: Building off a previous study, we leverage in-depth interview data with 43 participants across Tennessee's workforce development system to better understand how administrators perceived state grant goals, what processes they used to address institutional capacity constraints, and what challenges they experienced while implementing grant-funded programs. Results: We find strong alignment of perceived grant goals between the state, which developed the program, and the practitioners who implemented it. We find that the implementation strategies employed included purchasing new equipment, investing in facilities, developing work-based learning opportunities, hiring new faculty and staff, and building collaborations with outside stakeholders. Finally, our data suggest that practitioners faced challenges optimizing the use of funds to address capacity constraints. Contributions: Developing and maintaining high quality CTE credential programs is a challenge for community and technical colleges across the United States. We describe how this has been done successfully in Tennessee and use insights from this context to propose a general framework for building capacity in postsecondary CTE.

Graduates of engineering programs have to be enabled to create hardware products by having easy access to methods for designing, manufacturing, distributing and learning. Such capabilities can be hosted in makerspaces. The makerspace approach remains immature in many developing economies, such as Jordan. Academia in Jordan is considered mostly research-oriented, while the industry is concerned purely with commercial returns. However, higher education institutions in Jordan have realized that linking industry and academia is crucial for maximizing the value of research, as seen through the lens of commercial development. This study aims to establish a roadmap and framework model for developing engineering programs in Jordanian universities by establishing a makerspace to introduce hands-on teaching. Several steps must be conducted sequentially to achieve the objectives of the study, which will ultimately enhance higher education institutions in the field of engineering. The study focuses on establishing a makerspace to receive the necessary equipment to improve teaching methods and the modernization of some engineering courses. Therefore, it will help improve the quality of higher education and enhance its relevance to the labor market and society. Additionally, this trend will gain potential in the future with higher employability.

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.

Federal and state policies increasingly call upon community and technical colleges to collaborate with industry and other outside stakeholders in order to improve career and technical education programs. We apply a framework from the public administration literature to understand how these collaborations are built. Using data from in-depth interviews with 49 participants engaged in building collaborations to improve workforce education and training across Tennessee, we find that productive networks rely on dynamic individuals that act as boundary spanners, facilitating communication across sectors. In addition, successful collaborations make use of meetings involving multiple interest groups to bridge, rather than reinforce, boundaries between stakeholders.