Search

As remote learning continues to play a significant role in higher education, the practice of remote supervision has become a critical component of academic and research activities. This research explores lecturers’ experiences in remote supervision, shedding light on challenges and strategies to ensure effective guidance and support. A qualitative approach was adopted using a semi-structured interview guide data collection from randomly selected lecturers and analysed thematically. The study generated three themes to address the research questions. Findings revealed the multifaceted nature of remote supervision, highlighting both the advantages of flexibility and the hurdles posed by technology, communication barriers, and time management. To navigate these challenges, lecturers have developed innovative strategies, including leveraging digital tools, enhancing communication, and prioritising self-discipline. The outcomes of this research provided valuable insights for colleges seeking to strengthen remote supervision experience, thereby improving the quality of higher education in this digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individualized learning support is an essential part of formal educational learning processes. However, in typical large-scale educational settings, resource constraints result in limited interaction among students, teaching assistants, and lecturers. Due to this, learning success in those settings may suffer. Inspired by current technological advances, we transfer the concept of chatbots to formal educational settings to support not only a single task but a full lecture period. Grounded on an expert workshop and prior research, we design a natural language-based digital tutor acting as an intermediary among students, teaching assistants, and lecturers. The aim of the digital tutor is to support learners automated during the lecture period in natural language-based chat conversations. We implement a digital tutor in an iterative design process and evaluate it extensively in a large-scale field setting. The results demonstrate the applicability and beneficial support of introducing digital tutors as intermediaries in formal education. Our study proposes the concept of using digital tutors as intermediaries and documents the development and underlying principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor performance of lecturers in Nigerian Polytechnics warrants independent research on lecturers' job performance, given that the poor performance has seriously affected educational development in the country. Substantial evidence from the extant literature has highlighted that high-performance work practices are significant predictors and drivers of enhanced performance. Also, the functionality of high-performance work practices is context-dependent. Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of high-performance work practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, and employee involvement) on lecturers' performance in the context of Nigerian polytechnics. It also examines the moderating role of working conditions in the high-performance work practices' relationship with lecturers' performance. Data were obtained from 539 academics in the North-west Nigerian polytechnics. The overall findings indicate that training and development and employee involvement are significant predictors of enhanced lecturers' performance, and working condition strengthens the recruitment and selection–performance connection and employee involvement–performance relationship. This implies that the link between HR practices and enhanced performance could be affected by the environment within which organizations operate. The present study focused mainly on teaching staff from the polytechnics located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Thus, other geopolitical zones and non-teaching staff from various polytechnics could be studied further by future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using self-paced reading, the present study compared native English and adult L1-Korean–L2-English speakers' processing behaviors during online comprehension of underinformative scalar sentences and non-scalar sentences like Some/All elephants have trunks and ears. Results indicate that native speakers showed online sensitivity (i.e. slower reading) to underinformative scalar sentences relative to non-scalar sentences, but second language (L2) speakers did not. These results are interpreted in support of the Relevance Theory claim that scalar implicature generation is modulated by contextual and individual factors, in particular by the language condition, that is, whether sentences are presented in L1-English versus L2-English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been an important focus and a common goal for all humanity. Degradation of nature is a concern and responsibility for all areas of life, including education, which is a fundamental factor in developing the quality of human life. In this regard, the aim of this research is to provide some ideas for Christian Religious Education (CRE) at the higher education level in supporting the achievement of the SDGs. This research was conducted by in a qualitative descriptive method. As findings, it is found that the contribution of CRE can be made through Student Centered Learning approach, Inquiry model - problem based learning. This approach is carried out through learning practical matters with stages of achieving targets, which are referred to as the 4A cycle model (Awareness, Action Plan, Actualization and Assimilation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem Based Learning is one of the learning models where in the process provides training and development of authentic problems from students' actual lives in order to stimulate highlevel abilities. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of lecturers as tutors in the implementation of problem-based learning. The research method carried out in this study is descriptive with a cross-sectional research design. The data collection tool used in this study was obtained from the results of questionnaires. The data that has been obtained is then processed and converted into a tabular form, which will then be processed using statistical programs or SPSS 16 applications. The results show that the role of lecturers as tutors in the implementation of problem-based learning at the Faculty of Medicine is in the good category, which means that their role is very important in the implementation of PBL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numbers of online postgraduate coursework students are increasing within higher education and this raises questions of identity – what being a student means to this more mature cohort. This in-depth qualitative investigation explores postgraduate student identities within online learning. We conducted interviews (14) and collected completed longitudinal audio diaries from students (3) enrolled in a range of postgraduate programs. We interpreted two social imaginaries or 'figured worlds' that describe participants' sense of who they ought to be. The life-on-campus figured world projected a 'traditional' student who read textbooks, inhabits classrooms and talks with lecturers. Alternatively, my-time-and-screen figured world projected a technologically-enabled student whose world is mediated by software, devices, their own spaces and a sense of self-sufficiency. These insights afford new ways of thinking about the diversity of the student cohort and how course designs might accommodate the multiplicity of ways online postgraduate students view themselves and their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study investigated the effects of value-based leadership and growth mindset on the intrinsic work motivation of Chinese lecturers. In addition, this study used age as a categorical moderator to investigate generational differences between the effects of Millennials and their predecessors. A sample of 518 lecturers from various Chinese universities was used to collect data, and SEM-PLS was used to analyse the data. The results showed that value-based leadership and growth mindset had a significant positive impact on both younger and older lecturers' intrinsic work motivation, with the effect of value-based leadership on younger lecturers' intrinsic motivation being significantly stronger than on older lecturers' intrinsic motivation, whereas the effect of growth mindset on intrinsic work motivation did not differ significantly between the younger and older groups. This study contributes to the existing research literature by contrasting the value-based leadership and growth mindset in relation to lecturers' intrinsic work motivation across younger and older groups in Chinese higher education settings, where greater heterogeneity between age groups was identified. The findings also provided university administrators with recommendations for boosting the intrinsic work motivation of lecturers, influencing future education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity management is a core priority in the definition of international education policies, and educational inclusion is a strategic indicator of quality and excellence. As a contribution to improving educational inclusion in higher education, this study seeks to map out the opinions and positions expressed by university lecturers regarding their teaching action in the classroom with respect to educational diversity and inclusion. To this end, qualitative research was designed and developed in eight Spanish public universities. A total of 17 interviews and eight focus group were held, analysing and interpreting the output by means of mixed deductive and emerging thematic analysis. Findings indicate two stances or positions expressed, identified as conventional logic and critical logic, which point to different conceptions of diversity held by the lecturers, the purpose of inclusion in university and its justification, the difficulties they encounter and their proposals for improvement. Global integrated approaches are necessary for the institutionalization of inclusion, despite conceptual confusion, poor training and institutional difficulties encountered by teachers in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experiences of international staff in Egypt and Trinidad who undertook a UK-based teaching development course provided by the London University who were validating and franchising the offshore courses they taught. Such transnational education (TNE) is a significant but under-researched area of Higher Education and continuing professional development opportunities for TNE teachers have been limited. Participants shared insights into transmissive and transformational aspects of the course, revealing the complex interplay between individual and cultural assumptions critiqued here through a neo-colonial lens. We draw implications from our data for academic developers in general and, in particular, for those working in international and intercultural partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the way in which detailed data about how time is spent on classroom activities, generated by the FILL+ tool (Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures), can stimulate professional conversations about teaching practices and aid reflection for STEMM lecturers. The lecturers felt that personalised data provided an unbiased view of the lecture, overcoming the difficulty of relying on their memory alone. They indicated that this approach would help them to reflect on their teaching, particularly when the data was surprising, and many felt that it would encourage them to make changes to their teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of the present study was the multicentric assessment of the virtual prosthetic case planning environment (VCPE), which relocates patient planning into the virtual space in dental education. Materials and Methods: The VCPE is separated into two rooms: a virtual entry area where the user can choose between 10 different prosthetic case plans of ascending complexity, and a virtual patient case planning room. In spring term 2022, the use of virtual case planning was voluntarily assessed in four different German dental schools (DSs) from the perspective of both lecturers and students. The assessment was performed afterwards using a questionnaire. Data were analysed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, exploratory data analysis, Fisher–Freeman–Halton test, and exact Fisher test. Reliability was assessed with Cronbach Alpha test (α < 0.05). Results: A total of 59 lecturers and 63 students were included. There were 38.5% male, 60.7% female, and 0.8% diverse participants. The mean age of the lecturers was 36.2 ± 9.0 years and of the students 24.3 ± 3.0 years. The VCPE was assessed as good, yet the evaluations between either the DSs or between the lecturers and students were significantly different. Conclusions: Even though for some assessment criteria significantly different results between the four DS were observed, the majority of participants evaluated the VCPE positively and recommended them for teaching. The virtual reality as a teaching method for teaching prosthetic case planning for the further preparation of the students for the later professional life can be considered as helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors' rebuttal letters (ARLs) in response to journal reviewers critically affect whether a paper is accepted or rejected. However, the genre is traditionally "occluded" from the public view, and its linguistic or rhetorical features are seldom examined in the literature. Using Hyland's (2005) model, this study analyzes stance markers, i.e., expressions of the speaker's attitudes towards or commitment concerning a proposition, in 50 ARLs from five high-impact Nature Portfolio journals, which started publishing ARLs as supplements to manuscripts in 2020. The analysis shows that authors' stance deployment differs markedly between different sections of the ARL, i.e., Opening Statement, Point-by-Point Response, Additional Changes, and Closing Remarks. Attitude markers, boosters, and self-mentions are more frequent in ARLs than in research articles, serving to advocate the paper, highlight improvements, and show gratitude towards reviewers. Only 6 % ARLs fully accommodate all reviewer suggestions. When rejecting a criticism, authors rarely express total disagreement with reviewers, choosing instead to hedge the No Revision claims, use expressions of agreement and gratitude as buffers, and boost positive aspects of the paper. Findings of this study may be of interest to those who seek a better understanding of the language of ARLs, including ESP teachers and novice researchers. • 94 % authors' rebuttal letters (ARLs) contain No/Partial Revision responses. • Replies to criticisms contain fewer self-mentions than replies to positive comments. • Attitude markers showing gratitude and merits of paper are common throughout ARLs. • Hedging is most prevalent in No Revision responses, serving to soften disagreement. • Boosters reinforce self-praise, especially in No/Partial Revision responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific research is the important task of lecturers in universities. However, university lecturers often struggle to balance research and teaching and focus more on teaching than research. In addition, the motivation for lecturers to do research is a little. This article surveys lecturers at some universities in Vietnam to find the factors that motivate lecturers to do science. The motivating factors include intrinsic factors (creativity, passion...), extrinsic factors (financial, promotion ...), and barriers to the scientific research activities of lecturers. Research results show that intrinsic and extrinsic factors positively impact the scientific research activities of lecturers, and the barrier factors negatively affect the research activities of lectures. Based on the research results, the authors make some suggestions to strengthen further the research activities of lecturers at universities in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first article in a series of six inspired by themes arising from the Royal College of Midwives' State of Midwifery Education report. These articles will explore the current landscape and challenges in educating the future midwifery workforce, particularly those that pertain to the higher education workforce. This first article introduces the concept of a profession using sociological theories. It considers who we are individually, as authors, academics and midwives, and collectively considers our identity as a profession alongside those whom we teach. The aim is to ensure that staff and students are supported to succeed and thrive. Education can transform lives, so that current and future midwives can make a difference in providing safe, compassionate care for service users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid transformation of English linguistic landscapes has introduced the world to newly emerging English varieties or World Englishes, which are not typically employed in the Inner Circle. To address the defying phenomenon, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of Thai university lecturers on World Englishes, Thai English and the feasibility of implementing World Englishes and Thai English in the classrooms. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 15 English lecturers in 5 universities across the Thai regions. Analyzed by content analysis, findings revealed that the participants demonstrated mixed perceptions. While most of the participants viewed British and American Englishes as representations of standard English varieties and questioned the legitimacy of World Englishes and Thai English, others reportedly recognized and accepted the existence of World Englishes and considered Thai English as a tool to convey Thai identities and cultures. The findings also indicated that most participants outright disapproved of World Englishes and Thai English in teaching practices, and these varieties were substantially marginalized and devalued. However, to prepare learners for realistic use of English and increase their awareness of World Englishes and Thai English, the remaining participants suggested that English language teaching should embrace flexible linguistic conventions that allow spaces for Inner Circle, Outer Circle and Expanding Circle Englishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, organizational affective commitment is still one of the important issues in higher education. The issue of affective commitment in universities, especially in private universities, especially those based on certain religious values is still open. Previous research has shown that affective commitment can be explained in a variety of ways according to the context of the theoretical approach, cultural context and type of organization. Research exploring the role of psycap and authentic leadership in relation to affective commitment in the APTIK (Association of Catholic Colleges) environment could be one alternative. With a personal approach and value in mind, authentic psychology and leadership can be placed as important issues in influencing affective commitment. In today's complex and fast-moving organizations, affective commitment behavior is critical to organizational success. Psycap and authentic leadership proved to be strong predictors of affective commitment, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to examine the effect of psycap on the affective commitment of lecturers, where authentic leadership as the mediator. This research is a quantitative research involving 401 lecturers in Indonesia as research subjects. The results of this study show that authentic leadership partially mediates the influence of psycap on the affective commitment of APTIK lecturers. Increasing psycap will increase affective commitment both directly and through increasing the authentic leadership of lecturers. The results of this research can be used by government managers and universities as consideration for evaluating development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy implementation is crucial because if the policy is not implemented as planned, the policy objectives will not be achieved, and the whole policymaking process can be considered a total waste of time, energy, and resources. Regarding the essential nature of policy implementation, this study was focused on exploring factors hindering the effective implementation of the research policy in Cameroon universities. The study was guided by the following questions: (1) How do university lecturers perceive university research? (2) What do research administrators perceive as factors hindering the implementation of the research policy in universities? The sample population was made up of 60 lecturers and 20 research administrators. The findings revealed that the following factors are hindering the effective implementation of the research policy: lack of autonomy, failure to involve implementers in the policymaking process, inadequate resources, and inadequate monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, this study found that research findings are not implemented, lecturers are not satisfied with the extent to which research objectives have been achieved, and there is inadequate extrinsic motivation to engage in research activities. From the insightful findings, implications are given to enhance the implementation of the research policy in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred approach by using clinical scenario to achieve the learning objectives. This study aimed to determine the perception and attitude of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Maldives National University (MNU) undergraduate medical students and lecturers towards PBL in UKM curriculum. A cross-sectional study was conducted by using online selfadministered questionnaires based on a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaires were validated with Cronbach's alpha of 0.907 and 0.703 for students and lecturers respectively. A total of 179 UKM and 61 MNU students, and 67 UKM lecturers and 8 MNU lecturers were recruited in the study. 86.69% and 69.87% of students had positive scores in perception and attitude assessment respectively. However, no significant differences were observed in median and mean scores for perception and attitude between gender, university, year of study, and cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of the respondents. For lecturers, 63.62% and 85.83% had positive scores for perception and attitude respectively. The attitude score among MNU lecturers was significantly higher than UKM lecturers. In conclusion, both students and lecturers showed positive perceptions and attitudes towards PBL of the UKM curriculum which gave benefits and contribution in enhancing knowledge, learning and soft skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of English medium instruction (EMI) across the globe has led to a growing number of non-native lecturers teaching in English to student populations that are increasingly international. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent lecturers with slight or moderate Dutch accents or native British English accents are evaluated differently in terms of intelligibility, comprehensibility and attitudinal impressions by non-native and native English-speaking listeners. In an experiment, 189 Dutch listeners, 175 international non-native listeners and 158 native English listeners evaluated fragments recorded by moderately accented Dutch, slightly accented Dutch and native English speakers. Findings showed that the moderately non-native accented lecturers were evaluated more negatively than lecturers with slight or native accents by both Dutch and international non-native listeners, but not by native English listeners. This suggests that non-native listeners evaluate the accents of non-native lecturers according to native speaker pronunciation norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a collaborative research project with students and lecturers that explored the integration of technology to enhance accessibility and inclusion in fieldwork education. The project set out to involve students as co-researchers to broaden the insights of the research team, and purposely included the diverse perspectives and experiences of students and lecturers with physical-mobility disabilities. Through analysing three critical incidents from two residential field trips, we developed a set of practical recommendations for using technology to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities in field courses. Reflecting on this study and the process of engaging with students as co-researchers, we offer recommendations for implementing equitable and inclusive fieldwork and working collaboratively with students to develop inclusive field experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Formative assessment refers to frequent evaluation of student attainment to identify learning needs. It is crucial for the development of soft skills and improvement in learning progress in the classroom. However, the practice is still lacking and undervalued in medical education. This study aims to determine the level of beliefs and perceived practices of formative assessment among lecturers teaching undergraduate medical programme in a Malaysian university. Methods: A self-administered 27-item questionnaire was distributed to 62 lecturers in a medical school in Selangor, Malaysia. They were required to indicate their agreement and frequency on each item that describes their beliefs on the importance and practice of formative assessment in the medical programme. All data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 26. Results: Majority of the respondents indicated that the assessment was conducted frequently during small group sessions (64.5%), through written examination (59.7%) and during practical classes (53.2%). The respondents rated positively on the importance and practice of formative assessment. The score of formative assessment practice through scaffolding was significantly higher than monitoring (Z = 944.5, p < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between beliefs and practice of formative assessment (r(62) = 0.213, p = 0.097). Additionally, the duration of service had no significant association with their perception and practice of formative assessment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that regardless of their level of experience, lecturers exhibited a positive perception of and engagement with formative assessment in training medical students. A substantial improvement of peer and self-assessment practices is warranted to foster student autonomy and accountability on their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the middle-distance look of ratified unaddressed participants and the way in which it is sequentially organized in relation to the discursive conducts of current speaker. An analysis of naturally occurring video recorded discourse reveals that ratified unaddressed participants constitute themselves as non-recipients by employing middle-distance look. The article formulates a list of observations (missing in the literature) regarding the middle-distance look of ratified unaddressed participants. It raises questions which may generate knowledge on (a) the connection between middle-distance look and discursive ambiguity, (b) types of middle-distance look, (c) middle distance look as related to seating arrangements and group size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish UK Physiotherapy lecturers' perceptions of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional mixed methods electronic survey of UK higher education lecturers, actively teaching pre-registration undergraduate or postgraduate physiotherapy degrees, was conducted between October 2020 and February 2021. Data was converted into proportions with a 95% confidence interval. Likert scale questions were treated as numeric variables with the mean and standard deviation calculated for combined responses. The thematic analysis reported patterns of data extracted from open-ended questions. 96 respondents completed the survey, reporting some positive attributes attached to online learning. 81% (n = 78, 95% CI 72–88) agreed that students developed their digital skills and were able to learn conveniently at their own pace (n = 75, 78%, 95% CI 69–85). However, 62.5% (n = 60, 95% CI 23–72) of respondents felt that students were overall disadvantaged with online learning, with 72% (n = 69, 95% CI 62–80) reporting that online learning was not comparable to face-to-face to teaching. The reasons for perceived student disadvantage were categorised into three themes; 1) a lack of ability in sessions to practice handling techniques, 2) the inability to gauge student understanding and check practical skill competence and 3) the lack of student self-directed practice time. UK physiotherapy lecturers did indicate they would continue to incorporate online learning in the future (n = 84, 87.5%, 95% CI 79–93). Such responses were based on two key themes; an improved work-life balance and the perception that online learning was no more challenging than traditional on-campus delivery. UK physiotherapy lecturers reported that students were disadvantaged with online learning delivery compared to face-to-face teaching. Lecturers indicated a willingness to continue with aspects of online learning across the curriculum, despite suggesting it had a negative impact on students subject understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing competition among higher education institutions (HEIs) explains their increasing interest in reinforcing strategies by incorporating knowledge transfer (KT) objectives into their strategic plans. However, this strategic formulation must be aligned with the implementation of performance management systems (PMSs) to properly achieve KT objectives. Thus, the aim of this paper is to examine whether aligning PMSs with KT strategic objectives improves KT performance while misalignment worsens it. To that end, PMSs are measured with respect to planning; cybernetic control; policies and procedures and reward and compensation elements. KT is specified as R&D contracts, extended patents, patents and licences. With a sample of 3812 Spanish university lecturers, we test the theoretical positive and negative effects of PMS–KT strategy alignment and misalignment on KT performance respectively. The results show not only that this alignment is effective for KT strategy implementation but also that misalignment has unintended effects on the achievement of long‐term KT objectives. Therefore, lecturers' behaviour is influenced by how closely KT strategy and PMSs are aligned. The findings are useful for managers and academics to develop PMSs that effectively contribute to the achievement of universities' strategic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships: Emerging Families in Ireland and Beyond" by Brian Tobin is an insightful book that examines the evolution of legal recognition for same-sex relationships in Ireland, drawing comparisons with other common law jurisdictions. The book explores the question of how to best progress rights and recognition for non-traditional relationships and family forms. It analyzes the legal context, the role of courts, and the legislative and social factors that have influenced the recognition of same-sex relationships in Ireland. The book also discusses the challenges and limitations in achieving legal intervention and highlights the importance of understanding these complexities in debates surrounding same-sex relationships and parental rights. [Extracted from the article]

Mental health is an essential element in ensuring the well-being of everyone. A career as a young lecturer in a university is no exception when it comes to dealing with work stress, especially in a research university. Work stress has both direct and indirect effects on their mental health. This study aims to measure the extent of psychological stress levels among young lecturers and its relationship with their mental health. A total of 100 young lecturers participated in this study, using a quantitative questionnaire survey method. The study found that two-thirds of the respondents experienced high levels of psychological pressure. Nearly half of the respondents reported having a low level of mental health. Regarding mental health subscales, 51 percent of the respondents exhibited a high level of anxiety, 23 percent showed a high level of depression, 44 percent displayed low levels of behavioral control, and 58 percent had a low sense of positive wellbeing. There is a significant correlation between the degree of psychological distress and mental health, but only the sub-scales of anxiety, behavior control, and positive affect showed a significant relationship with psychological distress at p < 0.05. In conclusion, the findings of this study are expected to assist university management in implementing intervention programs in research universities. These programs can reduce psychological distress and improve the mental health of young lecturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes have been mushrooming in the last two decades as part of the internationalisation processes. However, the rapid implementation of EMI has outpaced research in many different areas, classroom interaction being one of them. Since classroom interaction is an indication of quality teaching, the analysis of the use of questions made by EMI lecturers needs to be carefully examined. Questioning practices, however, may be determined not only by the use of English as means of instruction but also by the discipline. In this study, we intend to analyse whether the questioning practices of university lecturers from different disciplines differ both in the number and the type of questions asked. Thirty-six lectures from history, engineering and economics at various Spanish universities were recorded and transcribed verbatim, to later on undertake the analysis of the questions made. The findings revealed that questions were not very frequent in class, and that there was no statistically significant difference between disciplines. As for the type of questions asked, confirmation check questions were by far the most common, followed by display, referential and self-answered questions in the three disciplines. Based on these results, some pedagogical implications are drawn with a view to fostering more interactive lectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of the mentor lecturer in the development of the Professional Teacher Identity (PTI) of 838 fourth-year pre-service teachers while doing Work Integrated Learning at a South African University. The students reflected in group workshops on the role of the mentoring they received in their PTI development. In this qualitative, descriptive case study, a document analysis was conducted on transcriptions of the posters that the groups created. The results showed that the mentor lecturers ranked sixth out of nine as influencers of the students' PTI development. The students felt misunderstood and unsupported. There are three possible interpretations of this finding: the role of the mentor lecturer is an unnecessary and unwanted feature of the teacher training programme, the mentor lecturer is not meeting the needs of the student, or the millennial generation into which this sample fits is not open to critical self-reflection and critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demands on lecturers in higher education to select, structure, and contextualise relevant and up-to-date resources for their students have increased; behaviour that is often referred to as curation. Currently, systematic insight into lecturers' curational behaviour is limited. This scoping literature review provides an overview of the existing body of knowledge regarding lecturers' curational behaviour. Twenty-four articles were selected and analysed, using the framework of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour). Findings show that although studies can be linked to elements of the TPB, current research does not approach curational behaviour as an interconnected process of behaviour and its intentions. Additionally, current research mainly focusses on selection of resources; other elements of curation such as structuring resources and providing context are overlooked. More knowledge of lecturers' curational behaviour could lead to better understanding of how lecturers' curation could be supported, which could improve the quality of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the use of podcasts featuring World English (WE) speakers in other contexts where the native speaker model continues to hold power. Topics discussed include student response to the use of podcasts and recommendations based on experiences including orienting students to the purpose of listening to diverse WE speakers, finding materials that include content related to students' lives, and encouraging the use of materials which offer exposure to new cultures.

Kindness signifies a way of behaving towards other individuals. Kindness is a desirable and admired conduct of schoolteachers but is less expected in higher education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, on-campus learning shifted completely to online learning settings, requiring lecturers to adopt behaviours that may not have been part of their previous routine. Although lecturers' kindness is linked to students' satisfaction, perseverance, and outcomes, there is a dearth of research concerning the kindness of higher education lecturers teaching online. Thus, the current study uncovered how students perceived lecturers' kindness in online learning. Sixty-five students responded to a survey containing both closed and open-ended questions. Content analysis showed that lecturers' kindness in online learning is perceived as mostly different from kindness on-campus, necessitating consideration of students' situational and technological difficulties. Moreover, kindness was perceived as responsive to students in three components: availability, accessibility, and flexibility. Conceptualising kindness in online learning settings can improve lecturers' online teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 had an unprecedented impact on daily living and resulted in many restrictions across all areas of life. Consequently, educational establishments in the UK adapted teaching delivery by moving to online or blended learning during the main 'stay at home' phase and many remained online as ongoing restrictions were announced. Many changes made during this period such as a move to online learning are likely to remain, in some capacity, as we emerge from the pandemic. The aim of this study was to explore student engagement with online and blended learning in a Higher Education (HE) institution using a mixed methods approach. One hundred and eighty-two HE sport students completed an online survey and a total of twenty one HE students took part in a series of online focus groups to gain a unique insight into how the move to online learning affected engagement from the student perspective. The findings indicated that although most students engaged with the online materials, many had a perceived negative experience. Students in general would not recommend online delivery to others and an overwhelming majority felt disadvantaged in terms of motivation and lack of community by moving to online learning. There was some positive feedback around the use of some technological tools to facilitate answering questions as well as use of online lectures for delivering content driven sessions. Our results clearly demonstrate that that a one size fits all approach is not appropriate when it comes to online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak forced all universities to demand that lecturers move their services fully online and use video conferencing technology (VCT) to supplement learning management systems for online learning (e-learning). They were not given any framework prior to this request, nor sufficient training. This qualitative interpretive case study explores lecturers' reflections on the use of Zoom VCT for e-learning at a South African university during the lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. Eight out of 15 lecturers from a teacher education programme were asked to complete e-reflexive activities and one-on-one semi-structured Zoom interviews. Data were thematically analysed, and the theoretical framework of connectivism was used for guidance. Lecturers found the Zoom VCT to be a useful platform to enhance effective and synchronous e-learning. However, they were battling to address Zoom digital fatigue, promote autonomy, and enhance emotional connectedness. This study provides practical and theoretical interventions to enable university lecturers to cross boundaries of Zoom system feature challenges in order affect e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central aim of university teaching is to transform students' conceptual understanding of disciplinary knowledge. In order to achieve this, lecturers make decisions on subject matter and teaching approaches. However, there seems to be little attention for the role of subject matter pedagogy in university teaching. This study aims to explore a knowledge base of teaching through lecturers' accounts of a relation between subject matter, theory and practice in Child and Education Studies (CES). Four narratives of the lecturers suggest that subject matter is central to how a relation between theory and practice is taught. At the same time, orientation towards teaching was relevant to teaching subject matter. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that every lecture runs into their own limits when teaching theory and practice. The findings suggest that university pedagogy is informed by specific subjects rather than the discipline. Implications for teaching and academic development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic context of Romanian higher education music lecturers has not yet completely overcome the influence of the socio-political scenario from before the fall of the communist system. This contributes to the international isolation of Rumaniańs higher music education, marginalising its institutions from the European Higher Education Area. This paper presents a study featuring the opinions of 470 Romanian university lecturers at eight higher institutions regarding the overall situation of higher music education. About seventy percent of participants stated that the current higher education system is worse than 30 years ago. A cluster analysis showed that the most important challenges facing the Romanian education system are insufficient funding and the need to promote more postgraduate studies. The situation described could be useful to revise the curriculum in order to align Romanian higher music education with the standards of the European Higher Education Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]