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Purpose: Educational technology ("EdTech") served a pivotal role in keeping schools functioning during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about EdTech leaders' roles in shaping this response. This study explores EdTech leaders' perspectives and backgrounds, their response to the pandemic, how they envision their roles as educators, and their perspectives about how technology facilitates educational innovation. Design/Approach/Methods: This study uses a qualitative, phenomenological approach to understand how 11 EdTech leaders experienced the pandemic. Participants were recruited for interviews in summer 2021 via purposive sampling to include diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Data were analyzed inductively. Findings: The findings show that a four-category typology can be used to describe EdTech leaders' diverse backgrounds and experiences. Leaders emphasized equity and open collaboration in their pandemic responses, by expanding access to their tools and adapting their products as users' needs evolved. EdTech leaders anticipate streamlined user experiences, improvements in online learning, and increased adoption of artificial intelligence and simulated learning environments. Originality/Value: This study addresses a gap in the research concerning EdTech leaders' perspectives on their efforts to support educators and their experiences during the pandemic. We hope this study sparks additional research on EdTech leaders' experiences and roles in education.

This research investigates the integration of Urban Environmental Quality, Materials and Resource Management, and Green and Sustainable Environment within the international maritime education framework at Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Pelayaran (STIP Jakarta/ Maritime Institute of Jakarta). The study explores cadet experiences in Nautical, Technical, and Port and Shipping Management Majors, analysing theoretical foundations, curriculum satisfaction, practical training, and the incorporation of Environmental Science elements. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, data is gathered through document analysis and self-reported reflections from 100 randomly selected cadets. The findings reveal distinct dynamics across majors, indicating a strong alignment between theoretical foundations and curriculum satisfaction. However, variations exist in the emphasis on practical training and the integration of Environmental Science elements. Port and Shipping Management Majors stand out with a notable commitment to sustainability principles, while Nautical and Technical Majors show potential areas for enhancement. The implications for future research underscore the need for ongoing refinements in curricula to address the evolving demands of the maritime industry. The study contributes to the scholarly discourse on international maritime education, providing insights for academic institutions to foster environmentally conscious and globally competent maritime professionals.

This research aims to create the 8+i link and match model as an embodiment of a healthy learning ecosystem between schools and the worlds of business and industry. The research technique is a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The qualitative technique develops a basic list of success characteristics using meta-ethnography, whereas the quantitative approach defines the link between the variables under examination by establishing or building many latent variables that explain the relationship between variables using Aiken's formula and SPSS version 26. The study's findings demonstrate the success of the 8+i link and match model between Muhammadiyah 1 Ciputat vocational high school/"Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK)" Muhammadiyah 1 Ciputat and industry in generating efficiency and mutual benefits for both parties, not just ordinary collaboration, but intense collaboration from the curriculum development, learning, and industrial work practices designed collaboratively. The Implication of the 8+i link and match model if correctly implemented is that the industry will profit because the training expenses is reduced, and vocational high schools will benefit because their graduates is absorbed by the industry. Recommendations for the vocational high school curriculum must include schools, and industry, also Teaching personnel must include practitioners from industry as well as instructors from schools.

Growing concerns about the employability of science graduates has led most Australian higher education providers to incorporate work-integrated learning (WIL) into their science curricula. Project-based learning (PjBL) is a student-centred approach to learning that focuses on the application of discipline specific skills and knowledge in real-world contexts. While a large body of research exists exploring PjBL frameworks and theories related to student experience, research into industry perspectives and viewpoints is limited. This study aimed to determine the views of industry professionals on PjBL as a form of WIL, and to ascertain whether industry professionals consider PjBL effective for the development of desirable graduate skills. The perspectives of industry partners were canvased through a mixed-methods approach comprising surveys and interviews. Participants (n=18) were asked to indicate their opinions regarding development of graduate skills through PjBL generally and in relation to two authentic examples of PjBL in WIL. The results of this study indicate that industry partners preferred longer-term, workplace-integrated industry projects for developing graduate skills and preparing graduates for the workforce. Industry partners interviewed generally exhibited positive views of PjBL, identifying students' attitudes and communication skills as beneficial factors. Some industry partners indicated current graduate programs where insufficient in preparing students for employment. These results highlight the importance workplace integration in successful implementation of PjBL as a form of WIL, and the need for stronger collaboration between employers and academia to correct the current misalignment between graduate skills and industry requirements.

As markets are changing in the beef industry, producers are seeking new opportunities for value-added beef production. A select group of beef industry experts and experienced beef producers have come to consensus regarding challenges that producers face in the current marketplace. They identified competencies that would be a positive addition to a value-added beef Extension program. Competencies and challenges were organized to enable Extension specialists to create a new Extension program framework. [Note: The issue number (1) shown in the article header on the PDF is incorrect. The correct issue number is 2.]

There is a strong need to increase the opportunities for and success of the next generation of beef cattle producers. South Dakota State University Extension provides a 2-year educational program called "beefSD;" the purpose is to provide producers with a holistic view of the beef industry, an appreciation for utilizing adaptive management to respond to challenges and opportunities, and skills to assess and manage factors that influence overall operation sustainability. The curriculum has four major components: (1) in person workshops, case studies, interactive webinars, and homework (2) out-of-state learning experiences, (3) ranch to rail program, and (4) networking and mentoring.

Technical and vocational education training (TVET) is an education and training process with a strong emphasis on industry practices that aims to generate competent workers in particular fields. Collaboration with industry in TVET has the potential to improve the quality and relevance of TVET programmes and equip students with the practical skills and knowledge demanded by employers. Thus, there is a need for a complete bibliometric study of research linked to collaboration between TVET and industry, despite the fact that the number of studies in this field continues to increase. The bibliometric analysis in this research which was extracted from Web of Science database is analyze using VOSviewer. The research conducted a descriptive analysis of the publication number trends, the top authors and leading journals in this field. Next, the researcher also analyzed the co authorship based on authors and countries, research trends, citation and keywords analysis as well as co citation analysis. The article found that most of the articles in this field are published by authors from developed countries where the majority is from the United States. Other than that, the recent research hotspot were also identified indicating the future direction of the research in this field.

The objective of this study is to examine and assess the progress of utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching factory learning to enhance the digital skills of vocational high school (SMK) students in the province of Central Java. This study employed a qualitative approach utilizing meta-ethnography, as well as a quantitative approach employing Aiken's V formula and strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analysis to identify and analyze the issues that arise. The present study examines the locations of SMKN 2 Purbalingga and SMKS Telkom in Central Java. Furthermore, relevant documentation was also utilized as a source of data. The research findings indicate that the implementation of AI in teaching manufacturing learning has effectively facilitated the development of an online learning management system. This system is characterized by its organized and integrated approach inside the online learning management system. The administration of teaching materials may be conducted autonomously and facilitated by the utilization of diverse information and communication technology or e-learning functionalities, including chat, email, blogs, and social media platforms. The creation of new enterprises within the domain of AI. It is imperative for educational institutions to align their policies with the demands and requirements of the business.

As video games have evolved, they have emerged as useful tools in areas such as education, tackling global issues through their storylines and mechanics. However, never in the history of video games, not even today, has there been parity in the proportion of women directly employed in the development of video games. This paper is part of a broader research project undertaken in the context of a doctoral thesis within the framework of the R+D+I project 'Building global citizenship with young people: researching transformative practices with participatory and inclusive methodologies'. It provides a historical perspective on video games and their place in culture and society, and attempts to outline a brief genealogy of the contributions of pioneering women in the video game industry. Recognising the work of women and addressing gender representation in video games is now a matter of great importance. Current trends in the video game industry reflect the impact of the pandemic on video game consumption habits, its expected continued growth in the future and its relationship with the development of virtual and augmented reality. Video games are therefore likely to remain an important part of culture and society in the future, with an ever-increasing role in education. It is therefore imperative to showcase the achievements of women in the video game industry, to highlight inequalities and to provide girls with genuine role models.

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of knowledge and skills related to food decoration, and to identify consistent study activities for each academic year in the food service industry's student program through correspondence analysis. The population was 304 people. The results demonstrated a high level of knowledge and behavioral learning in the area of artistic skills. An analysis of the correlation between the academic year and activities aimed at enhancing knowledge, skills, and creativity in the art of food decoration revealed that the 1styear students engaged in activities related to analyzing food decoration design, the 2nd year students focused on the fundamentals of food decoration, the 3rd year students explored visual elements and art principles in food design and decoration, and the 4th year students assessed their ability to design food decorations before class. Activities to enhance art skills involved 1st year students participating in exhibitions, 2nd year students participating in artificial decoration activities, and 3rd and 4th year students participating in culinary workshops and learning about food decoration techniques. Activities to enhance creativity involved the 1st and 2nd students creating images from points, the 3rd students participating in art camp activities, and the 4th students learning how to add value to food through plating and photography

Higher education plays a vital role in developing lifelong core competencies that empower graduates to thrive amidst technological and economic disruptions. This article proposes that higher cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and digital literacy are key competencies that promote transferable skills applicable across diverse industries and markets. It provides recommendations for how the higher education community can strategically cultivate these timeless yet critical competencies while also leveraging innovations like artificial intelligence (AI). The University of Louisiana System's core competencies initiative demonstrates a framework outlining essential skills for lifelong success. As jobs rapidly evolve with advancing AI, adaptability becomes key, and core competencies ready graduates for new challenges by developing transportable human strengths. By upholding core competencies while innovating, higher education can fulfill its vital purpose of empowering students to define their own success despite disruption.

As China's economy and culture become increasingly globalized and open to exchange, students' aesthetic views have revealed potential danger signals during the evolution of civilization, sometimes manifesting as deliberate neglect and challenge to righteous culture. This study focuses on the issues faced by contemporary aesthetic education for students, particularly the oversight by teachers during lesson preparation in identifying learning materials that are both engaging for students and have experiential educational value. Based on the immersive learning characteristics of intuitive experiential education, the study employs an exploratory case study method, utilizing the industrial heritage cultural landscape of Fanshan Town in Anhui, China, as a tool and resource for students' aesthetic education. It constructs a knowledge system of alum culture landscape aesthetic literacy, grounded in the thought of "Harmony between Man and Nature", centered on the elements of contemporary students' aesthetic literacy. The findings indicate that the cultural landscape of the alum industrial heritage situates the construction of the aesthetic literacy knowledge system within a broader and more credible temporal and spatial context. This provides high-quality learning materials for the experiential teaching process, helping students draw lessons from historical reflection and enrich their aesthetic cultural literacy.

The study aims to achieve three primary objectives: (1) To identify essential components for developing an instructional package aimed at enhancing English proficiency among individuals working in the Thai music industry; (2) To design an instructional package specifically tailored to improve the English proficiency of personnel in the Thai music industry; and (3) To implement the developed instructional package and assess its effectiveness in advancing English proficiency among music industry personnel. Employing the principles in developing an ESP course, the study comprises three phases: need analysis, instructional package development, and implementation. The need analysis phase involved surveying 150 individuals employed in the Thai music industry using a structured questionnaire. The instructional package development phase enlisted the expertise of five experts to evaluate the instructional model. Finally, phase three involved administering a pre-posttest study with 30 music professionals. The results highlight the successful creation of an English instructional package based on communicative language teaching (CLT) principles, leading to significant enhancements in participants' English proficiency. The study's significance lies in its identification of English language development needs within the music profession and its provision of a practical methodology for designing specialized English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses tailored to the unique requirements of music professionals.

This article explores the rise of digitalisation in Australian higher education and its impact on learning and teaching, administration, and regulatory obligations. This digitalisation can be epitomised by the prevalence of learning management systems (LMS) which have reshaped the conduct and configuration of education. As universities have embraced the LMS, as forced by the pandemic, the confluence of disruptive digitalisation combined with globalisation, regulatory reforms, and shifts in government funding models have seen the Australian higher education sector in constant evolution. This article contextualises the impacts of digitalisation using the lens of neoliberalism and globalisation, with past, current, and future state considerations in the sector. It includes a case study from a large metropolitan Australian university with a signature pedagogy of industry-partnered and flexible learning to consider how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Australia must continue to evolve in identity and provision of learning to serve social interests for the future in digitalised contexts.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of short virtual reality (VR) exercises on knowledge retention for adult learners at a contractor safety training organisation supporting the energy industry who took computer-based training (CBT) courses. The intent was to simulate a delay period similar to that experienced by contractors who support work in the energy industry to determine if traditional CBT can be made more effective for stimulating greater transfer of learning with the addition of VR exercises. The experimental group was exposed to CBTs augmented by VR exercises that reinforced the CBT course learning objectives. The control group for this research took the same CBT course without short VR exercises. A quantitative analysis was performed on data collected from a course exam provided immediately after the course delivery and from a separate follow-up quiz delivered 3 days after the course(s) completion. Data from these testing instruments were analysed to determine the participant's likelihood of remembering content from the CBT courses and if there was greater knowledge retention of the course learning objectives and procedures within the experimental group than within the control group. The results found a non-statistically significant relationship between the two groups; however, trends between the groups show that there are benefits for transfer of learning when using short VR exercises compared to those groups without short VR exercises.

The professional work of today's agricultural and forestry engineers is changing dramatically under the impact of the 4th industrial revolution. In that context, the competence to apply information technology (IT) is one of the core and significant competencies. Therefore, in order for training products to meet the needs of society, one of the problems that training facility for agriculture and forestry industry need to solve is to clearly identify the basic requirements for agro-forestry graduates to meet the basic requirements of IT application competence. Based on theoretical and practical research on the IT application competence of each job position and the trend of employment change in the 4.0 period, the article presents the levels of IT application competence in the agro-forestry industry. On the basis of test results and opinions of experts and employers, the article has proposed the components and required levels of IT application competence for agro-forestry students. The research results, in addition to providing information on the current state of students' IT application competence, are also a good reference source for agro-forestry training institutions to set learning outcomes, develop training programs, and innovate new training methods to promptly provide high-quality human resources for the agroforestry industry in the context of the 4th industrial revolution.

The purpose of the study is to examine how Industry 4.0, and the digital environment, have together created a new situation for companies and universities in terms of soft skills for employability. While companies aim to introduce a new structure, universities try to align with these changes by developing new educational methods, curricula, and models. Many researches are focusing on -- rightfully so -- Industry 4.0 skills and competences to gain throughout higher education. However, we have shifted our research interest and asked students to what degree their university years added to their knowledge, self-management and skills. 147 engineering and technical manager students' responses from two faculties at Óbuda University, Hungary were analyzed to see their evaluations of the role of the university in the framework of Education 4.0, and their chances in the job market. Quantitative and CHAID analyses were used. Students' responses show significant differences between the two faculties regarding languages, teamwork, self-management and in the different order of the skills seen as most paramount to employability. Engineering students attach greater importance to field-relevant knowledge, while technical manager students find decision-making more useful. The research proved that Education 4.0 is here and Z generation studying at universities prefers problem-based learning, including creativity, analytical, and critical thinking while would like to have good communication skills. Universities need to adapt to these changes and integrate hard as well as soft skills development in tutoring. The importance of technical-IT knowledge is just as important as having interpersonal skills, excellence in problem-solving, so students need to be taught how to analyze problems, engage in scientific debate, or express themselves clearly as previous literature indicated.

For more than a decade, the Financial Technology (FinTech) industry has been growing, and it has reshaped how payments were made and brought new financial service products to the market. FinTech has created innovative disruptions to traditional, long-established financial institutions (e.g., banks and investment firms) in financial services markets. The worldwide blooming of FinTech has caused universities around the globe to teach their students (particularly those in the IT and finance disciplines) about practical and contemporary knowledge on FinTech. This paper discusses our recent survey study to investigate the status quo of offering FinTech education and training by Australian universities. Our study involved two rounds of online data collection (one in November 2021 and the other one in June 2022) from 41 sample universities in Australia. Among our various findings, we observed that, although Australian universities are increasingly aware of the importance of and the demand for FinTech studies, FinTech has still not yet become a mainstream study discipline. This observation indicates that, in Australia, FinTech studies have generally gone through the inception stage and entered the growth stage.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technologies, exemplified by systems including Open AI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing AI, and Google's Bard (now Gemini 1.5Pro), present both challenges and opportunities for the academic world. Higher education institutions are at the forefront of preparing students for this evolving landscape. This paper examines the current state of AI education in universities, highlighting current obstacles and proposing avenues of exploration for researchers. This paper recommends a holistic approach to AI integration across disciplines, fostering industry collaborations and emphasizing the ethical and social implications of AI. Higher education institutions are positioned to shape an educational environment attuned to the twenty-first century, preparing students to be informed and ethical contributors in the AI-driven world.

This study aims to explain the reasons for the difficulties in the implementation of Human Resources Management (HRM) in the Turkish education system by revealing the incompatibilities between them. A literature review and document analysis on official statistics, laws, and newspapers were conducted. First, we reviewed the implementation of HRM functions in Turkey. After that, we tried to reveal its basic features by examining the factors that led to the emergence of HRM in the historical process and the new forms it took over time. In addition, we examined the effects of neoliberal policies on the working conditions of teachers in public and private schools. We discussed the working conditions of teachers in public and private schools in Turkey separately. As a result of the review, we argue that acting in line with the efficiency/success target and the contradictions between Industrial Relations and HRM are among the main reasons for the incompatibility between the education system and HRM in Turkey.

COVID-19 challenges induced a U.S. meatpacking industry bottleneck. Ohio Extension identified the need and responded by creating a three-step hands-on training for teenage junior fair exhibitors. Ohio Extension Meat Scientist and graduate students assisted in demonstrating an on-farm hog harvest and processing event in collaboration with a local Extension office for 4-H and FFA teenagers. To add a practical perspective, a local hog-producing and harvesting family was asked to assist with the event. An online post-survey reflected 90-100% gains in five educational areas and 100% said they would a similar event in the future and recommend it to a friend.

This paper reviews cybersecurity laws and regulations in Cameroon, focusing on cybersecurity and information security audits and risk assessments. The importance of cybersecurity risk assessment and the implementation of security controls to cure deficiencies noted during risk assessments or audits is a critical step in developing cybersecurity resilience. Cameroon's cybersecurity legal framework provides for audits but does not explicitly enumerate controls. Consequently, integrating relevant controls from the NIST frameworks and ISO Standards can improve the cybersecurity posture in Cameroon while waiting for a comprehensive revision of the legal framework. NIST and ISO are internationally recognized as best practices in information security systems and cybersecurity risk management. This paper highlights the lack of specific international law provisions addressing cybersecurity audits and risk assessments. Overall, the paper highlights the importance of continuous risk assessment and monitoring, implementation of security controls, and compliance with organizational policies, relevant laws and regulations to ensure the adequate protection of information systems. Finally, the paper underscores the importance of improving Cameroon's cybersecurity regulations by integrating provisions from NIST and ISO.

Cyberbiosecurity and workforce development in agriculture and the life sciences (ALS) is a growing area of need in the curriculum in higher education. Students that pursue majors related to ALS often do not include training in cyber-related concepts or expose the 'hidden curriculum' of seeking internships and jobs. Exposing students through workforce development training and hands-on engagement with industry professionals can provide learning opportunities to bridge the two and is an area of growth and demand as the workforce evolves. The objectives of this work were (1) to learn key concepts in cybersecurity, including data security, visualization, and analysis, to name a few, through class activities and engagement with professional partners and (2) to understand what knowledge students gained from participating in the course could transfer over for when they enter the workforce. Three themes emerged from the study where students, through direct engagement with industry partners, gained more insight about the industry applicable to their studies; they established work environment expectations for entering internships and official job placements and established ways in which the workforce development training informed their future careers.

The use of educational technologies in schools is being reshaped by a new kind of intermediary organization that brokers relations between schools, academia, governance, and industry. In this article we define and examine 'edtech brokers' as organizations that operate between the edtech industry, public schools, research centers and governments, guiding schools in the procurement and pedagogical use of edtech. Edtech brokers have remained mostly unexplored despite their potential to redraw the boundaries between public education and the global edtech market. We claim that edtech brokers have become increasingly relevant in the past years, embedding new types of professionalities into education, and taking an active role in co-creating and updating schools' digital infrastructures, the evidence-making mechanisms around edtech, and the pedagogical practices around edtech. The article proposes three distinct categories of edtech brokers -- ambassador, search engine, and data brokers -- and explores their practices of mediation. By doing so, we outline the potential effects that brokers can have on schools and edtech markets, and we disentangle their specific imaginaries of the future of education they promote, often aligned with wider policy desires for reform.

The teaching-learning process in engineering aims to meet current societal demands and address real challenges faced by businesses and the job market. Challenge-based learning (CBL) has gained traction as an active and innovative approach in engineering education, introducing real challenges and open questions to the classroom regarding environmental sustainability and issues faced by Industry 4.0. These challenges require resources and technology that turn the teaching-learning process into an open system, demanding partnerships beyond academia for validating deliverables and projects. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this study aimed to systematically analyze the implementation and implications of CBL for competencies development. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the PRISMA method, 62 articles were used for abstract analyses to identify methods, workload, resources, structure, technology, and stakeholder integration, as well as to answer the research questions. The studies were categorized into three types of applied challenges: 1) social and environmental sustainability; 2) Industry 4.0; and 3) those related to Educational Institutions. A total of 46 articles were analyzed in their entirety, and summarized in three tables. All analyzed studies showed that CBL is effective according to summative and formative assessments, leading to sociotechnical competencies development through experience with real-world challenges, teamwork, and interaction with external partners. As most studies are qualitative, there is room for quantitative investigations to better justify the relevance of CBL, especially in terms of adaptive and personalized learning. Moreover, the workload and complexity imposed by CBL, particularly on teachers, warrant further study to facilitate implementation and engagement.

Purpose: Higher education curriculum development in the construction industry has historically received scant academic attention and often, courses/programmes are largely developed using the tacit knowledge of individual tutors. This research investigates the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction management graduate. Specifically, the work culminates in the development of a proof-of-concept model that could be incorporated into higher education curriculum development. Methodology: A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using both postpositivism and interpretivism together with inductive and abductive reasoning to examine built environment academics' perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e., weighted average, relative importance index, one sample t test, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test) are utilised to formulate a foundational set of core interpersonal skills for construction management curricula. Such knowledge provides a strong foundation for building an optimised course curriculum. Findings: Research findings demonstrate that, whilst technical skills are relatively important for the construction manager's role, they significantly pale in comparison to interpersonal skills. Furthermore, an aggregate ranking of skills and competencies suggests that a substantial number of interpersonal skills and competencies out-rank numerous technical skills and competencies. Surprisingly, digital-esque themes rank towards the bottom of the table, with 'traditional' skills competencies (i.e., workflow, budgeting and costing) ranking higher. Originality: This research constitutes the first attempt to: understand the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction manager; and premised upon this, generate a construction management education curriculum foundation model. Nascent findings pinpoint the core interpersonal skills and competencies that serve as the curriculum's foundation and expose the inadequacies of digital technical skills in core construction management teaching.

In recent years, various international organizations in the field of higher education have taken on the task of defining the skills that professionals in different disciplines should develop to succeed in the labor market. As a result, universities have started to transform their curricular structures. Consequently, the aim of this study was to assess the relevance of employability skills from the perspective of students, graduates, and employers, aiming to bridge the university-industry gap. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out to evaluate the perceived importance attached to these dimensions by the three groups. There is a significant difference in the importance of employability skills perceived by employers or immediate supervisors in relation to the perception of students/graduates. The findings provide a useful insight into the importance of employability skills from three points of view, considering that not many previous studies compare an employability model from multiple perspectives. The research was carried out in times of a pandemic, which made it difficult to have contact with people. This allows Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to rethink their educational projects according to the current needs of the economic, social, and productive sectors in the post-COVID-19 era.

University-Industry Linkage (UIL) is the interaction of academic or research universities and industries of different sectors for complementary benefits. This paper presents the results of a study conducted to understand the present status and challenges of UIL in the Regional State of Tigray, Ethiopia. Using convergent parallel mixed research design, the study addressed two research questions: (1) what is the status of UIL in the Regional State of Tigray, Ethiopia? (2) what are the UIL challenges facing universities and industries in the Regional State of Tigray, Ethiopia? Respondents were recruited from two universities and eight industries of different business areas including service, manufacturing, finance and energy. A survey questionnaire and interview protocols were developed by adapting items used in previous studies and distributed to a sample size of 1350. The findings show that there are occasional collaborations between the universities and industries in the Region mostly focusing on internship and training. Although communications and meetings are conducted between the universities and industries to create UIL opportunities in Tigray, signed collaboration agreements remain mostly on the shelf mainly due to lack of due attention and commitment from both sides in taking the step forward. Therefore, awareness creation measures and sound policy framework and guidelines should be in place for effective and practical collaborations to exist and get realized.

Developing student employability is a key strategy within institutions of higher education, particularly for students in creative industries where labour market supply has outpaced employer demand. Existing literature shows that activities that promote communities of practice offer clear employability benefits for students. However, such activities are often centred within university curriculum or driven by career development units with limited student engagement. This article considers an alternative approach, an academically-supported career community delivered as an extracurricular activity within an arts and cultural management graduate program at the University of Melbourne. Drawing on program metrics and an anonymous survey of participants in the program's pilot iteration, we find evidence of a flexible career community built around the intelligent career theory tenets of "knowing how" and "knowing whom," in which participants experienced positive and discipline-specific impacts related to employability and increased self-confidence in approaching the arts and cultural labour market.

This study investigates the perceived benefits to industry experts who engage with academics to co-create higher education learning resources. Academics are increasingly impelled to involve industry experts in learning and teaching to ensure that curriculum is authentic and relevant and prepares students for future professional careers. While benefits to students are well established by prior research, individual-level research into industry experts' motivations to contribute to higher education is scant. When approached to co-create authentic learning resources for postgraduate students, industry experts expressed motivations which focused on three areas: desire to maintain valued relationships with academics or the university, desire to improve the student experience by developing innovative learning resources to bridge the gap between theory and practice and desire to build and promote their profession. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine human resource management industry experts identified that the benefits of co-creating learning resources went beyond their stated motivations to include unanticipated benefits which can be explained by the professionalism literature. We outline a taxonomy of benefits for industry experts engaging in co-creating authentic learning resources: students, the professional self, the professional community and the organisation. The implications are that universities and academics may draw on these broader benefits to encourage industry experts to participate in higher education learning resource development. The study provides insights into the potential for industry experts to engage in professional self-reflection by contributing to higher education teaching and learning.

University-industry relationship has always been disputable in higher education. The affiliated Technology Development Zones (TDZs) of universities are proposed as the most viable form of university-industry relationship, and countries have invested extensive public monies in TDZs. However, concerns have been raised regarding the structures of TDZs and their ties with mother universities, the compatibility of TDZs with university's core academic values, and whether TDZs are the most appropriate forms of science and technology policy. This study aims to explore the characteristics of Turkey's TDZs and their role in science and technology policy from a neo-institutional framework. In a multiple-case study of three TDZs of three universities, data were collected via interviews in TDZs and universities, and from document analyses. Results show coercive isomorphism is effective in the similarization of TDZs regarding basic structural characteristics. However, very few successful TDZs function as a source of mimetic isomorphism and cause more prevalent similarization in structural and functional characteristics of TDZs. Although very few TDZs operate efficiently, quantitative increase in the number of TDZs suggests the TDZ policy is motivated by ceremonial concerns. Finally, TDZs are prone to several conflicts including academics' perception of TDZs as the agents of neoliberal ideals and practices.

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence that a novel, industry-situated, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Learning Laboratory (STEM Lab) experience may have on students' (ages 10-18) perceptions of manufacturing-related careers as well as to identify any challenges/strategies for the implementation of these informal learning spaces within manufacturing facilities. STEM labs, which are similar to makerspaces, can be defined as physical spaces where students can learn integrated skills and content through hands-on experiences (Roy and Love, 2017). While STEM labs can be found in a variety of settings (e.g., school libraries, museums, or even theme parks), the industry-situated STEM lab that is the focus of this study is a unique application of such a learning environment in an informal space within a manufacturing facility. However, the aim for this specific space is to offer local students an opportunity to see manufacturing, the people that work there, and the skills that might be necessary to pursue a future career in the various aspects of this industry. This type of career awareness and preparation initiative has become an area of interest for manufacturers as they continue to face increasing challenges with attracting employees and confronting negative, potentially outdated, perceptions of manufacturing-related careers. That being said, this research will not attempt to justify the STEM lab initiative, but will instead provide a critical view of this novel context and this type of informal learning environment. This research objective was pursued by interviewing key industry stakeholders and analyzing an existing dataset-consisting of both student surveys and drawing tests-collected by the host manufacturer over the first year of the lab's operation. By triangulating the data gathered from stakeholder interviews and both student surveys and drawing tests, which were collected before and after their experience with the STEM lab at the manufacturing facilities, this research sheds light on the challenges that similar industry-situated learning environments might face, as well as provides opportunities to potentially enhance the experience from both the student and industry perspective.

Research in validity suggests that stakeholders' interpretation and use of test results should be an aspect of validity. Claims about the meaningfulness of test score interpretations and consequences of test use should be backed by evidence that stakeholders understand the definition of the construct assessed and the score report information. The current study explored stakeholders' uses and interpretations of the score report of a workplace English language proficiency test, the TOEIC[R] Listening and Reading (TOEIC L&R) test. Online surveys were administered to TOEIC L&R test takers and institutional and corporate score users in Taiwan to collect data about their uses and interpretations of the test score report. Eleven survey respondents participated in follow-up interviews to further elaborate on their uses of the different score reporting information within the stakeholders' respective contexts. Results indicated that the participants used the TOEIC L&R test scores largely as intended by the test developer although some elements of the score report appeared to be less useful and could be confusing for stakeholders. Findings from this study highlight the importance of providing score reporting information with clarity and ease to enhance appropriate use and interpretation.

Despite stakeholders' desire for organizations to participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, some organizations do not invest in CSR due to uncertainty around the value it provides to performance. This research investigates the effect size of the relationship between CSR and performance via a meta-analysis of 17 articles. A series of performance-indicating groups emerged and effect sizes were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. These groups include in-role performance, extra-role performance, employees' affective attitudes towards organizations, and organizational-level outputs. Results suggest that CSR has a large effect on performance across a range of contexts. Implications for career counseling are discussed.

This study explores integrating industry-crowdsourced projects within capstone courses of a 4-year Bachelor of Science program at an accredited American university. A unique business consulting model was developed for the final year course, aligning students with 16-weeks industry projects that reflected their academic goals and the program's learning objectives. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of this pedagogical approach compared to traditional capstone courses. This evaluation involved collecting data from grading systems and anonymous course surveys. A novel aspect of the research design was the synergetic combination of nonparametric and parametric statistical techniques with modern machine learning (ML) algorithms to analyse the students' grades, survey comments and third-party course opinion comments. Additionally, independent third-party course ratings were examined to triangulate the results. Findings revealed that while the academic performance in the industry-crowdsourced capstone course mirrored that of the traditional course, the industry-crowdsourced variant elicited significantly more positive responses in course surveys. Furthermore, ML sentiment analysis of comments from third-party forums indicated a stronger positive reception for the industry-crowdsourced course over the traditional approach.

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) in Vietnam, marking the first systematic examination of practice-based studies within the country. Our review aims to identify key forms and factors influencing UIC implementation in Vietnam, recommending future directions and highlighting key facilitators. Following the PRISMA 2009 guidelines, we identified 256 research papers across four databases (Web of Science, ERIC, ProQuest, and Google Scholar), ultimately selecting 25 papers after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and conducting duplicate removal. Thematic and inductive qualitative content analysis methods were employed to address the review question, revealing observed forms of UIC in Vietnam, including sponsorship, internships, licensing, knowledge transfer, and cooperative recruitment. Influencing factors encompass 10 elements. Our review identifies deficiencies in UIC implementation and suggests potential areas for future development. These findings pave the way for exploring innovative UIC strategies amidst industrialization and globalization.

This study developed and tested a model of higher education environmental science program review through industry-wide surveys of environmental science graduate employers. We surveyed 62 environmental professionals who manage recent environmental science graduate employees in eastern Australia. The survey captured expectations of graduates' skill performance compared to workplace expectations in the first 6 months of employment in both degree-specific skills and general employment skills. Graduate employee skill importance was ranked significantly higher than their actual performance in degree-specific skills including field work, formal correspondence, policy development, data analysis/interpretation, and understanding environmental legislation. Performance was also significantly lower than expectations of generic employment skills including foundation, collaborative, and employability skills. Work placement within undergraduate programs was reported as being pivotal in efficiently preparing graduates, although workplace time limitations hinder participation. This study provides new evidence for universities to adopt work placement or other work integrated learning as a core program component, embed skill awareness and skill portfolio development in curricula, and periodically undertake industry review of graduate employee performance compared to workplace expectations. The new model presented here, of higher education program review, incorporating both graduate employee performance and employer expectations, will assist universities continuing relevancy in a dynamic employment market.

Industrial drug discovery teams encompass scientists from multiple specialties and require participants to communicate effectively across disciplinary boundaries. In this paper, we present an undergraduate or graduate classroom simulation of this environment. Over a series of five workshops, student teams of mixed scientific backgrounds perform five iterations of the chemistry cycle of small molecule drug discovery. Students analyze physicochemical, structural, and (fictional) assay data and use these to design new compounds for testing. Simulated assay results are returned to students who use the information in the design of subsequent compounds. After workshop 5, each team selects a single lead compound, supported by a potential synthetic route, a portfolio of assay data, and logical scientific decision-making. Our exercise provides students with opportunities for hands-on student-responsive data handing, team-building, and technical knowledge acquisition--all within an industrially relevant scientific scenario.

This research proposes that technology-supported cross-organizational (university-industry) Communities of Practice (CoPs), which are integrated into the Design Studies curriculum in Higher Education, can foster robust university-industry collaborations. These can help bridge the reported gap between the actual versus the expected soft skills and personae of young graduates transitioning to the creative industries today. CoPs are groups of people who share a common interest in an area of 'endeavor' and connect to co-create competence in that area through their practice. This paper makes two overarching research contributions. First, it informs about the design, enactment, and evaluation of a student CoP in an undergraduate Design course which was expanded to include members from the industry as clients, alumni mentors, and expert evaluators. Drawing from rich empirical data, the paper explains the designed and emergent learning phenomena of CoP participation and its effects on the students' creative and socio-epistemic outcomes, as well as their pre-professional identities. Second, it presents a governance model with three sets of actionable guidelines, namely the "Set" (technology), the "Social" (collaborative), and the "Epistemic" (learning) components. The entire body of work validates the critical interlocking of these components to form a robust social learning model that appropriates the complex practices of cross-organizational CoPs in Higher Education Design studies.

Public universities have sought to leverage innovation hubs as physical environments to enable new collaboration models and partnerships between students, academics, budding entrepreneurs, and wider industry. In particular, innovation hubs have allowed public universities to position themselves as active participants in the entrepreneurial arena. These innovation hubs, however, experienced a tremendous degree of disruption because of COVID-19-induced lockdowns, social distancing, closed borders, and a reduced number of persons allowed in a given space. Thus, it is essential to gain an understanding of how innovation hubs in public institutions have responded to these issues, ascertain the degree to which such disruption has impacted them, and identify the strategies that have allowed hubs to stay operational in such a disruptive environment. To do this, personnel involved in the management and administration of such hubs were interviewed, together with a selection of industry experts. This qualitative interrogation allowed a thematic analysis to be undertaken, thereby resulting in several emergent themes that contributed to identifying key learnings that could assist the operation of these innovation hubs in times of future disruption.

A major focus of innovation in higher education today is to improve faculty teaching, especially their focus on students' career readiness and acquisition of workplace-relevant communication and teamwork competencies (i.e., transferable skills). Some contend that such instruction is best achieved through hiring faculty with prior work experience in industry, where the "culture" is preferable to academia where practical skills and career guidance are undervalued. However, little research exists on the topic and in this study we draw on person-centered views of culture to conceptualize industry experience as a form of cultural knowledge (i.e., cultural scripts) that can travel with a person (or not) over time and space. Using a mixed methods design where we gathered survey (n = 1,140) and interview (n = 89) data from STEMM faculty, we used thematic and HLM techniques to explore the relationships among industry experience, various situational factors, and transferable skills instruction. Results show that while most had industry experience (76.2%), transferable skills are rarely emphasized, a variety of individual (e.g., race) and institutional (e.g., discipline) factors are associated with transferable skills instruction, and that industry experience provides both generalized and specific cultural scripts for career- and skills-oriented teaching. We conclude that instead of promoting skills-focused instructional innovations via hiring policies that assume the value of one institutional culture over another, it is more useful and respectful (to faculty) to teach industry-based cultural knowledge via faculty development programming in a way similar to work-integrated learning (WIL) and communication in the disciplines (CID) initiatives.

Contribution: This research explores the effectiveness of a proposed teaching strategy in blockchain education, finding that it enhances learning outcomes, cognitive well-being, and student engagement in tertiary education, ultimately resulting in a shallower learning curve for STEM knowledge. Background: In the context of Industry 4.0, blockchain technology has emerged as a key driver of transformation in data management and system automation across a range of industrial applications. Despite its significance, the intricate theories and concepts associated with blockchain often serve as a deterrent for novice learners, inhibiting their ability to appreciate the value of industrial blockchain. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop interactive teaching content that alleviates the steep learning curve. Intended Outcomes: The teaching strategy for the gamification in blockchain education is proposed, which positively influence students' cognitive well-being in terms of knowledge retention, cognitive curiosity, and heightened enjoyment. Application Design: Based on the experimental learning theory, the gamification of blockchain education, namely "BlockTrainHK", is implemented in the experimental learning cycle. Therefore, the gamified learning in experimental learning (GEL) strategy is proposed to examine the effectiveness of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation by two case studies. Findings: The results of the two-year study on the gamified blockchain education are encouraging: test groups using the GEL strategy were better in the cognitive well-being, and students' cognitive well-being is positively proportional to the level of individual technical knowledge and skills.

Contribution: This article explored problem scoping in an industry sponsored engineering design capstone course before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It employs reflection-in-action and quantitative action research, to demonstrate how the pandemic offered an opportunity for (1) students to develop their problem scoping skills and (2) for the instruction team to design novel reflection-based interventions to support students' problem scoping process. Background: Despite the importance of problem scoping in engineering design, its development in engineering undergraduates, especially during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, remains understudied. While the pandemic's impact on higher education is generally perceived to have been negative, this article presents a different perspective, suggesting it may have improved students' reflective practices. This is examined by comparing three cohorts of students who participated in the capstone prepandemic (2019), at the onset of the pandemic (2020), and a year after the pandemic began (2021). Research Question: How did students' problem scoping skills change due to pandemic-motivated interventions in 2020 and 2021? Methodology: A quantitative action research approach was utilized due to the iterative nature of the interventions designed in response to the pandemic. Scoping metrics were derived from final project reports and compared across cohorts using nonparametric statistical tests. Nonparametric tests were selected due to small sample sizes and violation of the assumption of normality and homogeneity of variance. Findings: Increasing opportunities for reflection-in-action lead to improved design performance (with nuances) underscoring the importance of teaching reflective design practices to engineering students to better equip for complex design problem-solving.

Technology has changed rapidly in recent years and higher education has struggled to keep up. This article draws upon the expertise of three leaders in the Educational Technology (EdTech) industry to better understand how technology can be infused at the course level and at the curricular level to improve student learning. Best practices in teaching and learning are considered through the filter of EdTech to better understand where faculty can start to implement change. It is also suggested that faculty reconsider their notions of personal development to include not just keeping up with content, but also keeping up with how technology can maximize the student learning experience.

Breaking through the company's own green knowledge barriers through school-enterprise cooperation has become an important means for companies to expand market competitive advantages and environmental governance. This article uses China's non-financial listed company data from 2010 to 2021 to study the causal effect of school-enterprise cooperation on corporate green innovation. The results passed a series of robustness tests and confirmed that school enterprise cooperation can improve the level of green innovation of enterprises. This paper also uses the instrumental variable method to mitigate the causal relationship between the two. The results show that school-enterprise cooperation can still significantly improve corporate green innovation. The results of the mechanism test confirm that school-enterprise cooperation will promote corporate green innovation by reducing corporate green innovation risks and easing corporate financing constraints. At the same time, the heterogeneity analysis results show that school-enterprise cooperation has a better effect on improving green innovation for enterprises in heavily polluting industries, enterprises in years with low economic policy uncertainty, and enterprises with a high degree of government-enterprise connection. The findings of this article help to understand the intrinsic mechanism between school-enterprise cooperation and corporate green innovation, and confirm that school-enterprise cooperation can improve the climate and environmental innovation system, which has important practical significance for the construction of the industry-university-research system.

The breadth of opportunities in biomedical engineering (BME) creates both a diversity of career options for students pursuing the degree and a potential hurdle in communicating the relevance of their skills when applying for specific jobs. This conundrum has driven research efforts seeking to understand what is valued by BME employers. Our work explored this area of need through an analysis of researcher-designed resumes (DRs) based on skills potentially of interest to BME recruiters in industry and academia. DRs were distributed to potential employers through an online survey asking about their perspectives on the quality of a subset of four DRs based on their indicated area of expertise. We performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 12 industry and 6 academic responses and compared our results to existing BME resume evaluation rubrics. Our results confirm a quantitative alignment between existing BME resume rubrics and employer's perceptions which was previously unexplored. Qualitative results pointed toward (1) the importance of how experiences are represented as an important differentiator in resume reviews, (2) the acknowledgment from reviewers that resumes are only one step in a job application, and (3) specific similarities and differences in the skills that academic and industry employers look for in BME resumes. Our work provides validity evidence from employer perspectives to support the use of existing resume guidance tools in BME. Our qualitative data analysis expands that guidance by making recommendations for additional tools to craft resumes that clearly communicate the relevant experiences of an applicant.

We propose that psychology graduates are uniquely placed to work in the cybersecurity industry due to their understanding of human behavior and the possession of skills needed to address cybersecurity issues. However, there are challenges in attracting psychology graduates to the cybersecurity industry as they may not be fully aware of how skills developed in a psychology degree can be applied to a cybersecurity career. This small-scale evaluation explored psychology students' understanding of what working in cybersecurity entailed and what psychology skills and knowledge (their psychological literacies) they thought were needed for working in psychology and cybersecurity roles. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 66) answered two open-ended questions about skills needed to work in cybersecurity and then judged the importance of nine psychological literacy items for working in cybersecurity and psychology. A content analysis revealed that students recognized not just the technical aspects of cybersecurity work but also aspects relating to human behavior. Seven of the nine psychological literacy items were perceived as significantly more important for working in psychology than cybersecurity. This study is the first to link psychological literacy to working in cybersecurity. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of supporting students to recognize their psychological literacies for cybersecurity careers and suggestions are made for awareness-raising initiatives.

Chinese leaders in the tutoring industry encountered a crisis brought about by the Pandemic and the Double Reduction Policy. This exploratory multi-case study applied a conceptual framework that combines informal learning, strategic thinking, and experiential learning theory to explore how those leaders learned to think strategically in this crisis. Fifteen Chinese educational entrepreneurs were interviewed about their strategies and learning experiences related to the crisis. The findings suggest that the participants learned to think strategically from direct experiences, indirect experiences, and two thinking processes -- systems thinking and metaphorical thinking. This process was also influenced by Chinese cultural and historical wisdom. This study extends the current understanding of strategic thinking and learning practices among Chinese educational entrepreneurs. The research contributes to cultivating Chinese leaders' strategic thinking capabilities through informal learning during crises and offers practical value for leadership development in Chinese culture.