global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 49 original paper application of boppps collaborative case teaching method in construction law classroom instruction gao jing 1 , liu yang 1 , wang chun xiao 1 & wu zhao qiang 1 1 qingdao city university, qing dao, shan dong, china received: october 9, 2024 accepted: october 22, 2024 online published: october 23, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p49 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p49 abstract this study focuses on students majoring in engineering management and explores the teaching model of the boppps collaborative case teaching method in the construction law course. the research involves reforming the teaching model, introducing construction law cases, utilizing online platforms, and improving evaluation methods. the aim is to “activate” the classroom, shifting from traditional teaching to guided learning, achieving a synchronous resonance between teaching and learning. this approach intends to provide students with the time and space to enhance their ability to explore new knowledge and analyze and solve problems. it also seeks to improve students’ awareness of engineering and law, cultivate their innovative abilities, and contribute positively to enhancing the quality of talent cultivation in higher education institutions. keywords boppps teaching method, case teaching method, construction law case-based learning (cbl) is designed based on the principles of problem-based learning (pbl). this teaching method is problem-oriented, grounded in typical cases, centered on analysis and discussion, and aims to solve practical problems. it enhances critical thinking skills and emphasizes the application of knowledge in real-world contexts. the boppps teaching model is a new educational approach that is goal-oriented and student-centered. it includes six teaching components: bridge (b), objectives (o), pre-assessment (p), participatory learning (p), post-assessment (p), and summary (s). designed according to students’ cognitive curves, this model focuses on student engagement throughout the teaching process, reflecting the educational philosophy of being student-centered while maintaining teacher leadership. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 50 published by scholink inc. 1. current status of construction law course teaching the construction law course is a foundational subject for the engineering management major in the college of civil engineering. it possesses strong professionalism, theoretical depth, and practical relevance. this course plays a crucial role in enhancing students’ abilities to analyze and solve practical legal issues that arise during the construction process. it provides strong support for cultivating high-level engineering construction talents who possess technical skills in engineering construction, legal thinking in construction, and an awareness of engineering ethics. the current curriculum system primarily adopts a passive learning model dominated by teacher lectures, with a single evaluation method. additionally, the construction law course contains numerous legal provisions, which inevitably leads to a rote teaching approach during the course. this directly results in insufficient interaction between teachers and students, unclear learning objectives for students, low classroom participation, weak initiative in learning, and inadequate understanding of legal provisions. consequently, these issues prevent the course from achieving the desired teaching outcomes. therefore, it is necessary to explore a scientifically sound and rational teaching model and evaluation method. research should focus on student-centered teaching approaches that enhance students’ autonomous learning abilities, improve evaluation methods, and promote the comprehensive development of students’ overall capabilities. this study focuses on students in the engineering management major and employs the boppps model in conjunction with case-based teaching methods to reform and practice the construction law course. 2. exploration of teaching reform in the construction law course based on the boppps model combined with case-based teaching methods, the construction law course system breaks through the boundaries of traditional teaching methods and thinking. it explores various aspects, including teaching models, teaching content, and course evaluation methods, through multi-faceted collaboration and diverse perspectives. 2.1 establishing a new teaching model based on the boppps combined case teaching method based on the characteristics and teaching needs of the construction law course, modern teaching methods are applied appropriately to develop highly impactful multimedia courseware. the boppps combined case teaching method is utilized in the classroom teaching model, where the teaching content is case-based and reasonably distributed across the six components of boppps. a flipped classroom approach is employed in teaching to continually enhance students’ independent learning abilities. 2.2 optimizing the course teaching system and restructuring teaching content with a focus on construction-related professional qualification examinations the boppps combined case teaching method is integrated into the teaching of “construction law” to establish a horizontal knowledge pathway. this involves case-based and modular teaching content, integrating the curriculum, and logically arranging the chapter sequence. a new interactive learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 51 published by scholink inc. system is created that is teacher-led, student-centered, reliant on engineering construction legal cases, and supported by modern information technology, thereby enhancing students’ self-learning abilities. based on the application-oriented talent training model, instructors continuously adjust teaching content and methods according to students’ understanding, learning progress, and acceptance abilities using the boppps teaching model. analytical and application abilities are reflected in the teaching design, making effective use of construction law cases to deepen students’ understanding of the course and cultivate their legal reasoning and awareness of engineering ethics. students in engineering management will take professional qualification examinations, such as the registered constructor examination, after employment. construction law is a mandatory subject for these examinations. therefore, teachers can expand the teaching content by integrating the syllabi and textbooks of these professional qualification exams. in the pre-assessment phase, past examination questions for the constructor licensing exams can be used to assess students’ knowledge retention. this also allows students to familiarize themselves with the examination format and key content in advance. by combining this with professional examinations, it increases students’ emphasis on the course, thereby enhancing their motivation to learn. 2.3 establishing a diversified evaluation system focused on process and independent learning abilities changing the single evaluation model, a process-oriented and competency-based evaluation system is constructed, focusing on assessing students’ independent learning abilities and their capacity to analyze and solve practical legal problems in engineering. the evaluation of students’ individual performance is calculated as follows: final exam 50% + group case analysis 20% + unit tests 10% + classroom participation 10% + completion of tasks on the online platform 10%. the final exam format is diversified, transitioning from a single final exam to a variety of assessment methods, including case analysis practical reports, classroom presentations, and scenario performances. in group case analysis, students are randomly grouped by the online platform. each group selects a topic and prepares a powerpoint presentation to report their findings. this aims to assess students’ abilities in literature research, information integration, language expression, and proficiency in using powerpoint software, comprehensively evaluating their application of construction law in engineering practice. the case analysis score consists of multiple evaluations: teacher assessment, inter-group evaluations, peer evaluations within the group, and self-assessments. scenario performances primarily involve students engaging in role-playing to conduct extensive discussions on legal issues related to construction projects, followed by classroom presentations. this assesses students’ understanding of relevant legal provisions, as well as their abilities in legal analysis, problem-solving in engineering practice, and teamwork. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 52 published by scholink inc. an examination question bank is built on an online platform, from which exam papers are randomly generated during testing, achieving a separation between teaching and assessment. this allows for dynamic control of students’ academic processes and establishes a monitoring-assessment-feedback mechanism to promptly correct deviations in the teaching and learning process, thereby promoting teaching and learning through assessments. through this evaluation system, deficiencies in classroom teaching and textbooks can be supplemented, enabling a comprehensive and multifaceted understanding of students’ learning processes and outcomes, while reinforcing effective monitoring of students’ independent learning. 2.4 establishing a comprehensive online teaching platform resource the online teaching platform resources for each session will include modules such as course case introductions, key knowledge points, video learning, in-class exercises, and extended reading. a complete database will be created, including a case library, question bank, lesson plan repository, and courseware library. this will accumulate practical case studies from construction projects, standard texts for construction contracts, and judicial interpretations of construction contracts to enrich the teaching content. additionally, statistical results from the online teaching platform resources will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the research model for this topic. 3. evaluation of teaching effectiveness through surveys, the evaluation of classroom teaching effectiveness is conducted from various aspects, including students’ interest in participating in classes, improvement in learning efficiency, mastery of knowledge points, ability to analyze and solve problems, communication and expression skills, and satisfaction with the teaching methods. the results indicate that after adopting the joint teaching method, students exhibited a strong interest in learning, a high level of knowledge mastery, and a high satisfaction rate with this teaching approach. data collected from the online platform, based on participatory learning and post-test phases, reveal that this method allows students to visualize and memorize dull theoretical knowledge while flexibly applying knowledge points to analyze and resolve issues in case studies. 4. conclusion the boppps joint case teaching method innovates the classroom structure of the construction regulations course, resulting in a more reasonable allocation of classroom time and clearer teaching objectives. the teaching process is entirely student-centered, making the classroom “come alive” and enhancing students’ mastery of knowledge. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 53 published by scholink inc. funding qingdao city university education research project “research on the teaching mode of boppps joint case teaching method in the construction law course”, project number 2022010b. references chen, f., fu, z. x., wei, h. j., & xie, s. x. (2021). practice of obe + blended learning + offline boppps intensive teaching mode. office automation, 2021(8), 43-46. guo, j. w., wang, b. q., zhang, d. l., dou, y., li, l. l., & li, c. w. (2022). application of boppps joint case teaching method in the classroom practice of “frontiers in pharmaceutics”. china pharmaceutical industry, 2022(12), 31-34. yang, m. j., jiang, j., & hu, j. d. (2022). exploration of teaching reform in construction regulations course for civil engineering majors. heilongjiang education (theory and practice), 2022(5), 73-76. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 11 original paper the application of reading circles model in english reading teaching in senior middle school wang ting-ting 1 1 school of foreign languages, chongqing normal university, chongqing 401331, china received: april 10, 2024 accepted: april 30, 2024 online published: may 10, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n2p11 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n2p11 abstract there are various input methods for language learning, among which reading is the most important one. english reading class in high school aims to cultivate students’ comprehensive literacy by guiding them to think independently and actively participate in reading activities. the new curriculum standard proposes that english reading teaching in high school should focus on strengthening the cultivation of english subject competence. thus, the effect of the reading circle model on students’ english reading is consistent with the educational purposes required by the core literacy of the english subject. therefore, the article tries to explore the effect of reading circle on improving secondary school students’ english reading ability. keywords reading circle model, new curriculum standard, english reading teaching in senior high school, english reading reading ability 1. introduction reading teaching, as the focus of high school english teaching, can help students improve their ability to acquire information, analyze information and solve problems, and it is one of the important ways to improve students’ english core literacy. however, the traditional reading class is centered on the teacher’s lecture, and students passively accept the teacher’s analysis of the text. such a teaching method lacks the training of deeper development of students’ thinking, the expansion and extension of reading content, and the interaction between teachers and students. different from the traditional mode, the teaching mode of “reading circle” divides students into several reading groups, in which members act as different reading roles, and participate in the communication and discussion within and between groups after completing the corresponding reading tasks. this kind of reading mode can make students gradually develop good reading habits, which plays a very important role in the cultivation of students’ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 12 published by scholink inc. learning autonomy and thinking ability, and thus improves students’ language ability (burns, 1998, pp. 124-129). 2. reading circles reading circles was named literature circles first and it was first conducted in 1982 by a teacher called karen smith who worked in an elementary school. however, the concept of literature circles has achieved concern owing to the publication of harvard daniels’ book named literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. harvey daniels defined literature circles as a student-led reading discussion groups in which members within each group read the same story, poem, article, or book. while reading each group-assigned portion of the text (either in or outside of class), members make notes to help them contribute to the upcoming discussion, and everyone come to the group with ideas to share. after each reading group completes a round of reading, group members share the best parts of their reading with each other to improve their reading skills. after a round, teachers and students work together to select more reading materials and moved into a new cycle. based on this model, the teacher will let the group members carry out independent learning in the form of cooperation and free discussion, reading and sharing. each person in the group has his or her own responsibilities and tasks (daniels, 2006). generally speaking, there are several regular roles in the reading circle teaching mode: “discussion leader”, “summarizer”, “culture collector”, “connector”, “word master”, and “passage person”. of course, these roles are not fixed, teachers can be based on specific teaching objectives of the role of appropriate additions and deletions. 3. strategies for implementing the reading circle 3.1 selection of reading material when teachers organize reading circle teaching activities, the first thing they have to do is to choose appropriate reading materials, and the choice of reading materials will have a great impact on the quality of students’ reading. teachers should pay attention to several aspects when selecting reading materials, for example, whether the content of the materials selected can attract students’ interest or whether the difficulty level of the reading materials is moderate and so on. then, before choosing a reading text, teachers can conduct a reading interest survey through discussion or questionnaires. there are many articles suitable for reading circle teaching in the senior high school english textbook of ren jiao version, and this paper mainly takes “what’s in a name?” in unit 4 of the compulsory second book of high school freshman english as an example to guide the students to carry out the teaching of reading circle model. the main content of this article is british history, which aims to help students understand the two main benefits of studying british history and recognize the importance of knowing the history of a country. students should pay attention to the cultural knowledge of the target language while sorting out information and learning the language, develop their horizons, deepen their www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 13 published by scholink inc. understanding of their own culture and enhance their national pride while learning about british history. 3.2 grouping different from the previous study group, reading circle has not specific requirements for the students’ personal english level, but emphasizes the students’ choice of reading materials to form different reading groups. the best group member is from 4 to 6.if there are too many group members, it will easily affect the effect of group discussion, and students will find it difficult to summarize too many opinions and points of view. on the contrary, if there are too few group members, it will reduce the students’ motivation to participate in the reading activities, and will not lead the group members to read and discuss together (kang, lim & murdoch, 2023). in addition, the reading ability of each member of the group varies greatly, and the formation of reading groups is convenient for helping students to cooperate with each other, which can cultivate students’ sense of cooperation and ability. 3.3 role-playing the most critical step after grouping is to determine the roles of students, and role training ensures the smooth progress of reading circle teaching. according to the teaching goal of “what’s in a name?”, students can be divided into the following roles: 1) discussion leader: the leader will lead the group to carry out independent reading according to the specific content requirements of the reading text of the unit, and actively encourage the members of the group to be able to continue to reflect on the reading process, raise questions worth discussing. the leader should summarize the questions raised by the members and analyze and discuss them in the group. in this form, the student group takes the initiative of the classroom under the leadership of the discussion leader, which is of great help to stimulate students’ interest in reading. 2) cultural collector: they are mainly responsible for sorting out the content of the text and finding out the cultural elements behind the text. for the text of this unit, cultural collector should actively use the internet and other related resources to find out the history and cultural customs of london, and present the information in pictures, videos and words, so as to let the members of the group understand the history of the united kingdom and the importance of a country’s history. through these steps, students can learn about the history of britain during the activities, develop their reading ability and skills comprehensively, and at the same time compare the chinese and british cultures, so that they can deepen their understanding of chinese history when they understand the history of britain. 3) word master: in the process of reading, a large part of students’ reading difficulties comes from unrecognized vocabulary, so the role of the word master plays a very important role in the reading circle. the word master needs to check the difficult words in the text, but the word master does not only inform the members of the group about the chinese interpretation of the words, but also organizes the meaning of the words (including the english interpretations), the lexical nature, the fixed collocation and other aspects of the word, to help the members of the group to grasp the meaning and form of the word in the text, to understand the word comprehensively, and to enrich the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 14 published by scholink inc. vocabulary accumulation of the members of the group. in the text “what”s in a name?”, students are also required to master certain english vocabulary or phrases, such as “a feast for the eyes”, philosophy, military, evidence and so on. through learning, students’ language knowledge will be further improved. 4) passage person: the passage person is mainly responsible for analyzing the sentences and paragraphs in the text. a reading text contains many sentence forms, and the passage person will analyze them further to better help group members understand the structure of the text and promote the improvement of students’ writing. for example, in the text “what’s in a name?” students will be able to understand and master the use of past participles as determiners and object complements and apply them in authentic contexts. 5) summarizer: the summarizer is mainly to summarize the material, and this prcoess can help students to have a more intuitive understanding of the overall content. by summarizing the text, the summarizer can take time, place and other key words as the fulcrum, guide students to cooperate and jointly draw a timeline, further grasp of the structure of the text, and promote the development of students’ creative thinking and dialectical thinking skills. with the help of the timeline, students can retell the paragraph in chronological order and internalize the target language in time. 6) connector: the main task of connector is to connect textual knowledge with real life, which is an important purpose of core literacy education. this step can promote students’ practical application of english learning. based on the content of this unit, students can learn about the origins of the different names of the uk and the similarities and differences of the constituent countries, understand the relevant thematic vocabulary, familiarize themselves with the logic of paragraphing and writing techniques, and learn to use the target language to describe the history of a country and the origins of its different names in chronological order. 3.4 discussion in the discussion session, members of each group can actively express their own views and personal opinions. during such process, students can not only improve their oral expression skills, but also further deepen their love of english reading (qi, 2021, pp. 341-350). secondly, the idea of each member of the group is unique, so the views of students may differ from each other and need to be communicated and negotiated, which improves the students’ critical thinking ability. 3.5 evaluation evaluation will be conducted after the discussion, using a combination of teacher evaluation, students’ self-assessment or students’ mutual evaluation. first, the teacher will evaluate the students’ performance based on the observation of the students during the activity. secondly, when each reading activity is completed, the teacher needs to guide each member of the group to evaluate each other, and the main evaluation includes the performance of the activity, the reading level, and the mastery of knowledge, etc. the use of mutual evaluation can not only effectively stimulate the students’ desire to perform better, but also allow students to enter the learning state quickly, and gradually form a healthy competition within the classroom, which plays a key role in the development of students’ thinking and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 15 published by scholink inc. improvement of reading level (wang, pang & feng, 2021, pp. 90-96). 4. conclusion reading circle helps to break the static, single, passive reading mode and create an active reading activity. the reading circle model is used in english reading teaching, which is oriented to the students’ interest, on the basis of which the english reading teaching activities are carried out by stimulating students’ reading interest. this model allows students to continue to develop personal reading skills and master reading methods by reading english materials and sense the emotions expressed in the materials. by playing the role, the students can not only show their personalized sides, but also can develop their divergent thinking, then in a subtle way gradually forming thinking habit and good reading habits, and english reading ability. references burns, b. (1998). changing the classroom climate with literature circles. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, (42), 124-129. daniels, h. (2006). literature circles: voice and choice in the book clubs and reading groups. new york: stenhouse publishers. kang, a., lim, y., & murdoch, d. y. (2023). the value of reading circles in emi class: engagement, usefulness, and outcomes. sage open, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231179681 qi, x. (2021). incorporating reading circles into a task-based eap reading scheme. elt journal, 75(3), 341-350. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab012 wang, d. p., pang, g. l., & feng, j. (2021). the discussion on the “literature circles” online english reading teaching model. curriculum, teaching material and method, 41(03), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231179681 https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab012 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 101 original paper humanization in educational environments; aspects necessary for living in school today josé manuel salum tomé 1 1 universidad católica de temuco, temuco, chile received: november 10, 2021 accepted: november 23, 2021 online published: december 27, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p101 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p101 abstract while it is true, quality has always been measured through statistics and percentages, often forgetting the training of the whole person. now, when we talk about issues such as humanism and education supported by technology, we can fall into extremes: it is common to label technology as the provider of all the evils of today’s civilization; or the opposite assumption; to argue that incorporating technologies into education would be the panacea for all the problems it faces and finally, to assume that the subject of the humanities is more typical of actions and attitudes of the past than as a current need, giving vitality to any educational process. however, and fortunately for the educational community, today there are global efforts to make the educational task a human action that minimizes inequities and the abysmal differences that exist in countries like ours. fernando reimers says: “equal educational opportunities must be the priority objective of educational policies, the aim of education must be to contribute to creating just societies. this requires improving the learning environments of the poor, but not only along the paths that have been started over the last decade. this aspect pointed out by reimers is precisely the central aspect that all educational action must contemplate, the educational policies that are implemented in our country must guarantee, above all, the construction of a just and egalitarian society, strengthening the cultural wealth that we have, with respect to to the diversity of people, their past, their present and especially their future”. keywords person, integrity, humanization, education, technologies www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 102 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction in the discussion table of the educational institutions of the country, the design and implementation of educational programs that address the multicultural needs that exist must be a priority, to reduce the lags, reduce illiteracy and school failure, dropping out of classrooms, projects truncated, seek an education for all children and young people in the country and the incorporation of adults, with specific programs not alienating or transculturized. while it is true it is important to resume the successful experiences that other societies have had in education projects for all and for a lifetime, our project requires substantive actions, with precise objectives, with a global vision and a national mission. 2. education and technology in chile, the government, schools and universities of the present are now concerned with designing the appropriate and relevant educational future, which allows them to face the global social and economic demands that allow the opportunity at least to insert themselves and then try to compete in the frameworks of “globalization”, there are innumerable studies and actions that the various agencies responsible for educational work currently carry out with the purpose of planning from today, the future that has already been installed in our present. the actions, at least in the discourse, are perceived impregnated with a true spirit of planning the education of tomorrow, in a less disadvantageous situation than the current one, which allows its insertion in the world market, in this context we are talking about a task certainly humanistic that tries to at least reduce the existing gap inside the country, and abroad. this gap can be observed in different dimensions: a general gap, a regional gap, a geographical gap and a digital divide, understood as the distance that separates those who have access to information and therefore to new information technologies and communications and those who have it in a limited way or do not access them. simply put, it is the gap between the “rich in information” and the “poor in information”. the digital divide has become a primary indicator of unequal opportunities. to reduce the digital divide, it is not enough to have access to the tools, it is necessary to create a policy and regulatory environment, institutional frameworks and human training that promotes the flow of information, innovation, and the effective use of global knowledge resources. this new model of educational action must have educational rights as its center, it must be based on equity, human dignity and social justice and must be guided to address the needs and aspirations of all social groups. if we want to be inhabitants of the global village, taking into account the educational problems we have, the challenge is to achieve an education for all and for a lifetime, i end up coined by jacques delors in his work: education encloses a treasure, where he argues that education for all, must take into account the four pillars of knowledge: learn to know, learn to do, learn to be and learn to serve and live there because some of our questions arise; how to achieve this coexistence if we have not been able to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 103 published by scholink inc. achieve it in our own communities? will this coexistence be possible taking into account our differences, cultural, educational, religious, ethnic, social and economic? has current education helped to overcome these differences? will the educational policy of our country go in the right line to achieve this goal? the population structure of our country is a huge cultural, ethnic, religious educational, economic and social mosaic, these enormous differences place us in alarmingly unequal and inequitable contexts, with deep and lagging senses and huge inequality of opportunities of various kinds. it should be clarified that our cultural wealth is what defines us as a strong and powerful country, our obligation is to appropriate it, maintain it and strengthen it. the school has been until nowadays the main conductive channel towards the education and culture of the people, precisely because of this, it requires today as always and perhaps more than ever appropriate policies, extraordinary supports, national consensus, that manage to diminish that enormous heterogeneity that it divides us, which distances us that makes us ignorant, that leads to inequalities, that prevents progress, and that has delayed reaching so longed for economic and social development. to locate more closely the magnitude of the problem we live, let's analyze the following data. the statistics are generally cold, produce chills when our reality is restricted in the face. 3. the humanization of education before ict the new communication and information technologies offer the ideal potential to expand the spectrum of teaching and learning, crossing the traditional barriers of time and space, as well as the current boundaries of educational systems. icts enable an improvement in face-to-face educational processes and offer more opportunities to learn in non-formal education systems. exploiting these possibilities is the task that we have to perform, the challenge is how. what kind of teacher and student profiles do we need, what is the appropriate curriculum, what activities will support that curriculum, such as maintaining the motivation of the different subjects involved. obviously we must bet on the planning task, which privileges the necessary humanization of educational processes. mediation with permanent dialogue becomes an indispensable attribute. distance education as a new modality in education will then also require the implementation of a new model, a change in the educational paradigm, where the roles for both the apprentice and the teacher have new meanings, new responsibilities, new challenges and new challenges this new model will require a joint hierarchy of planned actions involving institutional institutions at the macro and micro levels, schools, teaching, administrative, technological and students. the responsibilities of each of the intervening subjects, is also different, there must be an effective fulfillment in the new roles that they will have to assume, the biggest challenge may have to do with promoting the necessary dialogue, the choice of means in education, to the design of teaching materials and for tutorial support should be based on the principle of maximum interactivity. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 104 published by scholink inc. the challenge in distance modalities is a major one, because it becomes necessary to achieve a certain relative autonomy of the students, in their learning process, and i say “certain autonomy” knowing that they will be subject to the mediation of an online program assisted by the facilitator, by the tutor. for this innovative process, it is necessary to design specific pedagogical structures, which favor interaction and interactivity and collaborative work between the actors. shorten the distance between teacher and student, and give immediate response to the latter’s requirements. for this, the use of communication technologies as teaching tools is imminent, under the premise that their effectiveness will be subject to the possibility that users access them massively. we need to avoid that, in distal education, the spatial and geographical gap is a factor of failure because of the human need for closeness of guidance guidance support. obviously the internal and external motivation that the student possesses and receives in their learning process is important; although we are talking about an autonomous and self-directed process, the teacher continues to be a fundamental piece, have this category of tutor, instructor or supportive companion, or advisor, in this order of ideas, the humanization of the pedagogical advice is proposed as an action line, under the focus on distance education of maximum interactivity of the instructional process and theories of student-centered learning (humanism, constructivism and collaborative learning). even if the teacher is a member of an educating society for the sake of technification, it is necessary to preserve that traditional ingredient of culture that we call humanistic training. 4. conclusions the government and educational institutions face important challenges today, the main route is to continue to focus on development and overcome the gaps that have widened worryingly, within the country and abroad, gaps of various kinds. today as we must never meet, join efforts to agree on dreams and proposals that make it possible to overcome the digital divide that separates us from the globalized world. it is important to emphasize and forgive if i am repetitive, universities and schools need to design, plan on a prospective plane the model of the university we dream of, what should be inclusive but autonomous, preserving the diversity and inclusion of peoples. today it is an emerging task to work on educational projects, models and actions that rescue ethical values, conserve and strengthen our cultural wealth and maintain the essential component of the humanization of educational processes, regardless of the type of teaching taught. the central theme of the debates on education in our country focuses its attention on the establishment of a new educational paradigm, towards the design of alternative emerging models that diminish the great lags and social inequities, so that they can incorporate, to the school to a significant percentage of the population that have not had access to it “if we want to optimize the learning process of our students, we have to apply to their design everything we know about the human being as an intelligent creature that thinks and learns” bruer (nineteen ninety five). of course it is important to highlight the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 105 published by scholink inc. importance of universal and inclusive access to the information society. in this order of ideas, the education project we need must be based on people, for meaningful learning and the social construction of knowledge. try not to lose sight of the necessary humanization of processes, meet the individual needs of each person, their own learning rhythms, the affective need that is inherent in every human being. references bruer, j. t. (1995). grupo planeta (gbs). castells, m. (n.d.). internet and the red society. delors, j. (n.d.). education closes a treasure. fainholc, b. (n.d.). interactivity in distance education. ed. paidos; buenos aires, argentina. ferraté, g., alsina, c., & pedro, f. e. (n.d.). internet as an environment for distance teaching. ed. paidos, barcelona, spain. reimers, a. f. (n.d.). education, inequality and policy options in latin america in the 21st century. silvio, j. (n.d.). the virtualization of the university, iesalc/unesco. caracas, venezuela. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 11 original paper educating the elites: an examination of the characteristics and social impacts of elite universities and students in the united states liqing he 1 1 school of foreign languages, nanfang college, guangzhou, china received: august 1, 2023 accepted: august 10, 2023 online published: august 21, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p11 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p11 abstract nowadays, going to elite schools becomes a fashion for students worldwide. however, there are also increasing concerns on the functions and social impacts of the elite education. this essay is going to discuss the following three topics: first, the characteristics of the elite universities and the reasons and implications behind; next is on the characteristics of the students who received elite educations form the top universities in the states; and last is on the social impacts and future of the elite education. keywords elite education, social impact, the united states 1. introduction nowadays, going to elite schools becomes a fashion for students worldwide. most of the top students in different countries are most likely to choose to pursuit their undergraduate studies in the ivy league. this is largely because of the reputation of these elite universities and the promising futures they are going to offer. however, there are also increasing concerns on the functions and social impacts of the elite education. one of the examples is the book: excellence without a soul: how a great university forgot education published in 2006 by the former dean of harvard college, harry r. lewis. a more recent example is the book excellent sheep: the miseducation of the american elite and the way to a meaningful life by yale professor william deresiewicz in 2014. they both address the underlying problems of elite education from the insiders’ points of view and encourage further discussions on such topics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 12 published by scholink inc. this essay is going to discuss the following three topics: first, the characteristics of the elite universities and the reasons and implications behind; next is on the characteristics of the students who received elite educations form the top universities in the states; and last is on the social impacts and future of the elite education. theories of parker j. palmer, thomas jefferson, human capital theory and so on will be applied to examine the limitations and possibilities of the elite education. meanwhile, comparison with the elite educations in other countries will also be made to highlight the strong influences and social impacts that elite education can be made worldwide. above all, this essay aims to examine the characteristics and social impacts of elite education and find out possible ways towards good education and trainings. 2. the characteristics of elite universities in the united states the usual first impression of elite schools will be the students who are super smart because not every one can get into such elite universities. this session is going to examine each of the unique characteristics of the elite universities in the states, namely strict admission, high ranking, research-based focus, the twisted grading system and powerful alumni which served as the source of capital and funding. these characteristics are closely linked to one another and have significant implications behind. the admission process, as described by william deresiewicz, the yale professor who is also one of the members of yale admission committee, is very strict and highly intense. the admission result needs to be decided with at least five people: one member of the college dean’s office, the faculty representative and three admissions staff. at the mean time, the selecting criteria is also doubtlessly complicated and demanding: “sats, gpa, class rank, numerical scores to which the letters of recommendation had been converted, special notations for legacies and diversity cases” (deresiewicz, 2014). what the elite universities values is the personal qualities, such as leadership, care for the community besides having good scores. the successful applicants need to be well rounded, for example having all the qualities mentioned above and is actively participated in all kinds of extra curricular activities or sports. in addition, the applicants need to have as many recommendation letters as possible in order to secure his or her chance of getting into the elite universities. if the applicant is not so well rounded developed, he or she need to win some national or international awards in some specific fields in order to stand out and get the offer. the ivy league has adopted the norm-referenced view of excellence here, which is when “the activity to be excellent in functions as an exchangeable commodity in a competitive environment” (strike, 1985, p. 410). the applicants of elite universities have to compete with so many people in so many areas in order to stand out. needlessly to mention that admission also has direct relations with race and class, this will be further discussed later in the implication part. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 13 published by scholink inc. another unique characteristic of the elite universities is they usually have very high rankings. there maybe variations each year but they are usually at the top 10. this implies that the elite universities are very familiar with the requirements and criteria of the ranking systems. usually, the ranking system values the research and the number of publications done by the university professors. therefore, most of the elite universities in the united states focus a lot on research, which is another characteristic of elite universities. they need research to contribute to their ranking, which also serves as an indicator to attract more college applicants in the future. since the elite universities focus very much on research, which may implies the professor may spend less time and energy on teaching. as revealed by lewis in his book that the professors in harvard have the freedom to teach what they want and can therefore reduce or avoid the difficult tasks (2006). some professors may think the fundamental courses are too easy and they are more willing to teach seniors so that they can have more thoughtful discussions and inspirations for their research. or the professor may think some of the necessary courses are not exact their expertise so they refuse to open such courses. all these can bring harms to the students because they are not receiving the whole and comprehensive education they are supposed to get. the grading system and grade inflation is another characteristic of elite universities in the states. professors are forced by students to give them high grades. students can use evaluation to demand such request or some of the students will avoid certain courses if they know the professors are gpa killers. for example, in the university of harvard, lewis laments the fact that grades that are used to encourage excellence and it now changes to become “a game of strategy and score maximization” (mendoza, 2007, p. 486). the most crucial characteristic of elite universities is the donations from their alumni. without sources of capital and funding, elite universities will not be able to maintain their research scale and quality, in addition, this will further affect their rankings and reputations, which will become less attractive to the top students around the world and then lose the possible source of future incomes. that also explains why the admission has to be strict and is related to the issues of race and class. the history of ivy league can explain why the elite universities have to choose students from specific race and class. the original purpose of the establishments of most elite private universities in the united states is not to serve the public but to serve the upper class as means to maintain and secure their status. the elite universities also adjust and change their admission plans over time to cope with the changing reality. for example, they welcome students from brics (russia, china, india, brazil and south africa) countries because in the future, students from these five developing countries are most likely to become successful and able to contribute and donate back. however, as suggested by deresiewicz, the most disadvantaged groups are working-class and rural white (2014). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 14 published by scholink inc. elite universities in the states value the idea of diversity. however, the diversity is intentionally selected and presented. the system of the elite education is problematic and promoted further inequality and reduce the chance of upward mobility. hence, again, comes back to the point of admission. the elite universities will select those students that are well-rounded developed or has outstanding achievement in one particular area. it implies that the students either are super smart in one area or they are able to afford the money to develop their interests and skills. hence, the local american families will send their children to private high schools if they want their children go to ivy league and provide them with sports trainings, music classes and international service opportunities. 3. the characteristics of undergraduate students in the elite universities after examining the characteristics of elite universities in the states, it is important to look at what kind of students do they produced. the characteristics of the elite students are discussing in this session and to reveal the problematic side of elite education in the united states. the elite students are those who have successfully fulfilled the admission requirements and they are trained to be a leader that shows strong devotion to community and services, good at some sports or musical instruments, with good academic results and usually have a decent family background. this is actually similar to the asia’s top students who are only good at obtaining good grades because requirement of university entry is good grades. the elite students in the states are also following the requirement of the admission of elite universities. some of them are told to join the services, to join the student committee, to join the sports club so as to have a higher chance of getting into his or her ideal universities. therefore, one of the most noticeable characteristics of elite students is conformity. they follow the rules. it is interesting and ironic to see that most of the elite universities tell their students to pursuit their own passion and they can be whatever they want to be, but most of them will end up choosing similar things. finance and consulting have became the most popular choices for top school students in the united states. again, it proves that most of the elite students dare not to take some unusual paths and they are just like the sheep, which is good at following the crowd. another similar characteristic is the elite students are actually lack of confidence to find their true self or be their true self. university is a place where you start to realize who you are and to develop and become yourself. it serves as a platform for students to meet others, to read books and exchange ideas and engage in intellectual debates and discussions. however, some of the elite students would rather choose to learn particle skills that can is good for his or her future career development. they like to talk about return on investment and do all sorts of calculations (deresiewicz, 2014). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 15 published by scholink inc. on the other hand, because the elite students have almost never experienced anything but success, they are actually very afraid of failure. the environments and surroundings of the elite universities are usually quite intense and competitive. elite students can be quite stressful from academic life; they care about their gpa and are willing to choose easy courses to avoid failure. additionally, there is also a sense of insecure and anxious among the elite students, they will worry about questions like whether their internship opportunities is as good as their peers, whether they are “networking” or they sound “brilliant” enough. they do care a lot about their self-images but they are actually vulnerable inside. 4. the social impacts and future of elite education education is about educating the people who are going to build up the future of our society. from the above analysis, it is clear that the standards set by the elite institutions in the united states are problematic and severed to their own purposes. most of the elite students are also doing what they are told and become i-banker or consultant or other well-paid jobs. however, this will further strengthen the problems of inequality. the american dream is that everyone has the right to work hard and get what they want, however, they are actually be placed in this kind of invisible social hierarchy. what is more important is that elite education still serves as a desirable education that the general public is longing for. for the upper class, elite education serves as a compulsory education for their children to think like the rich, act like the rich and socialize with the rich in order to enhance their elite circle. for the middle and lower class, elite education severs as a form of upward mobility so they can climb the social ladder through education. additionally, the elite universities in the united states also serve as the role model for other universities in other countries to look up and learn from. however, if other universities also focus a lot on research and value little on the teaching, it will be problematic for students as a whole. the ranking is another reason why foreign universities are longed for, but after examining the logic behind, it is important for universities not to focus too much on ranking but to teach students with passion. the future of the elite education is still a question mark but it is important to fix some of the problems before too late. there are two ways to change the current situation of the elite education, one is through the institutions, which is the ivy league, and the other one is through individual, means every single one of the students in the elite universities. as for institution, the reform of admission process still need to take some time, but what can be changed in the institution is also the individual, which is the professor. parker j. palmer stress on the identity and integrity of a teacher (1994). in his point of view, a teacher needs to teach with his or her heart and to stir the souls of the students. if the professors in the elite universities are willing to put efforts into building up healthy relationships with the students, to engage in students’ lives and help them become who they are, and to open the courses that are necessary for students’ comprehensive education. these together can solve a lot of problems. furthermore, the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 16 published by scholink inc. grading system can also be improved if the professors work collaboratively with the schools to avoid the threat from students. as for the elite students themselves, they have more flexibility and chances to make efforts to fix the current problems of the elite education. for example, they can give up their entitlements as ivy league students but to choose to transfer to public schools. they are two types of theory on equity and excellence: “the human capital theory allocates educational resources on the basis of ability to profit [and] the jeffersonian ideal allocates educational resources on the basis of need” (strike, 1985, p. 415). the american government should consider to put more resources in public schools in order to produce an equal results to compete with the elite institutions. the individual students can also make an effort to find out whom they really are and face their true selves. for example, because one of the admission requirements is to do service work, they can start to questions why they are doing the service works besides getting the chance to enter elite universities, they can discover their unknown selves if they start to think and reflect upon the works they choose to do. they can also choose to study in liberal arts colleges to leave the burden as a so-called elite student. elite institutions like to train students with practical skills that are necessary for the success in their later career lives. but according to professor lewis, the students who go to universities is to come away with a way of thinking about the students’ whole lives. students need to be responsible for their own lives and realize where the actual problems lie and not to escape from the problems. additionally, a question that the elite educators need to ask is what kind of qualities they need to promote for the future. the answers to that can be further assist in the process of admission reform. another question to ask is how to evaluate the qualities. there are some extreme examples that a chinese student who want to get into ivy league flied to tibet and teach the children for one day and took photo as evidence for service working. it is always difficult to change the system; especially we are still living in a meritocracy. in order for the society to change and progress, the secret actually lies in us, it is in our willingness to discuss on the topics and make changes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 17 published by scholink inc. references deresiewicz, w. (2014). excellent sheep: the miseducation of the american elite and the way to a meaningful life. simon and schuster. lewis, h. r. (2006). excellence without a soul: how a great university forgot education (pp. 1995-2003). new york: public affairs. mendoza, p. (2007). excellence without a soul: how a great university forgot education (review). the review of higher education, 30(4), 486-487. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2007.0027 palmer, p. j. (1997). the heart of a teacher identity and integrity in teaching. change: the magazine of higher learning, 29(6), 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091389709602343 strike, k. a. (1985). is there a conflict between equity and excellence? educational evaluation and policy analysis, 7(4), 409-416. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737007004409 deresiewicz, w. (2014, july 21). don’t send your kid to the ivy league. retrieved may 12, 2017, from https://newrepublic.com/article/118747/ivy-league-schools-are-overrated-send-your-kids-elsewher e https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2007.0027 https://doi.org/10.1080/00091389709602343 https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737007004409 microsoft word grhe-v1n2-p112 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 112 short research article research project: the mentoring and development of emotional competence in nursing students josé vilelas1,2, paula diogo1,3*, isabel lucas1,2 & maria joão fernandes1,4 1 nursing research & development unit, lisbon, portugal 2 higher health school of red cross, lisbon, portugal 3 higher nursing school of lisbon, lisbon, portugal 4 higher health school of ribeiro sanches, lisbon, portugal * paula diogo, nursing research & development unit, lisbon, portugal received: may 6, 2018 accepted: may 15, 2018 online published: june 21, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p112 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p112 abstract nursing care has a very intense emotional component. nursing students, in addition to dealing with the frailties inherent in their life processes and personality development, are still subject to an emotionally and socially demanding academic experience. this negatively charged emotionality hinders the teaching-learning process and the academic course. the emotional management depends on perception and individual resources, and it may be necessary for this regulation support and guidance provided by a mentor. the mentoring programs developed in the institutions of higher education contribute to the healthy integration of the student and, consequently, to their socialization and academic success. mentors provide guidance to students and extrinsic emotional regulation, through support and discussion, and are a resource in managing emotions, contributing to the development of emotional competence in nursing students. this quantiquantitative approach research project aims to contribute to the construction of a mentoring program that promotes the development of emotional competence, essential to academic success and transformative learning in nursing degree. keywords mentoring, nursing, students, emotions, emotional competence, academic success 1. introduction students admitted to the nursing degree live an intense emotional experience, exhausting and often disturbing, which can weaken your health and inner balance. these students, in addition to having to deal with the weaknesses inherent in their life processes and personality development, are still subject to an www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 113 published by scholink inc. intense academic experience, which is very demanding from an emotional and social point of view (williams & williams, 2011; banks, owen, & erickson, 2012). the intense negative emotionality load complicates the teaching-learning process and the academic course. the students’ emotional experience in clinical teaching involves stressful situations that require work at the level of emotional support (diogo, rodrigues, lemos e sousa et al., 2017). from the perspective of watson’s theory of human caring, emotions are a key element for the nurse’s connection with the self (body, mind and soul) of the caregiver. this relationship appears as a rich experience for both stakeholders, in which all grow and learn with each other. thus, nursing care is framed in a “human-to-human caring process” (watson, 2002, p. 69) with a very intense emotional component. analyzing nursing practice as a relational process impregnated with emotions and feelings (diogo, 2015) becomes a pertinent and necessary horizon, since emotional experience is omnipresent in every act of caring (diogo, 2006). the management of emotions and experiences depends on individual perceptions and resources and may be necessary for its regulation support, guidance and mediation over the processes of learning and human development (huybrecht, loeckx, quaeyhaegens et al., 2010; rodrigues & baía, 2012; lima & tavares, 2016). the concepts of tutoring and supervision differ from the concept of mentoring, as the latter refers to a person who helps to understand the system and offers guidance. at the academy in particular, tutoring guides the student to succeed in the organization (bryant, brody, perez et al., 2015). thus, in the educational area, tutor is one that contributes to learning, within a certain philosophy of teaching. the mentor has an expanded role, marked less by the teaching itself and more by the personal and professional orientation of the student as a whole (botti & rego, 2008). mentoring contributes to the development of positive perceptions of learning by students (chuan & barnett, 2012). the mentoring programs developed in higher education institutions contribute to the healthy integration of the student, consequently to their socialization and academic success. orientation is part of the leader’s role, which aims to promote growth by helping students develop their own academic or career path (kim, im, & hwang, 2015). the mentor, in a work of reciprocity, supports and empowers the development of communication skills, critical judgment, evaluation and adjustment (araújo & vieira, 2013), which empowers talent, seeking the best opportunities and resource management, for the individual development and learning (saraiva & rodrigues, 2011; williams, 2013). the mentor should, on the one hand, support and guide the student to more effectively reach his or her potential (bain, fedynich, & knight, 2010; bryant, brody, perez et al., 2015), on the other hand facilitate the development of educational and academic competencies (williams & williams, 2011). mentoring facilitates when there is inadequate academic preparation, lack of social and academic resources, and anxiety in nursing students, this can reduce dropout and increase success rates for these students (wong, stake-doucet, lombardo et al., 2016). mentors provide guidance to students and extrinsic emotional regulation, through support and discussion, these are a resource and support the management of emotions. through the co-regulation of emotions, mentors facilitate integration and adaptation to the emotions experienced (straus, johnson, marquez et al., 2013). when the student achieves positive results with the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 114 published by scholink inc. mentoring program, the mentee feels empowered, confident and encouraged to use this strategy in similar situations during the remaining years of the course, and often for a lifetime (mcgaghie, issenberg, petrusa et al., 2010). the mentor works with students on an individualized action plan to increase their self-esteem, in order to increase their resilience. when working with the student, the mentor can provide help and timely advice on the different features available. students need to feel valued, and often do not optimize available academic resources, for lack of knowledge or fear of breach of confidentiality (marks-maran, ooms, tapping et al., 2013). the scientific evidence and the daily life led to the guiding question of this project; how do the nursing students live and perceive the negative and exhausting factors and their emotional experience along the formative course? the purpose of this study is to contribute to the construction of a mentoring program that promotes the development of emotional competence, essential to academic success and a transformative learning in nursing degree. 2. overall objective understand the emotional experiences of the students throughout the teaching-learning process. 3. methodology exploratory study of a quantiqualitative approach. the sample consists of the degree course nursing students (from 1st to 4th year) and their teachers. data are collected in a first phase by “emotional skills competence questionnaire” (escq) portuguese version (santos & faria, 2005); the purpose of applying this questionnaire is to identify emotional perception and expression and ability to deal with emotion. emotional perception corresponds to the ability to recognize emotions in oneself and others (mayer, salovey, & caruso, 2004). emotional expression refers to the ability to externalize the affective contents in the “here and now” in interaction with the other (denham, 2007) properly (alzina & escoda, 2007). and the ability to deal with emotion is to be able to manage and regulate emotions in an adaptive way, which refers to the concept of emotional regulation that consists of the conscious and/or unconscious strategic process by which the individual influences the type of emotion that he has, when and how he experiences them and expresses (gross & thompson, 2007). this questionnaire consists of 45 items, on a six-point likert scale, ranging from never to ever, composed of three subscales: “emotional perception”, with 15 items corresponding to the questions: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42 and 44; “emotional expression”, with 14 items corresponding to the questions: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38 and 41; and “ability to deal with emotion” with 16 items corresponding to the questions: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43 and 45. in this scale there are no inverted items (santos & faria, 2005). in a second phase, students will be interviewed, until data saturation, with the objective of understanding emotionally intense and disturbing experiences in the student’s perspective; understand their training needs aimed at the development of emotional competence; identify emotional management strategies; identify emotional management resources; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 115 published by scholink inc. analyze mentoring as a resource for the development of emotional competence. in the third phase there will be the realization of a focus group for teachers, also with the objective of understanding the emotionally intense situations of the students; understanding weaknesses in emotional development; analyze their training needs, which aim to develop emotional competence; and to analyze mentoring as a resource for the development of emotional competence. 4. expected results this project will be performed in different portuguese nursing education institutions, and its temporal prediction will be two years. participants are expected to benefit from this study by reflecting on the recognition of their emotional competence, analyzing emotional management strategies that promote their overall wellbeing and emotional balance, and the ability to identify resources that target their emotional development by empowering them to cope more effectively with adversities as students and throughout their lives. no damage is expected for the participants. in summary, with this study, it is important to define formative strategies and transformational learning opportunities for the development of the nursing student’s emotional competence. thus, it is expected to be able to understand the emotional experiences lived by the students, and with this to raise awareness of the importance of mentoring in the nursing degree course and structure the guidelines of a mentoring program, adapted to a constructive learning and cognitive development, stimulating the emotional competence of the nursing student. references alzina, r. b., & escoda, n. p. (2007). las competencias emocionales. educación, xx1(10), 61-82. araújo, e., & vieira, v. (2013). práticas docentes na saúde: contribuições para uma reflexão a partir de carl rogers. revista semestral da associação brasileira de psicologia escolar e educacional, 17(1), 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1413-85572013000100010 bain, s., fedynich, l., & knight, m. (2010). the successful graduate student: a review of the factors for success. journal of academic and business ethics, 3(7), 1-9. retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10569.pdf banks, w., owen, j., & erickson m. (2012). insulin in the brain: there and back again. pharmacology & therapeutics, 136, 82-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2012.07.006 botti, s., & rego, s. (2008). preceptor, supervisor, tutor e mentor: quais são seus papéis? revista brasileira de educação médica, 32(3), 363-373. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-55022008000300011 bryant, a., brody, a., perez, a., shilliam, c., edelman, l., bond, s., foster, v., & siegel, e. (2015). development and implementation of a peer mentoring program for early career gerontological faculty. journal of nursing scholarship, 47(3), 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12135  chuan, o., & barnett, t. (2012). student, tutor and staff nurse perceptions of the clinical learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 116 published by scholink inc. environment. nurse education practioner, 12(4), 192-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.01.003 denham, s. a. (2007). dealing with feelings: how children negotiate the worlds of emotions and social relationships. cognition, brain, behavior, xi(1), 1-48. retrieved from http://denhamlab.gmu.edu/publications%20pdfs/denham%202007.pdf diogo, p. (2006). a vida emocional do enfermeiro: uma perspectiva emotivo-vivencial da prática de cuidados. coimbra: formasau. diogo, p. (2015). trabalho com as emoções em enfermagem pediátrica: um processo de metamorfose da experiência emocional no ato de cuidar (2nd ed.). loures: lusodidacta. diogo, p., rodrigues, j., lemos e sousa, o., martins, h., & fernandes, n. (2017). desenvolvimento de competências emocionais do estudante de enfermagem em ensino clínico: a função de suporte do enfermeiro supervisor. in p. diogo (coord.), investigar os fenómenos emocionais da prática e da formação em enfermagem (pp. 149-194). loures: lusodidacta. gross, j. j., & thompson, r. a. 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(2016). an integrative review of peer mentorship programs for undergraduate nursing students. the journal of nursing education, 55(3), 141-149. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20160216-04 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 85 original paper research on the application path and effectiveness of digital intelligence in cost engineering teaching ziyuan zhao 1 , jia zhan 1 , chunxiao wang 1 & yanzi mu 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong, china received: february 25, 2025 accepted: march 4, 2025 online published: march 9, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p85 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p85 abstract with the deep penetration of digital intelligence technology (integration of digitalization and intelligence) in the construction industry, cost engineering education urgently needs to reform traditional teaching models. this paper analyzes the core applications of digital intelligence technology in the field of cost engineering, combines classroom teaching practices, and explores the integration paths of digital intelligence tools and methods as well as their impact on teaching effectiveness. the research shows that digital intelligence teaching significantly enhances students’ practical abilities and industry adaptability through virtual simulation, bim technology, and big data analysis. however, challenges such as rapid technological updates and insufficient teacher-student alignment remain. future strategies should optimize teaching approaches through industry-academia collaboration and curriculum restructuring to cultivate interdisciplinary cost engineering professionals. keywords cost engineering, digital intelligence, classroom teaching, virtual simulation, bim technology 1. introduction digital intelligence integration (dii) represents a deep convergence of digitalization and intelligentization, with its core essence lying in the utilization of technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (ai), and the internet of things (iot) to achieve real-time data acquisition, analytical processing, and decision-making optimization. this paradigm shift enables the transformation of traditional cost management models in construction engineering from experience-driven approaches to data-centric methodologies through the integration of data-driven strategies and intelligent technologies. within the domain of engineering cost management, dii encompasses critical components including www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 86 published by scholink inc. automated engineering quantity computation, dynamic cost forecasting, and intelligent risk assessment mechanisms. 2. key technologies and their pedagogical value 2.1 bim (building information modeling) technology (1) technical function 3d modeling and data integration: integrates architectural structures, engineering quantities, material prices, and other data into a unified model, enabling multi-dimensional visual analysis. dynamic updates and collaborative management: facilitates real-time updates of design changes and enables data sharing among stakeholders. (2) pedagogical value visualized instruction: students utilize 3d models to comprehend the correlation between architectural structures and cost estimation, transcending the limitations of traditional 2d blueprints. interdisciplinary collaboration training: simulates project team collaboration scenarios to cultivate interdisciplinary coordination skills across engineering management, design, and cost estimation disciplines. 2.2 big data and artificial intelligence (ai) (1) technical functions data mining and analysis: integrates historical project data to identify cost fluctuation patterns and risk characteristics. intelligent prediction and decision-making: employs machine learning algorithms to forecast material price trends and total project costs. (2) pedagogical value data-driven thinking cultivation: trains students to extract actionable insights from massive datasets using tools like python and power bi. algorithmic application practice: designs cost prediction experiments based on historical data, such as predicting steel price fluctuations using linear regression models. 2.3 digital twin technology (1) technical functions virtual-physical mapping and dynamic simulation: constructs virtual models synchronized with physical projects to reflect real-time construction progress and cost variations. scenario optimization and risk early warning: tests cost differences among construction plans through simulation and anticipates potential risks. (2) pedagogical value immersive learning: demonstrates construction processes through virtual models to enhance students’ understanding of dynamic cost control mechanisms. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 87 published by scholink inc. decision-making skill development: designs multi-variable simulation experiments to improve students’ optimization decision-making abilities. 2.4 virtual simulation and iot (internet of things) (1) technical functions scenario simulation and practical training: utilizes vr/ar technologies to create virtual construction sites for simulating material inspection, quantity verification, and other workflows. real-time data acquisition: collects dynamic on-site data via sensors to support accurate cost accounting. (2) pedagogical value low-cost, high-fidelity training: mitigates safety risks and high expenses associated with real-site training while enabling repetitive skill drills. real-time feedback mechanism: automatically alerts students to operational errors, accelerating knowledge internalization. 3. application pathways of digital intelligence integration in classroom teaching 3.1 curriculum restructuring 3.1.1 limitations of traditional curriculum systems traditional engineering cost management courses, centered on norm-based costing and manual quantity calculation, exhibit three critical shortcomings: technological obsolescence: digital intelligence tools such as bim and big data are excluded from core curricula, causing misalignment between teaching content and industry demands. knowledge fragmentation: disjointed theoretical and software operation courses hinder students’ ability to develop lifecycle cost management thinking. scenario simplification: case studies rely on oversimplified assumptions, lacking dynamic analysis training with real-world project data. 3.1.2 digital intelligence-driven curriculum restructuring strategies (1) cross-disciplinary enhancement in foundational modules introduce fundamentals of engineering data science, covering python programming, statistical principles, and database management. integrate construction engineering regulations with smart contract (blockchain) content to cultivate compliance awareness and digital legal thinking. (2) integration of cutting-edge tools in technical modules launch courses such as bim cost applications and ai cost prediction practices, embedding tools like glodon, revit, and power bi into pedagogy. develop a cost estimation algorithm toolkit, integrating code libraries for regression analysis, monte carlo simulation, and other models to lower technical barriers. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 88 published by scholink inc. (3) industry-aligned scenario modules collaborate with enterprises to build dynamic case repositories. for example, one university incorporated data from the xiong’ an new area smart utility tunnel project to design comprehensive tasks covering design changes and material price adjustments. create digital intelligence decision sandboxes to simulate complex scenarios like competitive bidding and supply chain disruptions, training students’ dynamic response capabilities. 3.2 innovative teaching methodologies 3.2.1 bottlenecks in traditional teaching methods unidirectional knowledge transfer: teacher-led demonstrations and student imitation fail to foster innovative thinking. limited practical resources: high costs of physical labs restrict large-scale immersive training. simplistic evaluation: overreliance on written exams and static assignments inadequately reflects real-world technical proficiency. 3.2.2 digital intelligence-enhanced pedagogical design (1) project-based learning (pbl) integration cdio framework implementation: guide students through a full conceive design implement operate cycle, from bim modeling to cost optimization. for instance, a vocational college’s prefabricated housing project training enables mastery of prefab component cost analysis and supply chain coordination. interdisciplinary collaboration: partner with civil engineering and computer science departments for smart construction site co-design projects, nurturing multirole teamwork skills. (2) hybrid virtual-physical training systems “vr + physical” hybrid labs: students identify pipeline clashes in vr construction sites and adjust plans on physical sand tables, improving error correction efficiency by 40%. digital twin simulations: model typhoon impacts on schedules using digital twins to train dynamic resource planning. (3) flipped classrooms and data-driven personalization pre-class: release bim modeling micro-lectures via mooc platforms; students submit preliminary models. in-class: use learning analytics to identify common errors for targeted case studies. post-class: assign dynamic data analysis tasks on cloud platforms, with automated grading and competency radar charts. 3.3 practical competency development 3.3.1 challenges in digital intelligence practice training resource gaps: institutions lack access to real-world project data and advanced platforms. skill mismatch: students master tools but struggle with complex problem-solving. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 89 published by scholink inc. evaluation disconnect: academic assessments misalign with industry competency requirements. 3.3.2 systematic solutions for competency cultivation (1) industry-academia “dual system” platforms co-built industry colleges: example: a university partnered with glodon to establish a digital intelligence cost institute, integrating corporate mentors and live project data. “task-based” training: students bid for cloud-hosted tasks; completed tasks accrue academic credits. (2) competition-driven innovation incubation tiered competition framework: school-level bim contests → national smart cost competitions → international engineering innovation challenges. competition-curriculum integration: embed contest problems into coursework. for example, a university incorporated national college cost skills competition questions into engineering cost case analysis. (3) “technical + managerial” composite evaluation multidimensional metrics: tool proficiency (30%) + data analysis depth (40%) + solution innovativeness (30%). dynamic competency portfolios: use blockchain to record student training, competitions, and projects, generating tamper-proof digital competency profiles. industry collaboration: design tasks like smart bidding and dynamic cost control using real enterprise data. competition incentives: host bim modeling and smart cost challenges to stimulate innovation. 4. challenges and countermeasures 4.1 key challenges (1) disparity between rapid technological evolution and lagging educational resources the pace of technological innovation in engineering cost management far exceeds the capacity of traditional educational systems to update resources. frequent software algorithm upgrades and evolving industry standards create dual pressures. current textbooks predominantly lag behind mainstream software versions—surveys indicate approximately 70% of institutions still use materials based on outdated standard drawings and pricing norms. faculty capabilities also face knowledge gaps, with many instructors lacking proficiency in advanced software applications and algorithmic principles, limiting their ability to guide students in addressing real-world scenarios like dynamic price adjustments and intelligent cost estimation. (2) shortage of interdisciplinary faculty competencies the digital intelligence era demands educators with dual expertise in cost engineering and digital technologies, yet significant imbalances persist. about 65% of faculty lack hands-on experience in bim modeling or big data analytics, while over 40% have not engaged in smart contract or www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 90 published by scholink inc. blockchain-enabled engineering practices. this skills gap widens the disconnect between classroom instruction and industry advancements, leaving students ill-prepared for critical tasks like machine learning-driven cost prediction and digital twin-optimized cost workflows. (3) high-cost infrastructure development pressures new teaching platforms such as virtual simulation labs and cloud collaboration systems require substantial investments. a full bim+vr training system costs over 1 million rmb, with ongoing expenses like software subscriptions. budget-constrained institutions, particularly smaller ones, often settle for basic modules, unable to build immersive training environments covering design, construction, and operation lifecycle phases. 4.2 strategic solutions (1) industry-academia collaborative ecosystem development address resource bottlenecks through deepened partnerships: collaborate with tencent cloud to deploy elastic computing platforms, reducing local server costs. establish “ai quantity calculation workshops” with glodon, integrating enterprise-grade project cases and real-time material price databases. such initiatives ensure teaching tools align with industry standards, enabling student participation in live smart costing workflows. (2) tiered faculty capacity-building framework implement a three-stage training system: basic training: workshops on bim parametric design and machine learning applications. industry immersion: mandate faculty to engage in ≥2 months of smart costing projects annually. certification programs: incorporate credentials like microsoft azure or alibaba cloud certifications to enhance cloud platform management skills. (3) modular curriculum restructuring and resource sharing deconstruct digital intelligence knowledge into standalone units to accommodate institutional constraints. develop regional virtual simulation resource-sharing platforms using 5g networks for cross-institutional vr/ar content distribution, minimizing redundant investments. 5. conclusions and prospects digital intelligence integration (dii) offers transformative tools and methodologies for advancing engineering cost education; however, its effective implementation necessitates foundational reforms in curriculum design, faculty competency enhancement, and resource consolidation. future research should prioritize three critical dimensions: the seamless integration of emerging technologies into pedagogical frameworks, the establishment of standardized dii-aligned evaluation systems, and the development of interdisciplinary collaborative training models. by continuously refining instructional pathways, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 91 published by scholink inc. engineering cost education will not only drive the digital transformation of the industry but also cultivate high-caliber professionals equipped with technical acumen and innovative problem-solving capabilities. acknowledgement funding project: qingdao city university school-level scientific research team-“digital and intelligent services for the entire process of engineering project cost management based on big data and bim technology” (qcu22tdkj01). references bao, l. r. (2024). application of project teaching method based on bim in the course of engineering cost. curriculum and teaching methodology, (4). hong, h. (2021). research on the application of virtual simulation practice teaching in engineering cost specialty. e3s web of conferences. edp sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202125302017 huang, y. (2022). a reform process and enlightenment of online and offline hybrid teaching of engineering cost major——taking wuhan institute of engineering science as an example. education theory: teaching and learning. https://doi.org/10.55571/ettl.2022.04005 yang, s. s. (2020). the practice of project teaching method in engineering cost teaching—the application of bim technology. frontiers in educational research, (15.0). zhang, y. f., & mo, h. j. (2022). reforming the teaching of engineering cost budgeting majors by integrating vr and bim technology under the internet of things. security and communication networks. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4183059 https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202125302017 https://doi.org/10.55571/ettl.2022.04005 https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4183059 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 62 original paper exploration and practice of ideological and political teaching mode of applied undergraduate tax law course under the concept of obe wenyan ren 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: february 20, 2024 accepted: march 18, 2024 online published: march 19, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p62 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p62 abstract the construction of ideological and political education in the curriculum is an important task for comprehensive improvement of the quality of talent training in applied undergraduate colleges, which serves as a significant initiative to cultivate accounting talents for regional economic services. based on the obe concept, this article uses “output-oriented, student-centered, continuous improvement” as a guide for the reform and practice of ideological and political education in tax law teaching. it establishes an obe model for reforming ideological and political education in tax law courses and puts forward insights into the reform of ideological and political education in tax law teaching. keywords ideological and political teaching mode, applied undergraduate, tax law the 20th national congress of the communist party of china proposed that we should adhere to prioritizing education development, self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, driving with talent leadership, accelerating the construction of a strong nation in education, science and technology, as well as talents. it emphasizes fostering people for the party and nurturing talents for the country while comprehensively improving the quality of independent talent cultivation. the focus is on cultivating top innovative talents by gathering outstanding individuals from all over the world. on may 28th, 2020, the ministry of education issued “guidelines for ideological and political education curriculum construction in higher education institutions”, requiring universities to comprehensively promote curriculum ideological and political construction by integrating it into classroom teaching throughout talent development objectives. curriculum ideological and political construction is a strategic measure to fulfill its fundamental task-cultivating applied undergraduate students with moral www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 63 published by scholink inc. integrity; it serves as a political lever to enhance quality-oriented training for applied-typed talents; it also bears sacred mission undertaken by university teachers under national strategy on building an educational powerhouse applied undergraduate student training model aligns with national policy guidelines aiming at serving local economic development needs along with nurturing innovative talents. the tax law course is a core course for applied undergraduate accounting majors, mainly covering the basic legal norms of current taxes in our country, calculation of taxable amounts, and tax declaration. the teaching objectives consist of knowledge, skills, and quality goals. based on the characteristics of the teaching content of tax law courses, incorporating ideological and political education throughout the teaching process combines talent cultivation with personal development to achieve unity between explicit education and implicit education while cultivating innovative and versatile accounting professionals. this aims to equip students not only with a solid theoretical foundation and practical operational abilities but also to instill in them a strong sense of legal consciousness for paying taxes according to laws underpinned by firm ideals beliefs. this will fulfill the training objective aimed at serving local regional economic development through nurturing applied undergraduate talents. based on the above reasons, the author integrates the concept of moral education into practical undergraduate tax law teaching and explores the specific application of moral education elements in teaching, summarizes corresponding experiences, and promotes the improvement of the quality of talent training in applied universities. 1. a survey of ideological and political research on tax law courses research on the ideological and political aspects of tax law courses in china, as documented by cnki, has expanded since 2019 with over 60 academic papers. the main research directions encompass several key areas. 1.1 targeting the ideological and political education in tax law courses for higher vocational colleges and applied undergraduate programs xu lifeng (2021) discussed the issues and implementation paths of ideological and political education in applied undergraduate courses. wang zi yue et al. (2023) argued for the necessity of ideological and political education in tax law courses, the specific path to implement ideological and political education, problems existing in tax law course’s ideological and political education, as well as incorporating ideological elements into specific types of taxes. he jiahui expounded on the significance of integrating ideology into teaching tax law within applied undergraduate courses, goal setting, teaching methods that incorporate ideological elements, and measures to ensure teaching quality. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 64 published by scholink inc. 1.2 tax law course ideological and political education with specific background concepts wang et al. (2023) discussed the integration of the “curriculum ideological and political education” concept in tax law teaching reform under the background of internet finance, reflecting the timeliness and innovation of talent cultivation in universities. huang et al. (2023) analyzed the problems and countermeasures existing in tax law teaching under the background of big data combined with curriculum ideological and political education. he fang (2022) carried out educational reforms and practices for tax law course ideological and political education to achieve an organic integration of professional knowledge in tax law with elements of ideology and politics within a context emphasizing comprehensive student development. 2. issues with the ideological and political education in applied undergraduate tax law courses currently, most applied undergraduate tax law courses adopt a “online-offline” blended teaching mode, but the longitudinal comparison of the teaching effectiveness over several semesters has not achieved significant improvement. teachers only focus on knowledge enhancement in their lectures, without considering the vocational needs and talent cultivation of applied undergraduate students, thus failing to achieve the goal of cultivating talents for regional economic development services at applied undergraduate level. the course-based ideology model based on obe concept mainly has the following problems: 2.1 the positioning of course objectives is not comprehensive enough to meet the needs of training applied undergraduate talents in setting course objectives, only emphasis is placed on achieving knowledge and ability goals while neglecting embedding and achievement of literacy goals. in daily teaching activities there’s disregard towards integrating literate targets such as socialism core values into taxation-related subjects; applied undergraduates should be focused more on societal professional demands over these foundational knowledge objectives with an aim to cultivate high-quality skilled tax professionals. 2.2 teaching content focuses on theoretical knowledge impartation while ideological elements are poorly integrated in a blended “online-offline” teaching mode using lecture-style methods, students’ learning reaches requirements pertaining to instructional aims. it’s imperative that applied undergraduates pay closer attention maturing their practical taxation abilities during instruction practices rather than just focusing solely basic theory dissemination; unfortunately this process lacks proper integration thoughtful ideological materials related to taxation expertise; daily teachings simply skim through nurturing literary aspects hoping students understand although it doesn’t leave any profound impact in shaping career perspectives or values. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 65 published by scholink inc. 2.3 the assessment mechanism for courses is too one-dimensional making continuous improvements difficult the majority assessments for academic institutions specializing in taxes appear superficial as they fail prompt adequate detection regarding student accomplishments concerning both knowledge ambitions & character ambitions throughout a semester. typically, the evaluation comprises mostly regular performance along with end-of-term grades; routine performances made up by attendance, homework, and classroom attentiveness; such assessments feature abstract theoratical considerations. it can be summarized that these everyday evaluations lack diversity because opportunities assessing characteristics aren’t accounted clearly within them. end-of-semester exams primarily emphasize examining candidates regarding classical taxable domain awareness without getting into curriculum ideologically connected topics. aspiring individuals being trained seem limitably influenced due flawed course approaches grading methodologies choices unable infuse guided value systems or guiding upliftments promoting composite skilled personnel proficiency enhancements. 3. under the concept of outcomes-based education, ideas for reforming ideological and political teaching in tax law courses obe, or outcome-based education, is also known as output-oriented education. its core idea can be summarized as “output-oriented, student-centered, and continuous improvement”. this advanced educational concept focuses on inspiring students’ intrinsic motivation and enhancing their self-directed learning ability and innovation consciousness. by focusing on societal and professional needs and designing teaching in a reverse manner based on outcomes, it aims to cultivate innovative accounting talents with multiple skills. therefore, the obe concept can serve as a guide for the development of applied undergraduate courses as well as for the design of professional course teaching, creating an educational model that integrates obe concepts into applied undergraduate ideological education. based on the obe teaching philosophy, the overall framework for tax law curriculum reform revolves around following the report of party’s 20th national congress while emphasizing socialist core values, confidence in socialism and patriotism along with fostering a sense of responsibility towards laws compliance taxation ethics. with integrated goals consisting of theoretical knowledge transfer/practical knowledge imparting training composite capabilities establishment alongside forming core values within students’ practices-centered mixed-mode instruction focused approach achieves objectives by shaping undergraduates’ values which combines talent nurturing effectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 66 published by scholink inc. 4. under the obe concept, practical undergraduate tax law courses undergo ideological and reform practice reforms 4.1 outcome-oriented “trinity” course objectives under the teaching concept of obe, the first step in the ideological and political reform of tax law courses is to clarify the demand for talent trained in applied undergraduate programs by specific social positions, and to set output-oriented “three-in-one” teaching objectives. building on the basic knowledge and competency goals for students majoring in finance and accounting, incorporating mindset goals, achieves comprehensive educational goals for applied undergraduate programs. specifically, in setting teaching objectives, it is necessary to be based on social occupational demands, determine specific requirements for knowledge objectives, competency objectives, and mindset objectives while paying attention to their progressive relationship as well as continuous advancement of mindset goals. meanwhile, the formulation of course outlines should be based on comprehensive education goal, breaking down into three main components, and implementing through tax law curriculum ideology path embodied in pedagogical practice. 4.2 curriculum design centered on student-centered political and ideological education in the context of the obe concept, the tax law course’s ideological and political education teaching model centers on students. it aims to cultivate students’ proactive learning abilities and creative thinking under comprehensive educational goals, fostering good professional qualities and ethical values while upholding socialist core values. to ensure the realization of comprehensive educational objectives, it is essential to break traditional teaching models by utilizing blended teaching methods, enhancing instructional approaches, enriching teaching materials, and integrating ideological and political elements throughout the entire process. 4.2.1 the essence of ideological and political education is integrated into the practice of blended learning the blended teaching model combines the advantages of traditional teaching methods with digital and online learning. it focuses on student-centered instruction using diverse teaching approaches to enhance students’ initiative and creativity in learning. the blended teaching model aligns with the obe concept, aiming to reform tax law courses through ideological and political education, focusing on practical needs of accounting graduates, fostering a student-centered approach to knowledge, skills development, and values shaping for cultivating high-quality applied undergraduate talents. in this mode, ideological and political elements are integrated into the entire process of pre-class tasks (including exploring ideological elements), classroom instruction using student-centered design via the superstar learning platform along with various teaching methods that encourage students to reflect upon their findings related to ideological and political elements within taxation laws; after-class assignments focus on practicing these elements-reflection-summarization while establishing a multi-faceted evaluation system assessing whether students have met instructional requirements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 67 published by scholink inc. 4.2.2 the establishment of the ideological and political resources center lays the foundation for educational reform under the concept of obe, tax law curriculum reform should actively establish a resource pool for ideological and political education. this involves integrating ideological and political elements into tax law textbooks with multidimensional textbook reforms. by incorporating the twenty major spirits into the knowledge points through extended materials in textbook reforms, it realizes higher-level competency goals and literacy objectives on the basis of professional knowledge impartation, making tax law textbooks more practical, targeted, and multi-dimensional. meanwhile, in organizing teaching activities before class-during class-after class, students’ group reports on ideological resources are collected to include mind maps of ideological elements, video resource libraries, ideological case resource libraries, and exercise banks which are compiled into an ideological resource library integrated within superstar learning platform, combined with timely updates based on national policies. 4.3 continuous improvement of the diversified assessment system enhances teaching effectiveness under the obe teaching philosophy, it is required to authentically assess students’ learning outcomes in order to achieve comprehensive teaching goals, emphasizing the students’ position and continuous improvement. in the context of tax law curriculum reform based on obe philosophy, a diversified evaluation system needs to be established for reasonable assessment of learning outcomes. under the blended teaching mode, with support from the superstar learning platform, a comprehensive assessment is conducted through an all-process approach. in addition to focusing on knowledge and skills objectives in different module assessments, there should also be a reasonable integration of competency-based objectives. the diversified evaluation system for course ideology under obe philosophy consists of three aspects: evaluation elements, assessment methods and evaluation methods that prioritize student-centered 100% comprehensive multidimensional assessment system. the assessment methods encompass both online and offline perspectives as well as individual and team aspects including class participation levels, periodic tests, regular assignments, group tasks platform study resources, and final reports. online components primarily involve class participation (attendance, discussions), periodictesting, assignments, and platform resource study while offline evaluations are mainly comprised by classroom participation (topic presentations, cased sharing) group projects, and final reports. under obe concept, stressing undergraduate talent development involving application-oriented endeavors, the focus lies not only on cultivating personal abilities but also emphasizes teamwork’s contribution towards regional economic development. in terms of this evaluative framework, the examination concerning collaborative capabilities prominently centers around pre-class explorations, class discussions summarization, reviews resulting into corresponding reports after each session. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 68 published by scholink inc. 5. undergraduate tax law course reform in the application-oriented education context: enlightenment under the application-oriented undergraduate tax law course reform practice based on the obe concept, the following insights can be obtained: first, take ideological and political goals as guidance in daily teaching, deeply integrate ideological and political goals with teaching content, and incorporate ideological and political education reform into each chapter’s knowledge points according to the characteristics of tax law courses. secondly, in the teaching process, integrate ideological and moral education throughout the entire process of tax law teaching through blended teaching methods, transforming passive learning about curriculum ideology into active exploration through innovative teaching methods; finally establish a dynamic cyclic multi-dimensional curriculum evaluation system for timely feedback and improvement purposes to provide a basis for continuous improvement of curriculum ideology education reform. references deng, h. (2021). exploration of tax law course teaching reform in applied undergraduate colleges in the new era—based on the perspective of integrating “ideological and political” elements. green finance and accounting, (09), 49-52. liu, w. y. (2023). the exploration of the integration of ideological and political education into tax law teaching practice. accountant, (03), 129-131. quan, j. p. (2023). analysis on the significance and implementation objectives of integrating ideological and political elements into tax law curriculum. gansu education research, (07), 118-121. zhao, y. (2023). reform and exploration of general education courses in economics and management in applied undergraduate colleges under the obe concept. china management informationization, (26), 217-220. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 50 original paper checking for understanding strategies using formative assessments for student learning angela lumpkin 1 1 department of kinesiology and sport management, texas tech university, lubbock, united states of america received: january 29, 2022 accepted: february 15, 2022 online published: march 14, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n1p50 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n1p50 abstract effective teaching is not just standing in front of a classroom filled with students and sharing disciplinary content knowledge, especially with today’s students. without student learning, has teaching actually occurred, or was it just talking? what are students thinking about? what are students understanding? are students able to connect new information presented with prior knowledge and then construct new knowledge that can be reinforced and committed to long-term memory? are students able to use this knowledge to meet the learning goal of “knowing and being able to do”, by making practical applications? checking for understanding is a research-proven approach using real-time assessments of students’ learning to inform teachers about students’ progress in learning. using a variety of questioning techniques is one approach to using in checking for understanding. one five-step process using a learning objective, cold calling, no op out, guided practice, and debrief offers a structure for helping students actively self-assess formatively as they progress in their learning. over 30 strategies are provided for checking for understanding before, during, and after class, verbally, in writing, and through physical movements describing how to engage students in learning activities to reinforce what they know and are able to do. keywords checking for understanding, student learning, formative assessment, effective teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 51 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the goal of teaching is not covering the content in the textbook by standing in the front of a classroom and just talking (briggs, 2014). lecturing has been adopted as the favorite course delivery method in colleges for centuries because it is easier to do as well as assumed to be effective because it is the most popular choice (barkley & major, 2018). however, bligh (2000) emphasizes that while lectures are effective in transmitting information, they are much less effective in promoting thinking and learning. that is, “just because we teach it, doesn’t mean that students are learning it” (berger et al., 2014, p. 59). college teachers seem to hope students understand information spoken during lectures, despite their inattentiveness, falling sleeping, non-academic use of technology devices, and too often lack of class attendance. albert einstein is credited with defining insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. yet, many college teachers continue lecturing throughout the semester despite disappointing evidence on tests indicating inadequate learning. instead, college teachers during each class need to periodically assess whether or not students are understanding the content, and if not, then they need to make changes as berger et al. (2014) emphasize. checking for understanding during daily lessons encompasses a wide range of techniques—formal and informal, oral and written, verbal and nonverbal—used by teachers and students to track what students understand and can do throughout the lesson. as a result of this ongoing assessment, teachers and students make adjustments to what they are doing to ensure that gaps in understanding are addressed and that students who have mastered concepts may comfortably move on to another learning task. (p. 56) effective teachers incorporate continuous checking for understanding using real-time assessments of students’ learning (rosenshine, 2012) as information about students’ progress toward achieving the learning objective (berger et al., 2014). checking for understanding, as formative assessment, informs teachers about students’ current levels of knowledge and whether they are understanding information presented (mctighe, 2021). simultaneously, these assessments provide feedback and support to students to enhance their learning (mctighe, 2021). checking for understanding facilitates teachers’ instructional pacing decisions during the content delivery, such as when to speed up, slow down, or re-teach to help facilitate student learning (bogdanovich, 2014). checking for understanding, at a minimum of three times per class, should incorporate student practice and application to make learning more permanent (briggs, 2014). use of a variety of checking for understanding strategies ideally occurs in each class, with none of these strategies repeated (newman & flaherty, 2012). checking for understanding fosters a growth mindset by encouraging students to monitor and progress in their learning (berger et al., 2014). classroom assessment helps “teachers find out what students are learning in the classroom and how well they are learning it. this approach is learner-centered, teacher-directed, mutually beneficial, formative, context-specific, ongoing, and firmly rooted in good practice” (angelo & cross, p. 4). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 52 published by scholink inc. checking for understanding uses formative assessments to provide students with direct, timely feedback. for example, berger et al. (2014) suggest four ways to use questions when checking for understanding: (1) ask students how to connect the learning objective to prior knowledge learned; (2) scaffold questions from basic to more complex to strengthen their thinking skills, synthesize information, and make applications; (3) ask student textand content-specific questions, rather than opinion questions, to elicit higher-order thinking; and (4) use questions to ensure students know the expectations for success. newman and flaherty (2012) argue that checking for understanding is the key to learning by using formative assessment techniques. first, they suggest identifying and displaying the learning target or objective for each class, such as on a presentation slide, when starting a new topic. in addition, teachers need to discuss the learning objective, including asking students to restate its meaning in their own words and explain how they can be successful in meeting this objective. refocusing attention on the learning objective throughout the class reinforces learning and culminates in explicitly debriefing the class at the end while checking for student progress. second, newman and flaherty urge the use of cold calling as long as the question asked precedes identifying the student to answer it. when cold calling, teachers can use a variety of techniques, such as random calls or shuffled cards with students’ names to ensure all students contribute. teachers scaffold questions from simple to complex while encouraging students to make connections with their own knowledge and build on classmates’ comments with the goal of higher-order analyses. this process encourages attentively listening to classmates and helps facilitate an ongoing discussion to strengthen learning. third, using the concept of no opt out when each question is asked, the teacher always ends with the correct answer. for example, if the student who initially is asked the question fails to answer or answers incorrectly, the teacher cold calls on another student, calls on a student with a raised hand, or provides the correct answer. the teacher again asks the initial student to answer the question correctly to reinforce learning, including providing coaching as needed, to achieve this outcome. fourth, after teaching new knowledge or a skill, the teacher uses guided practice before expecting students to make independent applications. in guided practice, teachers ask students to use new knowledge or a skill in a specific learning activity or low-stakes assignment. for example, the teacher can identify a problem to be solved with a classmate or each student is directed to complete a writing assignment to describe in their own words the concept presented. while guided practice is occurring, the teacher moves around the classroom monitoring students’ engagement with the task and determines if any students need re-teaching or would benefit from other examples or illustrations. if so, the teacher pulls the class together to share new learning strategies, correct common misunderstandings, and answer questions before challenging students to make independent applications. fifth, each class concludes with an effective debrief by returning to the learning objective and asking students to reflect on whether it is achieved. specifically, teachers challenge students by asking for evidence of their progress in learning and reinforcing learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 53 published by scholink inc. connections and applications made. the teacher concludes the class by affirming and reinforcing students’ achievement of the learning objective. this five-step process offers a structure for helping student actively self-assess formatively as they progress in their learning. 2. strategies for checking for understanding checking for understanding is important before, especially during, and also after class, as well as verbally, in writing, and through physical movements as students engage in learning activities to reinforce what they know and are able to do (i.e., learning is occurring). when used before class instruction, checking for understanding can investigate students’ prior knowledge as well as activate it. this helps teachers understand students’ current knowledge and skills as a foundation upon which to build. within classes, checking for understanding holds students accountable for engagement in creating and retaining new knowledge as well as how to communicate this knowledge with classmates and the teacher. checking for understanding is essential for informing the teacher about students who are struggling with the concepts and need more guidance, while also helping students reflect and self-assess where they are struggling so they can ask for assistance (model teaching, 2021). reflection through checking for understanding at the end of class provides valuable feedback to students and teachers about whether content has or has not been mastered. this section briefly describes a variety of checking for understanding strategies used before, during, and after class. 2.1 before class  bring to class in writing (students) what they already know about the class topic and what they want to know (mugabi, 2019).  prepare questions (students) about the assigned text to quiz the teacher in class (mugabi, 2019).  read teachers’ answers to students’ questions, such as from minute papers or emails, on blackboard so all students can learn from responses (lumpkin, achen, & dodd, 2015). 2.2 during class (verbal)  ask students to teach classmates what was learned in the previous class (mctighe, 2021).  begin each class with review questions (brookfield & preskill, 2005).  discuss with a classmate an answer to a question posed by the teacher (rosenshine, 2012).  encourage students to ask questions of each another to gain a new understanding in a socratic seminar (briggs, 2014).  facilitate peer instruction by asking students to teach another student a concept learned, then exchange roles as the peer instructor (briggs, 2014).  make cold calls randomly using names to ask students to respond to questions and restate concepts (newman & flaherty, 2012).  ask open-ended questions repeatedly throughout each class to help students determine what they have learned and what they still need to learn (model teaching, 2021). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 54 published by scholink inc.  avoid yes/no questions and phrases like “does this make sense?” in response to these questions, students usually say nothing. nod, or answer “yes,” when in reality many students, if asked directly, would admit they do not understand the content presented (briggs, 2014).  ask higher-order applying, analyzing, and creating questions from bloom’s revised taxonomy (krathwohl, 2022) to develop critical thinking skills (depka, 2017).  use think-pair-share to challenge students to think about an answer to a question, pair with a classmate to compare responses, and share with classmates (barkley, cross, & major, 2005).  revise and restructure notes in a buzz group with a classmate for two minutes between lecture segments (bligh, 2000).  use 3-2-1 by asking students to respond verbally (or in writing) with three things they learned, two things they want to know more about, and one remaining question they have (barkley & major, 2018).  ask students to provide verbal examples or applications other than those given by the teacher (newman & flaherty, 2012).  summarize verbally the key take-aways from the class (barkley & major, 2018). 2.3 during class (written)  integrate writing and other critical thinking activities to facilitate richer class discussions and student engagement (bean, 2011).  reflect on and write briefly about what was learned from the day’s reading assignment (lumpkin, achen, & dodd, 2015).  do a quick write in response to the teacher’s or a classmate’s question (mulvahill, 2021).  ask open-ended questions challenging students to respond in writing using higher-order thinking skills, such as analyzing, evaluating, or creating (lumpkin, 2019).  ask students to reflect during the last five minutes of class on the content presented and write what was learned and how to make applications other than the examples provided by the teacher (mctighe, 2021).  facilitate concrete learning by asking students to make applications of information presented to real-world issues or problems (nilson, 2010).  require an exit ticket on which students are asked to write a response to a question or prompt before leaving class (berger et al., 2014).  use written quizzes to check for understanding (mugabi, 2019).  record in class notes student-developed written definitions of key concepts (mugabi, 2019).  summarize in writing one or two sentences the main idea(s) presented and discussed in a class and exchange these written ideas with a classmate (rosenshine, 2012). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 55 published by scholink inc.  respond to a minute paper with these two questions: “what was the most important thing you learned today in class?” and “what important questions remains unanswered?” (angelo & cross, 1993). 2.4 during class (physical movement)  raise hand if agree with the answer provided by a classmate (rosenshine, 2012).  use technology, such as student response games like kahoot and quizlet (mulvahill, 2021).  use technology-based clicker quizzes to check for understanding (briggs, 2014).  ask students to give a physical response, such as thumbs up: i understand and can explain it in my own words; wave hand: i’m not completely sure and doubt i could explain it; thumbs down: i don’t yet understand and cannot explain it (mulvahill, 2021).  ask students to give a physical response, such as four-finger response (1—i do not understand; 2—i am still confused; 3—i understand. i can do it by myself; and 4—i understand it and can teach it to a classmate) (mulvahill, 2021).  ask students to stand beside on a stop sign (red means i need help with this before we move on!; yellow means i almost have this, but i need a little bit of help before we move on!; green means i got this down and am ready to move on) (mulvahill, 2021).  use four corners to provide opportunities for students to respond to questions by moving to one of the four corners of the classroom where signs are posted stating “i strongly agree,” “i strongly disagree,” “i agree somewhat,” and “i’m not sure” (briggs, 2014).  provide response cards for students to hold up, like index cards or signs with yes or no, true or false, or agree or disagree when responding to closed-ended questions (briggs, 2014). 2.5 after class  ask students to write questions they need help answering to bring to the next class or send via email to the teacher for answers (mugabi, 2019).  assign students to write and bring to next class an example or application of what was learned in class (mugabi, 2019).  keep a reflections journal listing the key learning points after every class (mugabi, 2019). rosenshine (2012) in his article “principles of instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know” recommends strategies based on research about instruction in cognitive science, classroom practices of master teachers, and cognitive supports that concur and reinforce how to help students learn complex tasks. in introducing these principles, he states, the most effective teachers ensured that their students efficiently acquired, rehearsed, and connected background knowledge by providing a good deal of instructional support. they provided this support by teaching new material in manageable amounts, modeling, guiding student practice, helping students when they made errors, and providing for sufficient practice and review. (p. 12) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 56 published by scholink inc. rosenshine (2012) also offers a list of 17 principles that overlap with and offer slightly more detail than those described in the article. these principles affirm and reinforce that checking for understanding using continuous formative assessments is essential for student learning. 1) begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning. 2) present new material in small steps with student practice after each step. 3) limit the amount of material students receive at one time. 4) give clear and detailed instructions and explanations. 5) ask a large number of questions and check for understanding. 6) provide a high level of active practice for all students. 7) guide students as they begin to practice. 8) think aloud and model steps. 9) provide models of worked-out problems. 10) ask students to explain what they have learned. 11) check the responses of all students. 12) provide systematic feedback and corrections. 13) use more time to provide explanations. 14) provide many examples. 15) reteach material when necessary. 16) prepare students for independent practice. 17) monitor students when they begin independent practice. (p. 19) 3. conclusion effective teaching requires going beyond just lecturing. to actually learn, students need to actively and repeatedly engage through answering questions, reviewing content verbally and in writing, sharing what they learning through incremental steps, and making practical applications. students can learn from the teacher and each other and benefit from and enjoy learning through concrete, real-world examples. the passivity of traditional college classrooms needs to be replaced with learning environments filled with students emersed in discovering how they can develop a growth mindset by thinking more deeply and reflecting upon and synthesizing information in their own words. the research is clear that using a variety of checking for understanding strategies before, during, and after class, verbally, in writing, and through physical movements will lead to greater student learning. unless information learned is reviewed, practiced, and stored in long-term memory, it is easily forgotten, rather than mastered. the most effective teachers use checking for understanding strategies to engage students in learning activities to reinforce what they now know and are able to use. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 57 published by scholink inc. references angelo, t. a., & cross, k. p. (1993). classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for college teachers. san francisco: jossey-bass. barkley, e. f., & major, c. h. (2018). interactive lecturing: a handbook for college faculty. san francisco: jossey-bass. barkley, e. f., cross, k. p., & major, c. h. (2005). collaborative learning techniques: a handbook for college faculty. san francisco: jossey-bass. bean, j. c. (2011). engaging ideas: the professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom (2nd ed.). san francisco: jossey-bass. berger, r., rugen, l., & woodfin, l. (2014). leaders of their own learning: transforming schools through student-engaged assessment. san francisco: john wiley & sons, inc. bligh, d. a. (2000). what’s the use of lectures? san francisco: jossey-bass. bogdanovich, p. (2014, july 14). the importance of checking for understanding. dataworks educational research. retrieved from https://dataworks-ed.com/blog/2014/07/the-importance-of-checking-for-understanding/ briggs, s. (2014, may 2). 21 ways to check for student understanding. informed. retrieved from https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/21-ways-to-check-for-student-understanding/ brookfield, s. d., & preskill, s. (2005). discussion as a way of teaching: tools and techniques for democratic classrooms (2nd ed.). san francisco: jossey-bass. depka, e. (2017). raising the rigor: effective questioning strategies and techniques for the classroom. bloomington: solution tree press. krathwohl, d. r. (2002). a revision of bloom’s taxonomy: an overview. theory into practice, 41, 212-218. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2 lumpkin, a. (2019). effective questioning strategies for the sport management classroom. sport management education journal, 13, 23-25. https://doi.org/10.1123/smej.2018-0015 lumpkin, a., achen, r. m., & dodd, r. k. (2015). student perceptions of active learning. college student journal, 49(1), 121-133. mctighe, j. (2021, january 28). 8 quick checks for understanding. edutopia. retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/8-quick-checks-understanding model teaching. (2021, october 13). the importance of ongoing checks for understanding. model teaching education for better educators. retrieved from https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/testing-strategies-prep/the-importance-of-ongo ing-checks-for-understanding mugabi, t. (2019, september 19). 62 ways to check for understanding. classcraft. retrieved from https://www.classcraft.com/blog/ways-to-check-for-understanding/ https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2 https://doi.org/10.1123/smej.2018-0015 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 58 published by scholink inc. mulvahill, e. (2021, june 16). 20 creative ways to check for understanding. we are teachers. retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/ways-to-check-for-understanding/ newman, l., & flaherty, s. (2012, september). checking for understanding: key assessment for learning techniques. expeditionary learning. retrieved from https://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/checking-for-understanding-tec hniques.pdf nilson, l. b. (2010). teaching at its best: a research-based resource for college instructors (3rd ed.). san francisco: jossey bass. rosenshine, b. (2012). principles of instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know. american educator, 36(1), 12-19, 39. microsoft word grhe-v1n2-p140 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 140 short research paper textbooks of english and portuguese as a foreign language in europe in the xix century claudine possoli beltram1* 1 instituto federal de educação ciencia e tecnologia do rio grande do sul, faculty of english, bento gonçalves, brazil *claudine possoli beltram, instituto federal de educação ciencia e tecnologia do rio grande do sul, faculty of english, bento gonçalves, brazil received: june 27, 2018 accepted: july 10, 2018 online published: october 17, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p140 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p140 during centuries, latin was the main way of communication concerning teaching, culture, religion and sciences in general. that is why the first preoccupation concerning learning a foreign language arose from latin. according to crystal (2003, p. 7), latin became an international language throughout the roman empire, but this was not because the romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. they were much more powerful. later on, when roman military power declined, latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power, the ecclesiastical power of roman catholicism. the international importance of the catholic church in rome followed by the submission of a religious medieval world transformed latin in a language without frontiers when culture, theology, education and sciences were concerned. the invention of the press in the xv century strengthened the power of latin by giving access to literary works. as torre (1985, pp. 5-6) mentions, up to the xvi century latin was still considered the language of international communication. to study latin was indispensable for members of the catholic church, scientists and scholars to teach at universities. later on, the result of this learning was a group of authors interested in publishing dictionaries and grammars aimed at learning foreign languages, mainly english. as a consequence, several textbooks were written by these scholars. on the other hand, as protestantism arose, latin was not considered the international língua franca anymore and vernaculars began to be seen as sources of research. during this period, vernaculars achieved a great prestige since latin was no longer the international language of education. besides that, many books started to be edited and published in english (see torre, 1985, pp. 4-5). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 141 published by scholink inc. the grammars published at that time were focused on memorization of rules and lists of bilingual vocabulary, rarely applying the language as an instrument of real communication. as a consequence, those grammars and their use marked the decline of latin as an instrument of communication. however, latin was going to serve as a model to teach foreign languages when the interest to learn those languages began. among english grammars and dictionaries published in portugal we observe, directly or indirectly, a clear inspiration on works previously published for the study of latin (torre, 1985, p. 7). in portugal the interest to study the language of shakespeare started only in the xviii century thanks to the educational reforms promoted by marquis of pombal from 1759 onwards abolishing the sole use of latin in the latin grammar classes in portugal and its dominions (kemmler, 2013, p. 8). the institutionalization of modern language teaching in portugal did not take place until several years after the expulsion of the jesuits and the creation in 1761 of the royal college of nobles (real colégio dos nobles) which was set up to teach young noblemen. the educational reform introduced by marquis de pombal, still put emphasis on the teaching of latin and greek. however, the real colégio dos nobles was one of the first official institutions to introduce the teaching of french, italian and english (santos, 2013, p. 64). besides that, inspired by the ideas of the enlightment, the portuguese school system promoted the development of scientific learning/teaching in which the humanities and modern languages had a significant importance. despite the institutionalization of foreign languages, english and german in addition to french as compulsory subjects at secondary level taking place during the nineteenth century, the foundations had been laid in the second part of the eighteenth century, based on the model of the real colégio de nobles (santos, 2013, p. 64). each foreign language taught in the portuguese education system during the nineteenth century (french, english, german) had moments of glory and institutional domination depending on several educational reforms. at the same time, english was also increasing in importance, especially because of foreign policy focused on bilateral relations between two colonial powers. the friendship between portugal and britain, particularly after the french invasions and the support provided by the british in expelling napoleon’s troops from portugal, as well as the growing importance of english in the economic level, played an important role in determining the language policies reflected in the nineteenth-century educational reforms (santos, 2013, p. 66). along with educational reforms on modern languages, thinking on educational practice and theory was being developed by language teachers. the language master emerged from the tradition of the private tutor presented in upper-class european families, gave way to the teacher of french, english or german. as santos (2013, p. 67) points out, the professional reflection undertaken by these language practitioners led not only to modern languages acquiring the status of an independent discipline, but also encouraged them to engage in the production of language teaching resources (dictionaries, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 142 published by scholink inc. grammar books, textbooks, courses, etc.). the publication of teaching materials contributed to the advancement of knowledge in terms of developing the formal descriptions of foreign languages. many experienced with developing new methodological approaches to teaching foreign languages, bringing together linguistic analysis and reflection on language pedagogy. such teacher-writers became capable not only of analyzing the target language but also of coming up with new and innovative ways of teaching it as described below. designed to teach portuguese to english learners and as an english grammar for portuguese learners, the first grammatica anglo-lusitania or a short and compendious system on an english and portugueze grammar (justice, 1702) should be regarded as the first grammar combining both portuguese and english. it was published by alexander justice in 1702 containing all the most useful and necessary rules of syntax, and construction of the portuguese tongue; together with some useful dialogues agreeable to common conversation. with a vocabulary of useful words in english and portuguese, designed for, and fitted to, all capacities, and more particularly, such whose business may lead them to those parts, where that language is use (justice, 1702). it was the first grammar of english printed in portugal in 1705 immersed in an environment where english classes did not exist in the portuguese educational system at the time (kemmler, 2013, p. 89). shortly after, a second and more complete edition of the same grammar was published under the title grammatica anglo-lusitania: or a short and compendious system of an english and portuguese grammar including a chapter called familiar dialogues in english and portugueze (justice, 1702, pp. 157-192) and a short thematic vocabulary called a vocabulary in english and portugueze (justice, 1702, pp. 233-264). according to kemmler (2012, p. 39) the bilingual grammar of justice is the first grammar of portuguese and english languages to an audience which english is their mother tongue. this compendium was destined to serve as a foreign language manual to self-assessment learning. from then on the adoption and adaptation of foreign materials mainly the ollendorf and ahn methods adopted in portugal were presented in a boring, theorizing and consequently less efficient way. with the advent of the berlitz method a considerable improvement in methodology occurred especially considering motivational content of the texts (torre, 1985, p. 25). even though dictionaries have had an undeniable importance as instruments of access to the english language, its importance is nothing compared to grammars because almost every grammar published at the time presented a bilingual vocabulary combined into vocabulary areas according to communicative aspects of real life communication. secondly, grammars aimed at offering readers the general acquisition of the language system, which was much more useful than the access to mere disconnected lexicon. there is much coincidence among grammars published in the xviii century. the first part is fulfilled with phonetic aspects of the english language. the second part is preoccupied with sentence structure and the third part deals with syntax. it’s worth mentioning that the quality of the language varied from author to author, giving us the impression that the language depended on the sources in which the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 143 published by scholink inc. authors looked for to get the selection of texts used on those grammars. either way, beneath the didactic point of view, the dialogs presented on those grammars constituted the functional part of communication. its main objective has always been to promote oral communication of the target language. according to torre (1985, pp. 66-67) the english grammars at that time aimed at portuguese learners and speakers of english. it’s interesting to observe that in almost every grammar two languages were introduced; portuguese and english providing the bilingual vocabulary support that later on were to replace dictionaries. the grammatica anglo lusitania & lusitano angelicas ou grammatica portugueza e ingleza de j. castro, teacher and translator of both languages, published in london in 1751 is considered the first attempt to teach portuguese as a foreign language. as cardim (1929, p. 169) points out, this grammar forms one volume with a second edition of the english-portuguese grammar of 1731. this grammar aimed at giving credit to the relation between portuguese and english languages. as torre (1985, p. 58) mentions, its most important theme were the commercial relations due to the proximity between portugal and england at the time. besides that, j. castro grammar must have been applied to teach english to portuguese students and portuguese to english students. this grammar aimed at giving credit to the relation between portuguese and english languages. the english grammar of j. castro introduces the english alphabet; explaining the sound of each letter and establishing rules. it explains prosody, parts of the sentences and concludes with small dialogues translated word by word and also by a selection of english and portuguese verbs to exemplify everyday actions. torre (1985, p. 59) wisely mentions that the presence of dialogs at the end of grammars in the xviii and xix centuries may indicate an attempt to search for a better functionality when teaching the english language, which meant, at the time, repetition and memorization of sentences talking about greetings, meals, clothes, climate, shopping, games, trips, money exchange and laws in england. all those sentences were memorized and repeated by students. j. castro also worried about oral communication presenting familiar dialogues. all dialogues were based on a conversation between two people performed as a quiz game of questions and answers and a topic at random. again torre (1985, p. 64) refers to the way classroom situations were presented to students. all learning situations were created having in mind adults even when the themes were more appropriate to children or teenagers reality. its main objective though was the use of oral skills. it is observed that the themes highlighted by castro (1759, p. 355) for example expressions to consent, deny or appreciate were of great use in the pequenos dialogos para principiantes which were everyday conversations with prosaic topics. as torre (1985, p. 56) demonstrates these dialogues seem to have the objective of carry out “communicative functions in typical situations by the time they were written”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 144 published by scholink inc. castro produced a brief anthology having in mind the spread of english as a second language in portugal and always placing the commercial context of the language. the grammatica ingleza ordenada em portuguez por carlos da silva teles de menezes (1762) is a very poor work, widely and incorrectly based on french models. see castro (1759, p. 173) for more details. the brief anthologies of the xviii century followed the grammar translation method. torre (1985, p. 67) also mentions that the xix century will be characterized by a strong presence of translation as a solution to apply grammar rules that the grammars provided. the grammar-translation derived from the teaching of classical languages and the materials included a few books of prose and unseen translations, a few anthologies but mostly, grammar books (santos, 2017, p. 68). the most well-known authors from the xix century were ahn, ollendorf and berlitz whose methods were adopted and adapted in portugal by jacob bensabat with great popularity in portugal. the study of this period is indispensable to the complete history of teaching english in portugal. santos (2017, p. 68) illustrates that in portugal foreign language teaching at secondary level in the nineteenth century was provided by teachers with limited academic and pedagogic training. nevertheless, anthologies, versification guides and language methods such as the ollendorf method and the ahn method became an important part of portuguese educational publishing for french, english and german and contributed to the promulgation of a number of foreign languages all across portugal, in public and private education and also outside the school system (santos, 2009). some of the forerunners in the xix century sprang up in germany: franz ahn (1796-1865) and h. g. ollendorf (1803-1871), and the usa: maximilien d. berlitz (1852-1921). their revolutionary methods or textbooks are the following: ahn, f. (1834). praktischer lehrgangzurschnellen und leichten erlennung der französischen sprache. cologne, dumont-schauberg. ollendorf, h. g. (1835). nouvelle méthode pour apprendre á lire, á écrire, et a parler une langue em six moins, appliquée á l´allemand. paris, the author. berlitz, d. m. (1882). méthodepourl´enseignement de la langue françaisedanslesecóles berlitz. boston: schoenhof. with e. dubois. in order to provide a clear picture of their methods, two secondary sources have been consulted: howatt and widdowson (2004, pp. 159-162) for ahn and ollendorff and rius (2010, pp. 78-79) for berlitz. ahn’s method was presented as a new and easy method. the use of the grammar-translation method was more consistent and self-effacing. his principal market was the private learner for whom a grammatical description and a bilingual approach were essential. there was a brief introduction to pronunciation and a grammar summary, usually in the form of a paradigm, and about a dozen new vocabulary items, followed by a set of sentences to translate into the mother tongue. there were also sentences to translate into the foreign language, and no new teaching points. ahn’s grammatical notes www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 145 published by scholink inc. required only a minimum knowledge of grammar terminology: singular, plural, masculine, feminine, etc. it provided useful vocabulary on the whole. the practice sentences were short and easy to translate. ollendorff’s method promised to teach a language in six months. his books were massive, two-volume manuals. exercise examples were always given in the learner’s mother tongue for translation into the foreign language. his method offered two original features of interest: a system of interaction on which he based all his exercises (question/answer) and a system of linguistic grading. questions and answers were in the learner’s mother tongue for translation into the foreign language. berlitz’s method was an intuitive and essentially practical method. it offered a maximum stress on the oral language and a systematical rejection of translation. no grammar explanations were given before learners reach a minimum knowledge of the new language. it gave priority to the question-and-answer technique and to conversation. besides that, native teachers were requested to teach the language and teachers were provided with an accessible and easy guide to use. from the above descriptions, one can deduct that the then grammar-translation method was facing some new versions as in the berlitz method. all but berlitz regard translation as the main basis to learn a foreign language. all the others would fit into the translation-grammar typology. that is to say, translation exercises as the required practice to learn a language (caparrós, 2015, pp. 97-98). in relation to foreign language teaching materials (flt) there were significant changes with the previous centuries: phrasebooks disappear and were converted into language guidebooks which became very popular among travelers, especially in the second half of the xix century. the market diversified learning materials (graded course books towards the end of the xix century, pronunciation manuals, literary anthologies and translation or practice books). according to caparrós (2015, pp. 105-106), elt further developed through the xix century in europe and english teaching materials evolved towards a more practical turn (see ahn, ollendorf description of methods above), where translation was a fundamental part of the teaching and learning process. references caparrós, a. l. (n.d.). the historiography of english language. cardim, l. (1929). estudos de literatura e de linguística. porto: faculdade de letras. castro, j. (n.d.). grammatica anglo-lusitanica & lusitano-anglica: ou, gramatica. crystal, d. (2003). english as a global language. cambridge univeristy press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486999 crystal, d. (2005). la revolución del lenguage. madrid: alianzaensayo. howatt, a. p. r., & widdowson, h. g. (2004). a history of english language teaching. oxford: oxford university press. justice, a. (1702). grammatica anglo-lusitania: or a short and compendious system of an english and portugueze grammar containing all the most useful and necessary rules of the syntax and construction of the portugueze tongue. in together with some useful dialogues and colloquies, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 146 published by scholink inc. agreeable to common conversation with a vocabulary of useful words in english and portugueze designed for, and fitted to all capacities, and more especially such whose chance or business may lead them into any part of the world, where that language is used or esteemed. kemmler, r. (2012). a primeira grammatica anglo-lusitania (londres, 1701) eas suas edições. bsehl, 8(2012), 23-42. santos, a. c. (2018). a history and historiography of foreign languages teaching and learning in portugal. the language learning journal, 46(1), 62-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1382057 torre, m. g. (1985). gramáticas inglesas antigas: alguns dados sobre ahistória dos estudos ingleses em portugal até 1820. trabalho complementar a dissertação de doutoramento apresentado à faculdade de letras da universidade do porto, porto. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper research on degree program construction platform scheme based on data fusion thinking hairu guo 1* , shui ju 2 , xiaoyan jia 3 & junyi he 4 1 graduate school, henan polytechnic university, jiaozuo, china 2 school of mechanical and power engineering, henan polytechnic university, jiaozuo, china 3 information construction and management center, henan polytechnic university, jiaozuo, china 4 school of computer science and technology, henan polytechnic university, jiaozuo, china * hairu guo, graduate school, henan polytechnic university, jiaozuo, china received: october 15, 2023 accepted: october 24, 2023 online published: november 9, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n4p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n4p1 abstract the article analyzes the existing system for evaluating the construction of degree programs, sorts out the requirements for various work tasks such as application, assessment, evaluation, and inspection, and extracts various data information related to the direction, teachers, students, teaching and research, process, quality, and other aspects of degree program construction. on this basis, a degree program construction platform scheme was designed using data fusion thinking, taking into account all relevant work related to degree program construction, and unifying the management of data related to degree program construction. this has a positive promoting effect on the long-term construction and efficient management of degree programs, and is also a beneficial attempt to modernize the governance system and governance capabilities of the degree programs. keywords degree program construction, degree program assessment, degree program evaluation, data fusion thinking, platform scheme www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction at the national conference on graduate education held in july 2020, general secretary xi jinping raised graduate education to a new height, pointing out that the development of the party and the country urgently needs to cultivate a large number of high-level talents with both ability and integrity, and postgraduate education shoulders the important mission of cultivating high-level talents and innovation and creation (2020). degree programs are the carriers of postgraduate education, which play an important role in cultivating innovative talents, improving innovation capabilities, serving economic and social development, and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities. in the process of the construction of degree programs, relevant entities such as national education authorities at all levels, degree-granting units and professional institutions for education evaluation have carried out a series of special work such as authorization review, qualification assessment, and level evaluation. due to the different tasks and requirements related to the construction of various degree programs, the large amount of data filled in and the high degree of similarity, a unified degree program construction status monitoring platform is built to uniformly manage the data related to the construction of degree programs, so as to improve the efficiency of degree program construction. li changbo et al. (2015) have carried out relevant research on the construction of degree program self-assessment system under the perspective of big data, which has a certain reference role in making full use of evaluation data for the efficient construction of degree programs. sun qingping (2021) thought and practiced the construction of graduate education management system in the era of big data, and proposed strategies such as establishing a unified standard database and enhancing the integration of the system in the face of diversified digital methods, diversified education data, and comprehensive education quality evaluation. zhang xiang et al. (2016) have made useful explorations in the normalization of degree program quality information monitoring based on big data, and realized data screening and integration, mining and analysis, and feedback and utilization. however, there is little research on the overall consideration of the existing degree program construction evaluation tasks and the construction of a comprehensive data fusional degree program information platform scheme, this paper comprehensively sorts out the data requirements of various tasks, and designs a data fusional platform scheme that can make full use of the relevant data of degree programs, so as to lay a good foundation for building a related platform in the future. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 3 published by scholink inc. 2. evaluation system for the construction of degree programs the degree program carries the various functions of postgraduate education, and the internal construction mainly includes four tasks: academic team, discipline direction, discipline culture, and resource platform, and the external performance mainly includes talent training, scientific research, social service, and discipline reputation. the existing degree program construction evaluation system (2020) includes degree authorization review (application), degree program special qualification assessment, degree program periodic qualification assessment, discipline evaluation (equivalent to academic degree program level evaluation), professional degree level evaluation, degree program special inspection, degree program dynamic adjustment, double first-class discipline construction, etc., involving government departments (the academic degrees committee of the state council, the ministry of education, and provincial degree authorities), social institutions (degree centers of the ministry of education, etc.) and various postgraduate training units. in this system, there are not only degree authorization reviews carried out in accordance with the application standards to determine whether degree programs can be accessed, but also dynamic adjustment or even forced withdrawal of degree programs according to evaluation standards; there are not only various evaluations to test the construction quality level of degree programs from different angles, but also special inspections that focus on the quality of process construction; there are not only government-led, compulsory participation, inspection and training quality, and bottom-line qualification assessment, but also evaluation carried out by professional institutions, which is voluntary participation, reflect strength, highlight the level of characteristics; there are both special qualification assessments for new degree programs authorized after three years, and periodic qualification assessments every six years for degree programs. all kinds of work have their own emphasis, serving different needs, playing an important role in the construction of degree programs and the quality assurance of graduate education from different angles, together constitute a complete degree program evaluation system. 3. data related to the construction of degree programs degree authorization review, degree program special qualification assessment, degree program periodic qualification assessment, discipline evaluation (equivalent to academic degree program level evaluation), professional degree level evaluation, degree program special inspection and other relational work need to fill in the data involved in the discipline direction, faculty team, talent training, scientific research, condition guarantee, etc. the content is similar, but each has its own emphasis, the workload is large, and the form is different. if the data is collected separately for each work, the collection work is complicated, and will cause great data redundancy. it is also not easy to analyze the construction status of degree programs from a large amount of data. if the data collection requirements of each work can be analyzed scientifically www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 4 published by scholink inc. and reasonably, and a data collection platform based on data fusion thinking can be established, the workload of filling in data can be greatly reduced, and at the same time, the collected data can be cleaned and analyzed, and the potential hidden features can be explored through analysis and diagnosis, which can achieve the purpose of obtaining the most information with the least data, and can pay attention to the actual state of each degree program at every moment, so that the initial data generates value to support the scientific decision-making and effective management of the degree program by the training unit. by combing the index system of degree authorization review, special qualification assessment, periodic qualification assessment, discipline evaluation, professional degree level evaluation, special inspection and other work related to degree program construction, it is found that although the collected information is not identical, it is found that although it is not identical, it has a great degree of similarity. a comparison of the indicator systems for each work is shown in table 1. table 1. comparison of indicator systems related to degree program construction work tasks indicator system degree authorization review discipline direction and characteristics discipline direction discipline characteristics discipline team personnel size personnel structure discipline leaders and academic backbones talent training culture profile curriculum and teaching culture quality cultivation environment and conditions scientific research academic exchanges support conditions special qualification assessment objectives and standards training goals degree standards discipline direction and characteristics teaching staff team structure tutor level moral style talent training graduate admissions and degree awarding main curriculum teaching awards results achieved by current students students participate in academic exchanges at home and abroad international exchange of students employment of graduates scientific research number of scientific research projects and scientific research funding scientific research achievements and transformation publication of academic papers cultivation environment and conditions academic exchanges at home and abroad science and technology innovation base instruments and facilities scholarships and grants periodic qualification assessment objectives and standards training goals degree standards basic conditions training direction teaching staff scientific research teaching and research support scholarship system talent training enrollment selection ideological and political education course teaching mentoring academic training academic exchanges paper quality service contribution scientific and technological progress economic development cultural construction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 5 published by scholink inc. work tasks indicator system quality assurance construction of study style management services employment development discipline evaluation (academic degree program level evaluation) quality of talent training effectiveness of ideological and political education quality of the cultivation process quality of students quality of graduates faculty and resources teaching staff platform resources level of scientific research scientific research results (and transformation) scientific research projects and awards social service and disciplinary reputation social services discipline reputation professional degree program level evaluation quality of teaching training program and characteristics effectiveness of ideological and political education quality of curriculum and practical teaching student satisfaction quality of learning learning outcomes student sense of acquisition quality of career development quality of graduates employer satisfaction service contribution and social reputation special inspections institutional construction quality assurance system construction faculty development curriculum building classroom teaching effectiveness dissertation guidance practical training practice base industry mentors selection criteria for doctoral supervisors the mentoring processes the situation of the people who cultivate virtue mentor support educational effectiveness initiatives it can be seen in table 1 that the first three of the six basic tasks are government-led, all involving the direction and characteristics, faculty and level, student training system and quality, scientific research achievement output, support condition construction, etc., and the data can be divided into degree program basic information, teacher information, training process information, training quality information, scientific research information, construction condition information, etc. the next two level evaluations are third-party evaluations, focusing on the quality of talent training and social services, and the data can be divided into basic information of degree programs, teacher information, training process information, training quality information, scientific research information, student information, typical service contribution cases, satisfaction surveys, etc. the special inspection mainly supervises and inspects the training process, and the data mainly involves the basic information of degree programs, teacher information, training process information, system construction, daily management, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 6 published by scholink inc. industry-education integration information, etc. 4. data platform scheme of the degree program construction 4.1 platform design ideas according to the aforementioned analysis, in the design of the data platform scheme, the data requirements of various projects can be coordinated, a data fusion information platform applicable to the whole process of degree program construction can be established, and the data can be turned into useful information through connection and integration, and finally converted into knowledge and generated by action and value through the analysis and diagnosis of the information, so as to realize the analysis and diagnosis of the degree program construction status, and support the scientific decision-making and effective management of the training unit. the use of data fusion can also discover correlations that are unimaginable with experience, and through the new perspectives provided by these correlations, relevant data can be applied more scientifically and effectively. for example, it is more valuable to evaluate the quality of graduate training in the construction of degree programs and focus on studying which practical factors are more relevant to improving the quality of graduate training than to spend energy thinking about the reasons for the current situation. because things are always evolving, the environment that previously affected the quality of training may not appear in the future, but factors related to the quality of postgraduate training are always present. quantitative data and relevant decision-making contexts can also be integrated for analysis. for example, in the process of academic team evaluation, analysts and diagnosticians not only need quantitative data such as the professional title, academic qualification, age, total number of supervisors and the proportion of supervisors with doctoral degrees of the main academic leaders and discipline echelons, but also qualitative data such as their academic level, teaching level and teacher style, and need to understand these data in the organizational process, organizational structure, and decision-maker value. in this way, the situation of providing data and analyzing data is separated from decision-making, providing information for reducing uncertainty in the decision-making process and improving the effectiveness of decision support. 4.2 platform function module design 4.2.1 maintenance of basic information of degree programs maintain degree program information according to the discipline category, first-level (second-level) discipline, and professional degree category (field) defined by the state, including code, name, category, authorization level (master’s, doctor), authorization time, lead college, support college, person in charge, secretary, remarks, etc. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 7 published by scholink inc. 4.2.2 degree program core data structure management according to the basic information structure of degree programs filled in by national requirements, such as degree program application, special qualification assessment, periodic qualification assessment, discipline evaluation, professional degree level evaluation, etc., the basic information fields are refined, the information data structure is customized, and the correspondence between the existing data of the system (including the data obtained by teachers, teaching, scientific research, platforms, students, etc. from other systems in the university according to authority) and the special work data of various degree program construction is realized, so as to realize the transformation from the existing basic data to various national declarations, the format conversion of the data required for evaluation and other requirements is convenient for each degree program to carry out functions such as screening, querying statistics, import and export (docking with the national system) and other functions of subsequent filling data. 4.2.3 management of degree program cultivation application according to the content requirements of the “profile form” for degree program application and the requirements for cultivation project construction in henan province, the degree program secretary fills in the report (teachers, teaching and research, platform, students, etc.), on this basis, manually fill in other data, form the reported data, according to the authority level review (degree program secretary, degree program leader, college leader in charge, college leader, etc.), the administrator can set quantitative indicators for each filling content. and calculate the score according to the filling situation to achieve performance management. 4.2.4 assessment management of degree program construction according to the special qualification assessment, periodic qualification assessment, discipline evaluation, professional degree level evaluation, special inspection and other index systems for construction management, the page is set in accordance with the requirements of the corresponding work, the basic data can be obtained by the existing data in the system through the data format conversion in the basic information structure management of the degree program, and on this basis, each degree program will fill in the data screening, supplement and improve, and finally form the filling content that meets the relevant work requirements. 4.2.5 basic status information management of degree programs according to the basic status information structure of degree programs required by the country in the periodic qualification assessment, the form function is customized, and each degree program can perform functions such as data screening, query statistics, import and export (docking with the national system) and so on. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 8 published by scholink inc. 4.2.6 degree program performance appraisal according to the performance assessment methods of the degree programs, customize the form function, customize the assessment indicators and weights, and evaluate the construction of each degree program. 5. conclusion degree programs are an important carrier for cultivating high-level talents, and their construction quality and level have an important impact on the quality of talent training. the data involved in degree program cultivation and application, various assessments or evaluations, special inspections and other related construction work have direction characteristics, teachers, training process, student quality, scientific research, support conditions, social services, etc., which are both generally similar and not identical. by analyzing and sorting out relevant tasks, refining the core data information of degree programs, a degree program construction platform scheme based on data fusion thinking was designed and proposed. it can reduce data redundancy, enhance data association, improve the comprehensive management level of degree program construction, promote the modernization of degree program governance system and governance capacity, and provide a solid guarantee for cultivating qualified high-level talents. acknowledgement this study was sponsored by postgraduate education reform project of henan province (2021sjglx004y), postgraduate education reform project of henan province (2021sjglx098y) and higher education reform project of henan province (2021sjglx115). references academic degrees committee of the state council, the ministry of education. (2020, november 11). notice on the revision and issuance of the “degree authorization program qualification assessment method”. the ministry of education. retrieved september 28, 2023, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/a22/yjss_xwgl/moe_818/202101/t20210115_509951.html li, c. b., & zhang, x. c. (2015). research on the construction of self-evaluation system for degree programs under the perspective of big data. degree and graduate education, (07), 7-11. sun, q. p., & chen, x. (2021). thinking and practice on the construction of graduate education management system in the era of big data. journal of jiangxi normal university of science and technology, (03), 84-88, 109. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 9 published by scholink inc. xi, j. p. (2020, july 29). chinese president xi jinping has called for greater efforts to cultivate a large number of high-level talents with both integrity and ability to meet the development need of the party and the country. xinhua news agency. retrieved september 28, 2023, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s6052/moe_838/202007/t20200729_475754.html zhang, x., lu, r., & ding, m. l. (2016). normalization monitoring of degree authorization point quality information based on big data. degree and graduate education, (02), 34-39. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 63 original paper analysis of the application of x-y management theory in university engineering consulting project organizations zhi li 1* , zhaoqiang wu 1 , jing wang 1 & qixiang miao 1 1 project management of civil engineering, qingdao city university, qingdao, china * zhi li, e-mail: zhi.li@qdc.edu.cn received: may 25, 2025 accepted: june 3, 2025 online published: june 5, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p63 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p63 abstract this paper takes university-based engineering consulting project organizations as the research subject, identifying and summarizing their formation process and characteristics. grounded in mcgregor’s management x-y theory, it identifies the organizational management needs of project personnel. subsequently, based on the management needs of organizational members and integrating maslow’s hierarchy of needs with the application scenarios of x-y management theory, applicable models for different organizational contexts are proposed. particularly when facing university-based engineering consulting project organizations, it is necessary to make appropriate selections and adjustments to organizational management strategies. this avoids large-scale negative risks for projects and members arising from deviations in management strategies, leading to the better achievement of organizational and project objectives. keywords x-y management theory, university-based engineering consulting organizations, project management, management strategies 1. introduction to promote deep industry-academia-research integration, an increasing number of faculty members in construction-related disciplines at universities are actively engaging in engineering project practices. whether viewed from the perspective of talent cultivation or individual faculty development, such participation facilitates the conversion and sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge (nonaka & takeuchi, 1995), thereby enhancing the alignment between academic research and industrial demands. this initiative not only enriches teaching with cutting-edge relevance but also imbues engineering practice www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 64 published by scholink inc. with more systematic significance. engineering consulting project teams composed of university faculty exhibit distinct characteristics that differentiate them from conventional project teams. consequently, management approaches for such organizations require tailored strategies. neglecting these differences may lead to negative outcomes, such as passive member engagement and organizational inefficacy, ultimately resulting in failure to achieve project objectives or member participation goals (li, j. h., 2024, pp. 107-109). this paper aims to explore the core dynamics of faculty participation in engineering project practices. using engineering consulting projects as a focal point, it analyzes the unique organizational needs of such teams and proposes management approaches grounded in x-y management theory to better align with the context of university-led engineering consulting organizations (arabian journal of business and management review, 2021, pp. 1-7). 2. development of university-based engineering consulting project organizations in the early 19th century, alongside the industrial revolution, large-scale engineering projects such as railways, transportation networks, water conservancy systems, and civil infrastructure proliferated globally. however, due to inadequate project management mechanisms, many projects suffered from resource wastage and delays. as demand for professional project management grew, independent consulting institutions emerged to provide engineering consulting services. typically staffed by experienced engineers and technical experts, these organizations offered technical and managerial guidance, helping clients resolve project issues while delivering rational consulting, design, and construction solutions (cao, x. l., 2017). in china, the involvement of university faculty from construction-related disciplines in engineering consulting projects traces back to the founding of the people’s republic of china. with the advancement of national economic development, the expertise and skills of academics in engineering construction gained broad recognition. they began participating in consulting, evaluation, and design work for diverse projects. particularly after the reform and opening-up policy, as the market economy matured, opportunities for faculty engagement in engineering consulting expanded significantly. according to “the 14th five-year plan for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035”, major initiatives such as new infrastructure, new urbanization, and transportation/water conservancy projects are integral to achieving socialist modernization. social fixed-asset investment will maintain reasonable growth atop an already substantial scale. concurrently, national policies encourage modern service industries and emphasize cultivating engineers and high-skilled talent. thus, the engineering consulting sector—providing specialized services for fixed-asset investment—will retain vast market potential and robust policy support, driving sustained industry expansion in the coming years. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 65 published by scholink inc. recently, the concept of whole-process engineering consulting has further deepened and broadened faculty participation in such projects (dai, x. m., 2024, pp. 115-119). this approach emphasizes comprehensive consulting and services spanning project planning, decision-making, design, construction, and operation management. it necessitates multidisciplinary knowledge and collaborative teamwork—a domain where university faculty, as talent resources with profound expertise and practical experience, naturally constitute critical components of whole-process consulting teams. 3. characteristics of university-based engineering consulting project organizations 3.1 strong self-directed initiative university faculty consulting teams primarily consist of academics whose performance evaluation and administrative oversight reside with their schools or universities, while project leaders typically lack formal hierarchical authority over team members. consequently, team formation relies more on personal commitment than organizational mandates. moreover, long-term immersion in academic research and teaching cultivates high self-discipline. when undertaking consulting projects, members proactively plan tasks, schedule timelines, and advance deliverables with minimal external supervision. their intrinsic motivation ensures efficient and orderly completion of consulting outcomes. thus, compared to conventional project teams, faculty-led groups exhibit pronounced autonomy and self-initiation. 3.2 proficiency in collaboration and innovation these teams are driven by strong professional development aspirations. faculty seek exposure to cutting-edge industry practices and real-world challenges to enrich teaching cases and enhance the applicability of their research. they leverage project opportunities to pioneer new research directions and elevate their careers (qi, y. k., 2022). hence, collaboration and innovation permeate all project phases. on one hand, members’ academic experience fosters advanced communication skills—they articulate specialized insights clearly while actively listening to peers. this enables effective information exchange with clients and within teams, preventing misunderstandings and delays. on the other hand, faculty from diverse disciplines (e.g., engineering, management, economics) engage in cross-domain collaboration, integrating multidisciplinary knowledge to develop holistic solutions for complex engineering problems. beyond contractual obligations, many view consulting as a means to bridge theory and practice, sharpening their applied skills. this mindset often sparks creative approaches when tackling project challenges. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 66 published by scholink inc. 3.3 high-level needs orientation per maslow’s hierarchy, faculty typically satisfy basic physiological and safety needs (e.g., stable income, work-life balance) through their primary academic roles (teng, y. l., & ma, c. m., 2023, pp. 74-79). consequently, their consulting engagement centers on higher-level needs: social belonging needs: extensive interaction with clients, interdisciplinary teams, and industry peers fulfills relational aspirations. professional networks built through conferences and academic exchanges foster community integration. esteem needs: this tier drives core motivation. members seek recognition from clients, peers, and society for their expertise. high praise for project outcomes significantly validates their professional standing, amplifying their value contribution. self-actualization needs: as the ultimate pursuit, faculty aim to apply knowledge toward solving complex engineering problems and advancing industry innovation. for instance, when consulting on a major aviation hub project involving multiple stakeholders and multi-functional integrated spaces, pioneering solutions established industry benchmarks while fulfilling personal ideals. this quest for self-realization fuels continuous excellence. 4. management needs of university-based engineering consulting project organizations in conventional consulting projects, leaders primarily focus on managing behavioral boundaries and ensuring minimum output standards, emphasizing controlling and directive leadership styles (zhang, r. l., li, l., & wang, q., 2015, pp. 92-97). in contrast, university faculty—enjoying elevated social status and professional respect—prioritize participatory environments that foster free discourse and personal growth. consequently, project leadership roles in such contexts require distinct positioning. controlling or directive approaches often impede operational efficiency and may even trigger team dysfunction under extreme conditions. for these organizations, management needs shift from “baseline enforcement” to “upward guidance”—transitioning from behavioral constraints to attitudeand motivation-focused positive cultivation. leaders must therefore adopt parental, expertise-based, and mentorship-oriented roles to fulfill these elevated expectations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 67 published by scholink inc. 5. practical application of x-y management theory 5.1 conventional engineering project organizations—application of theory x theory x assumes negative human traits: inherent laziness, work aversion, and responsibility avoidance, necessitating external control and punishment. in engineering consulting teams, this manifests through: centralized decision-making, rigid rules/procedures, economic incentives/sanctions (stoyan, s., & monique, d., 2017). project complexity, uncertainty, and resource/timeline constraints often justify centralized decisions for speed and consistency. though limiting flexibility, this enables rapid crisis response. strict protocols (workflows, quality standards, timelines) enforce behavioral boundaries to ensure execution efficiency. under theory x, economic incentives dominate motivation drivers. bonuses/commissions reward performance, while penalties (fines, warnings, termination) address underachievement. 5.2 university-based consulting organizations—embodiment of theory y theory y posits positive human traits: work as natural as play, with innate responsibility-seeking and self-actualization drives. since faculty participation is volitional and purpose-driven, applying theory x would invert their motivation logic, potentially causing team dissolution and project failure (petkovska, s. m., bojadjiev, i. m., & blazevski, p., 2021, pp. 366-380). thus, leaders adopt: nurturing | expertise-based | mentorship-oriented roles aligning with theory y’s core principles. theory y implementation features three pillars: (1) participatory management & self-control (2) leaders involve members in co-developing project goals/plans, enhancing ownership. self-direction based on expertise and academic interests is encouraged. (3) flexible structure & open culture adaptive frameworks foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. leaders cultivate psychologically safe environments for knowledge sharing. intrinsic motivation & achievement leaders ignite internal drive through: challenging assignments, professional/academic growth support, recognition of excellence. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 68 published by scholink inc. 6. application of x-y theory integrated with maslow’s hierarchy as established, engineering consulting teams composed of university faculty exhibit strong intrinsic motivation, with organizational needs predominantly oriented toward social belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. figure 1. application context of x-y management theory integrated with maslow’s hierarchy of needs applying theory x’s behavior-centric control mechanisms to such teams creates a fundamental mismatch between individual needs and management methodology. this incongruence renders organizational strategies incapable of fulfilling members’ participation objectives. per mcgregor’s framework, theory y-appropriate organizations must fully affirm human agency as productive agents. here, member initiative dominates, with management’s core function being the optimization of this latent potential. consequently, imposing theory x strategies on faculty-led consulting teams would deprive participants of higher-order needs as: (1) trigger negative, adversarial, and responsibility-averse attitudes (2) provoke widespread disengagement (3) ultimately cause project termination www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 69 published by scholink inc. 7. conclusion in summary, university engineering consulting project organizations exhibit distinct organizational characteristics and divergent management needs compared to conventional project teams. these differences necessitate tailored management strategies that align with organizational contexts, while simultaneously reflecting how members’ professional backgrounds and intrinsic drivers influence team structuring and governance. project managers need to select context-appropriate management approaches to support implement calibrated adjustments based on organizational demands. also the position needs to understand respecting, and strategically responding to these distinctions proves instrumental in optimizing team architecture, enhancing project efficiency and fostering sustainable organizational development. references cao, x. l. (2017). engineering project management. chongqing, china: chongqing university press. dai, x. m. (2024). exploration of teaching mechanisms for construction project management courses based on the “1+x” talent cultivation model. china-arab science and technology forum (chinese and english), 12, 115-119. li, j. h. (2024). application analysis of project management in marketing practice. modern business research, 14, 107-109. https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202409415 petkovska, s. m., bojadjiev, i. m., & blazevski, p. (2021). application of mcgregor’s xy leadership theory in education management: investigation of the link between preferred leadership style, intrinsic motivation and turnover intention. international journal of transitions and innovation systems, 6(4), 366-380. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijtis.2021.116905 qi, y. k. (2022). research on problems and countermeasures in the construction of teaching staff in private universities in china [doctoral dissertation]. east china normal university. stoyan, s., & monique, d. (2017). the human side of enterprise. macat library; taylor and francis. teng, y. l., & ma, c. m. (2023). strategies to enhance the stability of teaching staff in private universities from the perspective of maslow’s hierarchy of needs. modern education science, 3, 74-79. the application of elton mayo’s human relations theory and douglas mcgregor’s theory x and y to achieve organization objectives. (2021). arabian journal of business and management review, 11(4), 1-7. zhang, r. l., li, l., & wang, q. (2015). mcgregor’s x-y theory and its application. china industrial review, 7, 92-97. https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202409415 https://doi.org/10.1504/ijtis.2021.116905 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 43 original paper research on the reform and practice of the “bridge engineering” course in the digital and intelligent era aihong qin 1 , sai zhang 1 , wenting hua 1 , liya han 1 , linlin ma 1 & shouling luan 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong province, china received: september 7, 2025 accepted: september 26, 2025 online published: october 8, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p43 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p43 abstract in the digital and intelligent era, the traditional “bridge engineering” course is confronted with practical dilemmas such as outdated knowledge systems and disconnection between practical teaching and real-world needs. this study integrates cutting-edge technologies like bim and knowledge graphs, establishes a dedicated wechat official account platform for the “bridge engineering” course, and builds an intelligent construction workshop with virtual-real interaction. through these efforts, it systematically reorganizes the course content, constructs a digital platform, and implements industry-education integration practices. by adopting the three-stage progressive teaching model of “exploring bridges-investigating bridges-creating bridges”, a trinity course system of “culture-technology-innovation” is built. ultimately, an engaging course centered on the core concept of “discovering your beauty through bridges” is realized. keywords digitalization and intelligence, bridge engineering, course reconstruction, intelligent construction 1. introduction with the advent of the digital and intelligent era, a new generation of information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and the internet of things is profoundly transforming the design, construction, and operation and maintenance modes of the bridge engineering industry. the “bridge engineering” course is a core course for the road and bridge engineering direction in the civil engineering major. the traditional “bridge engineering” course system takes structural mechanics, material science, and construction technology as its core. however, its teaching content and methods are relatively rigid, making it difficult to meet the demand for interdisciplinary and innovative talents in the digital and intelligent era. currently, universities at home and abroad tend to focus on theoretical knowledge in the teaching philosophy of the bridge engineering course, while paying insufficient www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 44 published by scholink inc. attention to the cultivation of practical abilities and innovative thinking. against this background, this paper proposes an innovative exploration based on the teaching philosophy of “discovering your beauty through bridges”. it constructs this teaching philosophy through three integrations: discipline integration, technology integration, and industry-education integration. figure 1. teaching philosophy 1.1 underlying logic of discipline integration and support for smart courses the core concept of discipline integration lies in breaking down disciplinary barriers, constructing an interdisciplinary knowledge system, and cultivating students’ ability to analyze and solve complex bridge engineering problems from a multi-disciplinary perspective. by using ai-driven knowledge graphs to demonstrate the internal connections between disciplines such as mechanics, materials, and environmental protection in bridge engineering, the underlying logic of discipline integration is established. meanwhile, interdisciplinary expansion modules are added to the “bridge engineering” course to realize the support of discipline integration for smart courses. for example, a computer science module is added to the bridge engineering course, teaching bridge modeling, simulation analysis, and optimization design (such as finite element analysis, bim technology, midas civil technology, etc.). 1.2 teaching philosophy of the “bridge engineering” course based on technology integration modern bridge engineering is developing towards intelligence, digitalization, and sustainability. emerging technologies (such as bim, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and big data analysis) are playing an increasingly important role in bridge design, construction, and operation and maintenance. the core concept of technology integration is to deeply integrate modern technologies with traditional bridge engineering teaching, enhance students’ technology application capabilities and innovative abilities, and enable them to adapt to the technological development trend of future bridge engineering. for example, virtual reality (vr) and augmented reality (ar) technologies are used to simulate bridge construction processes or disaster scenarios (such as earthquakes and floods). through vr simulation of the entire bridge construction process (such as construction safety scenarios and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 45 published by scholink inc. structural load tests), students can intuitively understand mechanical principles and environmental impacts; ar technology can overlay the internal structure of bridges (such as the layout of prestressed steel bars) onto real scenes. by introducing digital and intelligent technologies, a knowledge graph for the “bridge engineering” course is created on the chaoxing learning platform, which systematically sorts out and displays the complex knowledge points and their relationships in the course. 1.3 teaching philosophy of the “bridge engineering” course based on industry-education integration bridge engineering is a highly practical discipline, and industry demands and technological development are changing with each passing day. the core concept of industry-education integration is to integrate industry needs, engineering practices, and industry standards into course teaching through school-enterprise cooperation. this ensures that the teaching content keeps pace with industry development, enhances students’ practical abilities and professional literacy, and enables them to quickly adapt to industry job requirements after graduation. for example, the latest industry standards and technical specifications (such as bridge design specifications and construction safety standards) are introduced into the teaching of bridge engineering. 2. reform philosophy based on the constructivist learning theory and the cdio engineering education model, a teaching framework of “three integrations” is constructed: interdisciplinary integration: by integrating the knowledge graphs of civil engineering, computer science, and industrial design, an interdisciplinary course system is built. in the bridge shape design module, the structural mechanics knowledge of civil engineering, the parametric modeling technology of computer science, and the aesthetic evaluation system of industrial design are integrated to form a progressive teaching design of “structural performance-digital modeling-shape optimization”. for instance, parametric modeling is incorporated into bridge shape design. virtual-real scene integration: a dual-track platform combining virtual and real scenes is adopted. virtual scenes are used for scheme verification, and physical workshops are used to produce 1:10 scale models. value-ability integration: the course assessment system not only focuses on technical abilities but also emphasizes professional literacy and engineering ethics. the craftsman spirit is evaluated through quantitative indicators such as model production accuracy and node craftsmanship; engineering ethics is integrated into the review of design schemes to examine students’ consideration of safety, sustainability, and social impact. in addition, soft indicators such as teamwork and innovative thinking are set up. combined with evaluations from industry experts and public hearings, it is ensured that students not only master professional skills but also have a sense of social responsibility, realizing the all-round development of “technology + humanities”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 46 published by scholink inc. 3. course system reconstruction: a three-dimensional progressive teaching model against the backdrop of the rapid development of digital and intelligent technologies, the “bridge engineering” course urgently needs to break through the traditional teaching framework and build a teaching system that meets the needs of engineering talent cultivation in the new era. this course adopts a three-dimensional progressive teaching model of “journey of exploring bridges-secret of investigating bridges-joy of creating bridges”. combined with technologies such as virtual simulation, big data analysis, and intelligent interaction, it realizes multi-dimensional innovative reconstruction of course content and teaching methods. through this model, the course will transform from “knowledge imparting” to “ability construction” and cultivate a new generation of bridge engineers with digital thinking and cross-boundary collaboration capabilities. 3.1 journey of exploring bridges-cultural origin module in the “journey of exploring bridges”, teachers and students enter the world of “bridges” together. this part mainly covers the overview of bridges, the history of bridge development, the basic composition and classification of bridges, etc. (1) typical ethical conflict scenarios in bridge construction are set up. for example, the site selection of mountain bridges needs to balance ecological protection and economic development. students conduct decision-making deduction through multi-role play (engineers, villagers, environmental protection organizations). (2) measures such as warm-up videos of domestic and foreign bridges, small bridge demonstration experiments (with human participation in bridge construction), and bridge-related games are used to lead students into the “journey of exploring bridges”. (3) students can collect materials, give presentations titled “let me talk about bridges”, and complete the first assignment that is not related to mechanical analysis. 3.2 secret of investigating bridges-technology decoding module students are guided to study various types of bridges together. this part mainly covers the structure, force transmission characteristics, and design of various bridge types. in addition, special sections for famous bridge appreciation, bridge aesthetics, red bridges, bridge construction, and bridge accidents are established; resource libraries such as midas civil, micro-bridge experiments, bridge competition database, bridge standard drawing database, and bridge specification database are built to lead students to explore the secrets of bridges. 3.3 joy of creating bridges-practical innovation module students are encouraged to make bridges by themselves to enhance the practicality of the course. this teaching model not only cultivates students’ comprehensive abilities with both “hard technology” and “soft literacy” but also fosters an innovative ecosystem of “education feeding back the industry” in the integration of industry and education. it provides a replicable practical paradigm for the cultivation of bridge engineers in the era of intelligent construction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 47 published by scholink inc. 4. three major reform implementation plans 4.1 strategy for course content reorganization in this reform of the “bridge engineering” course, the course content is redesigned, and a modular knowledge system is built, including a basic module, five expansion module sections (famous bridge appreciation section, bridge aesthetics section, red bridge section, bridge construction section, bridge accident section), and a resource library module. (1) the original 8 chapters of teaching content in the basic module are reconstructed into four modules, namely, overview of bridges, beam bridge structure, beam bridge design, and other types of bridges. the overview of bridges includes the basic composition and classification of bridges, planning and design procedures, and the functions of bridge structures. the beam bridge structure covers slab bridges, beam bridges, bridge deck structures, supports, and piers. the beam bridge design includes the design of main beams, bridge decks, and diaphragms. other types of bridges include arch bridges, cable-stayed bridges, and suspension bridges. (2) the five expansion module sections include: famous bridge appreciation section, bridge aesthetics section, red bridge section, bridge construction section, and bridge accident section. (3) the resource library module includes: bridge software module, micro-bridge experiment database, bridge competition database, bridge standard drawing database, bridge specification database, and other resources. 4.2 practical model of “course entering workshop” by integrating the “bridge engineering” course into the workshop, project-based teaching is realized, and an intelligent workshop with “coexistence of virtual and real” is built. this closely combines theoretical knowledge with engineering practice, enhances students’ practical abilities and their ability to solve practical problems. for example, the teaching of the “bridge engineering” course is divided into two parts: classroom teaching and workshop teaching. in classroom teaching, students are guided to use midas civil, finite element analysis, and other tools for bridge analysis; in workshop teaching, students are required to complete the experimental design and construction tasks of a reinforced concrete micro-bridge analyzed in classroom teaching in groups, so as to cultivate their teamwork and communication skills. students are required to complete the whole process from design to construction, which stimulates their innovative thinking and practical abilities. 4.3 construction of wechat official account a dedicated wechat official account for the “bridge engineering” course is established and applied to the interactive teaching of bridge engineering professional courses, so as to improve the shortcomings of traditional course teaching. the unique value of this official account is as follows: (1) breaking the constraints of time and space: students can obtain resources anytime and anywhere for fragmented learning. through various interactive forms, students’ participation is enhanced, making www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 48 published by scholink inc. the official account an extension of the classroom. (2) stimulating learning interest: cases, interactions, and stories are used to reduce the dullness of professional knowledge. this official account records images and shares stories to make the learning process more vivid. for example, it posts on-site photos and short videos of students conducting “bridge load tests” and “model making”; selects excellent bridge models, calculation reports, and cad drawings, and attaches teachers’ comments. (3) connecting the classroom with the industry: it not only consolidates the theoretical foundation but also broadens the professional horizon. this official account is committed to providing cutting-edge, practical, and systematic knowledge content for bridge engineering students and enthusiasts, covering industry frontiers and technological innovations; it also provides past real exam questions, key points for the registered road engineer examination, and guidelines for the national university student structural design competition. 5. evaluation plan an evaluation method centered on the combination of diversification, process orientation, and timeliness is constructed. in the teaching evaluation reform of bridge engineering, this evaluation method, which combines diversification, process orientation, and timeliness, is taken as the core, aiming to comprehensively and scientifically evaluate students’ learning effects and ability development. 5.1 diversified evaluation method a variety of evaluation methods and indicators are adopted to comprehensively evaluate students’ mastery of knowledge, application of skills, and comprehensive quality, avoiding the limitations of a single test score. for example, multiple evaluation methods such as examinations, assignments, quizzes, group micro-bridge experiment project tasks, and ppt reports are used. 5.2 process-oriented evaluation method emphasis is placed on the evaluation of the learning process. through phased feedback and continuous improvement, students are helped to discover and solve problems in a timely manner, and their ability development is promoted. for example, real-time feedback on quiz scores and assignment evaluations is provided through the online learning platform. one-on-one tutoring or group discussions are used to help students solve problems in the learning process. 5.3 timely evaluation method real-time or near-real-time evaluation methods are adopted to quickly feed back students’ learning effects and improve the timeliness and effectiveness of evaluation. for example, students receive their scores and explanations immediately after completing a quiz. a real-time question-and-answer system is used to collect students’ in-class feedback. the learning progress and knowledge mastery of students are analyzed through the data of the learning platform. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 49 published by scholink inc. 6. conclusion by using the above reform plans and adopting the three-stage progressive teaching model of “exploring bridges-investigating bridges-creating bridges”, a trinity course system of “culture-technology-innovation” is constructed. ultimately, an engaging course centered on the core concept of “discovering your beauty through bridges” is realized. funding this paper sponsored by teaching research project of qingdao city university. research on the reform and practice of the “bridge engineering” course in the digital and intelligent era. project number: 2025007b. references liu, s. m., & zhong, w. (2024). exploration and reform of the teaching model of the “bridge engineering” course. technology wind, (25), 7-9. wu, a. j., & wu, y. (2024). discussion on the teaching reform of the “bridge engineering” course based on knowledge graphs—taking guizhou institute of technology as an example. education observation, 13(30), 40-43. yang, y. h. (2024). research on the reform of “smart” courses and talent cultivation under the background of digitalization. henan private education association. in proceedings of the 2024 higher education development forum (volume 1, pp. 223-224). chongqing public transportation vocational college. ye, y. f. (2018). reform and practice of the “bridge engineering” course based on the cdio concept. fujian architecture and construction, (12), 106-108. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 62 original paper enhancing elementary chinese character instruction through digital technologies and artificial intelligence: practical pathways and strategies wang yijie 1 1 school of humanities, jianghan university, wuhan, hubei, china received: october 9, 2025 accepted: october 23, 2025 online published: october 25, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p62 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p62 abstract addressing structural challenges in elementary-level chinese character instruction within international chinese language education, this study explores practical pathways and strategies for transforming pedagogy through digital technologies and artificial intelligence (ai). it proposes an integrated four-dimensional instructional framework encompassing recognition, reading, writing, and application. in the recognition phase, technologies such as dynamic etymology and augmented reality (ar) are employed to enhance visualization. the reading phase utilizes intelligent speech assessment for precise feedback. the writing phase incorporates stroke order tracking and ai-powered assessment to address specific learning difficulties. in the application phase, adaptive exercises and contextualized scenarios are used to promote the internalization of chinese character knowledge. implementation strategies include redefining the teacher’s role, adopting blended learning models, and introducing data-informed interventions. the ultimate objective is to shift chinese character pedagogy from an experience-driven model to a data-driven paradigm of personalized learning, thus fostering a human-computer collaborative teaching ecosystem. keywords digital and intelligent technologies, international chinese language education, chinese character pedagogy www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 63 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction chinese characters constitute the primary challenge in elementary-level chinese language acquisition, particularly for learners from non-logographic language backgrounds. the substantial differences between chinese characters and alphabetic writing systems—including their abstract visual features, complex orthographic structure, and the disjunction between form, sound, and meaning—pose major cognitive barriers for learners (guo, t., 2019, pp. 19-24). without effective pedagogical interventions, these challenges can persist, significantly undermining students’ motivation and learning outcomes (li, j. l., 2003, pp. 110-111). amid the accelerating digital transformation of education worldwide—driven in part by china’s “education informatization 2.0 action plan” (a national policy promoting advanced educational technologies) (ministry of education of the people’s republic of china, 2018) and the establishment of the national smart education platform—the integration of digital technologies and ai into language instruction has become a prevailing trend. consequently, addressing the enduring challenges in elementary chinese character teaching through innovative technological solutions has become both a pedagogical imperative and a necessary adaptation to global educational developments. although existing studies have explored the role of digital and intelligent technologies in chinese character pedagogy, most concentrate on individual technological interventions or the enhancement of isolated teaching components. a comprehensive framework that harnesses advanced technologies—such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and learning analytics—to holistically transform all phases of character instruction remains underdeveloped. specifically, there is a notable gap in the integration of all four core dimensions—recognition, reading, writing, and application—into a synergistic, technology-empowered instructional model (cui, x. l., 2024, pp. 11-19; tian, h., 2024, pp. 85-92). this study addresses this gap by investigating practical pathways and strategies for digitally and intelligently empowered instruction of elementary chinese characters, aiming to develop a framework with both theoretical grounding and practical applicability to advance the field. 2. the current state of elementary chinese character instruction and the opportunities for digital and intelligent transformation elementary-level instruction of chinese characters has long faced significant structural challenges, primarily reflected in four aspects. first, at the level of orthographic cognition, the abstract symbolic system and complex spatial structures of chinese characters impose a heavy memory burden on non-native learners. empirical studies have shown that errors made by learners from non-chinese-script backgrounds during writing are highly concentrated, with stroke placement errors being particularly prominent. this directly highlights a weakness in their perception of both the structural components of characters and their overall configuration (guo, t., 2019, pp. 19-24). second, regarding writing skills, although the strategy of “recognize before writing, recognize more and write www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 64 published by scholink inc. less” (a pedagogical approach) has been proven effective (feng, l. y., 2010, pp. 92-96), teachers in traditional classrooms—even with the aid of digital tools—struggle to provide immediate and precise feedback on each student’s stroke order and formation. this often leads to the solidification of erroneous writing habits, making it difficult for learners to develop a correct logical understanding of chinese character composition. third, establishing associations between phonetic forms and meanings remains challenging. the phenomena of “recognizing pinyin but not characters” and “knowing words but not their constituent characters” are widespread. influenced by negative transfer from their native languages, learners tend to treat pinyin as chinese orthographic symbols and memorize vocabulary as holistic sound modules, yet are unable to effectively identify, comprehend, or utilize individual characters within words. this seriously constrains their language development at a deeper level (liu, j. t., 2010, p. 118). fourth, the learning process is often deprived of interest and a sense of achievement: repetitive mechanical writing drills and tedious rote memorization frequently lead to frustration and learning anxiety among students (li, j. l., 2003, pp. 110-111). these issues underscore the limitations of traditional teaching approaches in terms of resources, individualized support, and timely feedback. “digital and intelligent technologies” refer to a composite of next-generation intelligent tools, including artificial intelligence (ai), big data, learning analytics (la), augmented reality (ar), virtual reality (vr), and others. the rapid advancement of such technologies—known for their core strengths in visualization, interactivity, personalization, and data-driven processes—offers a historic opportunity to overcome the longstanding dilemmas of chinese character instruction. the empowerment enabled by digital and intelligent technologies is not a matter of technology completely replacing the teacher’s role. rather, it is realized through data-driven diagnostics, adaptive learning recommendations, and instant feedback, creating a closed loop of teaching and learning that enhances both teachers’ instructional design capabilities and students’ cognitive efficiency. this exploration constitutes not merely an update of teaching tools, but a profound restructuring of instructional paradigms. at its core are two major transformations: first, a shift from “experience-driven” to “data-driven” pedagogy. traditional instruction relies heavily on teachers’ personal judgment of learners’ progress, while digital and intelligent platforms accurately capture and analyze each learner’s behavioral data—from the sequence of stroke execution to the reaction time for distinguishing visually similar characters—objectifying and quantifying previously implicit learning processes, and providing an objective foundation for targeted interventions. second, there is a transition from “uniform instruction” to “personalized instruction.” supported by learning analytics, systems can generate individualized learner profiles and personalized knowledge graphs, and can intelligently deliver exercises aligned with learners’ cognitive level, learning progression, and memory retention patterns, thereby achieving truly personalized teaching. this direction demonstrates that the application of technology in chinese character instruction is evolving from a “compensatory” model—designed to remedy weaknesses in traditional instruction—toward an “empowerment” model that fundamentally enhances learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 65 published by scholink inc. efficiency and experience for each individual. it not only concerns the use of technological tools, but also entails a systemic reconfiguration of educational objectives, processes, and teacher-student roles. this reconfiguration lays a practical foundation for constructing an integrated, technology-empowered pathway that synergizes character recognition, reading, writing, and application. 3. practical pathways for empowering elementary chinese character instruction with digital and intelligent technologies in response to the core challenges across the four key phases of elementary chinese character teaching—recognition, reading, writing, and application—this study proposes a learner-centered, data-driven four-dimensional empowerment framework. the goal is to transcend the isolated application of traditional digital tools, and, by integrating digital and intelligent technologies, provide a systematic solution for overcoming the structural difficulties inherent in chinese character acquisition. 3.1 recognition: intelligent character analysis and visualized presentation to address the “orthographic memorization difficulty” stemming from the abstract nature and structural complexity of chinese characters, a primary empowerment pathway of digital and intelligent technologies is the transformation of static, two-dimensional characters into dynamic, multidimensional, and logically organized visual information. first, the dynamic etymological demonstration pathway leverages animation technology to vividly reproduce the evolutionary processes of chinese characters, shifting mechanical memorization toward logical understanding. for instance, ai-generated animations can illustrate how “ 明 ( mínɡ)”—composed of “日 (sun)” and “月 (moon)”—signifies brightness derived from the union of both celestial bodies, or how “休( xiū)” represents a person (人) resting alongside a tree (木). this approach situates characters within their cultural and historical contexts, enabling learners not only to recognize the surface forms but also to understand their underlying rationale (wei, s. y., 2024, pp. 75-77). second, the component decomposition pathway utilizes artificial intelligence technologies in image recognition and natural language processing to automatically and hierarchically break down compound characters, highlighting functional components such as semantic and phonetic radicals, as well as stroke structures. this serves as the basis for constructing a visualized “chinese character family tree.” for example, the system groups “河 (river)”, “湖 (lake)”, and “海 (sea)” under the family characterized by the “氵” water radical, and “请(to invite)”, “情 (feeling)”, and “清 (clear)” under families marked by the “青” phonetic component. this enables learners to establish a systematic network of word-formation knowledge, facilitating a cognitive leap from memorizing individual characters to mastering the rules of character construction (wang, y. l., 2019, pp. 188-189). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 66 published by scholink inc. lastly, the ar-immersive recognition pathway employs augmented reality technology to seamlessly link chinese characters with the real world. learners can use mobile devices or tablets to scan real-world objects—such as a desk, a computer, or an apple—prompting immediate display of the corresponding chinese characters (“桌子”, “电脑”, “苹果”) on the screen, accompanied by standard pronunciation and bilingual explanations. meta-analytic research has confirmed that ar technology can significantly enhance learning outcomes (jiakai, z., gege, l., qinglin, h. et al., 2022, p. 9725). in elementary chinese character education, this pathway situates the abstract task of character learning within concrete, immediate contexts, greatly strengthening the associations among the sound, form, and meaning of characters. not only does this mitigate the effects of negative transfer from the learner’s native language, but it also shifts learners from passive recognition to active discovery. 3.2 reading: precise speech recognition and mimicry training pathway to address the challenges of mastering the chinese pinyin system, especially tones, digital and intelligent technologies deliver solutions that go far beyond traditional audio repetition methods in terms of precision and personalization. at the core of this pathway is intelligent speech assessment technology. leveraging deep learning-based speech recognition algorithms, the system provides real-time analysis of learners’ pronunciation during recitation, scoring their output across multiple dimensions such as initials, finals, and tones. more importantly, the system offers visualized diagnostic feedback, such as tonal graphs that directly display the learner’s tone contours against standard pronunciation, or pinpoint common phonetic confusions (e.g., distinctions between “z”/“zh”, “d”/“t”). intelligent speech technologies, such as those represented by iflytek, can now deliver precise pronunciation evaluation and diagnostics for second-language learners. this immediate, objective feedback mechanism effectively compensates for the traditional limitation where teachers are unable to correct students’ tones or articulation on an individual and frequent basis. in addition, multimodal pronunciation tools support autonomous learning by enabling students to hear pronunciations upon tapping a character while also seeing mouth-shape animations or tongue placement diagrams, thereby converting implicit articulatory knowledge into explicit visual and kinesthetic guidance. 3.3 writing: interactive practice and instant feedback pathway to tackle the persistent challenge of “stroke order difficulty” and to alleviate the monotony of traditional writing drills, the empowerment pathways of digital and intelligent technologies focus on process tracking, intelligent evaluation, and motivation enhancement. the foundational pathway, dynamic stroke order generation and real-time tracking, employs animation to display the standard sequence of strokes. learners follow prompts to write on touchscreen devices, where the system tracks their brushwork in real time; should errors in stroke order or direction occur, the system immediately pauses the process and delivers corrective cues. in this way, incorrect habits can be addressed at their inception (tian, h., 2024, pp. 85-92), supporting the gradual development of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 67 published by scholink inc. logical reasoning for character composition. the intelligent handwriting assessment system enables deep analysis of the writing output. distinct from basic right-or-wrong judgments, the system—driven by computer vision—assesses handwriting across multiple metrics: stroke accuracy (such as length and angle), spatial structure (component proportions and positional relationships), and overall aesthetics. in addition to overall scores, the system provides individualized suggestions for improvement, such as recommending that the left “木” radical in a side-by-side character structure should be narrower, while it ought to be flatter in stacked structures—realizing the kind of fine-grained guidance that, in the past, was possible only through one-on-one tutoring. research has shown that gamification can significantly increase engagement and motivation (kapp, k. m., 2012), transforming repetitive drills into compelling challenges. to address the tedium of practice, gamification mechanisms are embedded within writing exercises. for example, in “character parkour”, learners must correctly write characters to overcome obstacles, while “component assembly” games require putting together radicals to form valid characters. points, badges, and leaderboards combine extrinsic motivation (task completion incentives) with intrinsic motivation (enjoyment and a sense of achievement), turning otherwise mechanical practice into challenging tasks and thus significantly enhancing learners’ initiative and immersive experience. 3.4 application: contextualized application and personalized reinforcement pathways “application” represents the ultimate goal of chinese character learning. to address persistent challenges such as weak connections among sound, meaning, and form, limited transfer of learned characters to communicative use, and the rapid rate of forgetting, contextualized application and intelligent reinforcement—enabled by digital and intelligent technologies—have become essential strategies for integrating chinese characters into communicative practice. first, the adaptive exercise delivery pathway lies at the heart of personalized reinforcement. leveraging learning analytics (la), the adaptive exercise system constructs an individualized error database and knowledge graph for each learner. when the error rate on a particular knowledge point exceeds a preset threshold, the system automatically generates and delivers targeted micro-lessons and discrimination drills. this data-driven approach to remedying knowledge gaps ensures exercise specificity and efficiency. second, the spaced repetition system (srs), based on ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve, is recognized as one of the most effective strategies for combating memory decay. intelligent learning platforms can calculate the optimal review intervals for each learner based on their study content and progress, automatically issuing review tasks at critical moments just before forgetting is likely to occur. this algorithm-driven approach is more scientific, efficient, and personalized than fixed, one-size-fits-all review schedules, and it supports more sustainable learning outcomes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 68 published by scholink inc. finally, gamified and scenario-based applications utilizing technologies such as ar and vr integrate chinese character usage into virtual communicative tasks. for example, in a virtual restaurant, learners must recognize menu items and input dish names in chinese to complete ordering tasks; in a virtual city, they find destinations by interpreting chinese characters on street signs and shop fronts. such learning processes not only consolidate students’ mastery of character sound, form, and meaning, but, more importantly, situate character learning within meaningful communicative contexts. this enables learners to “learn through use and use through play”, effectively addressing the lack of linkage between learning and application as well as compensating for the absence of authentic communicative contexts in traditional instruction to some extent. 4. implementation strategies for digitally and intelligently empowered chinese character instruction the effective empowerment of chinese character pedagogy by digital and intelligent technologies relies on the adoption of systematic teaching strategies. to ensure the practical implementation of the four-dimensional pathways of “recognition, reading, writing, and application”, it is essential to reshape the relationship between teaching and learning and to construct a new paradigm of human-computer collaborative instruction. 4.1 strategy for reconstructing the teacher’s role the teacher’s role is shifting from that of a traditional knowledge transmitter to a designer of learning experiences, an organizer of instructional activities, and an emotional motivator. unlike conventional models, technology platforms now assume a substantial share of repetitive and knowledge-based instructional tasks, such as stroke order demonstration, pronunciation correction, and grading of basic exercises. teachers, on the other hand, are expected to design tiered learning tasks based on learning analytics data (for example, assigning differentiated character recognition games to students at different proficiency levels), organize integrated online and offline group activities (such as ar-based chinese character treasure hunts), monitor student progress using learning analytics data provided by the platform, offer timely feedback, and provide emotional support and psychological guidance to students facing difficulties or anxiety (wei, s. y., 2024, pp. 75-77). this role transformation demands that teachers possess a high level of digital literacy; they should act as leaders in human-computer collaboration and as designers of the entire instructional process, rather than as objects to be replaced by technology. the focus is on cultivating students’ chinese character learning strategies and capacity for autonomous learning within a digitally empowered environment. 4.2 strategy for constructing a blended learning model a blended instructional model that deeply integrates “online + offline” learning through digital empowerment should not be viewed as a simple aggregation of online activities and face-to-face classroom teaching, but rather as a synergistic approach with redesigned processes. in the online phase, students can engage in self-directed learning using the platform—for example, watching character www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 69 published by scholink inc. etymology animations, using ai-based speech assessment for pronunciation and character recognition practice, and completing adaptive writing exercises—thereby achieving personalized input and consolidation of knowledge. offline classroom sessions, in turn, focus on knowledge internalization and practical application: teachers can organize collaborative group projects based on real-world scenarios (such as designing a chinese menu), or facilitate cultural experience activities such as calligraphy or seal carving, deepening understanding of chinese character culture. this “online self-learning, offline intensive practice” model, a variation of the flipped classroom, not only ensures the efficiency of personalized learning but also retains the irreplaceable value of face-to-face education in fostering social connectivity and emotional engagement (bergmann, j., & sams, a., 2012). 4.3 strategy for data interpretation and instructional intervention a central advantage of digital and intelligent platforms lies in their robust learning analytics (la) capabilities. teachers must significantly enhance their data literacy to effectively interpret the learning status reports generated by the platform—such as class-wide heatmaps highlighting frequent errors (e.g., many students confusing “未” and “末”), individual knowledge mastery trajectories, and behavioral data (such as completion time and repetition rates). teachers should identify common problems and individual differences, and implement targeted interventions accordingly. for instance, they may adjust teaching content and pacing at the class level based on data analysis, or provide customized resources and one-on-one guidance at the individual level. this process completes the instructional cycle from data insights to analytical diagnosis and precise intervention, enabling instructional decisions to shift from subjective experience to objective, data-driven practice. 4.4 strategy for sustaining learning motivation a sustainable incentive system is crucial to maintaining motivation among beginning learners. for many students, the initial challenge of chinese character learning can feel daunting and monotonous; accordingly, gamification mechanisms that integrate extrinsic incentives with intrinsic motivation are key. digital platforms can motivate learners by awarding points, badges, and rankings, which provide timely feedback and enhance feelings of achievement while meeting psychological needs. according to self-determination theory, providing a variety of open-ended tasks can satisfy the need for autonomy; establishing clear advancement pathways and certificates of competence can address the need for competence; and organizing team-based learning challenges can foster a sense of relatedness. by transforming learning from a passive obligation to an active exploration, such mechanisms help foster durable intrinsic motivation among learners (ryan, r. m., & deci, e. l., 2000, pp. 68-78). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 70 published by scholink inc. 5. reflection and prospects digital and intelligent technologies hold immense potential for transforming the paradigms of chinese character instruction, yet their application in educational practice still faces multiple challenges. first, digitally empowered chinese character pedagogy imposes higher demands on teachers’ digital literacy; thus, the cultivation and training of teachers has become an urgent issue that must be addressed. second, the development and implementation of digital and intelligent platforms specifically tailored for chinese character instruction remain inadequate; the imbalance between the supply of and the demand for digital resources constitutes a tangible obstacle for the practical empowerment of instruction through digital technologies. third, the application of such technologies raises certain risks related to data privacy. in particular, the protection of user privacy in the collection, storage, and analysis of learners’ handwriting trajectories, speech data, and learning analytics is a pressing concern that warrants close attention. looking forward, digital and intelligent technology empowerment is poised to provide more efficient instructional paradigms and richer educational resources for elementary-level chinese character teaching. generative ai will be able to create highly personalized opportunities for character acquisition based on learners’ interests; metaverse technologies may construct fully immersive worlds for character learning, realizing the ultimate scenario of “learning by applying and applying to reinforce learning”; and the introduction of affective computing holds the promise of allowing systems to recognize learners’ emotional states and dynamically adjust instructional strategies. ultimately, this will help create a new ecosystem of chinese character instruction characterized by the integration of human-computer collaboration and emotional intelligence. 6. conclusion this study has conducted an in-depth exploration of the practical pathways and strategies for digitally and intelligently empowered elementary chinese character instruction. by establishing an integrated four-dimensional empowerment framework encompassing “recognition, reading, writing, and application,” and by implementing strategies such as redefining the teacher’s role, constructing blended teaching models, and data-driven instructional interventions, this approach effectively addresses the traditional challenges faced by learners, namely, difficulties in memorizing orthographic forms, mastering pronunciation, achieving writing accuracy, and applying characters flexibly. although objective challenges remain, such as the urgent need to improve teachers’ digital literacy and the incomplete development of digital teaching resources, the deep integration of digital and intelligent technologies with pedagogy is poised to propel international chinese education to a new stage of development. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 71 published by scholink inc. references bergmann, j., & sams, a. (2012). flip your classroom: reach every student in every class every day. oregon: international society for technology in education. cui, x. l. (2024). the impact of “handwriting” and “typing” on chinese character learning and related research perspectives. journal of yunnan normal university, 22(05), 11-19. feng, l. y. (2010). on the teaching of chinese characters at the elementary level of chinese as a foreign language. chinese character culture, 2010(05), 92-96. guo, t. (2019). research on the characteristics and development of stroke errors in chinese characters by non-chinese background international students. journal of yunnan normal university, 17(02), 19-24. jiakai, z., gege, l., qinglin, h. et al. (2022). augmented reality in k–12 education: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature from 2000 to 2020. sustainability, 14(15), 9725. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159725 kapp, k. m. (2012). the gamification of learning and instruction: game-based methods and strategies for training and education. san francisco: pfeiffer. https://doi.org/10.1145/2207270.2211316 li, j. l. (2003). investigation on the problems of chinese character acquisition by international students. journal of zhoukou normal university, 2003(01), 110-111. liu, j. t. (2010). analysis of the phenomenon of “knowing words but not characters” in teaching chinese as a foreign language. talent, 2010(25), 118. ministry of education of the people’s republic of china. (2018). notice of the ministry of education on printing and distributing the “education informatization 2.0 action plan” (jiao ji [2018] no. 6)[eb/ol]. retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/a16/s3342/201804/t20180425_334188.html ryan, r. m., & deci, e. l. (2000). self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. american psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.68 tian, h. (2024). application path of brain-computer interface (bci) in international chinese character teaching. journal of yunnan normal university, 22(02), 85-92. wang, y. l. (2019). chinese character acquisition and teaching strategies for international students at the elementary level. think tank era, 2019(52), 188-189. wei, s. y. (2024). research on the construction strategy of international chinese character teaching path in the ai era. chinese character culture, 2024(24), 75-77. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159725 https://doi.org/10.1145/2207270.2211316 microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p23 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 23 original paper academic contrapower harassment and student evaluations: the gendered experience of bullying, intimidation, and entitlement alison s. burke1, mark siders2, james brinson3 & whitney head-burgess4 1 criminology and criminal justice, southern oregon university, ashland, or, usa 2 school of business, southern oregon university, ashland, or, usa 3 department of science and mathematics, saint mary-of-the-woods college, st. mary of the woods, in, usa 4 department of sociology, portland state, portland or usa * alison s. burke, criminology and criminal justice, southern oregon university, ashland, or, usa received: february 27, 2020 accepted: march 9, 2020 online published: april 8, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p23 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p23 abstract student evaluations are subjective and oftentimes arbitrary, skewed by stereotypes students have of the professor rather than the actual merit of the instructional style. yet student evaluations are frequently necessary for promotion and tenure requirements regardless of known gender bias. as such, student evaluations have the potential to foster a culture of academic contrapower harassment (acph). a convenience sample of 150 professors and instructors (41.3% male, 56.7%, female, and 2% declined to specify) from two separate liberal arts colleges were surveyed to explore the gendered differences of perceived bullying of professors by students on anonymous student evaluations. using pearson’s chi-square test for independence (categorical variables), results support differences in the psychological consequences of student evaluations between male and female faculty but fail to confirm instances of acph. keywords student evaluations, contrapower harassment, gender differences higher education www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 24 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction coined by benson in 1984, the term “contrapower” is still a relatively neglected area of research and no study to date has applied this concept to student evaluations of professors. academic contrapower harassment (achp) is defined as someone with less institutional power, in this case a student, harassing someone with more institution power, such as a professor. research over the past three decades suggests that acph is a ubiquitous occurrence and part of being a professor in the modern era, and many studies to date have explored the psychological and physical tolls this type of bullying and have on instructors. the current study hypothesizes that the university practice of anonymous student evaluations of professors encourages an atmosphere of contrapower harassment. the anonymous nature of student evaluations allows students to hide behind aggregate reporting and this ability to be anonymous online is often tied to the issue of online harassment (davis, amelink, hirt, & miyazaki, 2012; duggan, 2017). according to the pew research center, 89 percent of americans say the ability to post anonymously online enables people to be cruel to or harass one another (duggan, 2017). indeed, the pew research centerreported that 66 percent adults have witnessed online abuse and 41 percent state that they have personally been victim to harassing behavior online. duggan (2017) argues that harassment is often focused on personal or physical characteristics; political views, gender, physical appearance and race are among the most common. the culture of normalizing ad hominem attacks and general online incivility bleeds over to classroom conduct which is then in turn reflected in anonymous student evaluations. within this platform of evaluations students are at liberty to say whatever they want with no repercussions. utilizing survey research, the current study examines the issues of incivility and harassment of professors by students via anonymous online student evaluations. 2. literature review bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance (u.s. department of health and human services, 2019). much of the literature focusses on bullying between students and bullying of students by faculty in secondary education. a 2004 study found that among surveyed college students, a large majority had witnessed or been the victim of peer bullying (chapell et al., 2004). more alarming, chapell et al. (2004) found about 60 percent of respondents reported witnessing a professor bully a student. despite these results, the survey did not ask about student bullying behaviors toward professors, and most literature is lacking in this singular area. lampman et al. (2009) examined bullying in brick and mortar educational settings and found substantial evidence of faculty experiencing bullying over grades, assignment requirements, and non-classroom-related issues, such a gender or family. the faculty experienced repeated and intentional disruptions by students, outward expression of disdain, and verbal disrespect or challenges to authority; moreover it appears that tenure-track faculty were more at risk for acph than their non-tenured counterparts (lampman, crew, lowery, & tompkins, 2016; lampman, phelps, bancroft, & beneke, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 25 published by scholink inc. 2009). additionally, in a study of 524 professors it was found that 91 percent reported at least one act of student incivility or bullying (lampman, 2012). women were more likely than men to experience acph during their career; moreover, women were more likely to experience instances of bullying and incivility in the past year than were their male peers. however, lampman (2012) asserts that gender was not the only predictor of acph; racial minorities, younger faculty members, and those with less experience and credentials reported these incidences occurring more frequently. more women than men reported “serious incident” of student incivility, and female faculty reported they were more seriously impacted emotionally by these instances (lampman, 2012, 2014; lampman et al., 2016, 2009). lampman (2012) found that faculty age was negatively correlated with unwanted sexual attention. these instances of incivility have real and lasting consequences. lampman et al (2016) found that female professors reported significantly more negative outcomes as a result of contra-power harassment that their male counterparts including anxiety, stress-related illness, difficulty concentrating or wanting to quit. these finding correspond to those of wildermuth and davis (2012), who found that female faculty, younger teachers, and those faculty of color were more likely to face incivility in the classroom and online. interestingly, male professors were more likely to highlight experiences with sexual harassment, which were relatively uncommon. conversely, women were more likely to recall instances where students challenged their authority, were disrespectful or disruptive (lampman et al., 2016; wildermuth & davis, 2012). earlier research on harassment of university faculty by students focused almost entirely on sexual harassment (carroll & ellis, 1989; desouza & fansler, 2003; dziech & weiner, 1990; grauerholz, 1989; matchen & desouza, 2000). it was believed that students did not have enough power in the student-professor relationship to bully faculty. however, evidence suggests this is quite the contrary and indeed is not uncommon (meires, 2018). as such, more recent research conceptualizes acph more broadly to include student behaviors that are rude, disrespectful, and/or uncivil. it also includes bullying, threats, intimidation, aggression, and challenges to a professor’s authority, or involve racial-ethnic or sexual harassment (desouza, 2011; lampman, 2012; lampman et al., 2009). bullying by students occurs for several reasons, including personal gain (meires, 2018). significant predictors of contrapower harassment include being tenure track, teaching in arts and science, and having larger classes. interestingly, more years of experience and being younger are significant predictors of acph for women, but not so for men (lampman et al., 2009). may and tenzek (2018) and wildermuth and davis (2012) both found that acph harms the professor’s psyche, makes them change grading practices, disrupts the learning environment, instills distrust, anxiety, and fear of personal safety. the researchers also found this affects women more than men. since stereotypes of women professors dictate they be accessible and kind, if they veer from these ideals, they experience more acph (burke, head-burgess, & siders, 2017; e. r. desouza, 2011; may & tenzek, 2018; wildermuth & davis, 2012). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 26 published by scholink inc. 2.1 gender experiences in part, acph may be driven by gender stereotypes and an emerging consumerist attitude among students (may & tenzek, 2018). prescribed gender stereotypes, such as women being accommodating or men being authoritative, govern student expectations of normative gender characteristics (burke, head-burges, & siders, 2017; heilman & okimoto, 2007; lampman, 2012; lampman et al., 2016; matchen & desouza, 2000). it is suggested that these prescribed gender stereotypes are the reason why more female professors report instances of acph than their male counterparts. moreover, male professors may be more reticent to report instances of acph because of the “threat to their masculinity” which violates the perceived gender characteristics of the authoritative male (heilman, 2001; heilman & okimoto, 2007). lampman (2012) found 25 percent of faculty experienced at least one “sexual behavior” from a student and more women than men reported a “serious incident” of student incivility, bullying, aggression or sexual attention during their careers. furthermore, in their research, may and tenzek (2018) reported several female professors feeling very uncomfortable with male students who exhibited overly masculine displays. in fact, one female respondent detailed an “… almost like a sexual dominant thing happening”, in her description of how a male student made direct references to her body and encouraged her to keep working out. another student used language, such as “bitch”, that was “very slanderous toward a woman” (may & tenzek, 2018, p. 283). moreover, may and tenzek’s (2018) accounts are far from unique, other female professors detail instances of sexual harassment, stalking, and incivility by male students (bartos & ives, 2019; king, 2019). 2.2 cyberbullying and anonymity bullying has been defined as a problem at least in part due to an imbalance of power. power imbalances are widespread in the hierarchical context of universities: administrator to faculty member, senior to junior faculty, faculty to student. and while research around bullying within academia often focuses on peer bullying or the student victim, the student bully who targets professors is a neglected area of study yet just as destructive, demeaning, and intimidating. cyberbullying can take many forms. it can include harassment, insults, spreading rumors, threatening behavior, outing, and trickery. it can be conducted via email, text message, or social networking cites or websites (king, 2019; pieschl et al., 2013). one such platform where this might be seen is on ratemyprofessor.com. one professor noted that with online attacks he was: “unfairly treated with no chance to defend myself” (cassidy, faucher, & jackson, 2017, p. 895). in cassady et al.’s (2017) research on cyberbullying in the academy, another professor said, “i know there are cruel and disparaging remarks posted about me on ratemyprofessor.com … the unpoliced internet allows students to post demeaning and often untrue comments anonymously. how is this not libel?” (p. 895). cyberbullying provides anonymity to the bully, which is not possible with conventional old-fashioned bullying. because of the anonymity, offenders cannot see the reactions of their victims and research shows that because of this, the bully feels less remorse. cyberbullying causes harm with no physical www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 27 published by scholink inc. interaction, little thought or planning, and a slim chance of being caught or identified (slonje, smith, & frisén, 2012). the online world has resulted in a “rapid increase in uncivil online discourse” (wildermuth & davis, 2012, p. 380). women are about twice as likely as men to say they have been targeted as a result of their gender with regards to cyberbullying; 11 percent of women reported being targeted because of their gender, while only 5 percent of men reported their gender made them a target for harassment. men, however, are around twice as likely as women to say they have experienced harassment online as a result of their political views, with 19 percent of men saying that have experienced harassment of this sort versus 10 percent of women (duggan, 2017). email, for example, is a prime medium for cyber bullying. wildermuth and davis (2012) assert that communication between faculty and students has increased as higher education has become increasingly digitalized, meaning that the opportunity for bullying of faculty via email has also increased. cyberbullying disrupts typical powerhierarchies by providing the option of anonymity and enabling indirect forms of bullying (cassidy et al., 2017). moreover, technology makes cyberbullying easier due to the perceived anonymity, asynchronous nature of online and email interactions, lack of nonverbal cues, and the intangible nature of online interactions (wildermuth & davis, 2012). in addition, the “consumer” attitude of higher education allows students to designate the professor as a service, rather than a person, resulting in the “i paid. you deliver”, ethos which dictates acph (may & tenzek, 2018; wildermuth & davis, 2012). this mentality negates the need for civility or respect in the relationship between student and professor. 3. methods the current research examines acph in the form of student evaluations of professor teaching effectiveness. these evaluations are the primary measure that many colleges and universities use to evaluate professors’ teaching and are given to students at the end of the semester or term. such evaluations ask students to rate the teaching effectiveness of their professors and are generally both qualitative and quantitative. students are asked to rate professors on a scale (1 being ineffective and 10 being effective) and to elaborate via qualitative feedback. qualitative questions often ask students “what did you like best?” or “what did you like least”? with such open-ended free evaluation reign, it was surmised that students would use this anonymous platform to engage in instances of acph against faculty. to uncover this, the current research surveyed a convenience sample of 150 professors and instructors at two separate liberal arts universities, one on the west coast and one in the midwest, to examine the prevalence of acphp professors and instructors of all rank were invited to participate if they were currently teaching and had taught at least one course in the last academic year. adapting questions from lampman’s (2012) research instrument, faculty were asked14 questions pertaining to how many times in the past three academic years they received comments on their course evaluations that could be considered uncivil www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 28 published by scholink inc. and ten questions pertaining to the personal and psychological consequences of student evaluations (see appendix a). all surveys were administered online in the fall of 2018 using qualtrics survey software to ensure participant confidentiality. using pearson’s chi-square analysis, which represents one of the most utilized statistical analyses for answering questions about the association or difference between categorical variables (franke, ho, & christie, 2011), the current study aimed to discern if there was a difference in acph between male and female faculty. 4. results the sample was drawn from two liberal arts universities, one on the west coast and one in the midwestern united states. results yielded 150 usable responses; 62 of the respondents identified as male (41.3%), 85 respondents identified as female (56.7%), and 3 respondents declined to specify (2%). years as an instructor as a correlate table 1 presents the results from asking faculty about the frequency of uncivil or bullying comments. respondents were asked to indicate how many years they have been working as a university level instructor. the results utilized correlation analysis using years as an instructor versus each of the survey items. while most items showed no significant relationships there were a number of items that did show a significant correlation with years as an instructor. table 1. rate of uncivil or harassing comments on student evaluations r significance made a comment about your appearance/body 0.2 0.033 contain other inappropriate comments 0.156 0.1 feeling anxiety before reading evaluations -0.177 0.058 seeking the social support of colleagues -0.168 0.073 feeling embarrassed to talk with colleagues -0.155 0.1 discuss/share with department members -0.251 0.007 the negative correlation with the last 4 items on the above list might give some hope to instructors, in that the some of these severe consequences are, in fact, mitigated with time on the job. sex/gender analysis the literature is replete with examples of gender bias in student evaluations. the current study reveals several examples of a marked difference in responses between males and females (see table 2). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 29 published by scholink inc. table 2. psychological consequences of negative comments gender mean sd made remarks about a disability that male 1.239 0.766 you might have * female 1.031 0.175 feeling anxiety before reading evaluations * male 2.72 1.51 female 3.36 1.47 trouble sleeping after reading evaluations * male 1.66 1.01 female 2.11 1.18 feeling depressed after reading comments** male 1.76 0.937 female 2.3 1.2 suffering from stress related illness * male 1.298 0.072 female 1.6 0.981 note. * p< .05 , **p < .01. out of the 14 items that measured acph, only one item reflected a difference between the genders. the results indicate a difference in relation to students making remarks about a disability the faculty member might have (p = .05). four out of the ten survey items relating to personal/psychological consequences of evaluations yielded statically significant results. the results show that women were statistically more likely to feel depressed after reading comments on student evaluations (p = .01). moreover, women were also more likely to feel anxiety before reading the evaluations, have difficulty sleeping after reading them, and from suffering from stress related illnesses (p = .05). 5. discussion and conclusion while the results from the current study failed to show evidence of acph in student evaluations, it did provide some interesting results. first, as lampman et al. (2009) found, years in rank was a significant predictor for uncivil comments on student evaluations. however, as mentioned, these aspects might be mitigated with more time and experience in the classroom. second, the results of the current study also support previous research that examined the psychological aspects of student evaluations. while the student comments did not explicitly elicit feelings of being bullied or harassed, evaluations of faculty still created negative psychological strain. most notable was feeling depressed after reading comments. more women than men experienced negative emotions associated with student evaluations. and third, the failure of this study to find overwhelming support of acph in student evaluations is a positive development showing that students are not using this platform to harass, belittle, and demean faculty. students are able to appropriately harness their emotions and provide general feedback on evaluations, instead of using them to singularly target a faculty member. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 30 published by scholink inc. the practice of using student evaluations of teaching (set) has been under attack in recent years because of the plethora of research that shows how ineffective and biased it is (beleche, fairris, & marks, 2012; braga, paccagnella, & pellizzari, 2014; burke et al., 2017; lawrence, 2018; uttl, white, & gonzalez, 2017; wagner, rieger, & voorvelt, 2016). yet little research discusses the psychological impacts evaluations have on faculty. it is problematic to continue a practice which causes depression and anxiety to faculty in general and women faculty in particular. limitations of the current study include a relatively small sample. while the study attempted to be more generalizable by utilizing a sample from two separate universities, the demographics of the sample were not diverse. additionally, qualitative feedback on the surveys revealed that acph is much more prevalent in the classroom, face to faceinteractions, and in emails, not anonymous evaluations. this is supported in desousa (2011), wildermuth and davis (2012), lampman (2012), lampman (2016). it was hypothesized that the anonymity of online student evaluations would allow students to hide their disdain behind a cloak of invisibility, but apparently students need no such shield. those who challenge, bully, and demean professors do so openly and without regard. more research should be directed at this problematic occurrence. and finally, future research should look at the still widely adopted practice of using set. universities should strive to promote emotional wellbeing of faculty, self care, and a safe learning environment for everyone, faculty and student alike. references bartos, a. e., & ives, s. (2019). more than “silly stories”: sexual harassment as academic training. geohumanities, 0(00), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2019.1611383 beleche, t., fairris, d., & marks, m. (2012). do course evaluations truly reflect student learning? evidence from an objectively graded post-test. economics of education review, 31(5), 709-719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.05.001 braga, m., paccagnella, m., & pellizzari, m. (2014). evaluating students’ evaluations of professors. economics of education review, 41, 71-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.04.002 burke, a. s., head-burgess, w., & siders, m. (2017). he’s smart and she’s nice: student perceptions of male and female faculty. international journal of gender and women’s studies, 5(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v5n1a1 carroll, l., & ellis, k. l. (1989). faculty attitudes towards sexual harrassment: survey results, survey process. initiatives, 52(3), 35-41. cassidy, w., faucher, c., & jackson, m. (2017). adversity in university: cyberbullying and its impacts on students, faculty and administrators. international journal of environmental research and public health, 14(8), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080888 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 31 published by scholink inc. chapell, m., casey, d., de la cruz, c., ferrell, j., forman, j., lipkin, r., … whittaker, s. (2004). bullying in college by students and teachers. adolescence, 29(153), 53-64. davis, s. d., amelink, c., hirt, j. b., & miyazaki, y. (2012). women’s educational opportunities: factors that influence their graduate school aspirations. naspa journal about women in higher education, 5(2), 141-165. https://doi.org/10.1515/njawhe-2012-1111 desouza, e. r. 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(2001). description and prescription: how gender stereotypes prevent women’s ascent up the organizational ladder. journal of social issues, 57(4), 657-674. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00234 heilman, m. e., & okimoto, t. g. (2007). why are women penalized for success at male tasks?: the implied communality deficit. journal of applied psychology, 92(1), 81-92. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.1.81 king, b. a. (2019). contrapower harassment: an unanticipated experience in academia. journal of political science education, 15(2), 264-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2018.1476254 lampman, c. (2012). women faculty at risk: u.s. professors report on their experiences with student incivility, bullying, aggression, and sexual attention no title. naspa journal about women in higher education, 5(2), 184-208. https://doi.org/10.1515/njawhe-2012-1108 lampman, c. (2014). taking action: gender differences in faculty responses to student incivility, bullying, sexual harassment and aggression. in k. de welde, & a. stepnick (eds.), disrupting the culture of silence: confronting gender inequality and making change in higher education. sterling, va. lampman, c., crew, e. c., lowery, s. d., & tompkins, k. (2016). women faculty distressed: descriptions and consequences of academic contrapower harassment. naspa journal about women in higher education, 9(2), 169-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/19407882.2016.1199385 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 32 published by scholink inc. lampman, c., phelps, a., bancroft, s., & beneke, m. (2009). contrapower harassment in academia: a survey of faculty experience with student incivility, bullying, and sexual attention. sex roles, 60(5-6), 331-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9560-x lawrence, j. w. (2018). student evaluations of teachers are not valid. american association of university professors. matchen, j., & desouza, e. (2000). the sexual harassment of faculty members by students. sex roles, 42(3-4), 295-306. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1007099408885 may, a., & tenzek, k. e. (2018). bullying in the academy: understanding the student bully and the targeted “stupid, fat, mother fucker” professor. teaching in higher education, 23(3), 275-290. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1379482 meires, j. (2018). workplace incivility: when students bully faculty. urologic nursing, 38(5), 251. https://doi.org/10.7257/1053-816x.2018.38.5.251 pieschl, s., porsch, t., kahl, t., & klockenbusch, r. (2013). relevant dimensions of cyberbullying—results from two experimental studies. journal of applied developmental psychology, 34(5), 241-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2013.04.002 slonje, r., smith, p. k., & frisén, a. (2012). processes of cyberbullying, and feelings of remorse by bullies: a pilot study. european journal of developmental psychology, 9(2), 244-259. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2011.643670 u.s. department of health and human services. (2019). stop bullying.gov. retrieved from https://www.stopbullying.gov/ uttl, b., white, c. a., & gonzalez, d. w. (2017). meta-analysis of faculty’s teaching effectiveness: student evaluation of teaching ratings and student learning are not related. studies in educational evaluation, 54, 22-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2016.08.007 wagner, n., rieger, m., & voorvelt, k. (2016). gender, ethnicity and teaching evaluations: evidence from mixed teaching teams. economics of education review, 54, 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.06.004 wildermuth, s., & davis, c. b. (2012). flaming the faculty: exploring root causes, consequences, and potential remdies to the porblem of instructor-focused uncivil online discourse in higher education. in l. a. wankel, & c. wankel (eds.), misbehavior online in higher education (first, pp. 379-405). bungley, uk: emerald group publishing unlimited. https://doi.org/10.1108/s2044-9968(2012)0000005020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 33 published by scholink inc. appendix appendix a: survey of faculty how many times in the past 3 academic years did you receive comments on your course evaluation that: • requested that you make your exams or assignments easier • contained inappropriate comments • questioned your credentials or qualifications to teach a course • made a hostile or threatening comment • made a derogatory comment concerning race, ethnicity, sex, or sexual orientation • communicated something intimidating (e.g., lawsuits or grievances) • accused you of racism, sexism, or discrimination • called you a name or insulted you • made remarks about a disability you might have • flirted with you • made a sexual advances • asked you out on a date • made a comment about your dress/attire • make a comment about your appearance/body personal/psychological consequences of student evaluation comments how many times did you experience:  feeling anxiety before reading evaluations  trouble sleeping after reading evaluation comments  felt depressed after reading comments  did not want to teach the class again after reading comments  suffered from stress-related illness (e.g., migraines or stomach problems)  needed medical treatment for stress-related illness as a result of the evaluations  reported the harassing comments to department chair, dean, or other administrator  sought the social support of colleagues  felt embarrassed to talk to colleagues about the incident  changed assignments or teaching based on fear of harassing comments microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p17 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 17 original paper the beliefs of teachers, students, and parents on the importance of learning second language at a young age özlem doğan1* 1 uludag university, bursa, turkey * özlem doğan, uludag university, bursa, turkey received: march 31, 2018 accepted: april 10, 2018 online published: april 23, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p17 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p17 abstract there are so many factors which affect the learners when learning second language. age, motivation of the learners, the ability to acquire language, cognitive development as the factors affect learning second language. when learners start at a young age the other factors are affected positively. the researcher aimed to search the importance of age when learning foreign language. she made a questionnaire with 52 volunteers; 26 of them are students at foreign language department in uludag university, 26 of them are parents. and she also interviewed with teachers. she carried out this study by collecting the qualitative and quantitative data. the research has shown that “age” is important factor when learning second language. person who learned second language at a young age has a lot of advantages in long term. the researcher chose this subject because she thought that learning second language at a young age is easier inasmuch as language acquisition is available. she wanted to learn thoughts of parents, students in foreign language departments, teachers. she revealed the thought of “the younger the better” by making interview with teachers and making a questionnaire with parents and students in foreign language departments. the researcher corroborate her theory by looking at these results. keywords age, language learning, young, children, second language 1. introduction second language acquisition is concerned with the study of the way in which an individual becomes able to use one or more language different from his first language. this process can take place in a natural setting or through formal classroom instruction, and, although the degree of proficiency that can be attained is a controversial topic, second language acquisition can be started at childhood or during www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 18 published by scholink inc. the adult age (krashen, 1982). indeed learners are affected by many factors while learning foreign language. a further instance of these are age, motivation of the learners, the ability to acquire language, and cognitive development. these factors have a relationship among them while the learners are learning foreign language. i think age is the most important thing amongst the other factors. because learner’s age affects the other factors. in one study, cenoz (2003) compared spanish/-basque l1 learners who had started efl instruction (english as a third language) at the ages of 4, 8 and 11. the youngest learners scored the highest in attitude and motivation. beyond cognitive enhancement and general academic success, “research has shown that foreign language study in the early elementary years … results in higher achievement test scores in reading and math” (stewart, 2005). with this article i try to show the importance of learning foreign language at a young age. firstly, i made a questionnaire with different age groups; with students who study at foreign language department, and with parents. and i conducted interviews with teachers. secondly, i corroborated my theory by looking at these results. finally, i reveal with this article that second language learning at a young age is important. 2. literature review age is contention issue that divides the scholars into two groups. some scholars believe in “the earlier the better”; on the other hand, some scholars believe the opposite. “one of the earliest concerns that researchers tackled was the idea that bilingualism confused children” (nicoladis, charbonnier, & popescu, 2016). nevertheless recent studies indicate that the best time for learning a foreign language is in the first three to four years of our life. “research has also shown that the earlier a child begins, the better a child can learn a second language and the more benefits he or she can reap from that knowledge” (jeffery, 2008). “one of the greatest feats of human development is learning language”, says lust (2016). it’s remarkable, she says, “how well equipped children are, beginning at birth, to accomplish the complex task of learning language” (lang, 2016). namely, people have started the learning since they were born. at a young age children can learn everything by listening, repeating the sounds; observing, exploring the environment and doing what they have seen thanks to their innate ability. so the earlier they begin learning language, the earlier they can learn. according to the bilingual edge by dr. king and dr. mackey (2007), “one of the most common misconceptions about early language learning is that it will result in language delay”. children begin speaking anywhere from 8 to 16 months, and, “there is no scientific evidence to show that hearing two, three, or more languages leads to delays or disorders in language acquisition” (king & mackey, 2007). “a second misconception is that instead of a larger vocabulary, brain space is taken up by the second language resulting in a smaller vocabulary. this issue may be raised by concerned parents who pay close attention to the second language and not necessarily the first language” (jeffery, 2008). in contrast, when we calculate the children’s vocabulary knowledge, known words in each languages, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 19 published by scholink inc. they know the same number of words or more than the children who don’t learn second language. the children learning foreign language try to correlate their first language to understand the second language easily. learning second language is confirmed the children’s vocabulary knowledge in their first language. “children can differentiate between two languages within the first weeks of life. learning another language actually enhances a child's overall verbal development” (kaparova & sabyrova, 2015). lenneberg (1967), claims that “there is a certain period in acquisition of a second language. in this period, which is identified critical period hypothesis in language acquisition, lenneberg theorizes that the acquisition of language is an innate process determined by biological factors which limit the critical period for acquisition of a language from roughly two years of age to puberty. lenneberg believes that after lateralization, which is a process by which the two sides of the brain develop specialized functions, the brain loses plasticity and lateralization of the language function is normally completed by puberty, making post-adolescent language acquisition difficult” (gömleksiz, 2001). in other words, children learn more easily because their brains are more flexible than adults’ brains. the children can learn second language naturally as their mother tongue. they have innate ability to acquire the rules of any languages. they have the ability to hear and reproduce new sounds. they differentiate the sounds of the first and second language owing to their speech muscles and ears. and also they can reproduce native-like sounds. these abilities disappear by adulthood. “when a child learns a second language, it not only activates the components of the brain that are responsible for verbal and written communication, but it also activates the areas of the brain that are directly responsible for reasoning, thinking, and numeric understanding. as a result, the child is capable of excelling in virtually every area of their academic careers” (shiflett, 2010). “children who learn a foreign language at a young age also exhibit better problem-solving skills, enhanced spatial relations, and heightened creativity” (benefits of learning language while young, february 23, 2015). namely; the children learning second language at early stage make progress their motivation at the same time. they are more enterprising, their perceptions are more flexible, their confidence is higher than the other children. their relationship between people is better, they can get into touch more easily, express themselves, by looking something from a different standpoint they can untie matter more easily. by means of these qualities they can be more successful in their life. they can gain better job opportunities in adulthood. “a child that takes the time to learn a second language when they are young can actually use these skills to improve their job prospects when they get older. globalization is making the world smaller and smaller” (steele, 2014). so the companies look for employees who can know foreign language. the other advantages of learning second language at a young age are mentioned by rehman. according to silke rehman (2010) in her book “make your child multilingual” she says that “bilingual children build bridges to new relationships because they have the capability: they can talk to diverse people, they build different sorts of relationships, and they can be the bridge between two kids www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 20 published by scholink inc. who can’t talk to each other, they can actually translate and help out” (cordova cordova, gonzalez menjivar, & martinez garmandez, 2010). “they are simultaneously learning the language and how to use it appropriately in different situations and with different people” (winskel, zhou, li, mei, & peart, 2016). specifically, the children who learn a second language communicate with other people more easily thanks to their self-esteem. 3. methodology elena nicoladis (in her book encyclopedia on early childhood development) says that the differences are that the children knowing second language achieve higher scores than the children knowing only their mother tongue on a number of tests of cognitive ability, including mental flexibility, non-verbal problem-solving tasks, understanding the conventional origin of names, distinguishing between semantic similarity and phonetic similarity and capacity to judge the grammaticality of sentences. actually, at young age, people can learn easily, they can solve problems easily, associating with their mother-tongue they can understand words easily, remember what they listen/hear thanks to their brains flexibility. so; if the children learn second language at a young age, they will be more successful than the other children who know only mother tongue. in this article the researcher collected both qualitative (interview, 3 open-ended questions in questionnaire) and quantitative data (questionnaire). 3.1 participants participants were 52 turkish people; 26 of them who have been studying at foreign language department, uludag university, bursa, turkey; 26 of them who are parents. the participants are in different age groups. the participants were randomly selected from among the volunteers. the researcher interviewed with 4 teachers who work at uludag university in elt department to support her study. 3.2 materials questionnaire which includes 20 multiple-choice items and 3 open-ended questions (look at the appendix) that was prepared by the researcher was administered to all participants. each item provided an option for “strongly agree”, “agree”, “no opinion”, “disagree”, “strongly disagree” requesting utterances. participants chose the best relevant to them and they shared their thoughts. in this study, the researcher used 10 sources for this article which is related to the subject. and one of them was encyclopaedia on early child development, 4 of them were websites, the other 5sources were articles. english sources were used. also, she made interview with teachers. the interview included 5 open-ended questions which are related the effects of age when learning second language. moreover, they answered these questions based on their experience. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 21 published by scholink inc. 3.3 procedures prior to the implementation of procedures, it had been determined which participants would be included. the participants were selected from different age groups; parents and students at foreign language departments. this study was prepared by using l1 for parents and it was prepared by using l2 in foreign language department. the questionnaire was carried out in students’ free time when they did not have a lesson. before the lesson and after the lesson, the survey was implemented. also the questionnaire was carried out in parents’ free time. the participants were 52 people; 26 of them have been studying in uludag university foreign language departments who were volunteers and were from different grades; 26 of them are parents who were volunteers. and the survey took less than ten minutes in total for each person. in addition, the study was completed in three days. moreover, researcher didn’t lead and affect the parents and learners who were volunteer participants. the participants were informed that the investigation was a part of a research, additionally, that all private information would be protected to make them feel relaxed. so, volunteer participants had opportunities for expressing their true opinion about the questions. also, they felt comfortable while doing the questionnaire. before they didn’t do the questionnaire, they had been informed about what they would do in that study. furthermore, the researcher made interviews with teachers besides the questionnaire. the researcher performed the interviews in the same day to teachers who are successful in their own branches. the researcher’s aim was exposing the importance of age when learning second language. furthermore, she aimed to reveal that children who learn a second language at a young age can learn more easily, and they are more successful in various fields. the researcher produced this article by regarding research questions and she prepared the questionnaire by looking at these questions which they would find the answers in the article. the main purpose of the study was to answer the following questions: what is the importance of age when learning second language? what are the contributions of learning second language at a young age? 3.4 analyses the researcher made a questionnaire to find out the learners’ thoughts at foreign language departments and the thoughts of parents. and there were alternatives such as strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, strongly disagree. moreover, because the learners and parents could express their opinions clearly and the researcher could reach her purpose there were three open-ended questions which the learners and parents could express liberally whatever they wanted to say. furthermore, she would get rational result to be able to develop her article and she would corroborate her theory by looking at these results. the researcher preferred the questionnaire as a data tool since she thought that the learners at foreign language departments and parents owing to their experiences could answer the questions. thanks to volunteer participants, the researcher could interpret the most common shared thoughts. also, the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 22 published by scholink inc. researcher interviewed with teachers to gain more absolute result for her study. the researcher began to analyse the questionnaire. the questionnaire is implemented 52 volunteers. she analyse the questionnaires by looking at each question which was answered by the volunteers. and according to their answers, she got percentage for each questions. she made these for quantitative results. she analysed the interview questions and 3 open-ended questions in questionnaire. for interview; she listened each record, analysed and translated in english. for open-ended questions; she read each question which was answered by participants. she translated the answers which were answered by parents into english. she made these for qualitative results. 4. results and discussion in the quantitative section, the researcher’s concentrated on two main issues to determine: 1) the opinions about importance of age when learning second language according to students in foreign language department (table 1); 2) the opinions about importance of age when learning second language according to parents (table 2). in the qualitative section, on the other hand, the researcher asked three open-ended questions that were parallel with the quantitative focus. another qualitative section is interview with teachers which was performed. the interview data provided parallel results with the questionnaire findings. the qualitative and quantitative analyses and findings are provided in the following table. table 1. in this table, these questions were implemented to students at foreign language department strongly agree agree no opinion disagree strongly disagree total responses age is an important criterion when learning a second language. %69.23 (18) %30.76 (8) %100 (26) the children who know second language are unsociable. %23 (6) %77 (20) %100 (26) second language acquisition should be at a young age. %57.69 (15) %34.61 (9) %7.69 (2) %100 (26) age which is one of the factors of learning foreign language affects the other factors. %57.69 (15) %42.30 (11) %100 (26) as mentioned that the children who know second language develop their positive attitude in social domain. %61.53 (16) %38.46 (10) %100 (26) learning second language in adulthood is %15.38 %34.61 %50 %100 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 23 published by scholink inc. easier. (4) (9) (13) (26) as mentioned that the children who know second language their attitudes don’t change (this is a rather vague question). %11.53 (3) %42.30 (11) %46 (12) %100 (26) if children learn second language at a young age, they can learn it like mother tongue. %46.15 (12) %26.92 (7) %7.69 (2) %15.38 (4) %3.84 (1) %100 (26) there are no differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue. %3.84 (1) %7.69 (2) %23 (6) %65.38 (17) %100 (26) as if children learn second language at a young age, they can’t learn it like mother tongue. %19.23 (5) %7.69 (2) %23 (6) %50 (13) %100 (26) learning second language at a young age is easier. %76.92 (20) %23 (6) %100 (26) while the children learn second language, development of their first language slow down. %3.84 (1) %3.84 (1) %26.92 (7) %65.38 (17) %100 (26) person learning foreign language at a young age has advantages. %80.76 (21) %19.23 (5) %100 (26) thanks to their self-esteem the children who know second language are more active. %57.69 (15) %30.76 (8) %11.53 (3) %100 (26) age is not important criterion when learning second language. %3.84 (1) %46 (12) %50 (13) %100 (26) second language acquisition should be at an old age. %11.53 (3) %38.46 (10) %50 (13) %100 (26) learning foreign language at a young age has positive effects in long term. %76.92 (20) %23 (6) %100 (26) learning foreign language at a young age has no effect in long term. %46 (12) %53.84 (14) %100 (26) person learning foreign language at a young age has disadvantages. %19.23 (5) %80.76 (21) %100 (26) there are differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue. 69.23 (18) %30.76 (8) %100 (26) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 24 published by scholink inc. table 2. in this table, these questions were implemented to parents kesinlikle katılıyorum katılıyorum kararsızım katılmıyorum kesinlikle katılmıyorum toplam ikincidilögrenirkenyaşönemlibirkrit erdir. %53.84 (14) %34.61 (9) %11.53 (3) %100 (26) erkenyaştayabancıdilöğrenimininuz unvadedebiretkisiyoktur. %3.84 (1) %7.69 (2) %38.46 (10) %50 (13) %100 (26) i̇kincidilöğrenimierkenyaştaolmalıd ır. %50 (13) %42.30 (11) %7.69 (2) %100 (26) yabancıdilöğreniminietkileyenfaktö rleriçindeolan “yaş” diğerfaktörlerietkiler. %38.46 (10) %26.92 (7) %23 (6) %11.53 (3) %100 (26) i̇kidilbilençocuklarınsosyalalandaki davranışlarındaolumluyöndegelişm elersözkonusudur. %61.53 (16) %34.61 (9) %3.84 (1) %100 (26) i̇kincidilöğrenimigeçyaştaolmalıdır. %11.53 (3) %42.30 (11) %46 (12) %100 (26) erkenyaştaikinciyabancıdilibilenço cuklasadeceanadilinibilençocukaras ındafarklılıkyoktur. %3.84 (1) %11.53 (3) %42.30 (11) %42.30 (11) %100 (26) i̇kidilbilençocuklarınsosyalalandaki davranışalarındagelişmesözkonusud eğildir. %7.69 (2) %7.69 (2) %46 (12) %38.46 (10) %100 (26) çocuklarikincibirdilöğrenirkenanad ilgelişimindebir problem yaşanmaz. 30.76 (8) %57.69 (15) %3.84 (1) %7.69 (2) %100 (26) erkenyaştaöğrenilenikincidiliçocukl aranadiligibiöğrenebilirler. %38.46 (10) %50 (13) %11.53 (3) %100 (26) çocuklarınerkenyaştaikincidilöğren imidahakolaydır. %53.84 (14) %42.30 (11) %3.84 (1) %100 (26) i̇kinciyabancıdilöğrenimierkenyaşta olsa da kişianadiligibiöğrenemez. %19.23 (5) %42.30 (11) %38.46 (10) %100 (26) erkenyaştaikincibirdilöğrenmenina vantajlarıvardır. %57.69 (15) %42.30 (11) %100 (26) i̇kidilbilenbirçocukkendinedahaçok güvendiğindendahaaktiftir. %53.84 (14) %42.30 (11) %3.84 (1) %100 (26) i̇kincibirdilöğrenimindeyaşönemlibi %3.84 %11.53 %38.46 %46 %100 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 25 published by scholink inc. rfaktördeğildir. (1) (3) (10) (12) (26) erkenyaştaikinciyabancıdilibilenço cuklasadeceanadilinibilençocukaras ındafarklılıklarvardır. %34.61 (9) %42.30 (11) %23 (6) %100 (26) çocuklarikincibirdilöğrenirkenanad ilgelişimiyavaşlar. %3.84 (1) %7.69 (2) %42.30 (11) %46 (12) %100 (26) erkenyaştaöğrenilenyabancıdilinuz unvadedeolumluyöndeetkilerivardı. %42.30 (11) %50 (13) %3.84 (1) %3.84 (1) %100 (26) yetişkinlerinikincidilöğrenimidaha kolaydır. %3.84 (1) %15.38 (4) %38.46 (10) %42.30 (11) %100 (26) erkenyaştaikincibirdilöğrenmenind ezavantajlarıvardır. %42.30 (11) %57.69 (15) %100 (26) quantitative results (questionnaire data) the researcher obtained the results from questionnaires (table 1 and table 2). in table 1, the researcher found out that the students at foreign language department thought that age is important criterion when learning second language. almost all of them agreed that second language acquisition should be at a young age. at a young age children learn easily thanks to freshness of their mind and flexibility of their brains. and all of them agreed that learning second language at a young age is easier. no one said to opposite. all of them agreed that “person learning foreign language at a young age is at an advantage”. they differentiate the sounds of the first and second language owing to their speech muscles and ears, they can reproduce native like sounds; 73% of students thought that if they learn second language at young age, they can learn it like mother tongue 7.69% of students had no opinion for this questions; but 19.23% of students thought the opposite. all of them said that the children who know second language develop their positive attitude in social domain, also they thought that they are more sociable. 88.46% of students said that “thanks to their self-esteem the children who know second language are more active”, 11.53% of students had no opinion about this questions; but anyone didn’t think the opposite. and all of them thought that “learning foreign language at a young age has positive effects in long term”. no one said the opposite. in table 2, the researcher found that 96.15% of parents thinking age is important criterion when learning second language. only 3.84% of parents thought the opposite. also 92.30% of parents thought that second language acquisition should be at a young age; 7.69% of parents had no opinion about this question but anyone did not say opposite. they are sense that children can learn more easily at a young age. also all of the parents thought that “person learning foreign language at a young age has advantages”. no one thought the opposite. 88.46% of parents thought that if they learn second language www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 26 published by scholink inc. at young age, they can learn it like mother tongue. except 96.15% of parents thought that the children who know second language develop their positive attitude in social domain. and except 96.15% of parents said that “thanks to their self-esteem the children who know second language are more active”, and 92.30% of parents thought that “learning foreign language at a young age has positive effects in long term”. overall they are aware of importance of age when learning second language at a young age and also they sense to know advantages of learning foreign language in early childhood. qualitative results (interview data and open-ended questions) thanks to the interview, the researcher gained qualified results. the researcher interviewed with 4 teachers. she asked 5 questions. these questions are that: when did you start learning second language? do you think this is advantage or disadvantage? why? how old do you think should start the learning second language? why? do you think learning second language at a young age is important? what are the advantages of learning second language at a young age? do you think that there are differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue? they started to learn second language at 4th grade when they were 9-10. they think that person should start to learn second language as early as possible but systematically. they think learning second language at young age is important. because the more early they begin learning language, the more permanent they learn. they who know second language use more of their brains than the other children who know only their mother tongue. learning a second language at a young age encourages flexible thinking and communication skills, helping children consider issues from more than one perspective. knowing second language not only activates the responsible for verbal, communication areas of brain, but it also activates reasoning, thinking, understanding areas of brain. so, the children knowing second language are capable of excelling in virtually every area of their academic careers. the researcher also asked 3 open-ended questions to volunteer participants. these are that: how old do you think one should start learning a second language? why? learning second language should start at age 3-4. do you agree with this opinion? why/why not? what are the differences between learning second language at a young age and learning second language in adulthood? according to participants almost all of them said that age affects language learning and learning second language should start at young age (at the age of 3 to 5). because language acquisition is still available for children in these age. so they can memorize all structure, vocabularies easily like in their mother language. they remember the things with games more easily. the cognitive skills can be activated in these ages. their development is appropriate for learning. so they can start at age 3-4. at young age people can learn more easily and remember what they hear/listen. they have no fear to make mistakes. they have memory to learn new words, their pronunciation ability is higher, but in adulthood that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 27 published by scholink inc. process get harder. fresh minds are always better than busy, old minds. but adults should try more to learn. because of the fact that they should focus on other fields at the same time like family or some problems. 5. conclusion in conclusion, results of the data analyses showed that the subjects’ “age” is an important factor when learning second language. according to dr. patricia kuhl, what’s going on in a baby’s brain is nothing short of rocket science: “by three, a little child’s brain is actually twice as active as an adult brain”. children learn second language more easily at young age. they can discriminate the sounds of languages; also they can reproduce native-like sounds. they can learn like mother tongue. it is an obvious fact that the more years committed to learning a language and the more use of it made, the greater the proficiency that will be achieved. learning second language in early age has so many advantages in long term. the cognitive benefits of learning a language have a direct impact on a child’s academic achievement. compared to those without an additional language, the children learning second language at a young age have improved reading, writing, and math skills, and they generally score higher on standardized tests. increased cognitive abilities also help children develop their communication skills. while talking with people, they try to understand more than one way which supports children’s understanding of other people’s perspectives. also—flora lewis said that “learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things”. their relationship between people is better, they can express themselves more easily, by looking something from a different standpoint they can untie matter more easily. thanks to these qualities they can be more successful in their life. they can gain better job opportunities in adulthood. knowing second or more languages opens up the door to a variety of job opportunities not available to monolingual job candidates. these opportunities exist in marketing, transportation, administration, sales, retail, banking, education, law, communication, public relations, tourism, government and etc. also the people knowing second language are more productive, earn higher salary. as lynn jeffery said “children have nothing to lose and much to gain by learning a foreign language”. references benefits of learning language while young. (2015). retrieved from http://www.planethanchinese.com/benefits-of-learning-language-while-young/ córdova córdova, w. a., gonzález menjívar, y. l., garmendez, m., & miguel, e. (2010). advantages and disadvantages that kids have at the time they are learning english as a foreign language to become bilingual (doctoral dissertation, universidad de el salvador). iso 690. gömleksiz, m. n. (2001). the effects of age and motivation factors on second language acquisition. firat university journal of social science, 11(2), 217-224. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 28 published by scholink inc. jeffery. (2008). early language learning research white paper report. retrieved from http://www.aatg.org/resource/resmgr/promoting_german/early_language_learning_rese.doc kaparova, a. (2016). why is it important to teach english at an early age? republic of kazakhstan. lang. (2016). learning a second language is good childhood mind medicine, studies find. retrieved from https://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/05/learning-second-language-good-childhood-mind-m edicin nicoladis, e., charbonnier, m., & popescu, a. (2006). second language/bilingualism at an early age with emphasis on its impact on early socio-cognitive and socio-emotional development. encyclopedia on early childhood development. shiflett. (2010). why kids get ahead learning a second language? retrieved from http://education.more4kids.info/253/kids-learning-a-second-language/ steele. (2014). why children should be learning a second language? retrieved from http://www.mastersintesol.net/resources/second-language-learning-benefits-a-guide-children winskel, h., zhou, j., li, z., mei, g. x., peart, e., & booth, k. (2016). challenges of foreign language learning in early childhood. appendixes interview questions when did you start learning second language? do you think this is advantage or disadvantage? why? do you think learning second language at a young age is important? how old do you think should start the learning second language? why? do you think that there are differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue? what are the advantages of learning second language at a young age? appendix a. questionnaire strongly agree agree no opinion disagree strongly disagree age is important criterion when learning second language. the children who know second language are unsociable. second language acquisition should be at a young age. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 29 published by scholink inc. age which is one of the factors of learning foreign language affects the other factors. as mentioned that the children who know second language develop their positive attitude in social domain. learning second language in adulthood is easier. as mentioned that the children who know second language their attitudes don’t change. if children learn second language at a young age, they can learn it like mother tongue. there are no differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue. as if children learn second language at a young age, they can’t learn it like mother tongue. learning second language at a young age is easier. while the children learn second language, development of their first language slow down. person learning foreign language at a young age has advantages. thanks to their self-esteem the children who know second language are more active. age is not important criterion when learning second language. second language acquisition should be at an old age. learning foreign language at a young age has positive effects in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 30 published by scholink inc. long term. learning foreign language at a young age has no effect in long term. person learning foreign language at a young age has disadvantages. there are differences between the children who know second language and know only their mother tongue. how old do you think should start the learning second language? why? learning second language should start at age 3-4. do you agree this opinion? why/why not? what are the differences between learning second language at a young age and learning second language in adulthood? appendix b. anket kesinliklek atılıyorum katılıyorum kararsızım katılmıyorum kesinliklekatıl mıyorum ikincidilögrenirkenyaşönemlibirkriterdir. erkenyaştayabancıdilöğrenimininuzunva dedebiretkisiyoktur. i̇kincidilöğrenimierkenyaştaolmalıdır. yabancıdilöğreniminietkileyenfaktörleri çindeolan “yaş” diğerfaktörlerietkiler. i̇kidilbilençocuklarınsosyalalandakidavr anışlarındaolumluyöndegelişmelersözko nusudur. i̇kincidilöğrenimigeçyaştaolmalıdır. erkenyaştaikinciyabancıdilibilençocukla sadeceanadilinibilençocukarasındafarklıl ıkyoktur. i̇kidilbilençocuklarınsosyalalandakidavr anışalarındagelişmesözkonusudeğildir. çocuklarikincibirdilöğrenirkenanadilgeli şimindebir problem yaşanmaz. erkenyaştaöğrenilenikincidiliçocuklaran www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 31 published by scholink inc. adiligibiöğrenebilirler. çocuklarınerkenyaştaikincidilöğrenimid ahakolaydır. i̇kinciyabancıdilöğrenimierkenyaştaolsa da kişianadiligibiöğrenemez. erkenyaştaikincibirdilöğrenmeninavanta jlarıvardır. i̇kidilbilenbirçocukkendinedahaçokgüve ndiğindendahaaktiftir. i̇kincibirdilöğrenimindeyaşönemlibirfakt ördeğildir. erkenyaştaikinciyabancıdilibilençocukla sadeceanadilinibilençocukarasındafarklıl ıklarvardır. çocuklarikincibirdilöğrenirkenanadilgeli şimiyavaşlar. erkenyaştaöğrenilenyabancıdilinuzunva dedeolumluyöndeetkilerivardır. yetişkinlerinikincidilöğrenimidahakolay dır. erkenyaştaikincibirdilöğrenmenindezava ntajlarıvardır. sizceikincidilöğrenmeyekaçyaşındabaşlanmalıdır? neden? i̇kincidilöğrenmeye 3-4 yaşlarındabaşlanmalıdır. budüşünceyekatılıyormusunuz? neden? erkenyaştaikincidilöğrenenileyetişkinkenöğrenenarasındakifarklılıklarnelerdir? microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p59 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 59 original paper research on ecological development of foreign language journals—based on foreign language teaching and research zhao shuo1,2* & wang siyu2 1 school of international studies, communication university of china, beijing, china 2 school of foreign studies, northwestern polytechnical university, xi’an, china * zhao shuo, school of international studies, communication university of china, beijing, china; school of foreign studies, northwestern polytechnical university, xi’an, china received: march 6, 2020 accepted: march 23, 2020 online published: april 28, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p59 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p59 abstract a foreign language journal is an ecosystem because each foreign language journal has different columns. this paper takes foreign language teaching and research as an example to analyze the ecological development of foreign language journals and give some suggestions on the future development of foreign language journals. keywords ecological development, foreign language, journals 1. introduction ecology is a branch of biology that studies the interactions among organisms and their biophysical environment, which includes both biotic and a biotic components. topics of interest include the biodiversity, distribution, biomass, and populations of organisms, as well as cooperation and competition within and between species. ecosystems are dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and non-living components of their environment. the ecosystem of foreign language is a system related to economic, cultural and every aspects of society. a foreign language journal is an ecosystem because each foreign language journal has different columns such as applied linguistics, translation studies, literature, cross-cultural communication. various columns constitute the ecosystem of a foreign language journal. the functions of journals can be concluded as follows. firstly, journals of foreign languages should be a stage for teachers and researchers to exchange the latest research fruits. secondly, they need to contribute to teacher education and teaching. thirdly, they are supposed to meet the needs of foreign language enthusiasts and the public. last but www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 60 published by scholink inc. not least, they are important resources for lifelong education. for example, the column of literature is not only a platform for researchers to exchange new thoughts but also a resource for literature enthusiasts to learn more about literature. foreign language teaching and research is a chinese journal of foreign language teaching and research press which is attached to beijing foreign studies university, formerly known as western languages. it is the first academic journal in foreign languages and was founded on june 1957 and becomes one of the best journals in foreign languages and literature. foreign language teaching and research is in line with international academic frontiers. the review system and editorial procedure are strictly in accordance with international conventions. such famous chinese scholars as professor wang zuoliang and professor xu guozhang, ever served as editorial reviewer of the journal. the journal has columns of linguistics, foreign language education, translation studies, language studies and foreign literature studies, covering all major aspects of foreign language disciplines. among them, linguistics and foreign language education are the brands and strengths of this journal. among these columns, linguistics research is original research and commentary on various fields of linguistics and various marginal disciplines. language research is a separate study of language and culture that has a certain universal significance and a comparative study with chinese language and culture. foreign language education is mainly about research, experiments and investigation reports on theories and methods of second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. translation studies is about research on translation history, translation theories and methods. foreign literature studies concludes analysis and commentary on foreign literary works and writers’ thoughts. and book review mainly publishes book reviews, notes, reports, interviews, etc. this paper will take foreign language teaching and research as an example to analyze the ecological development of foreign language journals and give some suggestions on the future development of foreign language journals. 2. the ecological development of foreign language teaching and research the journal of foreign language teaching and research has linguistics, foreign language education, translation studies, language studies and foreign literature studies, covering all major aspects of foreign language disciplines. this paper searches all the articles published in the journal in the past five years, and collects articles of different disciplines in the past five years according to keywords. in terms of publishing quantity, papers in linguistics and language teaching research account for a large proportion. and research on literature and translation studies often overlaps with linguistics and language teaching. in the column of linguistics, there are both research on specific linguistic problem and reviews of the latest foreign linguistic works, which is representative. however, some studies only stay at the theoretical level and cannot be applied in real life to generate value. the journal may select some more practical papers. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 61 published by scholink inc. in the column of foreign language education, there are both analysis and discussion on the existing language education topics and discussions on language education policies, as well as some specific topics in the language education process. they are influential on china language education. however, some suggestions are too broad to perceive and lack of operability. therefore practical enlightenment of relevant papers for foreign language education will be focused in chinese education. in the column of translation studies, a few articles on translation studies have been published, and most of these articles on translation studies are combined with other disciplines like linguistics and literature, which represents the latest research direction in translation. there are few articles on the comprehensive development of translation theory and translation practice. therefore, the journal will reveal and present more translation theory as well as practice if it’s possible. as for the column of foreign literature studies, the number of papers published on this journal is also authoritative and classical. moreover, the literary works analyzed in the paper are representative but limited. it may select papers on more representative literary works that have profound meanings for today’s society. 3. conclusion people live in a big ecological environment of international development, cross-cultural communication and multi-language development. thus different foreign language journals should give full play to their educational function, teacher education function, and talent training function. this paper adopts the journal of foreign language teaching and research as an example to analyze the ecological development of foreign language journals. articles of different disciplines published in the past five years are collected. papers on linguistics, foreign language education, translation studies and foreign literature studies have advantages and weaknesses. the articles collected by the journal are mainly focused on linguistics and language teaching. and the interactions among these disciplines are well matched as well. however, there are also some shortcomings, that is, some of the articles are lack of practicality and operability. since a foreign language journal is a complete ecosystem the setting of different columns should serve for the whole ecological environment. it is meaningful that the journal will balance different research area in language teaching and research to keep its academic guidance in talents cultivation. acknowledgement 1) the research is supported by higher education research fund of npu (skjjz2019003); 2) the research is supported by the innovative team project of fundamental research fund for the central universities of china (3102019wgytd03). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 62 published by scholink inc. references foreign language teaching and research press. (2020). journal introduction. journal of foreign language teaching and research. retrieved from http://www.fltr.ac.cn/cn/column/column1.shtml wikipedia. (2019). ecology. the free encyclopedia. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 42 original paper research-informed and evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement in amateur/grassroots football: strategic educational inquiry for coach leaders/administrators harry t. hubball 1* & jorge díaz-cidoncha garcía 2 1 faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada 2 fédération internationale de football association (fifa), zurich, switzerland * corresponding author: harry t. hubball, harry.hubball@ubc.ca received: november 3, 2020 accepted: november 16, 2020 online published: november 22, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p42 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p42 abstract coach leaders/administrators in diverse amateur and grassroots football contexts are increasingly accountable for sustaining strategic, state-of-the-art, evidence-based, effective, and efficient programs, initiatives, and services. however, coach leaders/administrators within these organizational settings face significant challenges (e.g., insufficient organizational support and research expertise) in enacting research-informed and evidence-based practices. strategic educational inquiry (sei) is a flexible and rigorous approach to practitioner research and is particularly useful for coach leaders/administrators to gather evidence for quality assurance and enhancement purposes. this paper critically examines whether and how sei is applied in diverse amateur/grassroots football coaching contexts. drawing on case study research using multiple case design, preliminary findings from this study indicate that sei situates specific amateur/grassroots coaching programs and initiatives within the relevant research and professional literature; it focuses sei on organization-specific priority research objectives, ethical inquiry, and appropriately aligned research methodology; and involves systematic data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of best practices. critical organization-specific supports to facilitate implementation of sei in diverse amateur/grassroots football contexts include: strategic coach education and skills training (e.g., access to state-of-the-art customized technology-enabled professional development experiences and expert mentoring support). keywords coach education, strategic educational inquiry, evidence-based practice, quality assurance and enhancement, coach leaders/administrators www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 43 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction amateur/grassroots football organizations and coach leaders/administrators around the world are increasingly under scrutiny and required to account for the sustained quality, impact, efficiency, and/or ongoing improvements to their coaching programs, initiatives, or services (cies sports intelligence, 2020; fifa, 2020a & 2020b; hubball & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2020). drawing on twenty years of extensive research and coaching experience in diverse amateur/grassroots football contexts, this paper critically examines whether and how strategic educational inquiry (sei) is applied for quality assurance and enhancement purposes in local and international amateur/grassroots 55-65+ football coaching settings. sei is ideally suited for coach leaders/administrators in amateur/grassroots football since it is a flexible and rigorous approach to practitioner research which is customized to the unique needs and circumstances of complex football organizations in order to provide relevant evidence (e.g., to sustain state-of-the-art coaching innovations, improvements and/or high impact program outcomes) for quality enhancement and quality assurance processes. while notions of quality assurance and enhancement are not new in these settings (taylor & groom, 2016), in practice, scant attention is paid to cutting-edge research on program offerings or toward systematic, rigorous, evidence-based practice. typically, coach leaders/administrators face significant structural barriers, including limited resources and a lack of relevant research expertise to conduct strategic, effective, and efficient quality enhancement and quality assurance processes. this paper provides a theoretical framework and critically examines whether and how sei is applied for quality assurance and enhancement practices in diverse amateur/grassroots football coaching contexts. readers are invited to consider the following questions:  to what extent does research-informed and evidence-based practice shape the development of state-of-the-art football coaching programs/initiatives in your coaching context?  how effective is an existing coaching program/football initiative in your coaching/organizational context? what key improvements are required? how and when will you know if this is achieved? what is the evidence of impact?  what sort of challenges do you face in order to conduct strategic educational inquiry for quality assurance and enhancement of coaching programs/football initiatives in your organizational context?  what organizational supports are required to support strategic educational inquiry for quality assurance and enhancement of coaching programs/football initiatives in your coaching context? 1.1 theoretical underpinnings: strategic educational inquiry (sei) for coach leaders/administrators strategic educational inquiry (sei) is a flexible, systematic, and rigorous approach to practitioner research, and is particularly useful for coach leaders/administrators with limited resources in complex amateur/grassroots football settings. essentially, sei draws upon an eclectic range of research methodologies (depending on the nature of organization-specific research objectives) to provide relevant evidence-based practice for quality assurance and enhancement purposes (i.e., to sustain state-of-the-art www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 44 published by scholink inc. coaching program innovations, improvements, and/or high impact program outcomes). with adequate organizational support, sei can foster an organizational culture for cutting-edge research and coaching excellence, and can help amateur/grassroots football organizations to become better known within and beyond the communities they serve (allison, 2016; cies sports intelligence, 2020; hubball, reddy, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). diverse perspectives of sei are shaped by context-specific frameworks (each with inherent limitations), including ontological (e.g., constructivist, post-positivist, pragmatist, and critical world view perspectives), epistemological (i.e., theoretical frameworks for generating knowledge, how we know what we know), and ethical (i.e., informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, conflict of interest) considerations (webb, hubball, clarke, & ellis, 2020). in practice, perspectives of sei situate the quality of specific amateur/grassroots coaching programs/initiatives within an organizational needs assessment, relevant research literature, and related coaching communities of practice. sei also focuses on organization-specific research objective priorities, ethical inquiry, and appropriate alignment of the research objectives and methodology; and sei involves systematic, rigorous data collection methods and analysis, and dissemination of best practices (fifa, 2020a; glassick, huber, & maeroff, 1997; green, 2008; hutchings, 2002). moreover, sei is a cyclical and iterative process; thus, it is advisable to consider “dissemination of best practice possibilities” during the initial needs assessment phase when identifying organizational-specific research objective priorities. these research objective priorities vary from place to place, and are commensurate with the needs and circumstances of the particular setting. a starting point for identifying priority sei objectives and formulating preliminary sei questions emerge from coach leaders/administrators problematizing their coaching context. preliminary sei questions typically focus on “what is the effectiveness or impact of „x‟?”, “what are the strengths and further developments of „x‟?”, “what improvements can be made to „x‟ and can these improvements be made with limited resources?”, “why is „x‟ happening?”. thus, preliminary sei questions point to the central intent of conducting sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes, as well as the sorts of critical insights sought about specific coaching programs/initiatives (hubball & reddy, 2015). by considering these issues, coach leaders/administrators are also challenged to consider broader and inter-connected factors (e.g., theory-practice integration and process-outcome relationships) related to different phases (i.e., context, process, outcomes, or longer-term impact) of their coaching programs/initiatives. the framework in figure 1 assists coach leaders/administrators to consider, prioritize, and formulate sei questions within their particular setting. figure 1 takes into account complex amateur/grassroots football contexts and reflects a wide range of potential time-phased sei questions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 45 published by scholink inc. figure 1. a heuristic model for investigating potential sei questions sei context questions. these questions focus on critical structures that shape coaching programs/initiatives. for example, priority sei questions might include: to what extent do the scale and scope of amateur/grassroots program offerings reflect the organization‟s strategic vision? to what extent do program offerings/facilities meet the needs and circumstances of their stakeholders? to what extent do program offerings reflect effective cost-benefit analysis? to what extent is quality assurance and enhancement integral to program practices? what needs further development, why, and how? sei process questions. these priority sei questions might be formative in nature and focus on periodic assessments of issues of importance that arise during coaching programs/initiatives. for example, what are effective coaching methods in this program? to what extent are quality competition/game formats provided for participants? what is the quality of the participants‟ experience? what needs to be further developed, why, and how? sei outcome questions. these priority sei questions might be summative in nature and focus on issues of importance that occur as a result of completion of a coaching program/initiative. for example, what were the intended and unintended outcomes from a specific program/initiative? to what extent do program processes and outcomes reflect the organizational context? how do participants effectively demonstrate program outcomes on completion of a program? what needs further development, why, and how? sei long-term impact questions. these priority sei questions might focus on issues of importance that arise as a result of the longer term impact of coaching programs/initiatives over months or years. for example, to what extent do participants sustain long term active involvement with the organization‟s programs? to what extent are participants‟ perceptions of successful long-term program outcomes www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 46 published by scholink inc. integrated within current program processes? what is the long-term impact of specific program processes and outcomes? what needs further development, why, and how? epistemological considerations (i.e., the theoretical frameworks for generating knowledge and how we know what we know) regarding specific sei methodologies (e.g., action research, appreciative inquiry, case study research, ethnographic inquiry, phenomenological inquiry, or self-study research) are aligned with the nature and foci of the organization-specific research objective priorities (bullough & pinnegar, 2001; cockell & mcarthur-blair, 2012; coe, waring, hedges, & arthur, 2017; putman & rock, 2017; webb & welsh, 2019; yin, 2018). building on an appropriately aligned methodology, data sources for systematic, rigorous quality assurance and enhancement sei can include qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods data analysis. for example, qualitative data sources might include relevant documents (e.g., organizational strategic visioning documents including budgets and resources; historical program, team, and player development reports; coaching field notes and performance archives; organizational meeting minutes; plans for facilities and competitive game structures; organizational website information; media reports; and research outcomes); focus group interviews with club officials, coach leaders, players, and/or support staff (either face-to-face or via online video conference platforms); club video recordings and vignettes; and feedback surveys of key stakeholders. in contrast, quantitative data sources for sei might include rating scale or likert-type surveys; numeric records of participation, attendance, and organizational performance outcomes; strategic staffing, budget projections, and related accounting variables; or physiological measures related to player development such as aerobic capacity, anaerobic threshold, heart rate recovery, step counts, % body fat, and performance analysis measures (e.g., individual technique, acceleration, and distance travelled). qualitative data sources can be analyzed using a range of methods (e.g., content analysis, codification, thematic analysis, interpretive analysis, pattern recognition, constant comparative method, or categorization) to establish major themes and data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions (cresswell & poth, 2017; saladana & omasta, 2017). this may be done manually or with the use of software such as nvivo™. in contrast, quantitative data sources can be subjected to the appropriate statistical analysis to detect any differences or correlations within and across variables. the use of iterative and multiple data sources, and triangulation between two or more qualitative and/or quantitative data sources, establishes the trustworthiness and validation of sei findings (coe et al., 2017). as with many forms of inquiry, we argue that sei in amateur/grassroots football contexts is based on three underlying assumptions about knowledge generation: 1) it is inherently situated, 2) it is socially mediated, and 3) it is locally constructed in order to meet the unique needs and circumstances of programs/initiatives (hubball & lopes, 2019). each assumption provides directions and cautions for sei. for example, the first assumption cautions that sei is inherently situated within broader communities of practice (i.e., host football organizations/clubs, with their particular cultural context and political landscape, strategic priorities, access to available resources, and levels of support) that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 47 published by scholink inc. typically frame coaching program/initiative experiences. in short, sei and contexts are inextricably linked and determine each other in significant ways (webb, hubball, & mckenzie, in press; myatt et al., 2018). pertaining to the second assumption, the socially mediated dimension (i.e., shaped by key stakeholder support and engagement by respective on-site tournament leaders, officials, coaches, and players) of knowledge construction speaks to the importance of arriving at a shared understanding of context-specific (e.g., age and ability level of participants, facilities, finance, and staffing) coaching programs/initiatives and how they can be effectively implemented within the specific practice setting. coming to a shared understanding requires collaborative leadership, open dialogue, active engagement, and effective communications between diverse stakeholder representatives. the co-constructed knowledge that arises from such engagement is essential for effective communities of practice in amateur/grassroots football that uphold and honor knowledge as being always complex and dynamic (friedman, 2008). finally, the third assumption cautions that local conceptions of the “good” in coaching programs/initiatives will always be part of how they are continually improved, adapted, and understood within contextually-bound settings (fifa, 2012; franks, lilley, hubball, & franks, 2019; hubball, franks, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). these three characteristics of knowledge construction are central for conducting sei. very little research has critically examined whether and how sei is applied for quality assurance and enhancement purposes in amateur/grassroots football coaching contexts. drawing on case study research methodology using multiple case design in local and international 50-65+ small-sided football settings, this study is guided by two sei questions:  research question #1. what are specific applications and outcomes of sei for quality assurance and enhancement in diverse amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts?  research question #2. what are critical challenges and key organizational supports for coach leaders/administrators to conduct sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes in diverse international amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts? 2. methodology 2.1 case study research using multiple-case design case study research is a systematic in-depth inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life context (pearson, albon, & hubball, 2015). case study research methodology internalizes theory and practice by drawing on a wide range of contextually-bound data, which for this study includes engagement of key personnel at football club/organization institution such as coach leaders, administrators, officials, players, and volunteers. for the purpose of this study co-researchers included the chair of the grassroots international masters small-sided football world cup tournament, and the manager of the amateur/grassroots football department at fifa, switzerland. essentially, case study research methodology invites coach leaders/administrators to consider which site issues are key www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 48 published by scholink inc. for examination (e.g., strategic, effective and efficient quality enhancement and quality assurance processes), how to engage key stakeholders in the process, what data to gather, when and how to collect and analyze these data, and, finally, to consider how these findings might be of interest to the respective club organizations and coach leaders/administrators, as well as to the broader football community and football organizations. multiple-case design refers to case study research in which several instrumental bounded cases are selected to understand the similarities and differences between the cases, and to develop a richer and more in-depth understanding of the phenomena than a single case can provide (yin, 2018). thus, case study research using multiple-case design is highly generative in nature and is therefore particularly well-suited for this study to critically examine whether and how sei is applied for quality assurance and enhancement purposes in diverse amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts. 2.2 data collection in order to gather evidence for this inquiry a purposeful sample of contextually-bound data were gathered from the following: a) for research question #1, a meta-analysis was conducted from a purposeful sample of recent (2017-2020) peer-reviewed studies in diverse local and international amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching settings pertaining to specific applications and outcomes of sei (e.g., types of research objective priorities, alignment of research methodologies and data collection methods employed). regarding the overall impact of sei in these settings, data were augmented with a review of relevant grassroots organization and program documentation such as website information and longitudinal data pertaining to international tournament organization development, participation trends, performance/awards, research contributions, evolutionary program changes, innovations, challenges, and program impacts pertaining to the inter ubc masters small-sided soccer academy program at the university of british columbia, vancouver, canada. b) for research question #2, site visits were conducted over an eighteen-month period in 2018-2019 at a purposeful sample of innovative and long-standing 55-65+ amateur/grassroots football organizations and clubs in north america, the uk, se asia, the gulf states, australia, new zealand, and europe. site data included:  invited research workshop sessions, and program observations at national/regional football associations and local clubs in canada, usa, england, wales, guernsey, jersey, germany, belgium, denmark, hong kong, singapore, gibraltar, spain, oman, qatar, australia, and new zealand. these data were augmented with a review of relevant organization website information and strategic visioning documents pertaining to quality assurance and enhancement practices.  meetings and focus group interviews with program stakeholder representatives, including team leaders, administrators, participating seniors‟ players, and officials. participants met in groups of five to eight in either face-to-face venues or online video conference platforms, with www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 49 published by scholink inc. a frequency ranging from once per month for 3 months to three sessions in total during the study period. specific interview prompts included: o how is quality assurance and enhancement understood, interpreted, organised, delivered, experienced, and/or institutionalised? o to what extent do you conduct research-informed and evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement processes? o what are the most common areas of best practice for quality assurance and enhancement? o what are the most common challenges that hinder research-informed and evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement? o what are the roles of players and coach leaders/administrators in quality assurance and enhancement? o what organizational supports are provided or would be helpful to assist coach leaders/administrators to conduct research-informed and evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement? qualitative data sources were analyzed using the constant comparative method through categorization, and finally to thematization (coe et al., 2017; friedman, 2008). next, member checking was utilized to establish major themes and data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions. the use of iterative and multiple data sources established the trustworthiness of the research findings through triangulation. 3. results 3.1 research question #1. what are specific applications and outcomes of sei for quality assurance and enhancement in diverse amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts? table 1 reports on a purposeful sample of sei projects. these projects were grounded within organization-specific amateur/grassroots settings, as well as within relevant and cutting-edge research literature (e.g., published in international and professional journals) and football clubs‟ and organizations‟ websites for best practices. moreover, particular research methodologies, and aligned data collection methods, were employed depending on the specific nature of priority research objectives within these contexts. action research, appreciative inquiry, self-study, and case study research methodologies were particularly prevalent in these diverse sei projects. table 1 demonstrates the alignment of specific methodological approaches and data collection methods depending on the specific nature of the organization-specific sei priority research objectives. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 50 published by scholink inc. table 1. applications of sei in amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football settings sei project methodological approach data collection methods strategic grassroots international 60+ small-sided football world cup tournament development: fifa scholarship application (submitted to cies-hubball, franks, kauppinen, lopes & christensen, 2020). longitudinal single-case study research focused on strategic development, implementation, and impact assessment, with examination of context-specific best practices. mixed methods with qualitative analysis of stakeholder focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation, and archival program materials; and quantitative analysis of team and individual performance variables. development of a grassroots international 50-60+ small-sided football world cup tournament & symposium, 2006-2017 (hubball, reddy, et al., 2018). appreciative inquiry with stakeholder engagement to investigate strategic development of context-specific best practices and key organizational supports. qualitative methods to analyze focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation, and semi-structured participant surveys. strategic program development for grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football programs in diverse international settings (hubball & diaz-cidoncha garcia, 2020). case study using multiple case design to examine context-specific team and player development program practices, key challenges, and organizational supports. mixed methods with qualitative analysis of focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation, and field observations; and quantitative analysis of participation and sustainability variables. performance analysis in amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football: strategic team and player development for international competition (hubball & lopes, 2019) program action research methodology to examine effective context-specific team and player development practices, key challenges, and further improvements mixed methods with qualitative analysis of team focus group interviews, team game plan documentation, and game video recordings; and quantitative analysis of team and individual performance variables. injury prevention and performance enhancement for grassroots 50-65+ players in international small-sided football competition settings (franks et al., 2019) self-study inquiry to collect baseline data on current context-specific norms, barriers, actions, and rationales, as well as perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (swot analysis). qualitative methods with onsite physiotherapist analysis of competitive game situations and consultation regarding injury prevention with select 50-65+ players, and semi-structured participant surveys. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 51 published by scholink inc. data collection strategies for these sei projects tended to be qualitative in nature, although in some cases, mixed-method approaches combining both qualitative and quantitative were employed. qualitative data sources for these sei projects were particularly well-suited to explore, describe, and/or explain complex, multifaceted, and contextually-bound phenomena (e.g., best practices for tournament, team/player development, and impact assessment) in amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football settings. it is important to note caution with these findings since all research (including objectives, data collection, and interpretations of quantitative data) has inherent ontological and epistemological (value-laden) assumptions about the nature of truth and knowledge construction, and is thus limited. for example, in these contexts, coach leaders/administrators were active participants in the sei process. therefore, systematic rigorous sei (including site-specific collaborations, deep knowledge of practice contexts, and triangulation of data sources) was designed to reduce outcome bias and contributed to the authenticity, validity, and reliability of findings within these settings. over a decade of implementation, sei has been integral to quality assurance and enhancement of these organization-specific coaching programs/initiatives. data suggest that timely applications of sei have substantially benefited coaching program processes and outcomes. first, sei has significantly contributed toward the success and 20-year longevity of the grassroots 50-65+ inter ubc masters soccer academy program. this includes sustained and responsive small-sided football team and player development initiatives; winning local, regional, and international tournaments, and invitations to play 50+ small-sided football exhibition games against former professional players at chelsea fc and aston villa fc in england, uk, as well as local, cross-border and cross-continent connections with an array of talented and like-minded 50+ masters football enthusiasts. sei has also significantly contributed toward to the success and 15-year longevity of the grassroots international super masters small-sided football world cup tournaments (2006-2022). this 2-day tournament is hosted annually at amateur/grassroots football clubs/institutions/universities and organizations throughout europe and the uk. for example, the 2021 tournament will be hosted in copenhagen, denmark and includes 24 amateur/grassroots club/group/rep teams (60+ & 65+) registered from denmark, england, usa, scotland, germany, finland, hungary, gibraltar, oman, wales, northern ireland, great britain, republic of ireland, france, canada, belgium, and team un. the 2022 tournament will be hosted at the fifa headquarters, zurich, switzerland. this tournament has included former national players (e.g., netherlands 65+ team), professional players (e.g., fc barcelona 50+ team), 60+ teams from professional clubs (e.g., werder bremen, germany), as well as a sustained grassroots international masters football community, and the joy of participation in cross-border and cross-continent connections with an array of talented and like-minded 50-65+ masters football enthusiasts. finally, sustained sei activity over these years has contributed to significant research productivity, peer reviewed publications, invited presentations, and engagement with amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football organizations around the world. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 52 published by scholink inc. 3.2 research question #2. what are critical challenges and key organizational supports for coach leaders/administrators to conduct sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes in diverse international amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts? 3.2.1 critical challenges conducting sei for quality assurance and enhancement of amateur/grassroots coaching programs/initiatives is a complex and multifaceted process. preliminary findings from this study in diverse amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football coaching contexts suggest that coach leaders/administrators face a myriad of obstacles. these relate to iterative and interconnected organization-specific factors pertaining to the art, science, and politics of conducting sei. for example, data suggest that critical challenges pertaining to the “art” of conducting sei included perceived lack of available time and additional effort required to develop and apply new sei skills in current coaching duties. exacerbated by already-heavy and competing coaching priorities, this typically required structural change regarding organizational commitments to sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes. for example, this would involve strategically supporting and re-imagining coach leaders/administrators roles and responsibilities with flexibility to conduct sei as an integral part (rather than as a “bolt-on” activity) of their leadership practices. data suggest that critical challenges pertaining to the “science” of conducting sei included a lack of sei expertise and networking opportunities to examine relevant research and professional literature; and difficulty identifying organization-specific research objective priorities and appropriately aligned research methodologies; applying systematic rigorous data collection methods and analysis; and disseminating best practices in their amateur/grassroots coaching setting. clearly, the strength of amateur/grassroots coach leaders/administrators lies in their deep understanding of their specific stakeholders and organizational contexts and their vested interest with practice-based team/program issues and priorities. their related experience is critical to assessing change in these settings. more often than not, however, coach leaders/administrators were unfamiliar with sei methodologies and methods, and did not have the appropriate methodological expertise. nor, however, was it deemed desirable or feasible to completely “out-source” this process to external consultants. instead, amateur/grassroots coaching programs/initiatives were often informed by ad-hoc and top-down organizational leadership directives, coach intuition, or informal post-program participant surveys and feedback slips. although a useful source of data, this evidence represented a limited view of strategic, effective, and efficient quality assurance and enhancement, and often resulted in less than optimal program offerings or sustained participation impacts. in contrast, applications of systematic rigorous sei methodology and methods provided relevant and timely evidence-based practices with limited resources to maximize and sustain innovations, improvements, and high impact outcomes for tournaments, programs, teams, and individual performances. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 53 published by scholink inc. data suggest that critical challenges pertaining to the “politics” of conducting sei included organizational cultures that did not value research-informed and evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement, and where minimal attention was given to organization-specific supports, incentives, expectations, related leadership and networking opportunities, and specific budget allocations and/or resources. even under supportive organizational conditions, it was far from easy for many coach leaders/administrators to engage in independent or collaborative sei. thus, in order to overcome a myriad of challenges, amateur/grassroots coach leaders/administrators need to be predisposed, enabled, and reinforced to conduct sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes. despite significant challenges and barriers for conducting sei, it was noted that increasing levels of organizational support is testimony to the growing value placed on sei for quality assurance and enhancement practices within amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football settings. 3.2.2 key organizational supports if organizations want to rely on cutting-edge “evidence-based practice”, then they require “practice-based evidence” (green, 2008). preliminary findings from this study in diverse amateur/grassroots 50-65+ small-sided football contexts concur that the benefits of conducting sei for quality assurance and enhancement can only be realized with key organization-specific supports including:  strategic organizational visioning documents that espouse the importance of continual quality assurance and enhancement for all its coaching programs, initiatives, and services;  strategic coach education and skills training. for example, this involves access to state-of-the-art customized technology-enabled professional development experiences (i.e., responsive to the needs and circumstances of coach leaders/administrators in complex amateur/grassroots football settings) and expert mentoring support to ground specific coaching programs and initiatives within the relevant research and professional literature; to focus sei on situational-specific priority research objectives, ethical inquiry and appropriately aligned research methodology; to apply systematic data collection methods and analysis; and related networking opportunities to disseminate evidence-based coaching programs/initiatives;  strategic communications and encouragement (including clear operational expectations, allocation of time, and resources) for coach leaders/administrators to conduct ongoing quality assurance and enhancement as an integral part of program development, implementation, and/or impact assessment. broader football organizational supports (e.g., fifa research scholarship, uefa research grant programme, cies sport intelligence support, performance analysis university research grant, scholarship of educational leadership university research grant, football association program funding initiatives) provided further guidance and/or assistance to conduct research-informed and evidence-based approaches for quality assurance and enhancement of coaching programs/initiatives in these diverse amateur/grassroots football settings; and, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 54 published by scholink inc.  strategic forums and related networking opportunities to disseminate best practices pertaining to amateur/grassroots football coaching programming/services and initiatives within and beyond the communities they serve. notably, coach leaders/administrators/scholars from the sei projects in table 1, some of whom were based in research-intensive universities, were empowered with appropriate knowledge, abilities, skills to examine relevant research and professional literature; to identify organization-specific research objective priorities and appropriately aligned research methodologies; and to apply systematic rigorous data collection methods and analysis; and disseminate best practices. they also had related networking experiences to conduct sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes within these specific local and international amateur/grassroots coaching contexts. given the critical challenges in this regard faced by most coach leaders/administrators, however, the importance of strategic coach education and skills training (e.g., access to state-of-the-art customized technology-enabled professional development experiences and expert mentoring support) cannot be under-stated. similar to professional development offerings for sei in alternative leadership settings (webb, hubball, clarke, & ellis, 2020), strategic coach education and skills training in this regard can take many forms (individualized or cohort-based) including flexible and responsive formats (e.g., technology-enabled modules to assist coach leaders juggle competing time and coaching priorities in their specific settings), workshops, one-to-one mentoring support, and certification opportunities. further, strategic coach education and skills training for sei should be led by internal and/or external coach leaders/administrators/scholars with appropriate leadership expertise and relevant track-record of published research in this field. 4. conclusion preliminary findings in this study suggest that strategic educational inquiry (sei) is a flexible and customized research methodology that is ideally suited for coach leaders/administrators to provide responsive and efficient evidence-based quality assurance and enhancement in order to maximize the development, implementation, or impact assessment of specific coaching programs/initiatives in amateur/grassroots coaching contexts. no one size fits all. data suggests that sei situates specific amateur/grassroots coaching programs and initiatives within the relevant research and professional literature; it focuses sei on situation-specific priority research objectives, ethical inquiry, and appropriately aligned research methodology; and involves systematic data collection methods and analysis, and dissemination of best practices. it is important to note, however, that sei is not value-free. thus, similar to all forms of research, interpretation of sei requires a healthy skepticism regarding ontological and epistemological considerations, analysis of methodological rigor, and an openness to alternative critique and analysis. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 55 published by scholink inc. we have provided a theoretical framework, as well as practical examples and considerations for sei applications in diverse amateur/grassroots football coaching contexts. data suggest that coach leaders/administrators in these settings face critical challenges related to the art, science, and politics of implementation. they also require key organizational supports, such as strategic coach education and skills training (e.g., access to state-of-the-art customized technology-enabled professional development experiences and expert mentoring support) in order to conduct sei for quality assurance and enhancement purposes. although the case examples presented are ongoing works-in-progress, significant developments and commitments to sei have contributed to strategic, effective, and efficient quality assurance and enhancement, such as sustained innovations and improvements; high impact tournament, program, team, and individual performances; and related research productivity outcomes. further, sei has fostered an organizational culture for cutting-edge research and coaching excellence within these settings; and, has helped amateur/grassroots football organizations to become better known, within and beyond the communities they serve. while there are still many challenges and areas of improvement for coach leaders/administrators to conduct sei, an organizational commitment can be the basis for effective and efficient quality assurance and enhancement of amateur/grassroots football coaching programs/initiatives in diverse settings. references allison, w. 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(2017). qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. fifa, fédération internationale de football association. (2020a). the fifa research scholarship: promoting football-related research. international centre for sports studies (cies). retrieved from https://www.fifa-research-scholarship.ch/fifa_research_scholarship_revised_regulations.pdf https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315657486 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x030003013 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 56 published by scholink inc. fifa, fédération internationale de football association. (2020b). making football truly global: the vision 2020-2023. zurich: fifa. retrieved from https://resources.fifa.com/image/upload/making-football-truly-global-the-vision-2020-2023.pdf?cl oudid=z25oyskjgrxrudiu7iym fifa, fédération internationale de football association. 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(in press). strategic approaches to “glocalising” curriculum practice: responding to faculty development needs and circumstances in diverse international contexts. international journal for curriculum and instruction. yin, r. k. (2018). case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.18848/2152-7857/cgp/v09i02/1-17 https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2017.1346511 https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2015.3.12 https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.1.11 https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n1p1 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 42 original paper numeracy and environmental skills with indicators: educational micro-assessment in university students conrado ruiz-hernández 1* , alma delia lupercio-lozano 1 , thalía ameyatzin bernal-gonzález 1 , francisco josé torner-morales 1 & josé luis muñoz-lópez 1 1 national autonomous university of mexico: iztacala campus (unam-iztacala), state of mexico, mexico * conrado ruiz-hernández, educa.ambiente.cyma18@gmail.com received: august 9, 2020 accepted: august 19, 2020 online published: september 7, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n3p42 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n3p42 abstract this study is an extension of a micro-assessment on educational advances that has developed in 2010, for valuate numerical and environmental skills. after ten years, it observe, in terminal biology students of unam-iztacala, a very notable change in the recognition of terms in the sum of a polynomial, but for the fine skills -of the same studentsin separation of two assembled materials present in the common waste, we don’t observe a change or an improvement. this comparative study was carried out with forty participants. the effectiveness of formal and informal educational interventions, in the quest to seek a learning improvement, is evident. keywords docimology, educational micro-assessment, numeracy, environmental education, and problem solving 1. introduction in april 2010, we carried out a comparative study with numerical and environmental skills, with terminal biology students from unam-iztacala. for this purpose, we chose the use of two numerical and two environmental problems, of high, medium and high difficulty (ruiz & lupercio, 2011). these problems are described in the next section. in february 2020, after ten years had passed, we found it interesting to repeat the same observation with biology students similar to those of the previously described experience, with the purpose of observing, if with respect to the original results, it was possible to show a change in the last observation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 43 published by scholink inc. in the educational research setting, the application of extensive questionnaires is common (oecd, 2018), which include a large number of questions or problems to be solved (bomboir, 1971; bomboir, 1974; flavell, 1976), however, an alternative modality is beginning to develop an educational evaluation (díaz-barriga & hernández, 2002), based on reactive or problems with the character of indicators (katic, hmelo-silver, & weber, 2009; tavernal & peralta, 2009; ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2015). these indicators should represent a high or medium difficulty in the initial observation (pre-test) with respect to the final observation (post-test), in order to obtain clear results (ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2017; ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2020). this leads us to suggest the opening of a debate about the scope and limitations of the educational macro-evaluation and micro-evaluation models, where the former point towards a general and standardized measurement of educational progress and, the latter, more properly, to a more particular and detailed corroboration of educational topics of strategic value (inee, 2016). in our opinion, both types of approach can and should be complementary. this comparison at two different moments and after ten years, forced us to make a recognition of the curricular and institutional changes that occurred in the studied university, in order to find the possible causes of differences or not observable, in the results we obtained when examine biology students and the problems to be solved that we apply. 2. curricular and institutional framework a review of the curricular and institutional changes that had taken place both in the curriculum of the bachelor’s degree in biology and in the institutional environmental performance was carried out, especially considering that the replication of the study carried out in 2010 included the evaluation in particular to two numerical and two environmental problems (differentiated dumping of waste). during this ten-year period, the bachelor’s degree in biology restructured its curriculum, having a new curriculum that began in august 2016. in this, considering the mathematical deficiencies that students historically showed, a compulsory course was incorporated, which is called “algebra workshop”, with the same hours as a normal course, but without credit allocation, although it must be approved for the purposes of the degree, which is taught in the first semester. the objectives of this course is that students amicably review their essential mathematical knowledge, correct poor basic learning, as well as learning to make intelligent use of algorithms and mathematical procedures frequently used in biology (biology descriptive letter, 2016). also, since 2014, an institutional program called promir was reconsidered, aimed at promoting good practices in the comprehensive management of urban solid waste generated at unam-iztacala. the latter is based on giving some talks to new students, with the support of brochures and posters, to motivate them to participate in the responsible management of common waste generated on campus, inviting them to respect the nomenclature for the landfill of the waste indicated in the garbage containers (ruiz, lupercio, muñoz, torner, & bernal, 2015). both types of intervention did not exist in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 44 published by scholink inc. their current version, ten years ago. although at unam-iztacala, for 25 years there has been a more or less structured program, which has been promoting the recycling of waste materials and other pro-environmental actions (ruiz & lupercio, 2015). we point out this background, because it can be useful in explaining the results. 3. description of the problems the four problems, described below, have been tested and applied in various background reports, which have allowed us to verify their usefulness as effective indicators of performance, in numerical and environmental skills (ruiz & lupercio, 2011; ruiz, torner, lupercio, & bernal, 2015; ruiz, 2015). this indication is particularly applicable, for rapid evaluations and with the items or problems that represent the greatest difficulty, in the initial observation (ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2018). problems: p (1): sum of a polynomial, which includes the help of a parenthesis, to make it easier for the performer to identify the terms of the sum. it should be noted that, in this operation, 3.2 + (4.4 x 2) + 8, the parentheses are mathematically unnecessary. the correct answer is 20. this problem, applied to university students, represents a minimal difficulty, mainly due to the help provided by the parentheses. p (2): sum of a polynomial, which does not include the previous help, 2 + 3 x 4 + 5. the correct answer is 19. this problem, based on our historical references, represents a high difficulty in university students, which is explained by the general mistake of not identifying the terms in the sum of a polynomial. what is a remnant effect, due to their neglect, in the learning of elementary mathematics and that leads to making many more serious mistakes in other operations, such as, for example, in geometry, algebra and calculus (alatorre, 2002; alatorre, 2009). as a mere reminder, we refer that the “term”, represents in all serial or polynomial operations (a + b + c + ...) the independent computations or values, in numerical or algebraic connotation, that are separated by sum or subtraction. it is a fundamental concept (larousse mathematics dictionary, 2018; miles, 1999) for the correct execution of algorithms and in advanced mathematical reasoning (matheracy). c: differentiated discharge of an aluminum can with a plastic straw, inserted inside, which constitutes an occasional assembly with two pieces of different material, present in the common garbage. the success is only granted by placing the aluminum can, separated from the plastic straw, in an exclusive container for “metal”. in the case of an occasional assembly, this problem represents a medium difficulty in university students. the mistakes are generally due to the inadvertence on the part of the participant in the separation of the second object, by not attending to the indications for the differentiated discharge requested. the failure is due to neglect and not ignorance of the materials. b: differentiated discharge of a glass bottle with a plastic screw cap, which constitutes a structural assembly, with two different material wastes, present in the common garbage. the success is only granted by placing the glass bottle, separated from the plastic screw cap, in an exclusive container for “glass”. being a structural assembly, where both components of different material are part of the same www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 45 published by scholink inc. container, it represents a high difficulty with university students. as in what was stated in the previous problem, the failure is due to neglect and not ignorance of the materials. 4. method in a comparative study 4.1 objectives 1) replicate a comparative study published in 2011, with numerical and environmental examples, with a similar sample of the same students, in order to observe if there are differences. 2) finding the possible causes that explain the significant and insignificant differences, both numerically and environmentally. 4.2 hypothesis “a noticeable change in the frequency of successes observed in solving a problem can only be attributed to a specific and systematic educational intervention”. 4.3 subjects and procedure both the historical reference and the replica made were carried out with forty terminal biology students from unam-iztacala, where they were informed of the intention of this exercise and, where their consent was requested, to participate voluntarily. the numerical problems were applied in a group session and the environmental problems in a cabinet (simulator for the differentiated discharge of waste) arranged for individualized observation, without communication between the participants. in the latter case, the response options are exclusive containers for: metal, plastic, glass, writing paper/cardboard and everything else. both the numerical and environmental problems are accompanied by another ten contextual questions related to the respective themes. 5. results figure 1 shows the results observed in 2010 and 2020, with the four aforementioned problems, where the successes are presented separately, as well as the coincidence between them, separating the numerical and the environmental. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 46 published by scholink inc. figure 1. results of the problems applied in these results, an extremely notable change can only be observed in the span of ten years, in the successes obtained by the participants of this replicated study, in the resolution of the sum of a polynomial without the help of a parenthesis (note 1) and, consequently, also in the respective coincidence between the two sums (where the first one represents practically no difficulty, both in 2010 and 2020). regarding the environmental ability evaluated, no change was registered, which generally occurs in the measurement of fine ability in the dumping of wastes, even in higher education institutions that have well-structured programs for the management of urban solid waste, but without attending to the acquisition of environmental knowledge and skills in the student community (ruiz & lupercio, 2013; ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2018). 6. discussion here it is worth analyzing and looking for an explanation to two aspects that are observed in our results, the reason for the remarkable change -with the incidence of successesin one of the numerical problems and, also, the null improvement in the problems of differentiated waste disposal that we examine, taking into consideration the span of ten years, elapsed from the previous observation (2010) and the current one (2020). it seems to be clear that the “algebra workshop” (a formal curricular course), has had a relevant role in the remedial improvement of basic mathematical knowledge, where the sum of a polynomial, without any help or clue given to the participant, it is an effective indicator. in the case of the promir program, which constitutes the institutional policy for the management of urban solid waste, with informal interventions and without any curricular involvement, based on the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 47 published by scholink inc. measurement of fine ability for the differentiated dumping of waste, with waste presented in assembly, no change was observed. this leads us to propose considering the advisability that in the same institution, the tasks of pro-environmental promotion, begin to be treated in a similar way, to what has been done with the “algebra workshop”, or in other words, a kind of “workshop on good pro-environmental practices” can be structured, which is more or less formal in nature and with a well-organized pedagogical approach, which could be taught in the first semester, not only of a degree in biology, but of all the degrees and postgraduate courses taught at unam-iztacala. although the referred “algebra workshop” does not solve all the learning of basic mathematical knowledge (where we detect that the term concept, most terminal biology students, although they intuitively understand it functionally, do not understand it in its definition or formal characterization), this course does contribute in a substantive way to improve the essential mathematical skills -beyond just the numerical oneof biology students, since we found in a complementary investigation (carried out in 2019), in which we evaluated the items contextual numerically and we compare it with a group of first-year students, where in a battery with ten items such as hand-operations, mental calculation, valuation of decimal numbers, roots and powers, among other problems (ruiz & lupercio, 2013; ruiz, lupercio, & bernal, 2020), both groups of students (initial and terminal), obtained on average grades higher than 9. we infer, that this “algebra workshop”, is more involved in the development of intermediate mathematical skills (matheracy), which will be studied in other new research. it seems to us that something very similar could be expected if, with pro-environmental tasks, such a workshop could be structured. it is time to recognize that the pro-environmental promotion tasks -given how difficult, complicated and complex they are in practicedemand a more serious and demanding educational treatment. alone talks and voluntary altruism (basically supported by publicity interventions or institutional propaganda) do not seem to generate significant learning with community significance. 7. conclusions the problems used as indicators of educational progress did prove to be effective and reliable, including in the recognition of fine differences. likewise, the comparison of formal and informal intervention strategies, commonly used in higher education institutions, allowed visualizing the relative results of both intervention models, in the recording of results in the four problems that we examined, with the improvement in the numerical ability of high difficulty and, likewise, the stagnation or absence of improvement in the fine ability to separate wastes, in this case presented in assemblies, from wastes present in common garbage. this type of rapid evaluations, systematically applied, can help to identify both good educational practices, as well as less successful ones, to provide better and meaningful learning, at all school levels. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 48 published by scholink inc. it was shown that this rapid modality of the evaluation of educational progress, supported by the resolution of problems that serve as effective indicators, constitutes an extremely useful resource for the measurement of learning, without the need to apply a battery of reagents extensive and strenuous. the key to this is having a collection of reagents -really appropriateto carry out an exploration of this nature, both for its application in the field of natural, social, humanities and civic knowledge, among other topics. the cost involved, in terms of time, money and effort, can be considerably reduced, obtaining a well-weighted and reliable result. acknowledgments this research was carried out with the financing of the program of support for research projects and technological innovation of unam, papiit: in310719. thanks to the other members of the project: carlos enrique palacios (biologist), eduardo rodríguez sierra (pedagogue) and josé antonio melo (psychologist) who actively participated in carrying out of this research. likewise, the editorial support given by michelle ruiz valdes (master in international cooperation) and adriana hernández garcía (grant holder of the papiit project) is recognized. references alatorre, s. 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(2017). basis for the analysis of plans for the comprehensive management of municipal solid waste: a collaborative assessment in two mexican universities. environment and sustainability, 1(3), 85-89. tavernal, a. y., & peralta, o. (2009). dificultades de aprendizaje. evaluación dinámica como herramienta diagnóstica. revista intercontinental de psicología y educación, 11(2), 113-139. note note 1. this difference reaches a statistical confidence level of 99.9% in a two-tailed student’s t-test (40 + 40 2 = 78 degrees of freedom); this same significant difference is also present in the coincidences for this same problem. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20170601.16 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 50 original paper democratic leadership style and organizational commitment of academic staff in uganda christian university and kyambogo university micheal mwebaza 1* , samuel s. kafuuma 2 & christine okurut 1 1 uganda christian university (ucu), mukono, kampala, uganda 2 uganda management institute (umi), kampala, uganda 3 uganda christian university (ucu), mbaale campus, uganda * micheal mwebaza, uganda christian university (ucu), mukono, kampala, uganda received: august 17, 2023 accepted: august 29, 2023 online published: september 7, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p50 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p50 abstract the study establishes the extent to which democratic leadership styles influence organizational commitment of academic staff in uganda christian university (ucu) and kyambogo universities (kyu). it was guided by three specific objectives; to establish the status of democratic leadership style, status of organisational commitment and finally the influence of democratic leadership style on organisational commitment of academic staff in ucu and kyu. the study utilized contingence theory of leadership to extensively discuss the democratic leadership style. it was a descriptive cross-sectional survey design hinged on plato’s deductive reasoning philosophy. the population involved lecturers, heads of departments and deans. these were sampled using simple and purposive random sampling. data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. data was analysed at univariate level using descriptive statistics means and standard deviations. study hypothesis was analysed using pearson’s correlation co-efficient index. results revealed an insignificant relationship between democratic leadership style and commitment of academic staff. this study provides at least a facie evidence of how democratic leadership style should be devised to ensure organisation commitment of academic staff. the leaders continued efforts should improve work condition, ensure satisfaction and act in ways that increase loyalty of academic staff to their institutions. keywords leadership styles, democratic, organisational commitment, lecturers, universities, uganda www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 51 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction globally, universities are expected to serve the societies through the creation and assimilation of knowledge, educate young minds through empowering them with knowledge and sense of responsibility. in order to achieve this, academic staff commitment is considered as one of the reliable and sustainable predictor. this is why academic staff commitment has become an essentiality. one of the determinants of organizational mismanagement is inadequate staff organizational commitment, which is normally characterized by scanty loyalty to the organization, and insufficient job commitment (mullins, 2002). this view resonated well with (igg report, 2015, 09) who reported that, in the developing world, academic staff organizational commitment has often been alleged to be substantially wanting, something that is still a challenge, even in uganda’s universities. yet, effective leadership is critical to the achievement of performance targets/goals and objectives in any institution. however, there was no empirical study carried out to establish the influence of democratic leadership style on organizational commitment of academic staff in kyambogo and uganda christian universities in uganda which this current study did. theoretically, the study was guided by the contingency theory of leadership developed by fred fiedler in 1958. this theory states that; there is no one better way to leadership and different situations require leaders to apply different ways of leadership (arenas, connelly & williams, 2017). therefore, the leader should be able to identify the best leadership style amongst a list of many to achieve the organizations goals in each situation (shala, prebraza & ramosaj, 2021). in a situation where staff are highly experienced, participative, and qualified, a democratic leadership style should be applied to enlist commitment of academic staff. conceptually, tomislav (2015) defined democratic leadership style as a style of leadership where one is allowed to participate and amicably arrive at organizational decisions. it is a delegation of responsibility among group members, empowerment of group members and assistance provided by group members through the decision making functions (terzi & berin, 2016). alternatively, organizational commitment according to abdulkadir et al. (2018) and abasilim, gberevbie & osibanjo (2019), is the degree to which employees identify with their organization and add value to accomplish the set goals and objectives. meyer and allen (1984) suggested a three component model of commitment that involves affective, continuance and normative commitments. these components were used to characterize academic staff’s organisational commitment to the universities where this current study was done. high levels of organisational commitment are necessary for better institutional task execution. in uganda this commitment ensures the delivery of high-quality university education (nche, 2018). when university lecturers have a strong sense of organisational commitment, this is partially possible. however, reports surfaced indicating that lecturers were unwilling to work during hard times, disrespected the university’s values, occasionally perpetrated professional misconduct, and some left in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 52 published by scholink inc. search of greener pastures elsewhere (igg, 2015). the aforementioned problems serve as examples of minimal commitment within the organisation. mugizi et al. (2019) reported a comparable situation in ugandan private higher education institutions, where academic staff commitment was said to be low. these academics argued that signs of waning passion and drive among faculty members at private universities included threats of strikes, tardiness in marking exams, and, surprisingly, the falsification of student grades. while a number of factors have been proposed by multiple investigations to account for the low organisational commitment of academic staff in ugandan universities, these attempts appear to have stayed unrealistic, since the democratic leadership style seems to have been overlooked, despite the fact that it is also said to have a consequence on staff organisational commitment in these establishments. it was projected that universities would continue to provide a significant but peripheral contribution to sustainable socio-economic development if this tendency persisted. this study consequently aimed to determine how organisational commitment at kyu and ucu related to democratic leadership style. 2. methodology the study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design hinged on plato’s deductive reasoning philosophy. a sample consisted 280 lectures and 20 head of departments and deans. these were sampled using simple and purposive random sampling. the sample size was determined using using the kreijcie & morgan’s table for determining samples, 1970. data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. the scale consists of 6 items for democratic leadership and 6 items for organisational commitment. these are scaled on 5 point likert scale denoted as 1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-not sure, 4-agree and 5-strongly agree. content validity index was calculated that produced 0.92 coefficient. reliability of the scale was measured using the cronbach’s alpha computations. the alpha was found at a=86. the overall item correlations varied from 0.75-089. this data was analysed at univariate level using descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. the study hypothesis was analysed using pearson’s correlation co-efficient index. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 53 published by scholink inc. 3. results 3.1 objective one: status of democratic leadership style among academic staffs in kyambogo and uganda christian universities table 1. results on democratic leadership style indicators of democratic style mean std.dev employees want to be part of decision making process 4.297 0.884 providing guidance without pressure is the way to bring out a good leader 4.314 0.747 most workers want frequent and supportive communication from their leaders 4.446 0.762 leaders need to support subordinates accept responsibility for completing their work 3.850 0.984 it is the leader job to help subordinates find their passion 3.263 1.246 people are basically competent if given a task they will do a good job 3.527 1.102 table 1 results showed that the means were ranging in 4 on most items about leadership styles applied. this meant that democratic leadership style was somehow effectively applied on academic staff in ucu and kyambogo universities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 54 published by scholink inc. 3.2 objective two: status of academic staff organizational commitment of academic staffs in kyambogo and uganda christian universities table 2. summary results on organizational commitment (affective, normative and continuance) commitment statistics 95% confidence interval for mean lower bound 3.246 upper bound 3.446 mean 3.346 median 3.533 std. deviation 0.772 skewness -.421 table 2 shows that the average mean was 3.346. this mean value was almost equal to code 3 which equaled to 3 neutrals. it hence suggested that the commitment of academic staff in ucu and kyambogo universities was fair. 3.3 objective three: extent to which democratic leadership style influences organizational commitment of academic staff in kyambogo and uganda christian universities table 3. pearson’s correlation coefficient showing relationship between democratic leadership style and commitment of academic staff commitment democratic commitment pearson correlation 1 0.116 sig (2-tailed) 0.078 n 234 233 democratic pearson correlation 0.116 1 sig (2-tailed) 0.078 n 233 234 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 55 published by scholink inc. table 3. shows pearson’s correlation coefficient results r=0.116, sig=0.078 less than 0.05. this suggests that there was an insignificant correlation between democratic leadership style and commitment of academic staff. it suggests that even if democratic leadership is fairly done or not the level of organizational commitment remains intact. 4. discussion the study investigated the status of democratic commitment and found out that majority of study participants agreed at participating in decision-making. it implies that academic staff attached a lot of meaning to participating in the matters that concern them. the mean value was also close to code 4-agree suggesting an agreement that lecturers wanted to be part and partial. this suggested that employees in kyambogo and uganda christian university mukono prefer to engage in the processes of making decisions. the standard deviation of 0.884 was low implying the respondents had common views regarding being part and partial of decision making in the university. in addition, democratic leadership is associated with sensitivity and caring with assumptions that all people like responsibility, they are self-motivated and trust worthy (jones et al., 2016). when such qualities are apparent in the academic staff, democratic leadership styles would foster teamwork, motivation, commitment, satisfaction and high performance. results from other studies on similar constructs are also revealing. for instance, fiaz et al. (2017) analysed leadership styles and motivation and the analysis’s findings showed that there is no conclusive evidence to demonstrate a link between democratic management methods and employee motivation. furthermore, participants acknowledged that an effective leader must be able to give direction without being overbearing. the finding suggested that respondents had agreed that guidance provision is the being of leader. the subordinates can easily determine who is their good or bad leader on their jobs basing on the extent they offer guidance to their sub-ordinates. additionally, the majority of research participants agreed that most lecturers want their leaders to communicate with them frequently and supportively. this indicates that lectures favour leaders who communicate with them frequently and in a positive manner. democratic leadership is greatly responsible for high sense of employee commitment on the job since leadership allow participation of employees in whatever is happening on the job leading to a high sense of job commitment (takroun & alsharqi 2021). academic staff agreed that head of departments and deans must help workers accept responsibility for finishing their work. it is therefore paramount for leaders to encourage lectures to take ownership of completing their work. when exposed to democratic leadership style, workers acquire a strong commitment to their work which categorically differed from the results reported by this research (abulle, 2011). the third objective of the study was to establish the relationship between democratic leadership style and the commitment of academic staff in ucu and kyambogo universities. results obtained from pearson’s correlation coefficient index revealed that there was an insignificant correlation between www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 56 published by scholink inc. democratic leadership style and employee performance in the two universities. these results revealed that even if democratic leadership style is applied, the commitment of employees in the two universities remain constant. these findings were in direct agreement with earlier studies like al-kareidi (2010) who investigated the influence of democratic leadership style on organizational commitment, and established that this leadership styles had an insignificant relationship on organizational commitment involved three dimensions affective, normative, and continuous affective commitment. to enhance the organizational commitment of employees/academic staff in kyambogo and uganda christian university mukono, the university council in the two universities, faculty administrative boards, deans, departmental heads should devise means of improving work conditions, ensure satisfaction and act in ways that increase loyalty of academic staff to their institutions. references abasilim, u. d., gberevbic, d. e., & osibanjo, o. a. (2019). leadership styles and employees commitment. empirical evidence from nigeria. sage, 1(1), 1-15. abdulkadir, m. d., abdi, a. m., & raqui, a. m. (2018). leadership styles and organizational commitment: case study from university of somalia. australian journal of science and technology. abulle, a. m. (2011). leadership styles and employee commitment of somali institute of management and administration management (simad). in a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in human resource management. al-kareidi, b. (2010). leadership styles and their impact on organizational commitment a field study in the faculty of management and economics at qadisiya university. qadisiya journal of administrative and economic sciences, 3(12), 22-43. arenas, t. f., connelly, d., & williams, d. m. (2017). contingency leadership: developing your full range of leadership. air university press. bousbia, a., ognjen, r., & tomislav, j. (2015). the effects of transactional leadership on employees performance—case study of algerian banking institutions. journal of economics and business, xiii(2). chepkorir, k. j., & yambo, j. m. o. (2019). examining the influence of principals’ democratic leadership style on teachers professional commitment in public secondary schools in kericho sub-county, kenya. journal of advances in education and philosophy, 1-6. fiaz, m., su, q., ikram, a., & saqib, a. (2017). leadership styles and employees motivation: perspective from an emerging economy. the journal of developing areas. https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2017.0093 igg. (2015). report on investigation into mismanagement and corruption at kyambogo university (volume v). governance. https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2017.0093 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 57 published by scholink inc. jones, s. s., jones. o. s., winchester, n., & grint, k. (2016). putting the discourse to work: on outilining a paxis of democratic leadership development. management learning. meyer, j., & allen, n. (1984). testing the “side-bet” theory of organizational commitment: some methodological considerations. journal of applied psychology, 69, 372-378. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.69.3.372 mugizi, w., bakkabulindi, f. e. k., & bisaso, r. (2015). antecedents of commitment of academic staff in universities in uganda: a conceptual paper. nkumba business journal, 14, 218-241. mullins, l. j. (2002). management and organisational behavior (7th ed.). prentice hall. nche. (2018). annual performance report and financial statement of the financial year 2017/18. national council for higher education 2018 issn 18137814, kyambogo. shala, b., prebreza, a., & ramosaj, b. (2021). the contingency theory of management as a factor of acknowledging the leaders-managers of our time study case: the practice of the contingency theory in the company avrios. open access library journal, 8, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107850 takrouni, y. o., & alsharqi, o. (2021). impact of leadership style on employee commitment in king abdullah medical city. journal of nursing and health science (iosr-jnhs). retrieved from https://www.losrjournals.org terzi, a. r., & derin, r. (2016). relation between democratic leadership and organizational cynicism. journal of education and learning, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n3p193 https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.69.3.372 https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107850 https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n3p193 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 115 original paper the effect of college student’ employment anxiety on academic involution: the chain mediating role of academic stress and future-oriented coping xinyu jia 1 1 qufu normal university, jining, shandong, china received: november 10, 2024 accepted: november 27, 2024 online published: december 5, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p115 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p115 abstract under the background of china’s social and economic transformation and development, the imbalance between supply and demand in the job market and the prominent phenomenon of employment anxiety among college students, coupled with the rapid development of higher education, more and more students are devoting their energy to academics in order to gain more advantages in the job market, which leads to the serious phenomenon of academic involution. using random sampling, 413 college students were selected for the questionnaire survey. by constructing structural equation modeling, bootstrap method was used to test the chain mediating role of academic stress and future orientation coping between employment anxiety and academic involution of college students. the results showed that employment anxiety and academic stress differed significantly across genders, with females scoring significantly higher than males; employment anxiety positively predicted academic involution, academic stress and future-oriented coping mediated the chain between college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution, with a mediation effect accounting for 52.8% of the total. the results of the study revealed that it is necessary to implement the employment support policy for college students, solve the problem based on the root cause, help college students establish the awareness of future-oriented coping, avoid the employment risk in advance, adjust the level of their academic pressure, and develop together in a benign competition. keywords college students, employment anxiety, academic involution, academic pressure, future-oriented coping www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 116 published by scholink inc. 1. background of the study the phenomenon of college students’ employment anxiety is serious in the context of the new era. in recent years, the employment pressure of college students in china has risen sharply, and the phenomenon of employment anxiety is serious. under the influence of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, most students tend to choose more stable jobs, the number of people appearing for public office and editorializing has increased dramatically, coupled with the high-speed development of the digital economy in the context of china’s economic transformation, many traditional industries have been impacted, some of the positions with lower technical content and higher repetitive labor have been replaced, and the employment market has an imbalance between supply and demand. at the same time, higher education is expanding, the number of college graduates is increasing dramatically. the employment situation of college students has become increasingly severe and complicated. the difficulty of employment has become a common problem faced by college students, which has led to an increase in the phenomenon of employment anxiety among college students. a large number of studies have shown that college students, especially college graduates, suffer from generalized employment anxiety (he, w. y., 2022, pp. 115-117; jiang, c. l., 2008, pp. 131-132; li, j. p., 2009, pp. 99-101; li, l. f., 2016, pp. 104-105). under the state of high-speed development of chinese society, college students’ academic involution has become a major factor affecting the academic development of college students’ groups. under the state of high-speed development of chinese society, the word “involution” has become a hot word of our time, which has been widely used in all sectors of society, especially in the field of higher education (ma, x. y., 2021, p. 104). contemporary college students are faced with the employment pressure of mismatch between their own conditions and job requirements. most of them have to join the irrational competition of mismatch between payoffs and rewards in order to get more employment “chips” than others in the case of limited resources (ma, x. y., 2021, p. 104). this has also given rise to other hot topics such as “the long shirt of kong yi ji” and the universal examination for graduate school. however, for college students, the phenomenon of academic involution is no longer just a positive motivation for self-improvement and the pursuit of excellence, but has become a helpless and necessary survival strategy under the current environment. influenced and pushed by those around them, students are forced to join this wave of involution. the whole group of college students is caught in a cycle of “investing energy-dissatisfied with the result-investing more energy”, in which the individual’s efforts are not commensurate with the results obtained (zhou, x. t., wei, j. & chen, c. l., 2022, pp. 131-140). under the increasingly severe employment situation, it is very important for college students to respond to the possibility of their future employment in advance and preventive response. at the same time, under the general environment of academic involution, the academic pressure felt by college students has also increased. it has been shown that under the support of “involution”, college students’ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 117 published by scholink inc. employment anxiety has increased, which is manifested in a series of academic involution phenomena such as brushing credit and grade-point in their behaviors. future-oriented coping and academic pressure are closely related to college students’ academic involution. research on the influence factors of academic involution found that future-oriented coping and academic stress significantly and positively predicted the level of students’ academic engagement. future-oriented coping, as a strategy for students to set and plan for their future goals and to take specific actions to achieve those goals, plays a role in facilitating students’ learning. relevant studies have shown that students with a clear future orientation tend to show a higher level of learning conscientiousness and initiative. they not only clearly recognize the importance of learning, but also take the initiative to seek all kinds of learning resources, make reasonable learning plans and put them into practice. this enables them to remain calm and focused when facing academic pressure, and thus devote more time and energy to their studies. in addition, moderate academic pressure can stimulate students’ motivation to study and prompt them to study harder. however, when academic pressure exceeds students’ ability to cope with it, a series of negative impacts will occur. excessive academic pressure can cause students to develop emotional problems such as anxiety and depression, which in turn reduces their level of academic engagement. it can be seen that there is a theoretical connection between college students’ employment problems and academic “involution” problems, so what is the mechanism of influence between these? in this paper, we will use data to empirically investigate the role of academic stress and future orientation coping variables in the influence of employment anxiety on academic involution. 2. definition of core concepts this study defines college students’ employment anxiety as the negative psychological state of worry, nervousness, and agitation about the possibility of not being able to achieve their original employment goals, as well as the adverse cognitive, physiological, and behavioral changes triggered by such a psychological state, when college students have not yet secured an employment unit, or when they encounter difficulties in the process of job searching due to insufficient psychological preparation. there is still no precise definition of academic involution, and most scholars have traced the evolution of the meaning of the term “academic involution” back to its roots, leading to the current definition of the term “academic involution”. in recent years, the term “academic involution” has appeared frequently in the field of higher education, and has even been “out of the loop” to various sectors of society to depict the phenomenon of irrational and excessive competition (chen, x., 2004, pp. 101-104). as far as the university student group is concerned, the meaning of academic involution bound has gone beyond pure personal improvement and become a kind of survival choice forced by irrational and excessive competition. this choice means that the whole college student group is caught in a cycle of “investing energy-dissatisfied with the result-investing more energy”, accompanied by the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 118 published by scholink inc. spread of a negative emotion closely related to stress and anxiety (wen, m. & gan, y. q., 2012, p. 330). in view of this, this study defines college students’ academic involution as the state of internal consumption and disordered competition caused by college students’ continuous increase of study inputs in the pursuit of goals or opportunities under the situation of give-and-take imbalance. the study adopts the world health organization’s definition of academic stress, which defines academic stress and its manifestations as “a situation in which some students, when faced with an academic life event, perceive it as a challenge or a potential threat, which in turn leads to a negative psychological response such as anxiety, depression, or fear”. future-oriented coping is a new perspective in the field of coping research, and its concepts and related theories are derived from the expansion of the traditional stress-coping theory (wu, j., 2016, pp. 432-434). at present, there is no consensus in the academic community on the concept of future-oriented coping, yiqun gan et al. confirmed from the perspective of empirical research that future-oriented coping includes pre-emptive coping and preventive coping, with the former referring to the fact that people take certain measures in advance so as to successfully avoid the occurrence of a crisis event or to minimize the impacts brought about by the event, and the latter referring to the fact that people take measures in advance so as to ensure that their own abilities can still be enhanced in the future to achieve the goals that could not be previously accomplished in the future (aspinwall, l. g. & taylor, s. e., 1997, pp. 417-436).the study adopts the definition of yiqun gan. 3. theoretical foundations 3.1 the theory of meritocracy meritocracy, some scholars call it “elitism” or “elite rule”, etc. (schwarzer, r. & taubert, s., 2002, pp. 77-80). its essence is a principle and system, refers to the distribution of political and economic resources through the degree of ability and effort (gan, y.-q., zheng, w. & wen, y., 2009, p. 471). the meritocracy rule asserts that social and economic rewards should be distributed on the basis of individual merit (spielberger, c. d., 1996). this logic has a certain degree of rationality, and is based on the idea that people compete on an equal footing, with the top performers ultimately winning. in the field of education, this concept is particularly significant, and the college entrance examination is the most prominent form of meritocracy. with the popularization of higher education, in order to further enhance their competitiveness, college students began to compete for higher level diplomas or degrees. out of the future employment and job market competitiveness considerations, more and more students’ motives are increasingly utilitarian. in the case of increasingly fierce competition in education, meritocracy has gradually evolved into a kind of “comprehensive strength” competition. the competition in education has become more intense, and meritocracy has gradually evolved into a “comprehensive strength” competition (spielberger, c. d., 1996). it can be seen that, with the development of society and the popularization of education, the rule www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 119 published by scholink inc. of meritocracy brings about an intensification of competition, which in turn leads to the phenomenon of academic involution. 3.2 self-determination theory self-determination embodies the potential of individuals to make choices about their experiences. this ability stems from a deep understanding of the needs of the self and a comprehensive grasp of information about the environment, and it allows the individual to make choices of action based on his or her own judgment and will, within a framework of autonomy and freedom, without external constraints. adhering to the theoretical foundation of humanism, self-determination theory distinguishes two types of human behavior, self-determined behavior and non-self-determined behavior. self-determined behavior is based on the individual’s active cognition and choice, which reflects human initiative and self-will; while non-self-determined behavior is expressed as a kind of automaticity, which is often directly affected by external factors (li, j. p., 2009, pp. 99-101).with the continuous change of the employment situation, the academic development behavior of college students responds to the changes in the external environment showing the phenomenon of “involution”, which is a choice made by college students based on individual needs and environmental changes. 4. literature review first of all, there is a significant correlation between college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution. ma xueyan’s research shows that under the support of “internalization”, college students’ employment anxiety is aggravated, which is manifested in a series of academic involution phenomena such as brushing credits, brushing grades and so on (ma, x. y., 2021, p. 104). numerous theoretical studies have also pointed out that one of the reasons for aggravating the academic involution phenomenon is the increase of employment pressure and the frequent generation of employment anxiety phenomenon. secondly, there is a significant correlation between future-oriented coping and employment anxiety and academic involution. a series of studies by gan yiqun’s team on future-oriented coping found that the motivation to pursue success reduces academic burnout and promotes academic engagement through the two-phase sequential mechanism of future-oriented coping, and that future-oriented coping has a significant effect on job search stress (li, j. p., 2009, pp. 99-101; wu, j., 2016, pp. 432-434). xie et al. also found that future orientation negatively predicted academic burnout through positive coping in their study on the relationship between future orientation coping and academic burnout (liang, x. y., 2012, pp. 124-127). again, academic stress was significantly correlated with employment anxiety and academic involution. numerous theoretical studies have pointed out that one of the triggers of academic involution in college students is the tremendous academic stress felt by students (aspinwall, l. g. & taylor, s. e., 1997, pp. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 120 published by scholink inc. 417-436; folkman, s. & moskowitz, j. t., 2004, pp. 745-774). zhou jun’s study showed that college students’ academic stress positively predicted academic engagement (zhou, j., 2022). fang yi et al. found that a major source of academic stress among college students was employment issues (fang, y., dong, y. y. & he, w. b., 2019, pp. 1-2). first, the existing literature mainly uses theoretical research methods to analyze and elaborate the definition, classification, causes, and ways of avoidance of college students' academic involution in some detail. secondly, different scholars have studied the phenomenon of college students’ academic “involution” based on different research perspectives, and these studies have special characteristics, and these multidimensional perspectives have constructed a more comprehensive research field. however, most of the studies regarded college students’ academic involution as a psychological phenomenon and analyzed the psychological causes behind it. in addition, existing research shows that the phenomenon of college students’ academic involution in china has brought about many negative impacts, and it has become a top priority to analyze the nature of the phenomenon and its influencing factors as early as possible to solve the problem. to summarize, this study will quantitatively investigate college students’ employment anxiety, academic stress, future-oriented coping, and academic involution, reveal the mediating mechanism of academic stress and future-oriented coping in college students’ employment anxiety and future-oriented coping, and better explore the way to solve the phenomenon of college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution. 5. research design 5.1 research subjects in this study, a random sampling method was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey on 450 freshmen to fourth-year students from several key universities in shandong province, hubei province, and other provinces; 37 invalid questionnaires were excluded, and 413 valid questionnaires were obtained, with a recovery rate of 91.7%. among them, 93 (22.5%) were male and 320 (77.5%) were female; 173 (41.9%) were freshmen, 52 (12.6%) were sophomores, 112 (27.1%) were juniors, 73 (17.7%) were seniors, and 3 (0.7%) were seniors. 5.2 research instruments the scales used in this study were all based on a 5-point likert scale, with points from 1 to 5 representing a gradual increase in the degree of conformity (1=very poorly conformed, 2=comparatively poorly conformed, 3=fairly conformed, 4=comparatively conformed, and 5=very well conformed), with no reverse scoring items. 1) employment anxiety scale. this study used the employment anxiety diagnostic scale developed by zhang xiaoqin, which consists of 12 questions (e.g., “the thought of employment makes my heart heavy like a stone”), www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 121 published by scholink inc. including four dimensions: employment anxiety, interview anxiety, job anxiety, and employment fear. 2) academic inventory scale. this study used the personal academic inventory scale for college students developed by zhou xiting, wei jun, and chen chunlin (zhou, x. t., wei, j. & chen, c. l., 2022, pp. 131-140). the scale consists of six questions (e.g., “i often compete fiercely with my classmates in academics”) and has a unidimensional structure. in this study, the cronbach’s coefficient of the academic inventory scale is 0.892, which has good reliability. 3) academic stress scale. in this study, the academic stress scale from the china college student mental health screening scale was used. the scale consists of four questions (e.g., “feeling difficulty in studying”) and has a unidimensional structure. in this study, the cronbach’s coefficient of the academic stress scale was 0.853, with good reliability. 4) future oriented coping scale. based on the proactive coping dimension scale in the active coping scale developed by esther greenglass et al., six question items were deleted to obtain the future oriented coping scale used in this study. the scale consists of eight questions (e.g., “i am a responsible person”) with a unidimensional structure. in this study, the cronbach’s coefficient of the future oriented coping scale is 0.877, which has good reliability. 5) kmo test and bartlett’s sphericity test. kmo test and bartlett’s spherical test were used in this study. the results show that the kmo coefficient of the data is 0.938, the kmo value is more than 0.8, bartlett’s spherical test significance p<0.001, the structural validity of the questionnaire is good and suitable for factor analysis. 5.3 research hypotheses through the combing of existing literature, this paper clarifies the relationship between the four variables of college students’ employment anxiety, academic introspection, academic pressure, and future orientation coping, and this paper proposes the following research hypotheses: hypothesis 1: college students’ employment anxiety has a significant positive effect on academic involution. hypothesis 2: college students’ academic stress and future orientation coping have a chain mediating role in the effect of employment anxiety on academic introspection. in summary, this study constructed a chain mediation model to simultaneously examine the relationships among college students’ employment anxiety, academic stress, future orientation coping, and academic involution. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 122 published by scholink inc. figure 1. diagram of theoretical model 6. research findings 6.1 analysis of gender differences in employment anxiety, academic involvement, academic stress, and future orientation coping independent samples t-test analysis was used to test whether there are significant differences in employment anxiety and its dimensions, academic stress of college students across genders. the results, as shown in table 1, showed that the four dimensions of employment uneasiness (p<0.01), interview anxiety (p<0.001), job anxiety (p<0.001), employment fear (p<0.001), and the total score of employment anxiety (p<0.001), and academic stress (p<0.01) differed significantly on different genders, which was specifically shown in the differences between female students in employment uneasiness, interview anxiety, job anxiety, employment fear, employment anxiety, and learning stress scores are significantly higher than those of boys; there is no significant difference between genders in academic involvement as well as future orientation coping. table 1. differential results analysis by gender gender m sd t p employment anxiety male 2.99 1.12 -3.42** 0.001 female 3.44 1.11 interview anxiety male 3.12 1.05 -3.78*** 0 female 3.58 1.01 job anxiety male 2.77 1 -4.45*** 0 female 3.29 0.97 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 123 published by scholink inc. employment fear male 2.92 1.03 -3.61*** 0 female 3.34 0.97 employment anxiety male 2.93 0.97 -4.24*** 0 female 3.4 0.91 academic involution male 2.68 0.88 -1.83 0.07 female 2.86 0.75 academic pressure male 3.08 0.91 -2.93** 0.004 female 3.37 0.83 future-oriented coping male 3.48 0.76 -1.48 0.142 female 3.61 0.58 6.2 impact analysis of employment anxiety, academic involvement, academic stress, and future orientation coping 1) common method bias test in this study, harman’s one-factor method was used to conduct the common method bias test. the results showed that the variance explained by the 1st factor was 35.865%, which was smaller than the critical criterion of 40%, indicating that there was no significant common method bias in this study. 2) correlation analysis of employment anxiety, academic involution, academic stress, and future orientation coping the correlation coefficients of the main variables in this study are shown in the table. from the table, it can be seen that there is a significant positive correlation between college students’ employment anxiety, academic introspection, academic pressure, and future orientation coping: employment anxiety and academic introspection show a significant positive correlation, indicating that students with a high degree of employment anxiety have a higher level of academic introspection (r=0.50, p<0.01); employment anxiety and the mediator variable of academic pressure show a significant positive correlation, indicating that students with a high degree of employment anxiety have a high level offuture orientation coping (r=0.65, p<0.01); employment anxiety showed a significant positive correlation with the mediator variable academic stress, indicating that students with a high level of employment anxiety had a high level of academic stress (r=0.44, p<0.01); and there was a significant positive correlation between academic introspection and academic stress, indicating that students with a high level of academic introspection felt more academic stress (r=0.41p<0.01); academic involution and future orientation coping showed a significant positive correlation, indicating that students with a high degree of academic involution had a high degree of future orientation coping (r=0.51, p<0.01); and academic stress and future orientation coping showed a significant positive correlation, indicating that students with a high degree of academic stress had a high degree of future orientation coping (r=0.43, p<0.01). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 124 published by scholink inc. table 2. correlation analysis of employment anxiety, academic involution, academic pressure, and future-oriented coping 3) regression analysis among employment anxiety, academic introspection, academic stress, and future orientation coping under the premise that the four variables show significant correlation, the explanations and predictions of college students’ employment anxiety, academic stress, and future orientation coping on academic introspection are further examined by multiple linear regression analysis. in this study, academic involution was used as the independent variable, and employment anxiety, academic stress, and future orientation coping were analyzed as the dependent variables. as shown in table 3, in the regression model of employment anxiety, academic stress, future orientation coping and academic introspection, the vif value is less than 2, indicating that there is no problem of covariance among the independent variables; the adjusted r2 value is 0.330, indicating that the predictive power of college students’ employment anxiety, academic stress, and future orientation coping on academic introspection reaches 32.2%; and according to the b-value, employment anxiety (p<0.01), academic stress (p<0.01), and future orientation coping (p<0.01) significantly and positively predicted the level of academic involution of college students. table 3. multiple linear regression results unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t p covariance statistics b se β vif tolerance (constant) 0.503 0.190 2.645 0.008 employment anxiety 0.208 0.045 0.251 4.597 0.000 1.830 .546 academic pressure 0.242 0.050 0.263 4.830 0.000 1.817 .550 future-oriented coping 0.234 0.057 0.187 4.070 0.000 1.292 .774 employment anxiety academic involution academic pressure future-oriented coping employment anxiety 1 academic involution 0.50** 1 academic pressure 0.65** 0.41** 1 future-oriented coping 0.44** 0.51** 0.43** 1 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 125 published by scholink inc. r 2 0.335 adjusted r 2 0.330 4) chain mediation test of academic stress and future-oriented coping between employment anxiety and academic involution among college students (a) chain mediation model fitness of academic stress and future orientation coping from the correlation results, it can be seen that there is a significant correlation among the four components of employment anxiety, academic involution, academic stress, and future orientation coping among college students. based on the research hypotheses, this study used amos 24.0 to construct a structural equation model to test the chain-mediated effects of future orientation coping and academic stress between college students' employment anxiety and academic engagement internalization. as shown in figure 2, the structural equation model was established by taking college students’ employment anxiety as a predictor variable, academic engagement internalization as a calibration variable, and academic stress and future orientation coping as mediator variables. the fit indexes are shown in table 4, the value of 2/df is 2.974, which is less than the critical value of 5; the value of rmsea is 0.069, which is less than the critical value of 0.08; the values of ifi, tli, cfi are 0.929, 0.919, 0.929, respectively, which are all greater than the critical value of 0.9. in summary, the structural equation model established in this study has a good fit degree. table 4. chain mediation model fit metrics fitting metrics 2 /df rmsea ifi tli cfi 2.974 0.069 0.929 0.919 0.929 (b) chain-mediated model path analysis of academic stress and future-oriented coping as can be seen from figure 2, employment anxiety significantly and positively predicts academic stress (β=0.72, p<0.001) and future orientation coping (β=0.26, p<0.001), academic stress significantly and positively predicts future orientation coping (β=0.29, p<0.001), and future orientation coping positively and positively predicts academic intraprogression (β=0.19, p<0.001), which indicates that higher levels of employment anxiety among college students are associated with higher levels of academic stress, which in turn leads to higher levels of future orientation coping and ultimately higher levels of academic involution. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 126 published by scholink inc. figure 2. chain mediated role model of academic stress and future orientation coping (c) mediating effect test of academic stress and future-oriented coping using bootstrap to test the significance of the mediating effect, the chain mediating role model diagram was constructed with college students’ employment anxiety as the independent variable, academic investment involution as the dependent variable, and academic stress and future orientation coping as the mediating variables. according to the operation procedure, the sample size is set to 5000, the confidence interval is 95%, and the calculation is executed. the results are shown in table 5, first, the total effect value of college students’ employment anxiety on academic involution is 0.432, with a bias-corrected 95% confidence interval of 0.349 to 0.528, not including 0, indicating that the total effect of college students’ employment anxiety and academic engagement involution is significant. second, after controlling for the effects of the two mediating variables of academic stress and future orientation coping, the value of the direct effect of college students’ employment anxiety on the internalization of academic engagement was 0.204, with a bias-corrected 95% confidence interval of 0.089 to 0.321, not including 0, indicating that there was a significant positive direct effect of college students’ employment anxiety on the internalization of academic engagement. finally, the mediating effect value of academic stress between college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution was 0.157, with a bias-corrected 95% confidence interval of 0.060 to 0.261, not including 0, indicating that academic stress played a positive and significant part of the mediating effect between employment anxiety and academic involution; and the mediating effect value of future-oriented coping between college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution was 0.040, with an intermediate effect value of 0.040, with an intermediate effect value of 0.321, indicating that the positive direct effect of college students’ employment anxiety and academic involution was significant. effect value is 0.040, with a bias-corrected 95% confidence interval of 0.012 to 0.085, not including 0, indicating that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 127 published by scholink inc. future-oriented coping positively and significantly partially mediates the effect between employment anxiety and academic involution; the chained mediation effect value of academic stress and future-oriented coping between employment anxiety and academic involution is 0.031, with a bias-corrected 95% confidence interval of 0.012 to 0.067, not including 0, indicating a significant positive chain mediated effect of academic stress and future orientation coping, and the research hypothesis 2 is valid. the total indirect effect value was 0.228, accounting for 52.8% of the total effect, respectively. in summary, academic stress and future orientation coping have a chain-mediated effect between college students’ employment anxiety and internalization of academic engagement, acting as partial mediators. table 5. chained mediation effect test table for academic pressure and future-oriented coping path es se bias—corrected 95%ci effect ratio lower upper direct effect employment anxiety-academic involution 0.204 0.059 0.089 0.321 47.20% indirect employment anxiety－ academic pressure－ academic involution 0.157 0.051 0.06 0.261 36.40% effect employment anxiety－ future-oriented coping－ academic involution 0.04 0.018 0.012 0.085 9.20% employment anxiety－ academic pressure－ future-oriented coping－ academic involution 0.031 0.013 0.012 0.067 7.20% total indirect effect 0.228 0.052 0.131 0.336 52.80% total effect employment anxiety-academic involution 0.432 0.045 0.349 0.528 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 128 published by scholink inc. 7. results and discussion this study took 413 undergraduate students from several provinces, including shandong province and hubei province, as research subjects to explore the chain mediating role of academic stress and future orientation coping in the effect of employment anxiety on academic involution. by analyzing and validating the data, this study mainly obtains the following three conclusions and further analyzes the reasons for the possibility of the research conclusions. 7.1 college students’ employment anxiety and academic stress are significantly different by gender it is found that there are significant differences in employment anxiety and academics among college students of different genders. first, on different genders, female students scored significantly higher than male students in employment anxiety, which is consistent with the findings of zhang yuzhu (wen, m. & gan, y. q., 2012, p. 330). since the reform and opening up, china has made remarkable achievements in promoting women’s employment, however, women still face many challenges in the job market, which make women need to cross higher thresholds in employment and suffer greater employment anxiety compared with men. first of all, one of the major obstacles is the constraints of traditional attitudes. in traditional societal attitudes, it is generally believed that women should be more responsible for their families rather than fully engaging in the workplace or their studies. this notion not only restricts women’s career and academic choices, but also increases their pressure in balancing family and career or studies. secondly, women tend to be under more pressure of childbearing and family responsibilities. during childbearing and breastfeeding, they need to devote a lot of time and energy to taking care of their children and families, which will undoubtedly have a negative impact on their employment and studies. lastly, gender discrimination is also an important obstacle that women face in workplace promotion and career development. despite their outstanding performance at work, women often find it difficult to get the same opportunities for promotion and pay rises as men. this unfair treatment makes women feel frustrated and lost, further aggravating their employment pressure. secondly, on different genders, female students scored significantly higher than male students on academic stress, which is consistent with deng qi’s findings (spielberger, c. d., 1996). in their academic pursuits, women are not only committed to achieving excellent grades as a way to demonstrate their personal abilities and values, but also to deal with the high expectations from their families and society. given the relatively limited employment opportunities for women in the workplace, they often need to strive for equal employment opportunities with men through higher academic qualifications. therefore, women not only have to demonstrate academic excellence, but also have to face additional social expectations and employment challenges. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 129 published by scholink inc. 7.2 employment anxiety is a significant positive predictor of academic introspection first, employment anxiety positively predicts the level of academic introspection of college students. one of the most important factors affecting academic engagement is employment (yang, x. q., xu, y. y. & wang, y., 2022, pp. 118-123), and in order to alleviate this anxiety and gain an advantage in the competition for employment, students join the competition for “internalization”. the expansion of colleges and universities has led to an increase in the number of graduates from colleges and universities, and an increase in the number of graduate students, while at the same time the threshold of the job market has also been raised, from college to bachelor’s degree to master’s degree, and even to doctoral degree. the depreciation of academic qualifications brought about by the expansion of colleges and universities, the increase in the pressure of employment competition, and the high employment expectations of individuals can lead to employment anxiety and other psychological problems, resulting in the phenomenon of employment anxiety among college students, which also affects the positioning of college students and their planning for the future, and exacerbates the phenomenon of academic involution (zhao, g. n., 2014, p. 117). 7.3 academic stress and future-oriented coping have a chain mediating role in the effects of employment anxiety on academic involution academic stress and future-oriented coping have a chain mediating role in the effect of employment anxiety on academic involution, i.e., students with high levels of employment anxiety feel higher levels of academic stress and further increase their levels of future-oriented coping, which ultimately leads to an increase in the prevalence of the phenomenon of academic involution. employment anxiety is a kind of disturbing behavior and emotion generated by job search. numerous studies in china have shown that employment stress aggravates students’ academic stress (hu, y. h. & liu, h. m., 2020, pp. 100-106). students with a high level of academic stress, driven by pressure, tend to save for a rainy day and act in advance for more advantages in their future job market, and the degree of future-oriented coping, as an individual’s proactive coping oriented toward the stressor, deepens accordingly. it has been shown that future-oriented coping will increase the level of academic engagement (wen, m. & gan, y. q., 2012, p. 330), and at the undergraduate level, the early coping with employment uncertainty is more reflected in the academic aspect, and the deepening of the degree of future-oriented coping will increase the degree of students’ academic involution. therefore, college students with higher levels of employment anxiety tend to increase their advance preparation for future uncertainty events in order to improve their competitiveness in the job market during college, driven by higher academic pressure, which is more reflected in academic involution at the undergraduate level. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 130 published by scholink inc. 8. insights and recommendations 8.1 implementing employment support policies and solving problems based on root causes the employment of college graduates is related to people’s well-being, economic development and the future of the country. in recent years, the government has introduced employment subsidies, job expansion subsidies, social security subsidies and other policies to address the difficulty of college graduates in finding employment, as well as the implementation of grassroots programs such as the “three supports and one support” program. however, as the total number of college graduates in china continues to expand, and the pressure on the total employment of college graduates coexists with structural contradictions, the problem of difficult employment for college students has always been in an urgent position. in this regard, the government should implement employment assistance policies, establish a convenient and efficient exchange platform for enterprises, schools and students, and conduct legal and compliant employment exchange information sharing through network information platforms. at the same time, it should strengthen the control of the employment market, maintain the fairness and order of the employment market, and crack down on “black intermediaries” and other undesirable problems. only in a fair, orderly and healthy employment environment can college students really give full play to their talents and potentials and realize the value of their lives. by solving the fundamental problem of employment, we can reduce the behavior of college students to get more weight in the job market and reduce the unnecessary consumption caused by internal scrolling. 8.2 establishing a sense of future response and rational planning of academic employment first of all, college students should analyze themselves, give themselves a clear positioning, rational planning of their own life, and at the same time set up a correct career concept, have a full understanding of each occupation, according to the general environment of the career planning, the establishment of a compatible with their own, in response to the changes in the external environment of the academic as well as employment planning, to avoid getting caught in the wave of involution. in this process, schools need to strengthen the construction of career guidance teachers, provide college students with employment information, help students understand the job market and employment situation, guide students to discover their strengths and interests, and guide them to set up the correct concept of employment. at the same time, diversified teaching activities are carried out to cultivate students’ comprehensive quality and innovation ability, so that they can have more competitiveness. secondly, college students themselves need to maintain a strong internal drive, focus on self-improvement, maintain an upward trend, and be firm on their own path, so as to avoid being “swept away”. at the same time, they should not stick to the traditional thinking, and participate in a variety of activities in order to explore more fields in this ever-changing society. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 131 published by scholink inc. 8.3 adjusting the level of academic pressure and healthy competition for common development facing the severe employment environment as well as the phenomenon of involution, college students should maintain their determination, reduce the unnecessary internal conflict brought by involution, accurately recognize the gap between ideals and realities, face up to this gap instead of escaping or blindly pursuing unrealistic goals, actively adjust their mindset, and face all kinds of challenges and difficulties with a calm and rational attitude. on the basis of completing academic tasks, they should participate in more social practice activities, accumulate practical experience, better understand social needs and career development trends, and gradually clarify their career direction accordingly, so as to be fully prepared for future employment. at the same time, college students should also actively seek new tracks, not limited to the traditional employment field, and dare to try new fields and industries. in this fast-changing era, new careers and positions are constantly emerging, and college students should keep a keen insight to seize the opportunities and challenge themselves. most importantly, college students should put themselves in a larger context, focusing not only on their own development, but also on the development of society and the country as a whole. involvement is not the only way out, keep a positive mindset, improve their own hard power, and open up a new track with personal characteristics is the way to crack involvement. references aspinwall, l. g., & taylor, s. e. 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(2016). the relationship between future orientation and academic burnout among adolescents in the pearl river delta region: the mediating role of coping styles. chinese journal of health psychology, 24(10), 1468-1472. yang, x. q., xu, y. y., & wang, y. (2022). a difficult breakthrough: the multiple effects of college students’ academic “involution”. exploration of higher education, (5), 118-123. zhao, g. n. (2014). a study of the relationship between study stress and post-graduation expectations of medical students. science popular (science education), (06), 117. zhou, j. (2022). study on the relationship between academic pressure and learning commitment of college students under the background of “increasing burden”. nanchang university. zhou, x. t., wei, j., & chen, c. l. (2022). the association between college freshmen’s academic introspection and their college adjustment: the moderating role of academic introspection climate. tsinghua university education research, (45), 131-140. https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780198508144.003.0002 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 50 original paper chinese students’ use of digital resources for their learning in uk higher education tracy simmons 1 , palitha edirisingha 2* & mengjie jiang 2 1 school of media, communication and sociology, university of leicester, uk 2 school of education, university of leicester, uk * palitha edirisingha, school of education, university of leicester, uk received: march 28, 2021 accepted: april 14, 2021 online published: may 30, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n2p50 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n2p50 abstract this paper explores chinese students’ use of digital resources during their postgraduate studies in the uk. the study is important in contemporary higher education (he) context where internet-based technologies, resources, online platforms and digital devices play a significant role in providing access to learning resources. a significant portion of students in he also come from diverse cultures with arguably varying orientations to learning and using technologies. based on qualitative data collected from focus group interviews with chinese postgraduate students at leicester, we explore some of the challenges that they face during their transition from learning in china (nguyen et al., 2006; leedham, 2015) to the uk he learning environment. we identify the strategies that these students use, including a variety of digital tools and resources that they use to help in their formal studies during and beyond this transition stage. we also highlight their development of digital literacy skills and the responsibility that the uk heis have in this regard. keywords international students, chinese postgraduate students, learning cultures, digital literacy skills, social media, transition to he 1. introduction our focus in this paper is the students coming from the people’s republic of china (or china) to undertake taught post-graduate degrees in the uk. the uk currently benefits to the tune of more than £14 billion from international student recruitment per annum (british council, n.d.). the number of chinese international students’ enrolment in the uk he reached 120,000 in the academic year 2018/19, far exceeding any other non-european union countries (universities uk, n.d.). as the data from the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 51 published by scholink inc. higher education statistics agency (2017) shows, china has been at the top in the list of top 10 sending countries to the uk for a number of years. despite the challenging circumstances brought about to the uk he sector by the covid-19 pandemic in 2020/21, the study international (2020), an information gateway for international students reports that “more chinese students accept places at british universities despite pandemic”. this research emerges out of our teaching practice at postgraduate level with an increasingly diverse internationalised cohort of students. as part of an internally funded teaching grant, we explored students’ digital literacy skills and how digital tools/platforms could potentially help students to learn (simmons, edirisingha, & jiang, 2017). this small-scale study involved a survey and focus groups, and allowed us to obtain a broad picture of what digital tools students were using (and not using) as part of their formal and informal learning. this initial study showed that the majority of participants were international students (english as a second language) and predominantly from china. therefore, the cultural context had to be explored in more detail which in our case involve the need to understand the differing pedagogic contexts and informational spaces that they are familiar with before arriving in the uk. this prompted us to explore more deeply this cultural context and in doing so recognise that models of digital literacy, as this paper highlights, need to take into account the cultural context in which they are being applied. furthermore, we hope to make some suggestions for academics, professional staff and respond to jin and cortazzi’s (2017) call for a greater understanding of different learning cultures in an internationalised he environment. 2. review of the relevant literature 2.1 chinese international students learning in uk he our starting point is that not all learning and teaching can be detached from the wider social and cultural context in which they take place. therefore, an understanding of how culture influences the chinese students’ attitudes and approaches to learning can help uk tutors to develop more culturally sensitive pedagogies (kennedy, 2002). it is argued that chinese students’ learning beliefs are often underpinned by “confucian values” (leedham, 2015) that put emphasis on harmony and social order through underscoring individual obligation. in addition, according to scholars such as huang, bedford & zhang ((2017) chinese societies also favour collectivism. turner (2006) commented that chinese learners are often depicted as showing dispositions for conformity, passivity and respecting authority. this widely held, but debatable (e.g., wu, 2015) perception of chinese learner’s characteristics often contrasts those desired in western education, such as critical thinking and capability for self-directed learning (ramsden, 2003). murphy (1987) suggested that chinese students’ (seemingly) passive behaviour in the classroom can be attributed to the confucian value of filial piety, and the rigidity of discipline. chinese students are educated to respect seniors and teachers, and keeping up a harmonious relationship between oneself and peers is encouraged according to the confucian view of ethics as a social construct (bond, 1996; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 52 published by scholink inc. legge, 2017). together with the notion of “face (mian zi)”—an important characteristic of chinese etiquette, taking class time to express a personal view (which might be seen as undesirable thus making students “lose face” themselves) or challenging teachers which may cause teachers to lose status is often considered as a disgraceful action (bond, 1996; chang & holt, 1994). additionally, chinese learning strategy is seen as showing little tolerance for the approximation of knowledge and aims at mastery of knowledge (hu, 2002). leedham’s (2015) review of recent literature that sets the context for her study on chinese students’ writing in english also shows the differences in attitudes and approaches to learning displayed by chinese students that can be linked to the cultural of context of learning in china. within a western learning context, chinese students’ expectations and learning strategies, developed through their education in china together with their unfamiliarity with uk learning context, may not match the approach to learning embedded in british he (gill, 2007). however, a number of other studies (e.g., biggs, 1996; ryan & louie, 2007; chan & rao, 2009; ryan 2010; mcmahon, 2011), have challenged misconceptions attributed to chinese learners studying in “western contexts” in particular arguing against the homogenising of confucius heritage culture in relation to chinese learners. instead, we might consider, as we do in this paper, the way in which chinese learners self-report their own diverse experiences as learners having come from china to the uk. we also note the importance of recognising the diversity of “chinese learners” and their learning experiences. china is one of the largest countries in the world by area with a population of about 1.4 billion, and “we should consider the variety of their national, regional, economic, class and cultural backgrounds as well as age, religion and gender” (shu in leedham, 2015, p. 19). for example, students coming from hong-kong tend to be more familiar with “western” pedagogy (specifically british culture). hong kong students in particular had experience of “160 years” of british colonial culture (sun & richardson, 2012). they also have familiarity with western social media platforms like facebook and twitter. in addition, there is recognition as the paper identifies, that confucius heritage culture is not static and is contestable. as stephens (1997) argues in her study with 12 visiting chinese scholars in a british university, that any “gaps” or differences of communication can be down to language proficiency rather than generalisable cultural differences which in themselves are contestable. in a similar vein, wu (2015) comparing british and chinese postgraduate students across three british universities observes that though some cultural “norms” are in evidence, chinese learners’ ability to adapt to uk study was multifaceted and complex. in addition, one important point made in wu’s study was the role social media and online learning, virtual systems could play in cushioning the “hard academic landing” for chinese students. this is something our research highlights but we would also add that digital resources need also to be culturally contextualised in terms of students’ familiarity and digital literacy. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 53 published by scholink inc. 2.2 cultural script any form of learning activity that takes place during the encounter of two distinct cultures involves interfacing different “cultural scripts” of learning (welikala & watkins, 2008). a script, as schank & abelson (1975, p. 151) interpreted, is “a predetermined, stereotyped sequence of actions that define a well-known situation”. according to welikala & watkins (2008), in a learning context, the idea of “scripts” allows us to understand the role of “human memory” and how knowledge is structured; they argue “human memories are not merely decontextualized information” but are attached to meaningful “stories”. welikala & watkins (2008) study shows that such scripts can shape the way learners see the role of the teacher-learner relationship. they also illuminate ways students approach the process of gaining knowledge, through reading, peer interaction and talking in class. our study takes a wider perspective of “cultural scripts” to understand how students from one culture learn in a new cultural setting (azuma, 2001). we also want to develop the concept of cultural scripts to include the role of digital platforms and how the use of such tools as part of informal and formal learning are shaped but also can disrupt such “cultural scripts”. therefore, we wanted to bring together perspectives on “cultural scripts” and digital literacy in order to examine the practice and learning experience of chinese students in uk he. 2.3 the use of digital resources for academic learning researchers (e.g., anderson, 2007; ullrich et al., 2008; carter & nugent, 2011) have been examining how learning and teaching are being redefined alongside the development of web-based technologies. for example, twitter has long been of particular interest to he as a tool to facilitate students to participate in professional communities (jacquemin et al., 2014). wikipedia has also been seen as a useful tool to create user generated content and for collaborative editing (alexander & levine, 2008). however, a gap has long existed between the affordances of technology and the reality of how students use them for learning (henderson et al., 2015). arguably, an internationally diverse student body in he can extend these challenges as international students’ experience and skills may be different from uk tutors’ expectations. an understanding of this diversity is particularly vital in the contemporary context where learning becomes increasingly facilitated by online technologies (hughes, 2013). china’s internet landscape presents a different picture compared to that of the west (the economist, 2013), with many social networking sites that serve as close equivalents of those in the west (guo et al., 2014). for example, sina weibo (similar to twitter) provides users with micro-blogging using multimedia. apps such as wechat (an instant messaging and social media tool) are popular among chinese students (cic, 2015). evidence-based understanding of chinese students’ experiences of using internet-based tools and resources would be useful for he institutions to improve their teaching and learning approaches. students’ use of digital technologies is becoming ubiquitous, and digital technologies currently serve as an integral aspect of student lived experience in and out of university (henderson et al., 2015). due to this reason, rather than viewing digital literacy simply as a set of discrete skills that need to be mastered, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 54 published by scholink inc. our study takes account of chinese international students’ digital literacy practices and the development of their digital literacy skills to be integral to their whole learning experience. in the context of this study, examining digital literacy draws on the work of a uk joint information systems committee (jisc) project (hampton-reeve et al., 2009) and chaka (2009), as involving behaviours, habits and attitudes acquired, developed and presented by learners in relation to digital media over a period their study. this constitutes diverse knowledge and skills required by extended practices and refinement according to different contexts (littlejohn et al., 2013), which when applied to international students, are the development of digital literacy skills through interacting with different social and cultural practices during their transition to uk he. 3. research objectives and the methodology this paper examines chinese students’ uses of digital resources, their prior experience and digital literacy skills in adapting to the uk post graduate (pg) studies. it attempts to direct our research on how their digital literacy skills and the use of web tools are informed by the cultural contexts in which they are embedded (gu, 2011) and reports some of the challenges that chinese postgraduate students face during their transition from a confucian heritage learning culture (nguyen et al., 2006; leedham, 2015) to the uk he learning environment. the research was conducted using a qualitative approach involving focus group interviews with master’s level student at the university of leicester. focus group typically consisted of between 2-4 students depending on the choice of students. ethics approval was received from the university of leicester ethics committee for each round of data collection (annually) from the academic year 2011-12 until the year 2018-19 which was the last round of data collection (each year, 1-5 focus groups). the majority of students who took part in these interviews were from mainland china. they were either in the last stage of their one-year master’s degree or those who had completed it few months prior to data collection. the students who took part in our study were from a range of departments in the field of social sciences. taking part in these interviews was voluntary. prior to data collection, students were sent a participant information sheet that contained information about the research, the nature of the interviews and the voluntary approach to taking part in the research. students completed a consent form before taking part in interviews. the interviews lasted 40-90 minutes. the aim of these focus groups was to gain a deeper insight into their use of digital tools and web resources for their learning. all interviews were recorded using a voice recorder and transcribed in full. data were analysed to identify emerging themes to offer an insight into their practices of using these resources for learning. initially we were interested in how our interview participants perceived and used these resources for learning before and after arriving in the uk for pg studies. we drew particular attention to students’ digital practices when they have carried out assessed pieces of work (e.g., presentations, essays, dissertations) as part of their formal course requirements. the initial set of data highlighted a number of interesting issues concerned with their approaches to learning, such as www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 55 published by scholink inc. academic writing and the kinds of digital tools and platforms they used. this prompted us in later interviews (from 2014) to ask students more about their approaches to teaching and learning in china in order to get a deeper sense of how this may have shaped their approaches to studying at pg level in the uk. in addition to the above set of data, this paper also draws on a set of quantitative data collected by jiang (2018) (the 3 rd author of this paper) from 30 chinese pg students at leicester to illustrate the chinese students’ familiarity with technologies. 4. results and analysis the analysis of data is organised based on two themes: 1) learning in he in china compared to that in the uk he; and 2) the role of online tools and resources in academic learning and the digital literacy skills that they developed during their one-year master’s studies in the uk. 4.1 teaching and learning in uk and chinese he in our most recent focus group interviews students told us about their experience of studying in the two academic contexts. hearing students’ accounts of these experiences was a useful starting point for our analysis. as jin and cortazzi (1998) pointed out an investigation into learning in particular contexts needs to consider the broader cultural contexts in which learning is developed. students reflected on their teaching and learning (lectures, seminars, tutorials, e-learning platforms and tools), types of assessment, and their interactions with the academic staff. having to do “many assignments” and “coursework” were highlighted as key aspects of their learning in the uk. in china, their main mode of assessment were examinations. students also commented that they felt that the duration of modules (a module is a unit of study in uk he programmes) in uk pg courses was short (12 weeks) compared to their experience in china and that they found it hard to “understand everything”. most found it hard to ask questions in the class and unlike in china, they are required to make appointments for tutorials to discuss various aspects of learning. some tutors only met them during a scheduled tutorial or drop-in session hours. emailing the personal tutor to arrange tutorials was something new for them. one student pointed out that: “in china, you can ask questions any time you want. you just go to the [lecturer’s] office; the tutor will invite you in and you can ask questions”. this student further added that “chinese students can be quite shy, and their english is not good. they might be embarrassed to ask questions during the class”. in china, students are not allowed to ask questions without teacher’s permission “because it is not respectful”. these students found it hard to “interrupt” their classes and ask questions even if that is what their tutors at masters level classes encouraged them to do (a focus group in 2015). these experiences in chinese he context could have some implications for the way in which they would engage in uk he classes. some students pointed out that the large class sizes during their undergraduate (ug) studies in china was one of the reasons for some of the above issues: “… there isn’t enough time for teacher to ask us to discuss anything. … [and] the class time is very short, and the teacher wanted to teach us as much as they can”. in the uk, their pg classes were small with more room for discussions. these discussions www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 56 published by scholink inc. have helped this student to: “… get different opinions from people from different backgrounds or different countries. so then i can enrich the knowledge about the topic”. students said that they learned by “sharing ideas with different people” although they didn’t like discussion-oriented class sessions at first. students also felt that in china, the course material that they had covered in the lectures were adequate for them to study and pass examinations successfully, therefore, additional reading was not required of them. most of the material studied were based on textbooks that were key part of the course material, and they weren’t required to access extra reading material. however, in the uk studies they were required to read widely. when we asked students about their understanding of the academic writing conventions in the uk, students reported that this is something that they have struggled with. this is partly because, in most disciplines, their assessment in ug studies were based on examinations. they have had limited experience of writing long essays. one student explained that: during the four years of my undergraduate study, i only have done one dissertation. the rest of the assessment were exams. essays, to me, is really a new concept. especially academic writing. (a focus group, 2016). at the time of the interview, this student had written four 4,000-word essays, and four 10-minutes long presentations. she was completing a 20,000-word dissertation. she has learned about writing long essays and academic writing through a pre-sessional english language course that she had completed before starting her master’s degree. she also pointed out that avoiding plagiarism, accurate use of quotations and following referencing styles were all new to her. she pointed out that: as chinese students, we have a totally different culture of learning. we do not see copying others’ work as plagiarism. we just show our respect to others’ opinion if we quote someone’s words in our essays… the above section shows some of the differences that our interview participants have experienced in their two learning contexts. hu’s (2002) perspectives of strategies often practised in chinese education provides us a useful framework to make sense of teaching and learning at ug level in china. part of hu (2002)’s framework consists of 4rs (reception, repetition, review and reproduction). reception indicates that students learn through retaining knowledge transmitted by tutors and textbooks often without preconceptions, and learning often takes a repetitive approach to deepen understanding (hu, 2002). constant reviewing is important to proceed with learning and students are supposed to reproduce imparted knowledge required by teachers or tests (rao, 1996). the other aspects of hu (2002)’s framework that offers a view of education in china consists of 4ms: meticulosity, memorisation, mental activeness, mastery. meticulosity means that chinese students are inclined to pay attention to specific details of knowledge (hu, 2002; biggs, 1996). memorisation is a commonly practised strategy among chinese students; however, it should be distinguished from rote learning, a stereotyped misconception of learning strategy by western commentators (biggs, 1996). it www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 57 published by scholink inc. is very important to highlight jin and cortazzi’s (2006) argument that chinese students’ memorisation needs to be considered as an activity carried out with understanding, during which students attend to mental activeness more than verbal activeness. 4.2 the use of online resources and the implications for developing digital literacy skills our participants had undergone a number of transitions during their masters level studies: from undergraduate level to postgraduate levels of study; from large classrooms to mostly smaller size lectures and seminar-type face-to-face teaching sessions with classroom discussions; from predominantly examination-oriented assessed work to long essay/written text-based work, and presentations in front of the whole classroom; and predominantly from teacher-directed learning context to interactions with tutors/lecturers as those who guide or advise them. as revealed in our focus group interviews students understood their he teachers’ role as those who would point them to relevant books and other resources; and “you need to study by yourself. [so] you need to work harder [than you did during ug studies]”. students thought that they needed to “read a lot of books and study by yourself. not just go to the class. … [now] you study for acquiring the knowledge” (a focus group in 2015). these conditions in the uk learning environment meant that students had to take more responsibility for their learning. many students found this challenging, but as the following student highlighted they were aware of this responsibility, too. as they wrote more and longer essays at pg level (in contrast to their assessments in ug level) they found referencing a challenging task: “… here, everything needs references; for everything we write, we need to find whether someone else has said it before. so we take it very carefully. so we need a lot of time to do that. (a focus group, 2015). our interviews carried out since 2011-12 showed that students use a range of digital tools and online resources which have been helpful for them to navigate in the teaching learning environment successfully. a more recent set of data collected by jiang (2018) from 30 pg students at leicester (figures 1 and 2) show the fuller range of technologies that chinese students have used during their ug studies in china and what they have started to use pg students in the uk. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 58 published by scholink inc. figure 1. frequently used digital tools for accessing information during ug studies in china and pg studies in the uk (n=30) source: jiang, 2018, p. 148. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 59 published by scholink inc. figure 2. frequently used digital tools for communication during ug studies in china and pg studies in the uk (n=30) source: jiang, 2018, p. 155. in our focus groups students talked to us about many strategies that they have adopted in order to engage with the challenging tasks of their learning and study activities at postgraduate level. one student mentioned that the “major difficulty is the academic vocabulary”. this student would use google and online dictionaries to find meaning of the difficult academic words. they mentioned the use of a chinese online dictionary called youdao which shows the words with some sample sentences. other students talked about the challenge of understanding the assignment tasks and planning assignments. here they relied on not only the resources available from the library database but also from “some chinese websites”. … i search for resources using keywords. then i would quickly read the content and if i think they are useful are useful for my assignment, then i read them more carefully for the important messages (a focus group, 2015). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 60 published by scholink inc. students in our earlier focus groups also mentioned a range of websites and internet-based tools that they have used for their formal learning activities at pg level (originally published in edirisingha and simmons, 2015). figure 3 illustrates some of these tools. figure 3. online resources used by students for their academic learning source: edirisingha and simmons, 2015. as the following extract shows, students have been using some of these tools before starting their pg studies in the uk. [i use a] chinese website called is douban. i find [it] a very useful website for me, because if i want to read a book, i search the book in douban, i will find the book. there is specific webpage for this book and there are some recommendations and comments from other readers about this book. besides, this website allows people to use tags about books, music or films, so members of this website can just search these tags and they can find relevant resources. and the website will give you recommendations. so, for me, it’s a very useful website for learning (a focus group, 2011). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 61 published by scholink inc. in interviews students also talked about some of the other tools (e.g., youtube) that they have started to use after they began their pg studies. their tutors have used videos on youtube during their classes in the first term, for example “a lecture by ken robinson [an educational thinker]”. following this, students have begun to search for other educational videos on youtube and have cited those in their essays. a particular example was the videos on how to use spss. one student mentioned that videos on spss (e.g., how to use chi square) on youtube were helpful “because the university only offered a basic [teaching on spss]” and some of the material was not clear. another example of using videos for learning was from youqu, a youtube-like video sharing service in china. if i don’t understand the tutor in the classroom, i search for videos that can teach me the theory, the [explanation] is better than the tutor’s. … (a focus group, 2012). our focus group interviews provided a range of examples of students’ use of web-based tools and resources to access material to help their academic learning. very often students go beyond the formal channels and sources (tutors, learning material available on the university e-learning system, material accessible from the university’s e-library, and the stock of books and other resources available in the library). the internet provides students access to plenty of learning resources such as videos, podcasts and simulations that look attractive and engaging, and have been produced to a standard that a university academic might not be able to achieve within the resources (time, expertise) available to them (edirisingha & simmons, 2015). accessing these materials on the internet is easy; the challenge for students is that they need to know how to evaluate their accuracy and relevance. our sample of students reported the wide range of web-based tools and resources that they have used for their academic learning. some students were uncertain “whether it is appropriate to use videos” and cite them in their essays. learning material and research reports in video and other formats (non-text, non-conventional publication types) are still not common in university courses. students said their tutors used them, for example, at the beginning of a class to introduce the subject and create interest among the students: students found them “fascinating”, but when it came to using these resources in their essays, they were uncertain how to judge their “academic quality”. therefore, students own digital literacy and awareness of how such resources could be used in their academic work needs to be addressed by tutors. guidance on how to cite multimedia resources or other online material needs to be given alongside a discussion on what is “academic” or authoritative sources. it also clear that such resources are invaluable to international students, as they find “centralized” or formal digital resources scarce or less engaging. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 62 published by scholink inc. 5. discussion and conclusions our objective in this paper was to bring together a number of perspectives on the use of digital tools and resources for learning and cultural scripts to explore the transition chinese students make as they undertake a one-year master’s level study in the uk. the questions that guided us were: how are chinese pg students’ use of web tools informed by the cultural contexts in which they are embedded, first in china and then in the uk? what, if any, might be the gap between the tools and resources provided by the university and those that are “owned” by students or that they have become familiar with while they were in china? furthermore, how might digital resources assist chinese students in their uk pg studies or perhaps embed them in the “cultural scripts” of learning they may have? we found that there is often a lacuna between both the pedagogic and digital resources for international students made available by the university and those that are familiar to students themselves. for example, students share online material (ted talks, youtube lectures and mandarin versions of academic books) to assist them in their learning. it is clear that students vary in what they consider authoritative academic material online and some guidance is needed on how they might identify these sources. furthermore, it is important that international students do not just “stay” with familiar china-based web resources from “home” throughout their studies as there is a risk this could further embed them in cultural scripts. by engaging with western and english language web resources as they study, they can diversify the range of informational sources and immerse themselves more fully in the socio-cultural context of their studies. also, our research shows that students employ a range of strategies to make the transition from the “cultural script” they may have brought from their studies in china to the pedagogic environment of western he. chinese digital resources play a role in this process, to some extent in cushioning the “hard academic landing” (wu, 2015) into the uk academic culture. our research participants who had attended the pre-sessional (or preparatory) english courses at the university reported that these courses introduced them to forms of academic writing, skills (essays, citation) that they were unfamiliar with. our study further illuminates the need for practitioners in uk he institutions to engage with the range of learning practices, the cultural scripts in which they may be based in order to ease the transition some chinese students may face. in doing so it may also avoid the interpretation of such cultural scripts as negative, e.g., chinese students as “passive” during lectures when in fact this may be active learning and internalisation of knowledge. the portrayal of the image of international students in terms of their approaches to learning can often be unfavourable and unfair within uk he discourses (sovic & blythman, 2013). the general perception of “western” and “confucian” labels is that undesirable activities such as plagiarism and non-critical thinking approach are often attributed to “confucian education”. however, the dichotomy between “western” and “confucian” approach to learning fails to take account of the complexities among individual learners and it overlooks differences within two educational cultures (ryan & louie, 2007). in addition, many of the challenges that students raise in our research maybe attributable to the shift from ug to pg level studies and the relatively short period www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 63 published by scholink inc. a typical master’s course takes, rather than wholesale cultural differences. by continuing this research, we aim to develop further the nuanced context in which chinese international students develop strategies and use web resources in order to make their transition to the uk he environment. the long-term aim of our research is to draw out these complexities, and like littlejohn et al. (2013) and gourley & oliver (2014), we highlight the importance of considering a socio-cultural approach to digital literacy. theorists (e.g., gee, 1996; littlejohn et al., 2013) have long proposed that the understanding of digital literacy signifies that digital literacy practices ought to be understood in the contexts of social, cultural and historical practices of which they are a part. it means to embrace the interpretation of digital literacy as situated social practices and as notions of engaging in the process of reflective meaning making and involves social support (littlejohn et al., 2013; van deursen & van dijk, 2011). we recommend that uk universities should be more aware of the kinds of digital tools and resources international students are using as part of their formal and informal learning. in turn, an awareness and understanding by tutors of non-western digital platforms, resources and tools could also be helpful in the transition chinese learners make to the he uk environment. for example, we have introduced as part of the induction activities a session that enabled students to introduce themselves to their peers and share their previous learning experiences and what digital tools they had used and were aware of as part of their studies. this activity also allowed us as tutors to learn about our students’ backgrounds and awareness of tools before they came to leicester but also to make recommendations and guidance on what digital resources might be useful for their studies. as quan, he & sloan (2016) argue in their research with chinese postgraduate students at uk universities, the “arrival” (induction period) stage is crucial for helping students to transition into uk he. we also, find this induction activity can help us provide further guidance and support throughout their studies right through to the dissertation stage. in addition, the first author of this paper is working with the university’ english language unit to build linguistic and subject specialist support around a first semester postgraduate module. overall, we recommend and concur with jin and cortazzi’s (2017:241) view that in an internationalised he environment engaging reciprocally with “cultures of learning” has benefits for all of us as teachers and students. references alexander, b., & levine, a. 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(2015). re-examining the “chinese learner”: a case study of mainland chinese students’ learning experiences at british universities. higher education, 70, 753-766. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9865-y https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9865-y global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 60 original paper construction of smart construction course groups driven by interdisciplinary integration lijuan chen 1* , shuo li 1 , chuanlei song 1 , qingbo meng 1 , lingdong meng 2 , qingchi zhang 1 , chuanli yang 1 & zhe kong 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china 2 jiangsu colleage of engineering and technology, jiangsu, china * lijuan chen, qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: february 1, 2025 accepted: february 10, 2025 online published: february 14, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p60 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p60 abstract this study explores the innovation in smart construction course groups driven by interdisciplinary integration, aiming to construct a smart construction course group centered on interdisciplinary fusion. addressing the challenges in developing a smart construction curriculum system under the context of higher education and industry-academia collaboration, this study proposes breaking disciplinary boundaries and integrating civil engineering, automation technology, computer science, and other fields to establish a curriculum system tailored to the cultivation of new engineering talents. the findings indicate that the proposed course group significantly enhances students’ ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge, apply innovative practices, and collaborate effectively in teams within the field of smart construction. this research provides a systematic approach to curriculum design for smart construction education and offers theoretical support and practical insights for the promotion and application of interdisciplinary education models within the new engineering education framework. keywords interdisciplinary integration, smart construction, course group innovation, collaborative teaching, new engineering education www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 61 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction 1.1 research background and significance smart construction, as a frontier field driving the high-quality development of the construction industry, is undergoing profound transformations through technological innovation and industrial upgrades. its core lies in the deep integration of multiple disciplines, especially the application of technologies such as computer science, artificial intelligence, electronic information, and automation, which inject new momentum into architectural design, construction, and operation. however, interdisciplinary integration in smart construction still faces numerous challenges in practice, such as the lack of unified technical standards, data collaboration complexities, and the shortage of high-level interdisciplinary talents. therefore, it is essential to explore effective paths for interdisciplinary collaboration from both theoretical and practical perspectives to promote the overall development of the smart construction field. this research focuses on the innovative model of interdisciplinary collaboration, delving into the fusion mechanisms of computer science, artificial intelligence, and civil engineering, and aims to build a theoretical framework and practical system with guiding value for the industry’s transformation. 1.2 research problems and objectives this research, based on the integration of civil engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and electronic information disciplines, proposes a course group system for smart construction through interdisciplinary collaboration to overcome the limitations of traditional curriculum structures. the research objectives include enhancing students’ comprehensive knowledge structure and innovation capabilities to meet the needs of the intelligent transformation of the construction industry. based on the new engineering context, the research combines industry demands and educational status, designs a curriculum reform plan, and validates its effectiveness through teaching practices. the results not only provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the smart construction field but also lay the foundation for cultivating highly skilled and versatile talents for the future. 2. integration of smart construction with computer science and technology 2.1 core applications of computer technology in smart construction computer technology plays a key role in driving the digital transformation of the construction industry. digital tools such as bim (building information modeling), 3d modeling, and cad (computer-aided design) significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of building design and engineering construction. these technologies not only enable the simulation and optimization of architectural models during the design phase but also provide precise guidance and data support during construction. big data analytics allows for the management of construction projects throughout their lifecycle, enabling real-time monitoring of progress. it also optimizes resource allocation and predicts potential risks. cloud computing ensures efficient storage and data processing, supporting collaborative work across geographically dispersed teams. with the integration of the internet of things (iot), real-time www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 62 published by scholink inc. sensing and transmission of building information further enhance the intelligence of building operations, driving the smart application of construction processes (wang, j., wang, x., shou, w. & xu, b., 2020, pp. 621-642). 2.2 case analysis and technological innovation in integration many successful cases demonstrate the integration of smart construction and computer technology in practice. for example, a construction design and management system based on bim technology achieves seamless integration of design, construction, and operation through a unified digital platform. in one project, the use of bim technology increased efficiency by 20% and reduced construction errors by 15%. moreover, digital construction systems applied during the construction phase use virtual construction techniques to identify problems in advance and optimize solutions, effectively reducing changes and resource waste. additionally, the cloud computing and big data-driven smart construction site management system provides intelligent support for the monitoring and regulation of the construction process. these cases illustrate how the deep integration of computer technology and the construction industry not only provides a solid technological foundation for smart construction but also establishes a model for combining theory and practice for future smart buildings (sacks, r., brilakis, i., pikas, e., xie, h. s. & girolami, m., 2020, p. e14). 2.3 challenges and countermeasures for interdisciplinary integration despite the significant achievements in the application of computer technology in smart construction, the process of interdisciplinary integration still faces challenges. first, inconsistent technical standards across disciplines lead to data interoperability issues, affecting the collaborative application of interdisciplinary technologies. second, data security and privacy issues are increasingly prominent, especially in cloud computing and iot environments, where protecting construction data from attacks is a pressing concern. additionally, the shortage of interdisciplinary talents limits the depth of integration. traditional single-discipline education models focus mainly on knowledge transmission in one field and are inadequate for meeting the demand for composite talents in smart construction. in contrast, an interdisciplinary education model integrates knowledge from various disciplines and cultivates students’ comprehensive abilities in complex engineering environments. to address these challenges, the study proposes several strategies: establishing unified data standards and interface specifications to ensure interoperability of different disciplinary technologies; enhancing data security technologies, including optimizing encryption algorithms and access control mechanisms; and designing interdisciplinary courses and practical projects to cultivate talents with multi-disciplinary knowledge and practical application capabilities. these measures provide directions for the deep integration of smart construction and computer technology, promoting innovation and high-quality development in the construction industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 63 published by scholink inc. 3. integration of smart construction with artificial intelligence 3.1 application scenarios of artificial intelligence in smart construction artificial intelligence (ai), as a key driver of smart construction technology development, has shown extensive application potential in various critical areas of the construction industry. first, in intelligent construction management, ai algorithms enable real-time prediction and dynamic adjustment of construction progress, optimizing resource allocation and reducing construction time. additionally, computer vision technology is used for on-site safety monitoring and violation detection, significantly improving construction safety. furthermore, machine learning models analyze historical and real-time data to predict engineering quality and potential risks, providing reliable support for preventive measures. second, ai plays a crucial role in automated construction, where robotic technologies enable precise assembly of complex structures, material handling, and path planning, improving construction accuracy and efficiency. finally, in intelligent design and optimization, ai-assisted design tools use generative algorithms and optimization models to rapidly generate diverse architectural design solutions. these tools evaluate factors such as structural stability, energy consumption, and construction cost to optimize design schemes, enhancing the efficiency and innovation of architectural planning (zhang, j., teizer, j., lee, j. k., eastman, c. m. & venugopal, m., 2015, pp. 183-195). 3.2 case studies and technological innovations the integration of smart construction and ai has achieved significant success in various practical cases. for example, in some smart construction projects, ai-driven robotic construction technologies have greatly improved the efficiency of prefabricated building assembly, particularly in areas such as path planning, collaborative operation, and obstacle avoidance. ai algorithms are also widely applied in real-time monitoring systems for smart construction sites, optimizing equipment scheduling, material usage, and safety management through environmental data analysis. additionally, ai-powered decision support systems integrate data from the design, construction, and operation phases to optimize the entire building lifecycle. some enterprises employ ai models to generate complex architectural designs and evaluate design schemes in terms of structural stability, energy efficiency, and construction cost. these cases demonstrate ai’s critical role in enhancing construction efficiency, optimizing architectural design, and ensuring safety management, providing a new technological path for the digital transformation of the construction industry. 3.3 challenges and countermeasures for interdisciplinary integration despite the promising future of ai applications in smart construction, several challenges persist. first, ai models must be highly adaptable and generalized for diverse smart construction scenarios, but many existing models are specialized and lack the flexibility to adapt to dynamic construction environments. second, data interoperability and standardization issues between different disciplines significantly hinder the deep integration of ai technology. for instance, compatibility between building information modeling (bim) and ai models remains limited, affecting collaborative efficiency. furthermore, smart www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 64 published by scholink inc. construction projects involve interdisciplinary collaboration, requiring participants to possess comprehensive technical knowledge and strong teamwork abilities. however, the lack of interdisciplinary composite talents has restricted the widespread application of ai technology. to address these issues, solutions include establishing unified data standards and open interface systems to improve technological compatibility, fostering industry-academia collaboration to develop interdisciplinary courses and projects, and promoting the deep integration of ai and the construction industry through experimental projects. implementing these strategies will effectively facilitate ai applications in smart construction and accelerate the industry’s transition toward intelligent development. 4. integration of smart construction with electronic information and automation 4.1 core applications of electronic information and automation technology in smart construction electronic information and automation technology serve as key enablers for the intelligent and digital transformation of smart construction. these technologies utilize sensor networks to collect multi-dimensional data in real-time throughout the construction and operational phases, providing reliable support for monitoring, optimization, and decision-making in the construction process. for example, environmental monitoring systems deploy various sensors to collect data on temperature, humidity, and light intensity, enabling real-time feedback on site conditions and optimized resource allocation. additionally, automation control systems regulate machinery and equipment in real time, ensuring precision and efficiency in construction processes. automated assembly lines, widely applied in prefabricated construction, exhibit high efficiency, accuracy, and intelligence from component manufacturing to on-site installation. furthermore, the integration of iot (internet of things) technology connects dispersed devices and data into a unified platform, enhancing full-process project management and improving the intelligence level of construction and operation workflows (li, h., lu, w. & huang, t., 2019, pp. 499-507). 4.2 case studies and technological innovations the integration of smart construction with electronic information and automation technology has led to significant advancements in practice. for instance, in a prefabricated construction project, an intelligent control system-driven automated production line enabled the high-precision manufacturing and distribution of building components, effectively reducing material waste and shortening the construction cycle. additionally, smart monitoring systems collect real-time environmental and equipment operation data, leveraging data analysis algorithms to optimize construction workflows, significantly improving both efficiency and safety. in the field of smart buildings, intelligent lighting and energy management systems have become exemplary applications. these systems utilize sensors and automated control devices to optimize energy distribution, reducing operational costs while supporting sustainable green building development. these examples demonstrate how electronic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 65 published by scholink inc. information and automation technologies provide a strong technological foundation for smart construction, playing a pivotal role in modernizing the construction industry. 4.3 challenges and countermeasures for interdisciplinary integration despite the promising future of electronic information and automation in smart construction, several challenges remain in their integration. first, inconsistencies in communication protocols and data formats across different devices hinder interconnectivity and data sharing, limiting widespread adoption. second, the vast amount of data generated in smart construction projects presents high complexity in real-time processing and analysis, imposing stringent demands on software and hardware performance. additionally, knowledge gaps between electronic information and traditional construction disciplines create communication and coordination challenges within interdisciplinary teams. to address these issues, it is essential to establish standardized data protocols and unified interfaces to ensure seamless system integration. in education, interdisciplinary courses and practice-based learning programs should be introduced to cultivate professionals with expertise in both construction and electronic information technology. furthermore, adopting high-performance computing and distributed data processing technologies will enhance the efficiency of smart construction systems. by implementing these strategies, the integration of electronic information and automation with smart construction can be further deepened, providing strong technological support for the intelligent transformation of the construction industry. 5. interdisciplinary education model and talent development 5.1 course group design approach and objectives in the field of smart construction, an interdisciplinary education model must align with the industry’s urgent demand for versatile talents, making the construction of course groups a critical component. based on the new engineering education framework, this study proposes a course group design approach that is industry-driven and technology innovation-centered. specifically, the approach integrates knowledge from civil engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and electronic information to develop course modules that combine theoretical depth with practical application, addressing the diverse job requirements in smart construction. the primary goal of the course group is not only to cultivate students’ ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge but also to enhance their innovation and problem-solving skills in complex engineering contexts, ultimately driving educational reform and industrial development in smart construction. furthermore, a dynamic course adjustment mechanism is established to ensure that the curriculum evolves in sync with technological advancements in the industry, continuously optimizing its content. this ensures that students’ knowledge framework remains aligned with industry trends, effectively supplying the construction sector with highly competitive, interdisciplinary professionals. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 66 published by scholink inc. 5.2 curriculum structure and optimization of teaching content curriculum design is a core component of the interdisciplinary education model. this study constructs a course group system comprising four major modules: general education courses, foundational discipline courses, core professional courses, and innovation-driven practice courses. for example, general education courses include python programming and iot technology, focusing on cultivating students’ fundamental digital skills. core professional courses cover bim modeling, an introduction to smart construction, and ai applications, providing students with essential interdisciplinary knowledge. additionally, innovation-driven practice courses emphasize project-based learning, integrating real-world engineering cases to help students apply interdisciplinary knowledge in practice and enhance their problem-solving abilities. at the same time, optimizing teaching content is equally important. by incorporating the latest technological advancements, strengthening ideological and political education in courses, and enhancing industry-academia collaboration, the curriculum improves students’ awareness of industry demands and their adaptability. as shown in table 1, this curriculum design not only promotes seamless integration between disciplines but also provides students with a multi-dimensional and structured learning pathway. table 1. course group construction modules general education courses module: python programming, internet of things (iot) technology, digital foundations, etc. foundational discipline courses module: fundamentals of civil engineering, fundamentals of computer science, introduction to artificial intelligence, etc. core professional courses module: bim modeling, introduction to smart construction, applications of artificial intelligence, automation control, etc. innovation-driven practice courses module: project-based learning, interdisciplinary team projects, industry-academia collaboration practices, etc. 5.3 innovative teaching methods and practical learning models in terms of teaching methods, the interdisciplinary education model emphasizes a student-centered approach, utilizing flipped classrooms, project-based learning, and case-based teaching to enhance students’ active learning and innovation capabilities, as shown in table 2. for example, by forming interdisciplinary teams to carry out comprehensive projects, students can learn knowledge from different disciplines through teamwork while developing the ability to solve complex engineering problems. additionally, this study advocates the establishment of virtual simulation laboratories and online learning platforms to provide students with flexible, cross-time-and-space practical learning support. regarding practical learning models, the study strengthens industry-academia collaboration by www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 67 published by scholink inc. leveraging smart construction pilot projects to establish an “industry-academia-research integrated” training base, ensuring that student development is closely aligned with real-world industry needs. through the innovation of these teaching methods and practical learning models, students not only improve their ability to apply knowledge but also significantly enhance their communication and collaboration skills in interdisciplinary environments. this approach provides strong support for cultivating high-quality talents in the field of smart construction. table 2. innovation in teaching methods and practical learning models teaching methods practical learning models talent development goals flipped classroom virtual simulation laboratory interdisciplinary knowledge integration project-based learning online learning platform innovation and practical skills case-based teaching industry-academia collaboration base teamwork and communication skills 6. conclusion and future prospects this study focuses on the construction of an interdisciplinary smart construction course group system within the context of new engineering education, proposing an education reform plan centered on technological innovation and practice-oriented learning to meet the industry’s urgent demand for interdisciplinary talents. by exploring the integration mechanisms of smart construction with computer science, artificial intelligence, electronic information, and automation, the study designs a systematic course group framework. through project-based learning, industry-academia collaboration, and virtual simulation experiments, the study enhances students’ ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and apply innovative practices. the findings indicate that the interdisciplinary course system significantly improves students’ ability to integrate knowledge across disciplines, increases employment competitiveness by 15%, and enhances industry adaptability by 20%, providing strong support for the promotion of interdisciplinary education models in smart construction. looking ahead, as the smart construction industry continues to evolve, the depth and breadth of interdisciplinary integration will further expand. future research should focus on developing dynamic curriculum updating mechanisms, improving practical training platforms, and strengthening in-depth collaboration between universities and enterprises, particularly in technological innovation and talent cultivation within the smart construction field. by establishing a more efficient “industry-academia-research-application” collaborative education model, this study aims to drive the digital transformation and high-quality development of the construction industry. this research provides a reference framework for the future of interdisciplinary education and industry talent development, with a lasting impact on the innovation and advancement of smart construction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 68 published by scholink inc. funding [fund projects] qingdao city university 2024 annual educational teaching research project “research on the construction of multidisciplinary interdisciplinary intelligent construction professional course group system under the background of new engineering” (2024005b). references li, h., lu, w., & huang, t. (2019). rethinking project management and exploring virtual design and construction as a potential solution. construction management and economics, 37(9), 499-507. sacks, r., brilakis, i., pikas, e., xie, h. s., & girolami, m. (2020). construction with digital twin information systems. data-centric engineering, 1, e14. https://doi.org/10.1017/dce.2020.16 wang, j., wang, x., shou, w., & xu, b. (2020). integrating bim and augmented reality for interactive architectural visualisation. construction innovation, 20(4), 621-642. zhang, j., teizer, j., lee, j. k., eastman, c. m., & venugopal, m. (2015). building information modeling (bim) and safety: automatic safety checking of construction models and schedules. automation in construction, 29, 183-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.006 https://doi.org/10.1017/dce.2020.16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.006 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 40 original paper health education and promotion: strategies for improving public health in bangladesh m f k al mannah 1 & md. khurshed alam 2 1 associate professor in nursing, enam nursing college, dhaka, bangladesh 2 lecturer, department of political science, gobindaganj abdul haque smrity college, bangladesh received: may 15, 2025 accepted: may 21, 2025 online published: may 26, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p40 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p40 abstract the research aims to explore the current state of health education and promotion in bangladesh and its role in improving public health. health education and promotion are crucial tools in the prevention of diseases, improving overall well-being, and promoting healthy lifestyles. this study examines various strategies, including government initiatives, community-based programs, and the role of healthcare professionals in advancing public health. this study is based on analytical research. the research also identifies challenges and provides recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of health promotion strategies in bangladesh. keywords public health, health education and promotion, socio-cultural barriers, and gender inequality 1. introduction health education and promotion refers to the process of educating individuals and communities about health-related topics, empowering them to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. this field aims to improve public health by promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing diseases, and addressing social determinants of health. health education and promotion play a crucial role in enhancing public health by empowering individuals with the knowledge and resources needed to lead healthier lives. by addressing both individual behaviors and broader societal influences, these efforts aim to create lasting improvements in health outcomes and reduce the burden of preventable diseases (ajzen, 1991). involves providing knowledge about various health topics such as nutrition, physical activity, mental health, sexual health, substance abuse prevention, and chronic disease management. it often includes delivering educational content through workshops, seminars, media campaigns, and community outreach www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 41 published by scholink inc. programs. focuses on creating environments that encourage health-enhancing behaviors by influencing policies, community programs, and societal structures. it involves the collaboration of governments, organizations, and communities to implement programs that promote health and prevent disease on a larger scale. health education and promotion also include advocating for policies that improve public health, such as regulations on tobacco, alcohol consumption, and food labeling. it involves engaging with lawmakers, organizations, and communities to push for changes that support healthy living (world health organization, 1986). 2. theoretical framework health education and promotion are fundamental to improving public health, particularly in lowand middle-income countries such as bangladesh. these strategies focus on equipping individuals and communities with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. in bangladesh, where health challenges such as infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (ncds), and inadequate healthcare infrastructure are prevalent, health education and promotion play a critical role in addressing these issues. this theoretical framework explores the key theories and models that underpin health education and promotion strategies, focusing on their application within the context of bangladesh (bangladesh ministry of health and family welfare, 2018). research design  type: analytical research methodology. o analytical research aims to measure knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and health outcomes; and to explore cultural beliefs, barriers, and facilitators in health education uptake. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 42 published by scholink inc. conceptualizing health education and promotion health education and promotion are interconnected concepts, but they have distinct focuses. health education primarily involves providing individuals with knowledge about health-related topics to encourage behavior change. it focuses on empowering individuals to understand the consequences of their actions and make informed choices regarding their health. health promotion, on the other hand, involves creating environments that facilitate healthy choices, including policy changes, community involvement, and environmental modifications that support health. in the context of bangladesh, health education and promotion strategies aim to reduce the burden of preventable diseases, promote health equity, and address social determinants of health. these efforts often focus on issues such as maternal and child health, sanitation, nutrition, infectious disease prevention, and reducing the impact of ncds such as diabetes and heart disease. theories and models of health education and promotion health education and promotion strategies are grounded in several theoretical models that guide interventions, shape policy decisions, and influence community health behaviors. the following section outlines the major theories that inform health education and promotion strategies in bangladesh (bandura, 1986). health belief model (hbm) the health belief model (hbm) is one of the earliest psychological models used to understand health behavior. according to this model, individuals are more likely to take health-related actions if they believe they are susceptible to a health problem, perceive the problem as serious, believe taking a specific action would reduce their risk, and believe the benefits of taking the action outweigh the costs or barriers. in bangladesh, hbm can be applied to health education campaigns on diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and diabetes. for example, the model suggests that people are more likely to adopt preventive measures, such as vaccination or hand-washing, if they understand the severity of the disease and recognize their personal vulnerability. social cognitive theory (sct) the social cognitive theory (sct), developed by albert bandura, posits that learning occurs in a social context and is influenced by interactions between individuals and their environment. sct emphasizes the role of observational learning, imitation, and modeling in behavior change. the theory suggests that behavior is not solely a result of individual choices but is influenced by social influences and the environment (rosenstock, strecher, & becker, 1988). in the context of bangladesh, sct can be applied in health promotion strategies by leveraging peer influence and community leaders to encourage healthy behaviors. for example, community health workers and local leaders can model healthy practices, such as proper sanitation, nutritious eating, and physical activity. by observing these behaviors, individuals may be more likely to adopt them (choudhury & hossain, 2016). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 43 published by scholink inc. application of theories and models in bangladesh the application of the above theoretical models is crucial in understanding and improving the public health situation in bangladesh. health promotion programs must consider the unique socio-cultural, economic, and political context of bangladesh to be effective. these models can be used to design interventions that target individuals, communities, and the broader society. 3. contemporary challenges of health education and promotion socio-cultural barriers one of the most significant challenges in health education and promotion in bangladesh is overcoming socio-cultural barriers. these barriers stem from deeply rooted cultural beliefs, practices, and traditions that may conflict with health education messages. resistance to behavioral change: many health promotion strategies, such as promoting sanitation practices, maternal health education, and the use of modern medicine, face resistance due to cultural norms and traditional beliefs. for example, in some rural communities, there may be skepticism towards vaccination programs or family planning services because of longstanding misconceptions or fears. gender inequality: gender disparities in health education remain prevalent in bangladesh. women, especially in rural and low-income communities, often lack access to health information and education. socio-cultural norms around gender roles can limit women’s involvement in decision-making about their health, including issues such as maternal health, family planning, and nutrition. complexity of health messages: many health messages are not tailored to the local context or the varying levels of health literacy among different population groups. health information is often presented in technical language that is not easily understood by the average person. as a result, important messages regarding disease prevention, healthy lifestyles, and vaccination may fail to reach the target audience effectively. inadequate healthcare facilities: healthcare facilities, particularly in rural areas, are often under-resourced, overcrowded, and lack basic amenities, making it difficult for healthcare providers to deliver effective health education. many healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and community health workers, face challenges in reaching rural populations due to inadequate transportation, poor infrastructure, and low health system capacity. limited budget for health promotion: despite some progress, the allocation of government funds for health education and promotion programs is still insufficient. much of the budget is allocated to healthcare infrastructure and emergency medical services, leaving little for preventive health education programs. as a result, many health promotion initiatives face financial constraints that limit their reach and effectiveness (nutbeam, 2000). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 44 published by scholink inc. poverty and health: a significant proportion of the population in bangladesh lives in poverty, which is a major barrier to health education and promotion. poverty not only limits access to healthcare services but also impacts people’s ability to engage in health-promoting behaviors, such as purchasing nutritious food, paying for healthcare services, or accessing health information. financial instability also prevents many individuals from participating in community health programs. economic inequality: there is considerable economic inequality between different regions and social groups in bangladesh. wealthier urban populations tend to have better access to health education and healthcare services compared to the poorer, rural populations. this inequality exacerbates health disparities and makes it difficult to implement universal health education programs that can reach all segments of the population effectively. lack of government support: political commitment and leadership are essential for the success of health education and promotion programs. however, in bangladesh, public health initiatives often lack consistent government support. this can lead to a fragmented approach to health promotion, where different sectors (e.g., education, health, and social welfare) fail to collaborate effectively, hindering the impact of health promotion strategies. social determinants of health the social determinants of health, including poverty, education, housing, and access to clean water, play a significant role in shaping health outcomes. these factors influence people’s ability to adopt health-promoting behaviors and can impede the effectiveness of health education and promotion efforts. 4. strategies for strengthening health education and promotion health education is essential for empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health. strategies to strengthen health education programs in bangladesh include: expanding health education programs: it is crucial to expand public health education efforts, particularly in rural areas. education on key health issues such as hygiene, sanitation, vaccination, nutrition, sexual health, and the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases should be integrated into community programs, schools, and media campaigns. community-based health education: empowering community health workers (chws) and local leaders to provide health education in communities ensures that information reaches even the most marginalized groups. chws can be trained to deliver educational content and act as health promoters in their communities. nutrition education: promoting healthy eating habits through education on balanced diets, reducing salt, sugar, and fat intake, and encouraging local food consumption can help tackle malnutrition, especially among children and women. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 45 published by scholink inc. building and upgrading health facilities: expanding healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas, is essential. this includes constructing more health centers, clinics, and hospitals equipped with essential medical supplies and staff. health facilities must be accessible and capable of handling an increasing demand for healthcare services. improving emergency and primary healthcare services: strengthening primary healthcare services and ensuring emergency care capabilities will help in addressing a wide range of health concerns, from infectious diseases to injuries and chronic conditions. establishing more health posts in rural areas with trained healthcare personnel can improve access to basic health services. strengthening disease prevention and control infectious diseases continue to be a significant public health issue in bangladesh, with diseases such as tuberculosis (tb), malaria, dengue, and cholera posing ongoing threats. key strategies include: public awareness campaigns: promoting awareness of risk factors for ncds, such as smoking, alcohol use, poor diet, and lack of physical activity, is vital. health education campaigns should focus on encouraging lifestyle changes to reduce these risk factors. healthcare system integration: integrating ncd management into the primary healthcare system ensures that patients have access to regular monitoring and treatment. training healthcare professionals in the prevention and management of ncds is also crucial. strengthening health policies: developing and implementing clear, evidence-based health policies that prioritize public health issues such as maternal and child health, ncd prevention, mental health, and health system strengthening will provide a roadmap for improving health outcomes. decentralizing health services: decentralizing health services to local government bodies can improve the delivery of healthcare by enabling policies and programs to be tailored to local needs. strengthening the role of local governments in health management is essential to ensure that services reach underserved populations. addressing social determinants of health: addressing the social determinants of health, such as poverty, education, and housing, is essential for improving public health. a multi-sectoral approach involving education, employment, and social welfare programs can help improve overall health outcomes by addressing the root causes of health disparities (world health organization, 2018). strengthening community involvement and empowerment engaging communities in health promotion efforts is essential for improving public health outcomes in bangladesh. community-based health initiatives can be more effective in promoting behavior change and ensuring that health education is culturally appropriate: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 46 published by scholink inc. 5. analytical findings government initiatives the government of bangladesh has implemented several health education and promotion initiatives aimed at improving the overall public health. these include mass immunization campaigns, sanitation programs, maternal health education, and awareness programs targeting infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. family planning and reproductive health: family planning programs in bangladesh have successfully reduced fertility rates and improved maternal health. the government, along with ngos, has used education campaigns to inform families about the benefits of smaller families, contraception methods, and reproductive health services. these efforts have been instrumental in improving women’s health and reducing population growth (united nations development programme, 2020). challenges in behavior change despite the successes, health education campaigns in bangladesh face several barriers to achieving lasting behavioral change. cultural norms, misconceptions, and a lack of consistent reinforcement of health messages often undermine the long-term impact of these campaigns. low health literacy: while health education has increased awareness, many people still struggle to understand complex health concepts, such as the importance of balanced nutrition or the need for preventive health measures. low health literacy, particularly in rural areas, remains a significant barrier to the successful adoption of health-promoting behaviors. lack of healthcare facilities: healthcare facilities, particularly in rural areas, often lack the capacity to support large-scale health education initiatives. community health workers, who are critical to the delivery of health education, are often overburdened and lack the resources to reach all segments of the population effectively. training gaps: while some health workers are trained in delivering health education, there is a need for more comprehensive and specialized training to equip healthcare professionals with the necessary skills to communicate health messages effectively. furthermore, health educators in bangladesh often lack training in using modern communication tools, such as digital platforms, to engage the population. access to healthcare services: economic inequality limits access to both healthcare services and health education programs. poor populations, particularly in rural areas, may not have the financial means to pay for healthcare services or health-related resources, such as nutritious food or medicines. inconsistent policy implementation: health education and promotion programs in bangladesh often lack continuity due to changes in government leadership and political instability. while health policies may be developed, their implementation is often delayed or disrupted by political transitions. this inconsistency weakens the long-term impact of health education programs. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 47 published by scholink inc. the findings of this research indicate that while health education and promotion strategies in bangladesh have achieved significant successes, they also face considerable challenges. addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach that involves improving health literacy, expanding access to healthcare services, increasing government investment in health education, and enhancing political commitment to public health initiatives (green & kreuter, 2005). references ajzen, i. (1991). the theory of planned behavior. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t bandura, a. (1986). social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. prentice-hall. bangladesh ministry of health and family welfare (mohfw). (2018). national health policy. dhaka: government of bangladesh. bangladesh ministry of health and family welfare. (2018). national health policy. dhaka: government of bangladesh. choudhury, a. i., & hossain, m. t. (2016). health education and promotion in bangladesh: challenges and opportunities. asian journal of public health, 9(2), 88-94. green, l. w., & kreuter, m. w. (2005). health program planning: an educational and ecological approach (4th ed.). mcgraw-hill. nutbeam, d. (2000). health promotion glossary. health promotion international, 15(3), 375-387. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/15.3.183 rosenstock, i. m., strecher, v. j., & becker, m. h. (1988). social learning theory and the health belief model. health education quarterly, 15(2), 175-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500203 united nations development programme (undp). (2020). human development report: addressing the sdgs in bangladesh. dhaka: undp bangladesh. world health organization. (1986). ottawa charter for health promotion. ottawa: world health organization. world health organization. (2018). health education: key components and strategies for effective health promotion. geneva. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/15.3.183 https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500203 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 9 original paper the impact of covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning process in higher learning institutions in tanzania: a case of mwanza region mwanaidi h. saidi 1* & demetria gerold mkulu 1 1 department of educational foundation, st. augustine university of tanzania, mwanza, tanzania * mwanaidi h. saidi, e-mail: mwanahosa@gmail.com received: may 16, 2022 accepted: june 2, 2022 online published: july 1, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n2p9 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n2p9 abstract this study examined the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning process in higher learning institutions in mwanza, tanzania. the study intended to explore the negative impact of this pandemic on higher education, and also to identify the possible measures to overcome the negative impact of this pandemic. the study has adopted a mixed research approach and an explanatory sequential mixed design. it has involved 188 participants, and data was collected using questionnaires and an interview guide. content and face validity of research instruments were cross-checked by different research experts. furthermore, the reliability of research instruments was checked using the split-half technique. finally, the study discovered some negative impacts which are; slowing down the participation and interaction in teaching and learning which has hindered the attainment of teaching and learning goals. the study has put forward some possible measures to overcome the negative impact of this pandemic which are: to strengthen the e-learning infrastructures, construct more classrooms, and employ more teaching staffs. then the study recommends that the government of tanzania and all the educational stakeholders should take education as its number one priority and finance it effectively to ensure a profitable educational process during and after the pandemic. keywords covi-19, pandemic, teaching, learning, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 10 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the education that is provided to learners today, determine the quality of future human resources. this means that if learners receive quality education today, the government should expect to have quality people to work in different developmental sectors in the future and vice versa. in this, every country should make sure that they control everything that might affect the effectiveness of education provision (lekule, 2014). to that note, the united nations agreed to ensure quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030 (lugonzo, 2020). this is due to the fact that education is the only aspect of human rights that can support the attainment of all the pre-planned developmental goals in a country. being among the valuable aspect of human rights, teaching and learning have continued to be an area of concern on the global as it is well known that it plays a vital role in facilitating social competence, decision making, problem-solving, and the success of an individual and a particular society (paschal & mkulu, 2020). so when education is destructed then everything in the society is also destructed (united nations [un], 2020). so even with a short period of educational interruption will have a long impact on the learners’ education growth (samuel, 2020). however, to achieve, the provision of education that is needed to provide with necessary skills to learners, educational institutions need to formulate effective strategies that allow teaching and learning to successfully take place (paschal, nyoni & mkulu, 2020). although every nation around the globe has shown a recognizable determination to ensure equitable and quality education for all, several challenges are still hindering the efforts (samuel, 2020). one of the salient examples of the challenges is the onset of the covid-19 pandemic which has brought several remarkable changes to all industries including the field of education (undp, 2020). the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of human beings (lugonzo, 2020); and according to united nations (un) (2020), the education sector is among the aspects of life that have received a huge impact from this pandemic in almost all countries, as it was estimated that the pandemic has affected 94 percent of learners globally and approximately 99 percent of learners in developing countries. in the year 2020, the world has witnessed the cancellation of face-to-face modes of education delivery in different educational institutions in more than 171 countries (agbele, 2020); ibrahim, luzinge, and kapanda (2020). the closure of all educational institutions has revealed the inequalities that exist in the provision of education worldwide because while some of the institutions were able to shift their education to distance through different e-learning platforms including zoom and moodle, some were not (ali, 2020; alemu, 2018). the institutions were encouraged to adopt distance education. unfortunately, some institutions were not able to shift to e-learning because of poor technological backgrounds (radu et al., 2020). african countries were also trying to cope with the international strategies to combat the spread of the coronavirus something that made learners and their instructors be sent back home (mangisite, 2020). along with this, the education system in african countries was expected to be more affected (lone & ahmad, 2020). for example, tanzania reported its first person who tested the corona virus positive on 16 th march 2020, and from there the virus started to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 11 published by scholink inc. spread to different regions within the country (tarimo & wu, 2020). as a result, the government of tanzania closed all schools, colleges, and universities on 18, march 2020 to control the spread of the disease (undp, 2020). moreover, different educational institutions were encouraged to adopt an online mode of education delivery to ensure educational continuity because a face-to-face instructional model was not possible (ibrahim, luzinge & kapanda, 2020); the guardian reporter (2020); balandya et al. (2021). however, the shift to online instruction in tanzanian higher learning institutions did not succeed in most of the institutions as they faced a lot of challenges including poor technological know-how, unstable electricity power, poor internet connections, and a shortage of e-learning equipment (nkata, 2020; msigwa, 2020). organizational management has been affected; teaching pedagogy as well as the curriculum implementation (mchome et al., 2021; citizen news, 2020). the pandemic has become a great problem for higher learning institutions globally (nkata, 2020). the pandemic has raised many questions to people on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning as it has brought many issues that were not there before, including social distance in education (paschal & mkulu, 2020). being transmitted through air, coronavirus disease has led to the cancellation of physical classes which is followed by the strict imposition of social distancing in all levels of education including the higher learning institutions in tanzania. to control the spread of the coronavirus, educational institutions were closed temporally by the government and online classes were emphasized (johnson, 2020; citizen news, 2020). however, due to the poor technological background of the tanzanian education system, teaching and learning in higher education faced a great challenge (nkata, 2020). it has been little known how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the teaching and learning process in higher learning institutions in tanzania, specifically in mwanza where this research study was conducted (upoalkpajor & upoalkpajor, 2020). then it is from this standing point that this study examined how the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic has affected the teaching and learning process in higher learning institutions. the research study was conducted with the hope that its findings will help the educational stakeholders such as teachers, administrators, policymakers and government during their educational planning. 2. method 2.1 research approach and design this is a mixed research study that has involved collecting both qualitative and quantitative data (saunders, 2012). in this study, an explanatory sequential mixed design that involved collecting data from the field two times was adopted (cresswell, 2014). the approach was selected because it helps to understand better the problem, by involving visiting the study area two times. for instance, collecting qualitative data in the second visit helped the researchers to explore better the topic. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 12 published by scholink inc. 2.2 population and sampling procedures the sample size of this study was selected from the target population. according to elfil and negida (2017), the target population refers to the total individuals whom the researcher draws the sample for the study; while kothari and garg (2019) defined a sample size as a manageable number of individuals that a researcher chooses from the target population. the target population of this study was 2375 individuals, and the study involved a sample size of 188 respondents of which 164 were students, 20 teaching staffs and 4 administrators. teaching staffs and students were sampled using stratified simple random sampling, while administrators were sampled using simple random sampling. 2.3 instruments for data collection data was collected using questionnaires and an interview guide. for an effective data collection process, the research instruments were checked for validity and reliability. validity is the extent to which the research instruments collect accurate data (saunders, 2012). in this study, content and face validity were cross-checked by different research experts; while the reliability of the research instruments was tested using the split-half technique. since this is a mixed research study, the trustworthiness of qualitative data was ensured; by involving people of different categories as well as cross-checking the data collected with different research expertise (hadi & closs, 2016; gunawan, 2015). 2.4 data collection, analysis and presentation procedures data were collected personally by the researchers and it involved two phases. in the first phase, researchers collected quantitative data using questionnaires, while in the second phase, researchers collected qualitative data using an interview guide. qualitative data were collected in the second phase to help explaining more the quantitative data (cresswell, 2014). quantitative data was analyzed in the first phase with a support of a computer program known as the statistical package for social sciences (spss) version 20 and data are presented using frequency distribution tables, graphs and explanations. in line with this, thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, and the data are presented using explanations and the use of direct quotations from the respondents. 3. results the results of the study are analyzed based on the objectives that guided the data collection process. figure 1 and 2, table 1 and 2, shows the responses from teaching staffs and students about the negative impact of the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning process; as well as the ways forwards to mitigate these impacts. figure 1 shows that 39 percent of teaching staffs have pointed out that the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has made the teaching process to be ineffective, while 33 percent have claimed that the pandemic has reduced consultation in education. parallel to that, 28 percent have claimed that the mode of testing students’ academic performance was changed due to this pandemic. on the other hand, table 1 show that 27.4 percent of students have stated that the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 13 published by scholink inc. pandemic has slowed down participation and interaction in their learning while 47.3 percent have stated that it made them fail to achieve their learning goals. moreover, 25.3 percent have shown that the presence of this pandemic has made them lose learning morale and hence fail in exams. besides, figure 2 shows that large numbers of teaching staffs (85 percent) have agreed that there is a need to employ more teaching staffs in different higher learning institutions in tanzania, whilst 80 percent approved that the curriculum of higher learning institutions should be reviewed and modified. in line with that, 100 percent have established that teaching staffs in higher learning institutions need to be trained on the use of e-learning technology, while a large percent of them have opposed the covid-19 vaccine to be compulsory in their institutions. students were also asked to rate the identified ways to mitigate the negative impact of this pandemic on their learning process. it was revealed that 100 percent of students have agreed that e-learning infrastructures need to be strengthened, while 94.6 percent have approved higher learning institutions to construct more classrooms and more outdoor learning areas. yet again, 96.3 percent have agreed that higher learning institutions in tanzania need to have emergence funds, while 93.3 have accepted that researchers should conduct more research to discover new techniques for supporting education during the emergency. figure 1. teaching staff’s responses on the negative impact of covid-19 pandemic on teaching process www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 14 published by scholink inc. table 1. students’ responses on the negative impact of covid-19 pandemic on their learning process items frequency percentage slowed down participation and interaction in learning 44 27.4 the learning goals are not achieved 78 47.3 loss of learning morale 42 25.3 figure 2. teaching staff’s responses about the recommended ways to mitigate the negative impact of covid-19 pandemic on the teaching process key: sd (strongly disagree), d (disagree), n (neutral), a (agree), sa (strongly agree). table 2. students’ responses about the suggested ways to mitigate the negative impact of covid-19 pandemic on their learning items sd d n a sa f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) strengthening the e-learning infrastructures 91(55.5) 73(44.5) more classrooms and outdoor learning areas 5(3) 3(1.8) 1(0.6) 84(51.2) 71(43.3) presence of emergence funds 6(3.7) 87(53) 71(43.3) more research should be done 3(1.8) 8(4.9) 80(48.8) 73(44.5) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 15 published by scholink inc. 4. discussion the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has affected negatively the provision of education in different higher learning institutions but data reveals that there are some of the ways we can do to make remedies as well as to prepare ourselves for the future. the pandemic has made the teaching process to be ineffective. it was discovered that most the higher learning institutions had a challenge of inadequate teaching staff, while at the same time students have been divided into streams to observe the social distance. because of this, teaching staffs were spending less time teaching so that they can be able to teach several streams. they have explained that for a profitable educational process, they need to have enough time to discuss the course content with students in the classroom but this has become difficult during the pandemic. on this issue, one interviewee has commented that: every institution has its pre-planned teaching goals but the covid-19 pandemic has affected negatively the attainment of these goals. this is because teaching staffs had no time to discuss things deeply with students because of the heavy workload that has become a result of dividing students into streams and also fear of being infected. so it is clear that during the covid-19 pandemic, students were not learning effectively. (interviewee y, august 2021). from this standing point, it was also revealed that even students fail to achieve their learning goals because teaching staffs were teaching partially. so together with this, all the covid-19 precaution measures inadequate classrooms and outdoor learning areas, students reported a loss of their learning morale and then end up getting low gpas. this result concurs with what was discovered in the united states by son, hegde, smith, wang and sasangohar (2020) who observed that the pandemic has lowered the learning morale of students because of worries about their health, educational performance and course practice. the fear and worries have affected learners negatively as they were not able to settle and do their studies effectively. consequently, every higher learning institution must have a professional counselor, whose work will be to talk with students and advise them on the importance of being patient during any education emergence like this pandemic to make them study well. one interviewee was quoted commenting that: some of the teaching staffs have reported poor performance of students in exams which means that students were not getting what they were supposed to get because of inadequate teaching staffs, few classrooms, and inadequate outdoor learning areas. some of our students were doing their private studies under the trees a place which is not good for learning, so we are trying to make sure that more classrooms are constructed and more teaching staffs are employed to solve this problem currently and in the future (interviewee x, august 2021). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 16 published by scholink inc. another interviewee was quoted adding that; we have inadequate teaching staff and classrooms but as an institution, we can’t just wake up in the morning and plan to add more resources because we are using the government budget. therefore, we are calling on the government of tanzania to help add more classrooms and more teaching staffs to our institution (interviewee w, august 2021). when asked about this, one interviewee was quoted pointing out that: as an administrator, i have come across several challenges during this period; my advice is that all higher learning institutions should direct their funds to support education, including classroom construction. again, the government of tanzania and all other education stakeholders should support classroom constructions and outdoor learning areas in different higher learning institutions, purposely to support the effectiveness of education during the pandemic and in future (interviewee z, september 2021). administrators in higher learning institutions were all eagerly to employ more teaching staffs during the pandemic, constructing more classrooms, as well as to establish an e-learning instructional methodology but it was discovered that inadequate funds were a great challenge. this data supports a study by lekule and kalokora (2019) who have also established that most higher learning institutions in tanzania have a challenge of inadequate funds, teaching staffs, as well as the lecture rooms. this result implies that during the pandemic, the institutions struggled a lot to support the continuation of education because money was highly needed, instructors were highly needed, as well as the classrooms; things that are very scarce in these institutions. in that case, a large number of students (96.3 percent) have suggested that in every educational organization, planning for unexpected future problems is the best strategy, especially in the matter of finance. students have explained that during the pandemic, hand washing types of equipment were not enough, classrooms were not enough, and also teaching staffs were not enough but their institutions could not add more quickly. then the presence of emergence funds in all higher learning institutions is a must not an option. one interviewee was quoted commenting that: the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic has taught us a lesson that we need to have emergency funds. this is because everything has happened abruptly and we were not prepared to add more teaching staff, or more classrooms, and we were not planning to buy hand washing types of equipment and hand sanitizers. for sure, changes are happening every day so every higher learning institution should have emergency funds to be able to deal with future unexpected educational problems (interviewee z, september 2021). it was also discovered that the covid-19 pandemic has reduced interaction between teaching staff and students. the respondents have explained that the issue of keeping social distance because of fear of being infected has made the teaching staffs isolate themselves in their offices and students’ consultation was reduced. also, students have reported an absence of participation and interaction in learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 17 published by scholink inc. normally, students in higher learning institutions need to interact with one another so that they can learn effectively; so lack of interaction has affected their academic and will also affect their job performance. similar to this conclusion, mengisite (2020); areba (2020) have also found out that the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic has created isolation and inequalities among learners. the covid 19 lockdown has separated educational instructors from their students, as well as students from their peers. so generally speaking, participation and interaction between learners and their instructors as well as between learners themselves were destructed. the authors have also discovered that the pandemic has posed a sense of separation and segregation in the provision of education among students and teaching staffs because no one was ready to come close to the other because of the fear to be infected. although a large number of teaching staffs (85 percent) have disagreed to make covid-19 vaccine compulsory, the vaccine seems to be helpful because if provided, it will help to reduce worries; and hence allows effective interaction in teaching and learning. this strategy was explored more in an interview with administrators where one interviewee was quoted explaining that: i think the covid-19 vaccine for all people within the higher learning institutions and the whole country could be the best strategy to avoid tension among people. i think you also visit the internet where people share bad news about this vaccine, but i think the vaccine might be the best strategy to ensure that students and teaching staff perform their duties comfortably (interviewee y, august 2021). moreover, it should be understood that the major modes of assessing the student’s academic achievements in higher learning institutions in tanzania is through individual work (s) and group work (s), but the study has found out that the outbreak of this pandemic has made the mode of assessment involve only individual assignments because group assignments were not possible due to fear of being infected. yes, teaching staffs were blaming that individual assignments gave them a heavy workload but the problem for the tanzanian education system is poor technological background because, with strong technology, group assignments can be conducted on e-learning platforms like zoom. this implies that there is a need to strengthen technological infrastructures as reported by the research participants like strong internet connections, availability of e-learning infrastructures, and strong electricity supply to support the implementation of education technology. besides, educational technology needs people who are skilled and knowledgeable enough about the information and communication technology. therefore, it was suggested that teaching staffs and students need to be trained on the use of e-learning technology. for this to succeed, teaching staffs have recommended that the curriculum in higher learning institutions should be reviewed and modified to fit with the changes that are happening every day. the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has revealed that the curriculum of the higher learning institutions in tanzania was prepared only for offline instructions. therefore, there is a need of reviewing it and modifying it so that it can be taught for offline and online www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 18 published by scholink inc. instructions. this will help to ensure that the instructional process can continue even during the abrupt closure of the educational institutions in future. a study conducted in india by sahu (2020) has also discovered that, although the teaching staffs were trying to adopt an e-learning methodology, they faced a great challenge on how to convert the contents that were prepared to be taught offline to fit on an online instruction. it was also hard for them to monitor exams online and be sure of whether students were honest. all these happened because they were not prepared for online instruction before. these findings concur with what was also discovered by toquero (2020) who has also suggested that higher learning institutions should review and modify their curriculum to include health and environmental courses for all levels so that they can help to widen the students’ knowledge about environmental policies and hygiene practices. one interviewee was quoted asserting that: we are working hard to integrate ict into our education provision but we don’t have such kind of curriculum. our curriculum was prepared for offline instruction but because of the changes that are happening in our daily life like the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, the curriculum planners should think about reviewing and modifying the curriculum and let it allow offline and online instruction (interviewee z, september 2021). when asked about their plans to strengthen the technological infrastructures, one interviewee was quoted saying: we are trying our best to insist our students to learn some of the things online, we encourage our teaching staffs to try integrating e-learning in their teaching process but the challenge is poor technological background. we cannot solve this by ourselves, but we call on the government of tanzania and all other educational stakeholders to support our work by strengthening the technological infrastructures including strong power supply, strong internet, as well as supplying some e-learning equipment to students (interviewee y, august 2021). similarly, ali (2020) has also established that to ensure the best educational provision during and after the pandemic, every government in each country should strengthen its technological infrastructures. higher learning institutions must ensure the availability of e-learning types of equipment to the institutions, the instructors as well as the students. the author has also added that for the following academic years, e-learning equipment must be a requirement for each student’s entry so that everyone has either a laptop or tablet for online instruction. these results imply that strengthening technological infrastructures is the best strategy to ensure an effective learning process for students, and therefore, administrators should work hard to implement this strategy. looking on these observations, unesco (2020) has established that administrators in higher learning institutions should promote international collaboration so that the institutions can learn from each other, about what has or has not worked in other institutions during the pandemic. this can be ensured through sharing of educational resources, knowledge and technological innovations in education. in this, educational administrators should not www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 19 published by scholink inc. work on their own but involve different educational stakeholders for input, within and from outside their institutions. in general, some countries have succeeded to provide online education effectively during the pandemic. so higher learning institutions should sponsor some of their teaching staffs to go to these countries and learn this skill. from this discussion, it is clear that teaching staffs and students encountered a lot of challenges when looking on the best way in which education can be provided during the pandemic. thus educational professionals are encouraged to conduct different educational researches to discover new instructional techniques for effective educational provision currently and in the future. in an interview, administrators were asked whether they are doing any research to discover new techniques for providing education during and after the pandemic. one interviewee was quoted commenting that: we are reading different published research papers on the internet to discover what has worked in other countries so that we can try adopting the strategies. our students and teaching staff are also researching how effective education can be provided during this pandemic, and we are sure the results will support us (interviewee w, august 2021). based on the findings of this study, the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has affected negatively the higher learning institutions, although there must be some positive impacts. then the study recommends that another study be conducted to discover the positive impacts of this pandemic in different educational institutions. in line with this, the adoption of online teaching methodology was seen as a possible strategy for higher learning institutions to prepare themselves to deal with unexpected educational closures in the future. based on this outcome, this study recommends another research be conducted on how the higher learning institutions are prepared for the use of e-learning technology. lastly, the government of tanzania should take education as its number one priority and finance it effectively, which will include financing classroom constructions, employing enough teaching staffs, strengthening the technological infrastructures, as well as providing loans to all students in higher learning institutions. references adnan, m., & anwar, k. 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(2020). covid-19 and higher education, today and tomorrow: impact analysis, policy responses and recommendations. https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.52.5 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217770 https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7541 https://doi.org/10.31058/j.edu.2020.34009 https://doi.org/10.2196/21279 https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-020-00214-x https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/7947 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 23 published by scholink inc. united nations development program. (2020). rapid social-economic impact assessment of covid-19 in tanzania. united nations tanzania. (2020). rapid social-economic impacts assessment of covid-19 in tanzania. united nations. (2020). covid-19: socio-economic impact in ghana: impact on ghana’s education. upoalkpajor, j. n., & upoalkpajor, c. b. (2020). the impact of covid-19 on education in ghana. asian journal of education and social studies, 9(1), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2020/v9i130238 https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2020/v9i130238 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 64 original paper resilience and empowerment through higher education in kakuma refugee camp: a conversation paul o‟keeffe 1* & samuel niyonkuru 2 1 inzone, university of geneva, geneva, switzerland 2 inzone, university of geneva, kakuma refugee camp, kenya * paul o‟keeffe, inzone, university of geneva, geneva, switzerland received: january 5, 2021 accepted: january 28, 2021 online published: february 25, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n1p64 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p64 abstract resilience and empowerment are concepts that recently have become popularised in the world of forced displacement management policy and practice. often undervalued and dismissed as being buzzwords, these concepts have become bound up in the burgeoning study of higher education in refugee contexts. this article explores these themes in the frame of a real-world experience of studying a blended learning medical studies course in kakuma refugee camp and the impact it has had on an individual’s life and that of his community. building on the academic discourse, we present a case study of the individual’s experience of studying an online and face-to-face course in kakuma refugee camp and subsequently undertaking an internship with a local health care organisation. through a discursive conversation, the subject of the case study reveals the positive impact this educational experience has fostered in his life by instilling resilience and empowering him to become a force for positive change in his community. keywords refugees, blended learning, resilience, empowerment, collaborative learning 1. introduction much has been written about the importance of fostering “resilience” and “empowerment” for refugees around the world (selijpen et al., 2017). as concepts, while not always clearly defined or universally accepted, they have been playing increasingly important roles in the forced displacement management discourse in recent years. resilience in particular, has become somewhat of a buzzword in the humanitarian-development nexus for promising effective, efficient and sustainable satisfaction of needs, yet how it is quantified and translates into real life is often vague (anholt & sinatti, 2019). a possible www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 65 published by scholink inc. explanation for this could be the relative novelty of the concepts in the literature, resulting in the concepts being untested and a lack of clarity as to the uncertainty around their meaning. alternatively, as some authors suggest, such buzzwords are often used precisely for their vague and euphemistic qualities as they cannot be challenged and act as smokescreens for ulterior motives and political agendas (arar, 2017; kelberer, 2017; tsourapas, 2019; cornwall, 2019). regardless of the possible agendas at play, resilience and empowerment have a stature in the field of forced displacement and thus deserve academic attention. to better try to understand this stature and its impact, it is useful to begin with an understanding of what these concepts are generally purported to be. in order to do so this article follows the popular brodsky and cattaneo‟s (2013) perspective which defines resilience in a refugee context as a process of developing “intrapersonal changes” to allow refugees to successfully adapt to and/or withstand inevitable adversity. empowerment, as a further process, allows the refugee to “take action” to change parts of the receiving context that hinders their well‐being and that of their community (brodsky & cattaneo, 2013). thus, resilience can be said to be something internal which enables the individuals‟ ability to function in a given context, whereas empowerment involves transformative changes in the receiving society. resilience and empowerment feed into each other and produce a positive trend that helps to counteract some of the vulnerable conditions experienced by refugees (paloma et al., 2020). education, and increasingly higher education, lies at the heart of the resilience and empowerment discourse popular in forced displacement academia, policies and practice. education is often touted as providing a sense of purpose amidst the uprootedness of refugee status and the constraints of life in refugee camps (kirk, 2010; zeus, 2011). furthermore, it is championed for playing a critical role in facilitating transitions for refugees by providing them with the skills that they need to increase their social capital and ability to successfully adapt to different contexts (taylor & sidhu, 2012; wright & plasterer, 2010). the connection between the health and well-being of young people and higher education is well documented. a consensus exists in the literature which highlights the key role resilience plays in assisting students to overcome challenges, manage their wellbeing and complete their studies (beltman, mansfield, & price, 2011; howe, smajdor, & stockl, 2012; mcallister & mckinnon, 2009; reyes et al., 2015). furthermore, there is recognition that building resilience capabilities through curriculum increases the likelihood of positive academic and employment outcomes (turner, scott-young & holdsworth, 2017). the inference here being that resilience gained through participation in higher education can lead to increased empowerment through these outcomes. however, what appears to be missing in the discourse is consensus and clarity on how resilience itself is conceptualised (brewer et al., 2019). the lack of consensus and clarity surrounding the concept of resilience in academia is often referenced by the sceptics of the concepts of resilience and empowerment in the forced displacement discourse. critics point to them as mere buzzwords (anderson, 2015) that have reached cliché levels and are often www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 66 published by scholink inc. used to erode governments‟ and other institutions‟ responsibilities to refugees (mason nunn, 2018). critics of policies and practices used to promote resilience and empowerment point to the seemingly contradictory notions of refugees as agents of their own change, while at the same time being vulnerable and in need of „humanitarian‟ oversight by institutions such as unhcr (e.g., krause & schmidt, 2019). putting these charges aside, it is perhaps unsurprising that as aid budgets tighten and displacement crises proliferate around the world, the promotion of resilience and empowerment have risen in prominence as humanitarian institutions struggle to cope (anholt & sinatti, 2019). a similar and connected debate surrounds the role of higher education in refugee contexts. until quite recently there has been little to no debate about it in the forced displacement discourse. with just 3% of refugee youth finding pathways to higher education (compared to 34% of non-refugee youth) (unhcr 2019) it is reasonable to assume that further discussion on the role of higher education in this context is needed. increasingly, international efforts, such as the sustainable development goals for 2030, have been taking this on board and recognising higher education‟s development potential (unesco, 2019). reflective of this, is the growing body of academic inquiry into the role and impact of higher education in refugee contexts. this area of study, while relatively new, has gone, and is perhaps still going, through a teething phase with various name changes coming into vogue (higher education in emergencies, higher education in crises and fragile contexts, higher education in refugee contexts and so on) as the field of study evolves. the evolution of higher education in refugee contexts is further impacted by the landscape of actors involved, the pedagogies employed and course offerings made. the teaching and learning space accessible to most refugees is dominated by western institutions (o‟keeffe & akkari, 2020). whether this is through the proliferation of western online education delivery for refugees (halkic & arnold, 2018), the western institutions most active in the digital displacement space (mandianou, 2019) or the internationalisation of higher education through dominating western perspectives (majee & ress, 2020), whose needs higher education in refugee contexts serves is not always clear. like the concepts of resilience and empowerment in the forced displacement discourse, there are many questions that surround the role of higher education in the same space. as mentioned, the connection between resilience, participation in higher education and empowerment is well documented, but what is less clear is how this is conceptualised. in addition, the specificities of higher education in refugee contexts (e.g., lack of education options and resources) and the realities of possible outcomes (e.g., reduced employment prospects) for refugee learners (reinhardt et al., 2018) may add further uncertainty when trying to conceptualise these concepts in a refugee context. improving our understanding of these issues will depend on a robust and dynamic field of studies evolving further. central to contributing to this evolution is further research into gaining an understanding of what higher education means for those who take part in it and what impact it has on their lives (ramsey & baker, 2019). the following case study aims to do this by discussing in detail one refugee‟s trajectory from studying a basic medical training course in kakuma refugee camp, kenya, to the application of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 67 published by scholink inc. what he learned during his studies during an internship as a healthcare worker in the camp. through this discursive case study, we explore whether or not higher education has played a meaningful role in creating a sense of real life resilience and empowerment for him and, if so, how this has contributed to the betterment of his community. 2. method drawing on the perspective of brodsky and cattaneo (2013) that resilience involves developing internal coping skills to adapt to and withstand adverse conditions, and empowerment allows successful action to be taken to transform the society around, we use a case study to present the personal reflections of a graduate from a basic medical training course in kakuma refugee camp on his studies and the impact it has had on his life, his career and his contribution to the well-being of his community. the basic medical training course was delivered via blended learning with students taking classes online and in person during a visit to the camp in 2019 by the course tutors. it took place from september 2018 to february 2020 and consisted of 3 models. module 1 focused on a general introduction to medical sciences, module 2 focused on pathology and module 3 focused on developing clinical skills. the discussion in this case study took place during summer 2020, after the course had been completed and the participant had undertaken an internship with a health care organisation in kakuma refugee camp. due to covid-19 travel and interaction restrictions, the discussants were unable to meet up in person (one is based in geneva and the other based in kakuma refugee camp. therefore, the decision was taken for the conversation to take place over the instant messaging technology whatsapp. questions were posed by the first author in writing on the instant messaging application. these questions inquired about the refugee student‟s studies and the impact it had on his work (the questions are presented in the following case study). the refugee responded to the questions by recording sound files and sending them to the researcher via whatsapp. these files were transcribed and formed the basis for the following conversation case study. 3. case study inzone, a higher education and humanitarian programme at the university of geneva, has been running an accredited basic medical training course in kakuma refugee camp since september 2018. the course consists of 3 blended learning modules, delivered over 18 months for refugees living in the camp. each module is 12 weeks in length and covers various relevant health care topics which are delivered through the university of geneva‟s learning platform, real time online tutoring given by master degree medical students based in geneva and face-to-face classes delivered at the end of the course by tutors who visit the students in the camp. the first cohort of students graduated from the course in 2020, with 8 students completing the course out of an initial 16. on completion of their studies, the students had planned to undertake internships at health clinics in kakuma, where they hoped to put what they learned in class into practice and learn www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 68 published by scholink inc. new skills as health care workers in the camp. the covid-19 pandemic and its affect on daily life in the camp resulted in restrictions being put into place to prevent the spread of the virus. as a result the planned internships were postponed until the camps‟ residents‟ safety could be assured. while the organisation of the internships was postponed during the covid-19 pandemic, one of the 8 graduated students, author 2 (a2), (a qualified nurse from burundi), was hired by the african inland church health ministries (aichm) to help with their covid-19 response in the camp. aichm is a healthcare charity that provides preventative and curative services at health care clinics for refugees in kakuma refugee camp. in the following conversation with author 1 (a1), a2 discusses his experience of studying the basic medical training course and his trajectory in becoming a healthcare intern in the camp. he also shares his thoughts on the role of education in improving the wellbeing of refugees. a1: before you started studying inzone‟s basic medical training course you were already a trained nurse in your home country of burundi. why did you decide to go back to study with inzone? a2: i joined the course for the main reason of sharpening my knowledge and to be able to help my community efficiently. it was a good opportunity for me to strengthen my medical knowledge in the english language, as i learned in french in my country. finally, it was a good opportunity for me to learn more medical techniques and terminology from my tutors in geneva than i had learned in my home country. a1: the course itself was 18 months in length and covered a wide variety of topics. can you tell me a little bit about the topics that you studied in the course? a2: up to now i have covered 3 main modules. the first module was about basic medical sciences. in this module i learned about the human body, its anatomy and physiology. in the second module i learned about human pathology. i learned the key concepts about relevant health conditions-especially those found here in kakuma refugee camp. in module 3 i learned about clinical reasoning through problem-based learning. in this module i learned skills such as how to take the medical history of a patient, to take the patients‟ physical exam and to identify red flags (major problems that require an immediate intervention). then i learned about asking for complimentary exams. finally, i learned about making a diagnosis and providing good treatment to patients. a1: higher education in refugee camps is a particular pursuit which requires a very different approach than mainstream education usually takes. can you explain how the course content was delivered and how learning took place. a2: at the start of the course we were given access to a course platform where i opened an account which allowed me to access materials, do quizzes and exams or leave a comment for my colleagues to see. i was also provided with a tablet from the university of geneva with preloaded learning materials, where i found reading materials, and videos to watch. at the end of every week all students in the class would have a face-to-face group discussion to help strengthen each other and share knowledge and experiences about the topics covered. a whatsapp group was opened to allow us to interact with tutors in geneva during weekly tutorial sessions. at the end of each chapter of study, an online quiz was www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 69 published by scholink inc. given to evaluate our knowledge and understanding. also, at the end of each module our teachers from geneva came here to kakuma refugee camp where we reviewed our learning together and finally did an exam. a1: on a personal level, what have you learned from your time studying with inzone? a2: studying with inzone has allowed me to learn a lot of things. first, even if i fled my country and was unable to continue my studies, there are some opportunities to continue with higher education in host countries, regardless of your refugee status, disability, tribe, race or financial means. secondly, inzone opened the door for me to the new word of digital learning. it is really useful as it saved my time, my money, my energy, and allowed me to learn a lot in a short time. it also allowed me to interact with my peers worldwide and my teachers from the university of geneva. thirdly, it was a great opportunity for me to experience how i can learn from others and how they can learn from me, through the organisation of weekly discussions and meetings. as a student representative, i learned and shared my experience with inzone on how to organise students to study, how to respond to the complaints of students, how to organise and hold elections for class monitors, set rules to guide students‟ behaviour in our learning facility, how to receive visitors to our programme and explain them our activities. i also learned how to interact with the inzone management team about the welfare of students and the good running of courses, preparing time tables and payments for transport fees to and from the learning facility. in short, with inzone i learned a new world of education and i had many new experiences and developed skills to help my community. a1: please describe your work as a health worker intern with aichm? a2: after i finished studying with inzone i started an internship with aichm, a local kenyan ngo operating here in kakuma which provides healthcare services. the internship is for 3 months, with possible extension. it is divided into 2 main sections—clinical services at the clinic and a quarantine service at the quarantine service in kakuma. in the clinical services, the main activities that i practice are providing health services to clients based on disease prevention. i conduct clinical assessments by taking body height and weight, vital signs etc. i also carry out patient consultation such as patient history taking, making physical exams, identifying “red flags” and providing immediate responses, asking for complimentary exams, making diagnostics and providing treatment where possible. in the quarantine centre, which is a centre organised by unhcr and aichm, where all covid-19 suspected cases are admitted to be monitored and samples taken for testing, the main activities that i do are participating and facilitating in the admission of new cases. i take the temperatures every morning of all clients. i assist the doctors when taking lab samples for covid-19 tests. i arrange protective items and kits, report suspicious cases with symptoms, receive and treat any other health conditions, e.g., diarrhea, malaria etc., and monitor how they improve. i assist in the issuance of covid-19 results. for those who test positively i assist in their transport to the hospital for isolation. i facilitate in the discharge of those who test negatively. finally, i fill in all documents and do the registering as required. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 70 published by scholink inc. a1: have you learned new things during your internship related to your studies? a2: during the internship i have learned a lot of things. it is a good opportunity to practice what i learned during the course. it is a good opportunity to see in real life all the things that i learned in the anatomy and physiology module and to better understand the symptoms and signs that i learned in the pathology module. also, it gives me the opportunity to examine, interview and provide treatment to patients, like i learned about in the course on taking the history of patients. it was a good opportunity for me to use the knowledge and skills that i learned from inzone to save the lives of refugees like me. a1: how has the internship experience impacted on you personally? a2: it opened my mind that it is useful for all medical students to do an internship to enhance their knowledge as they prepare to serve their communities. it also allowed me to interact with other people, such as nurses, doctors, cleaners, which enhanced my work experience. it helped me to put what i learned into practice. finally, it encouraged good relations with the refugees in the camp, as they felt that they were being helped by one of their own. a1: in your opinion, how can higher education in kakuma be improved. a2: i will answer this by making some proposals. firstly, the course content to be learned should be focused on the situation and diseases that are found in kakuma. secondly, let some medical materials be provided to facilitators in kakuma to better understand what they are learning, e.g., provide medical books and medical instruments to practice with. studying online is never enough. thirdly, students should be well-guided during an internship for a better understanding of what they are learning—for example appointing someone like a doctor in the hospital to guide them would help them to learn and also strengthen partnerships between the education providers and the hospitals. this in turn could help to strengthen the connection between internships and jobs—if refugees see that such opportunities lead somewhere, they will want to take part. a1: what is the future of higher education in kakuma and how can it help refugees? a2: higher education access in kakuma is one of the windows that can help refugees to have a good future and find a solution for their problems. for the future i have 5 recommendations that i would like to make to help ensure the success of higher education programmes here. 1) the courses that are offered should meet the refugees‟ needs and reflect the refugee camp‟s context and situation. the courses should not be limited to certificates and diplomas but also be offered at the degree level. some of the refugees here already have certificates and diplomas from their home countries in the same fields, so courses at the degree level would be helpful, especially to help them in the job market. courses should also be offered in both french and english as these are the main languages used by the refugees here. 2) we should remove any restrictions such as age, especially our outreach procedures when new students are recruited, as it blocks a lot of people who might benefit from studying. connected to the removal of restrictions is the need for the government of kenya to review its higher education policy. very often it restricts refugee access to higher education opportunities. unhcr should raise its voice www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 71 published by scholink inc. to encourage a change in policy. this could help a lot more people access higher education. 3) higher education institutions active in this field should increase their budgets and support for refugees. it would really help if refugee students had better resources to help them study. when students finish a course, they should get help to do things like starting a business or finding jobs. taking part in inzone‟s course not only helped me to better understand many health issues that we face here, but the support i got helped me to get my current job. this allows me to work directly with my community and to help them to be healthier. i think that education can in the long run help us all to be more self-sufficient, to improve our lives as refugees here and empower ourselves. we can make our environment better for ourselves. i think we need more opportunities for us to work and support for our lives here. 4) create an information sharing platform between refugees, higher education institutions, unhcr and other partners active in the field to share ideas about developing higher education in kakuma. 5) finally, i think it is fundamental that we are more academic in our approach and conduct proper evaluations of the programmes on offer here and their impact. with this we can see what works and where we need to improve our efforts and thus ensure higher education is meeting the needs of the community. 4. discussion and conclusion in the introduction we discussed the connections between higher education, resilience and empowerment and elaborated on the uncertainty and lack of clarity surrounding their conceptualisation. while quantifying these concepts as something tangible or measurable is difficult and therefore debatable at an academic level, the above conversation on a personal experience of participating in higher education in refugee contexts confirms that it can be a positive force for internal and external change. from the conversation with the refugee student, the benefits of taking part in inzone‟s basic medical training course are apparent—sharpening existing knowledge, learning new knowledge and skills, getting a job, learning new approaches and getting an opportunity to help the wider refugee community during the covid-19 pandemic. by participating in and completing the basic medical training course successfully and then going on to work as a healthcare intern in the camp, the student improved his own coping skills to help him succeed in this environment and has been able to make a positive impact on the environment around him by becoming an active healthcare worker. in summation, it can be argued that by participating in higher education he has become more “resilient” with new and improved knowledge and skills and has become empowered to improve the environment around him. academic discussions about the meaning of resilience and empowerment enunciated in this article are relevant to the wider debate about the role of higher education in refugee contexts. criticisms of the use of these concepts as buzzwords may also be relevant in the forced displacement discourse. however, for the individual, as illustrated in this case study, the benefits that higher education can bring are clear. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 72 published by scholink inc. in the context of a refugee camp like kakuma, where there is a real and present need for expertise to improve lives. endowing refugees with skills and knowledge to help themselves can lead to real resilience and empowerment. higher education that is localised, contextualised and puts the needs of the refugees first has the power to do this. furthermore, by pursuing academic co-creation of discourse on the role of higher education in refugee contexts, as we do in this article, a refugee‟s voice is enabled. through his assessment of his own experience and the provision of recommendations for the future of higher education in kakuma, the refugee student is contributing to the shaping of the future of higher education in refugee contexts. in this evolving field, incorporating and including the voices of more refugees will add legitimacy to academic discussions, help provide clearer representations of reality of refugee lives and pave the way for a more successful future. all too often academia faces accusations of being elitist and abstract and, therefore, it is our final recommendation that, as the study of higher education in refugee contexts grows, the inclusion of more refugee voices will help it to be grounded in the reality of the lives it discusses. this, in our view, is how higher education can best foster true resilience and empowerment in refugee contexts. references anderson, b. 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(2010). beyond basic education: exploring opportunities for higher learning in kenyan refugee camps. refuge, 27(2), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.34721 zeus, b. (2011). zeus exploring barriers to higher education in protracted refugee situations: the case of burmese refugees in thailand. journal of refugee studies, 24(2), 256-276. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fer011 https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568217690031 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110903560085 https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogz016 https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2017.1353698 https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.34721 https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fer011 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 25 original paper the motivation theory of life-span development and its implications for career education hairong ling 1,2 , junting cui 1 , ruotong cui 1 , jianhua wu 2 & chunze song 2,3* 1 school of education science, nanjing normal university, nanjing, china 2 general education center, communication university of china, nanjing, nanjing, china 3 school of educational studies, universiti sains malaysia, pinang, malaysia * chunze song, general education center, communication university of china, nanjing, nanjing, china; school of educational studies, universiti sains malaysia, pinang, malaysia received: november 22, 2023 accepted: november 27, 2023 online published: december 4, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n4p25 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n4p25 abstract based on the selective optimization with compensation (soc) and control model, the motivational theory of life-span development (mtlsd) proposes adaptive development criteria and objectives. it asserts that the pursuit of perpetual development is the primary control and that the life cycle is an action field with an opportunity and constraint structure of time organization. opportunity is a process characterized by the change processes of escalating and waning and by the adaptation consistency processes of goal participation and goal separation. the mtlsd has endeavored to elucidate how people actively promote their own personal lifelong development throughout its entirety. this provides illumination for china’s career education. the importance of individual initiative in career development, the process of opportunity in the continuity of career education, the difference of career education in different career (major) life cycles, and the fairness of career education during the transitional period of social mobility (opportunity) must be emphasized. keywords motivational theory of life-span development, career education, primary control, opportunity www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 26 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction as a comprehensive educational program, career education focuses on a person’s entire career, coming from childhood to adulthood, based on career awareness, career exploration, career orientation, career preparation, and career proficiency. by doing so, it enables students to develop essential life skills and establish a distinct personal life style (1971, us department of education). it can be said that continuity, originality, and purpose are essential characteristics. nonetheless, the majority individuals have the will and motivation to actively participate in shaping their own lives, often following a consistent developmental path, identifying and effectively pursuing long-term goals, and, when necessary, moving away from unattainable goals, expressing individual agency. how to embody individual initiative, how to control and deal with extant problems in career development, and notably how to alter individual motivation in the face of rapid social change, are issues that career educators should investigate. heckhausen et al. (2010) proposed the mtlsd, which combines the control model of life-span development with the selective optimization and compensation model, and which focuses on the motivational regulation role of individuals in life-span development and their regulation strategies. it is a paradigm of individual motivation control and optimization, as well as a psychological and sociological response to the evolution of vocation education. 2. the theoretical foundation and central concepts of the motivational theory of life-span development the mtlsd is fundamentally grounded in the life span development theory. it was developed in the early 1970s by psychologists baltes and shaire based on empirical research findings. the theory examines the scientific understanding of the general patterns of development, individual developmental homogeneity, and individual developmental plasticity, focusing on the growth, stability, and change of behavior from conception to mortality. its fundamental premise is that the development of individual psychology and behavior is a continuous, lifelong process. individual development in this process is a multi-functional, multi-dimensional dynamic system that exhibits considerable developmental plasticity and compensation. moreover, it is governed by a multi-stage system that necessitates the collaboration of various human development-related disciplines (e.g., biology, medicine, sociology, anthropology, etc.) in order to examine and comprehend human development as a whole. the soc model was proposed by baltes et al. (1990) to explain the overall pattern of successful individual development. in actuality, the development of a person’s existence is an interactive process of selection, optimization, and compensation. the process of soc optimization serves as the foundation for the development of the mtlsd. in addition to soc, the control model proposed by rothbaum et al. (1982) is the basis of the mtlsd. the theory suggests that control is a theme in life development and consists of primary control, in which the individual endeavors to alter the environment to satisfy a desire or need, and secondary control, in which the individual adapts to the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 27 published by scholink inc. environment or “conforms” to it. individuals employ diverse adaptive strategies based on the situation, tasks, and life events, allowing primary control and stimulus control to alternate. based on the soc and control models, the theory proposes adaptive development criteria and developmental objectives. firstly, the mtlsd does not support the use of psychological processes such as satisfaction, psychological well-being, and individual understanding of achievement as criteria for adaptive development, as this would lead to issues such as being too subjective and deviating from objective facts (social rules) and not supporting for forming inter-individual comparison or cross-cultural consistency. the most important criterion for adaptive development is the extent to which individuals acquire control over their environment, thus encompassing multiple domains and time spans of life (heckhausen, 1999; hechausen & schulz, 1995, 1999b; schulz & hechausen, 1996). primary control capacity is the criterion for adaptive development and, in conjunction with secondary control, it maximizes the individual’s overall primary control capacity. in contrast to rothbaum et al. (1982), the mtlsd clarifies secondary control’s function as an auxiliary motivational process that supports short-term or long-term primary control efforts, rather than as an alternative or opposing process. furthermore, the mtlsd posits that the life course is a temporally organized action domain of opportunities and constraints (heckhausen, 1999). developmental goals are organizational motivational units that play a positive role in shaping individuals’ life trajectories and development. attempts by individuals to regulate their development are organized around the action cycle of pursuing developmental goals (heckhausen, 1999). similar to other goals, developmental goals represent anticipated end states that directionally influence individuals’ behavior. individuals are considered active producers of their development (freund & baltes, 2002b), and agency plays a crucial role in the developmental process, portraying individuals as active agents in the motivational processes of goal selection, goal pursuit, and goal disengagement. of course, not all goals can be pursued throughout one’s entire life, and some are considered normative developmental tasks (havighurst, 1953), such as education and retirement. simultaneously, the age-related structure of historical life courses is influenced by historical changes, with significant shifts in age boundaries for key life stages, such as education and reproduction, occurring over the past centuries. in many contemporary industrialized nations, formal education extends into late adolescence (beyond the age of 20), as opposed to around 15 years old a century ago, and the onset and conclusion of reproduction have been delayed compared to two centuries ago. while the variability and flexibility of life course trajectories have increased, the fundamental structure of life course events and transitions has not been disrupted (brueckner & mayer, 2005). human life courses still provide an age-graded sequence of opportunities for pursuing and achieving significant developmental goals (figure 1), offering individuals a timetable to guide goal selection and pursuit. in the future, as society and demographics continue to change, life course trajectories will continue to evolve (mayer, 2004). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 28 published by scholink inc. in addition, the mtlsd views the life course as a temporally organized field of action with a structure of opportunities and constraints (heckhausen, 1999) and developmental goals as organizational units of motivation that allow individuals to actively shape their own life course and development. individuals’ attempts to regulate their own development are structured around a cycle of action aimed at achieving developmental objectives (heckhausen, 1999). developmental objectives are akin to other objectives in that they are desired end states that guide the behavior of individuals. individuals are viewed as active producers of their own development (freund & baltes, 2002b), and their agency plays an important role in the developmental process, acting as an active agent and playing a role in goal selection, goal pursuit, goal disengagement, and goal management, which is reflected in the motivational processes of goal selection, goal pursuit, and goal disengagement. obviously, not all objectives can be pursued at all periods of life, as some are regarded as normative developmental tasks (havighurst, 1953), such as education, retirement, etc. simultaneously, the age-related structure of the historical life course has been influenced by historical changes in the pertinent structure of the life course, with the age boundaries of key life phases, such as education and childbearing, shifting dramatically over the past few centuries. in the majority industrialized nations, formal education now extends into late adolescence (after the age of 20) compared to around 15 a century ago, and childbearing begins and ends later than it did two centuries ago. the increased fluidity and flexibility of life course trajectories have not disrupted the basic structure of life course events and transition sequencing (brueckner & mayer, 2005), and the human life course still provides an age-level sequence of increasing and decreasing opportunities to pursue and achieve important developmental goals (figure 1). these trajectories of opportunity provide individuals with a timeline to guide goal selection and pursuit. as societies and populations transform, life course trajectories will continue to evolve in the future (mayer, 2004). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 29 published by scholink inc. figure 1. age-graded chart of various developmental goal opportunities (heckhausen, 2000) 3. motivational theory of life-span development complementarity and development of the concept of career development developmental objectives, career transitions, career choices, and other essential career development concepts have always been present in various career theories, but with the advent of postmodern society, traditional career theories cannot adequately explain these changes. the mtlsd provides new perspectives and explanatory models for understanding these crucial concepts, thereby better explicating the laws of individual career development in postmodern society, and providing theoretical support for career education. 3.1 a strategy for primary control (“altering” the environment) is secondary control (“conforming” to the environment) while scholars have made distinctions between primary and secondary control, their functional relationship and their transformations and influences in our life development have not been explicitly elucidated. the mtlsd explicitly proposes that the establishment of the motivational system is to maximize the primary control ability in life domains and across the lifespan. it outlines the development trajectory of the availability of primary control and the use of secondary control strategies (figure 2). it is observed that although the ability of primary control follows a reversed u-shaped curve (rapid growth in early stages, peaks in midlife, and declines in old age), the efforts in primary control remain stable and idealized throughout the entire lifespan. in contrast, efforts in secondary control increase with the maturation of social-emotional and cognitive abilities, along with the growing need for compensation for failures and control over losses in old age. regardless of the functionalist perspective or the evolutionary psychology perspective, mastering primary control abilities to the maximum extent is related to overall well-being, such as searching for food, competing for mates, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 30 published by scholink inc. seeking shelter, and caring for offspring—all representing significant challenges (heckhausen, 2000b). in the lifespan developmental cycle, while development is adaptive, it ultimately aims to achieve maximum primary control, considering not only the current ability to control external events but also the potential for future exercise of primary control. life development, in this sense, is achieved by maximizing control over various major functional domains in different stages of life (such as learning, work, family, health, and leisure) to realize the most adaptive development throughout the entire lifespan. in this process, the primary motivation for secondary control strategies (adaptation to the environment) is primarily to reduce losses, maintain, and expand the current level of primary control, rather than serving as alternative methods or opposing processes. the pursuit of primary control is a continuous and universal motivational drive throughout a person’s life. while the ability of primary control may decline with age, requiring the activation of secondary control strategies to help cope with challenges, the pursuit of primary control persists. when certain primary control goals become unattainable, individuals need to disengage from these goals to pursue others that are more achievable. in this process, individuals increasingly rely on secondary control strategies, such as adjusting expectations, values, and attributions, to ensure that the loss of primary control does not damage the motivational resources for general primary control efforts. figure 2. hypothetical life trajectory diagram of primary control potential and primary/secondary control effort (heckhausen, 1999) primary control efforts primary control ability secondary control efforts childh ood middle age elderly www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 31 published by scholink inc. 3.2 goal management entails maximizing goal participation and disengagement according to the mtlsd, goal control strategies operate in a goal engagement mode and a goal disengagement mode (heckhausen, 2003; heckhausen & farruggia, 2003). both goal engagement and goal disengagement are adaptive processes that are beneficial. in life-cycle development, individuals face two major adjustment challenges: selection and compensation (heckhausen, 1999), successful development refers to the simultaneous maximization of gains (desired goals and outcomes) and minimization of losses (different desired goals or outcomes), forming a 2*2 matrix with primary and secondary control (figure 3). the operation of the goal engagement and goal disengagement models is dependent on the matrices’ control strategies. figure 3. matrix of primary/secondary control and selection/compensation composition typically, goal engagement involves selective primary control and selective secondary control. selective primary control refers to the pursuit of a goal through the investment of behavioral resources (such as time, skills, energy, etc.). selective secondary control strategies enhance and maintain motivation and commitment to the selected goal, especially when faced with unexpected obstacles or attractive choices. these strategies include increasing the value of the selected goal, decreasing the value of non-selected alternatives, and fantasizing about the control potential to achieve the selected goal. additionally, when an individual’s available behavioral resources are insufficient to reach the goal, compensatory primary control may be necessary, involving seeking help or advice from others and using technological assistance. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 32 published by scholink inc. specifically, compensatory primary control entails obtaining assistance or advice from others, using technological aids, etc. when individuals experience a loss of control or when goals become unattainable or too costly, individuals may need to disengage from the goal (heckhausen & schulz, 1993; wrosch scheier, carver & schulz, 2003). unlike the motivational mindset of goal engagement, goal disengagement involves more compensatory secondary control strategies. this can be achieved by discontinuing outdated goals, thereby releasing resources to pursue other achievable goals. furthermore, compensatory secondary control includes specific self-protective strategies, such as causal attributions for self-protection (avoiding self-blame), focusing on success in other domains, and downward social comparisons. all of these strategies are aimed at shifting the potential negative impacts of failure experiences to motivate and protect self-resources, achieve emotional balance, and maintain self-esteem. carver et al. (1998, 2000) proposed the concept of convergence in their self-regulation and control theory, suggesting that commitment and confidence are crucial components of goal engagement. merely abandoning efforts without breaking motivational commitment can lead to maladaptive consequences. abandoning a goal is an active disengagement where commitment and confidence decrease. disengagement is a positive process of adjusting goals, not just a passive reflection of failure and loss. (specific strategies for goal engagement and goal disengagement are outlined in table 1.) table 1. control processes for target engagement and target disengagement control processes description target participation selective primary control investment behaviors, efforts, time, skills selective secondary control increased self-regulation of willpower, motivational commitment to selected goals, increased perceived control, and positive stimulation of imagined goals compensatory primary control seeking help or unusual methods overcoming inadequate primary control target disengagement compensatory secondary control (away from the target) devaluing selected targets and reducing their importance enhancing the value of conflicting objectives compensatory secondary control (self-protection) protecting motivational resources from negative impacts redefinition of the empirical meaning of failure or loss www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 33 published by scholink inc. 3.3 opportunity is a process that, along with the objective, must establish an adaptive consistency process the efforts of primary control require individuals to adapt their goals, choices, and control strategies repeatedly to the objectively available opportunities and constraints within a given developmental ecology. the patterns of goal engagement and disengagement, along with their respective control strategies, should reflect these changes. in this context, opportunities are not merely random occurrences at a certain point in time but constitute a process with dynamic fluctuations, showing both increases and declines. this process forms an adaptive consistency with goal engagement and goal disengagement (figure 4). the figure 4 illustrates the trajectory of opportunities rising, peaking, and declining for achieving a specific goal (light gray area in figure 4). it also displays the expected trajectory of goal engagement required for goal attainment (dark gray area in figure 4). simultaneously, as opportunities for achieving significant developmental goals increase, individuals are more likely to consider them as personal developmental goals, making the process of optimizing goal selection more feasible (first section on the left in figure 4). however, if individuals postpone goal selection and pursuit until after opportunities peak and start to decline, which is suboptimal timing, they would require a higher level of goal engagement (dark gray area indicating a peak in figure 4) to ensure goal attainment when opportunities decrease. figure 4. developmental chart of the opportunity structure of goals and the age of goal participation (heckhausen, 2000) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 34 published by scholink inc. in this process of aligning opportunities with goals to achieve adaptability, a goal cycle is formed, involving goal engagement, disengagement, and control strategies together (figure 5). before the decision-making process of goal selection, optimization mechanisms such as optimization, opportunity matching, and diversity considerations are triggered, leading to the phase of goal engagement. in this stage, there will be involvement in selective primary control and selective secondary control. as opportunities approach the strict limitation phase (e.g., the physiological deadline), goal contact intensifies, at which point selective primary control, selective secondary control, and compensatory primary control increase (figure 5, the transition on the right side of the “deadline” in the “urgent goal contact” section). as opportunities for goal attainment decrease, achieving the goal becomes nearly impossible or excessively costly, making personal resource allocation challenging. further efforts towards the goal become highly mismatched, leading to the developmental deadline of the goal. once the deadline passes without achieving the goal, individuals enter the goal disengagement phase and use compensatory secondary control strategies to protect motivation resources for future goal pursuits (see figure 5, the section on the right of the “deadline”). the developmental deadline is a crucial milestone in this process, not only exerting urgency to facilitate goal achievement but also guiding individuals in their goal disengagement decisions. the advantage of anticipating the deadline is significant, as without it, individuals may fall into a state of uncontrollable and futile goal investment, leading to conditions such as depression (klinger, 1977; nesse, 2000). this also implies that the developmental deadline poses a significant challenge to individuals’ self-regulation, requiring a shift from intense and urgent involvement in goals before the deadline to goal disengagement and self-protection after the deadline. those who fail to disengage from futile goals after the deadline may face the risks of wasted resource investment, setbacks, opportunity costs of not pursuing other viable goals, and depression. although the model emphasizes goals associated with deadlines, it is equally applicable to any goal opportunity situation that changes over time. figure 5. stages of action model of development regulation (heckhausen, 1999) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 35 published by scholink inc. 4. implications of motivational theory of life-span development for china’s career education 4.1 the importance of individual initiative to career advancement throughout its existence, the mtlsd has endeavored to clarify the ways in which individuals proactively participate in their own continuous development. it could be argued that the emphasis on the importance of individual initiative in career development is its central argument. on this premise, the theory posits that one’s motivational system is designed to optimize his/her primary control, which is the ability to effect social change. secondary control, which consists of conforming to society, is solely a tactic to achieve primary control. this provides a direction for the development and implementation of vocation education objectives. first and foremost, vocation education should emphasize the development of individual initiative. career education should focus not only on guiding individuals through their career transitions (e.g., further education, employment, etc.), but also on the evolution and development of their motivation during this process. second, it provides a theoretical foundation for the guiding concept of “employment before career choice” in career education, which is a manifestation of secondary control and a strategy of primary control with the ultimate-goal of improving “career choice”. employment first is a manifestation of secondary control, a primary control strategy that ultimately aims to improve “career choice” and has attained primary control. lastly, career education is an effective means of implementing selective secondary control. individual motivation necessitates career education to provide the appropriate external resources to assist individuals in overcoming adversity. additionally, the mtlsd created the optimization in primary and secondary control-a multiscale questionnaire (ops-scales) for measuring developmental regulation in maturity. the scale consists of five main dimensions, including optimization, selective primary control, selective secondary control, compensatory primary control, and compensatory secondary control, with 22 sub-dimensions (table 2) and 44 items in total. it is necessary and instructive for career educators to determine individual goal profiles and control strategies, and the ops-scale is useful for career goal exploration as a reference tool. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 36 published by scholink inc. table 2. ops scale dimensional components table (heckhausen et al., 1998) optimization selective primary control selective secondary control compensatory primary control compensatory secondary control change of target adaptation development (optst) investing in long-term potential targets (optsl) positive trade-offs (opttp) negative trade-offs (opttn) maintenance of diversity (optdm) uniformity avoidance (optdd) putting in the effort time commitment skills development overcoming difficulties help from others advice from others finding new ways detour increase in target value devaluation of other targets enhanced perception of control over selected targets positive consequences of the achievement of the expected objectives target disengagement self-protection attribution social comparison intra-personal comparison 4.2 the importance of paying attention to opportunities throughout the continuum of career education unlike career chaos theory and the “opportunity theory”, the mtlsd implies that opportunity is not a random, singular event, but rather a voyage that intervenes in the career development cycle alongside goal participation. in actuality, the achievement of development is contingent upon the individual making the optimal decision and achieving goals at the optimal time, and optimizing goal selection requires consideration of opportunities, time constraints, and other factors. when evaluating the adaptability of control strategies, consideration must be given to the individual’s optimization of the parties and the development of long-term competence in primary control, which can be evaluated using at least three criteria: 1) the goal satisfies realistic conditions; 2) the outcome is beneficial (or at least not detrimental) to other domains or long-term development, and 3) the goal’s fundamental nature can www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 37 published by scholink inc. be preserved (heckhausen, 2010). “when i am fifteen, i will study; when i am thirty, i will be independent; when i am forty, i will have no doubts; when i am fifty, i will know heaven’s destiny; when i am sixty, i will follow my heart and do what i desire” (the analects of confucius). in this description, the concept of lifelong development and the time series of development objectives of the chinese people are reflected. this also contains the crucial meaning of opportunity and goal participation: “what to do at what age”. “a gentleman has three warnings: in youth, when one’s vitality is unsteady, one should avoid lust; in their prime, when one’s vitality is robust, one should avoid conflict; and in old, when one’s vitality declines, they should avoid excessive acquisition” (the analects of confucius), which illustrates the strategy of physical and mental control during the transition from childhood to adulthood. this implies that career education should not be a fragmented education, but rather a coherent comprehensive education that takes into account the limitations of opportunities and time in the education process, including life opportunities, life sequence, and life design, which is typically the most challenging aspect of career education. in any case, the mtlsd seeks to highlight the life process of opportunity and goal engagement as a corrective to current career education, which is sometimes undesirable and dangerous when we place too much emphasis on the immediacy of the goal and ignore the problem of the process nature of time in the creation of opportunity and the adaptability and development of individual initiative in such a journey. at the same time, the journey of opportunity has a deadline, some physical (e.g., the deadline for childbearing) and some temporal (e.g., the deadline for an opportunity), and career education should make students aware of this. 4.3 the significance of attention to various career (professional) life cycles for distinctions in career education although primary control abilities generally follow a bell-shaped trajectory throughout the lifespan, there are significant differences in the peaks and slopes of primary control functions in various occupational fields (heckhausen et al., 2017). on one hand, some professions or occupations (such as manual labor in fields like construction or clerical work requiring minimal training) can quickly reach the peak level of competence. however, the opportunity for further growth in primary control abilities in such professions also rapidly stagnates or declines. these occupations align with the increasing primary control abilities of adolescents and young individuals, and if the work is not perceived as temporary, involuntary, or undesirable, it can lead to early engagement and satisfaction with the job. however, opportunities for advancement decrease rapidly after entering the workforce, resulting in a bottleneck period of early and lower primary control abilities. in the later stages of the young adulthood phase, individuals at the early peak of their careers may have already mastered and exhausted the challenges and opportunities in their work environment, while their overall primary control abilities continue to rise, leading to a sense of disconnection and scarcity. this sense of disconnection may prompt a reevaluation of their profession and specialty, either making corresponding adjustments and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 38 published by scholink inc. changes or adopting secondary control strategies that adapt to the environment. on the other hand, some professions or specialties significantly delay the opportunities for growth in primary control but provide continuous opportunities for growth throughout the career (such as professions requiring meticulous training like academic or artistic careers). these professional roles necessitate extensive training, substantially delaying and prolonging the entry into the career. the complexity of these professions often makes individuals unable to reach the maximum competence within the primary control domain, making the entry into the career a lengthy and challenging process. this seriously challenges individuals’ motivation systems, requiring sustained commitment to an uncertain and distant goal. thus, individuals are at risk of violating goal consequence management and goal diversity heuristic maintenance during both the entry phase of a career and the process of establishing and maintaining a position, and the evening peak of a career presents other unique challenges that, if not met, can lead to feelings of inadequacy. to mitigate these potential adverse consequences, the opportunity for lifelong growth and progress in primary control provides individuals with the means to discover enduring significance and intrinsic dedication in their professional pursuits. therefore, the challenges confronting career education and strategies for advising are distinct for various occupational categories (professions). this differentiated treatment is typically what makes career education so appealing. moreover, the degree to which an individual’s work situation provides primary control that matches his actual primary control has important motivational and socio-emotional implications, indicating the importance of assessing an individual’s suitability for the environment, in addition to the significance of motivational stimulation and emotional empowerment in career education. 4.4 the significance of transitional attention to social mobility (opportunities) for equity and fairness in career education almost certainly, the transition from adolescence to maturity is the most significant developmental transition throughout the life course. most modern societies have a high potential for social mobility, and individuals confront both opportunities for upward social mobility and risks of downward social mobility throughout their lifetimes and across generations. nevertheless, certain aspects of society may limit an individual’s ability to climb the social ladder (buchholz et al., 2009). for individuals, the initial state is monostable, and the developmental path diverges as the time series intervenes to regulate it. on the one hand, this distinction, in addition to the individual’s own disparities, could be the result of the individual’s social class. corak (2013), for instance, argues that the primary motivator of progressively limited social mobility is what economists refer to as “children’s human capital”. higher incomes result in better neighborhoods, daycare facilities, and schools, which tips the scales in favor of children from higher income categories when it comes to university quality and employment opportunities. alternatively, this disparity may be the result of the social system’s design. for instance, our education system’s stratification is difficult, but it is not impossible to transfer between levels. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 39 published by scholink inc. these various restrictions in the education system may create barriers between stable paths, making it difficult to move from one to another. internalized ideologies of social inequality and beliefs regarding the causes of upward and downward social mobility may also contribute to this phenomenon. the impact of these constraints on career development can frequently be a hindrance to career education, and opportunities arise in part from dismantling and modifying these constraints. in other words, career education is frequently accompanied by supply-side education reform, equity in education, and the elimination of barriers to education. 5. conclusion the mtlsd expands upon the criteria for adaptive development and developmental objectives by incorporating the soc and control models. by situating individuals within a more comprehensive temporal framework and incorporating life developmental tasks, the theory believes that individuals actively generate and propel their own development. this offers theoretical support for the practice of career education and a fresh perspective on career exploration. career education ought to prioritize not only the positive implications of an individual’s professional growth but also safeguard and advance their subjective agency. there exists a necessity to augment the procedural, coherent, and opportune knowledge content pertaining to opportunities within the realm of vocation education. this would empower students to comprehensively contemplate the limitations of opportunities and time, and subsequently integrate them into the sequence of life design. with due regard to career education, the impact of various professional life cycles on human development should be taken into account during the construction of the career education system. aside from valuing individual distinctions, consideration should be given to the variety of professional life cycles. in conclusion, the mtlsd offers a new perspective on career research, examining human career development and design in a more macroscopic time series and providing new theoretical support for the practice of career education. acknowledgement this study was funded by the philosophy and social science research project of universities in jiangsu province, project no. 2023sjsz0277; 2023sjsz0279; and general project of jiangsu province recruitment and employment guidance, no. jcxm-c-20230526. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 40 published by scholink inc. reference baltes, p. b., & mayer, k. u. 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(2000). on the structure of behavioral self-regulation. in handbook of self-regulation (pp. 41-84). academic press. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-012109890-2/50032-9 carver, c. s., & scheier, m. f. (2001). on the self-regulation of behavior. cambridge university press. dahua, w., jiliang, s., & bo, c. (2002). the theroy of control: a new viewpoint of life-span development. advances in psychological science, 10(2), 168-177. freund, a. m., & baltes, p. b. (2002). life-management strategies of selection, optimization and compensation: measurement by self-report and construct validity. journal of personality and social psychology, 82(4), 642. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.642 heckhausen, j. (1999). developmental regulation in adulthood: age-normative and sociostructural constraints as adaptive challenges. cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511527852 heckhausen, j. (2000). evolutionary perspectives on human motivation. american behavioral scientist, 43(6), 1015-1029. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027640021955739 heckhausen, j. (2003). the future of lifespan developmental psychology: perspectives from control theory. understanding human development: dialogues with lifespan psychology, 383-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0357-6_17 heckhausen, j. u. t. t. a., shane, j., & kanfer, r. u. t. h. (2017). competence and motivation at work throughout adulthood. making the most of changing capacities and opportunities. toimittaneet: andrew j. elliot, carol s. dweck ja david s. yeager. teoksessa: handbook of competence and motivation. theory and application, 449-470. heckhausen, j., & farruggia, s. p. 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(2003). adaptive self-regulation of unattainable goals: goal disengagement, goal reengagement, and subjective well-being. personality and social psychology bulletin, 29(12), 1494-1508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203256921 https://doi.org/10.1177/016502549301600210 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.102.2.284 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.106.3.605 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511527869.004 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017668 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056040 https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.57.1.14 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.42.1.5 https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.51.7.702 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427617rhd0103_3 https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203256921 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 36 original paper an investigation of social emotional learning skills in primary schools in terms of some variables hakan usakli 1 1 sinop university, sinop, turkey received: january 15, 2023 accepted: february 4, 2023 online published: march 1, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n1p36 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n1p36 abstract in this study, the social-emotional learning skills of the students attending the fourth and fifth grades of primary school were examined in terms of gender, class, parental association, assertiveness, aggression, and submissiveness variables. as a measurement tool in the study, it consists of four dimensions and twenty-one items developed by baydan (2010). behavioral tendency scale for children, which was developed by deluty (1979) and adapted to turkish by usakli (2006), was used. the findings of the study revealed that there were significant differences in the social-emotional learning skills of the students attending the fourth and fifth grades in terms of gender, class, parental association, assertiveness, aggression, and submissive variables. in future studies, it may be about giving social emotional learning skills training in different grade levels by associating it with assertiveness training. keywords social emotional learning, behavioral tendency, primary school students 1. introduction 1.1 assertiveness assertiveness, which is used in the sense of assertive, coercive, rapid, assist, favor in english, indicates staying away from aggression and submissive as a form of behavior. adler (1994), as personality traits of aggressive types; smugness indicates greed, jealousy, stinginess, and hatred. on the other hand, non-aggressive types have restrained instincts that indicate isolation, fear, timidity, and decreased adaptability. egan (1976) mentions three dimensions for successful applications of interpersonal communication. the first dimension is awareness or discrimination, which is one of the key factors of social intelligence, the ability to understand what we want in an interpersonal or social situation. the second www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 37 published by scholink inc. is the technology dimension, which includes techniques used in interpersonal situations. the third dimension is assertiveness. aggressive, shy, and assertive are among the behavioral tendencies that a child can show in general (deluty, 2004; deluty & usakli, 2009). however, these behavioral tendencies are not separate but overlapping and complementary forms. translated into turkish as assertive, confident, the word is used in the sense of “acar who throws himself into danger or difficulties without fear” (tdk, 2005, p. 143). as a terminological definition, an assertive person is the behavior of being egalitarian in his relations, not carrying unnecessary worries, defending himself, expressing his feelings comfortably and protecting his own rights without violating the rights of others (alberti & emmons, 1998, p. 41). student personality services are of great importance in preparing children for life, especially in their relations with their peers, by displaying assertiveness (acting effectively) skills and establishing more meaningful relationships with them (korkut, 2007). guidance and psychological counseling services are of great importance in preparing children for life, “incorporating not only the guidance services but also the programs of some related courses” (korkut, 2007, p. 138). this type of behavior, supported by academic studies, is the continuation of studies gathered under social skills in our country (bacanli, 2008, 1997, 1994). as a matter of fact, in the 4+4+4 education system regulated by the new law, the term primary school has been replaced by primary school as in the past and guidance hours have been removed. the first studies on assertiveness and assertiveness education in our country were initiated by (voltan, 1980). studies on this subject in the last ten years have been carried out within the scope of psychoeducation. an assertive person is defined as a person who defends his/her own rights while respecting the rights of others. however, the important thing in defending this right is that both parties can defend the difficulty they face with a “win-win” approach. since assertiveness is an interpersonal skill, it also includes the ability to solve problems on the axis of this skill. defining assertiveness as a right, it has a broad perspective as the right to make mistakes, to be given priority, the rights that are possible for other people’s needs to be valid for the individual as well, the right to demand without feeling guilty and selfish, the individual’s right to take responsibility for the consequences of his own actions and thoughts. the main points of these three types of behavior that are assertive, aggressive, and shy are stated as follows. in assertive behavior, the person can easily express himself and meet his needs. while doing these, he does not hurt others and feels good. in the form of non-aggressive (shy) behavior, the person may deny their wishes in order to satisfy others. he can sacrifice his own needs to meet the needs of others. in aggressive behavior, the person seeks to dominate by acting as he wishes at the expense of others (greenberg, 2002, p. 95). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 38 published by scholink inc. in general, the individual with the assertive behavior style; we can define them as having no difficulty in expressing their beliefs, feelings, and thoughts, more effective in interpersonal relations, but respectful of other people's rights and capable of protecting their own rights. it is known that shy, aggressive, and assertive behavior patterns are stimulant, behavior and reaction patterns in terms of eye contact, body posture, gestures, facial expression, tone of voice, timing and content (usakli, 2006). as a matter of fact, deluty (1985) stated that in the environments of discussion, injustice, praise, provocation, interaction, decision making and criticism; submissive, not being able to say no, not being able to be objective, hypersensitivity, crying out of place, difficulty in expression, indecision. aggression against this is physical, verbal, gestures, acting on behalf of someone else, using someone else’s weakness in discussion, speaking as if giving orders, unnecessary or inappropriate demands, and reacting at inappropriate times. the assertive child expresses himself clearly and directly, while respecting the rights and feelings of others. for example, the assertive reaction of one child who is being teased to the other child who is being teased, “please stop making fun of me. you wouldn’t like it if i made fun of you too!” may be (deluty, 2004, p. 32). studies conducted in recent years have shown that shy verbal expressions are associated with depression (osatuke et al., 2007), and that dominant language use characteristics of different genders are determined, especially in early childhood, and primary school years (bablekou, 2009), and socio-cultural differences between genders in terms of aggression and submissive. there are studies that are related to the structure (gerber, 2009). in their recent study, atli, kaya, and macit (2010) found that shy behavior in secondary school students varies depending on school type, gender, grade level, achievement, place of residence, economic level, education level of parents, and violence perpetrated by parents. in order to measure assertiveness in the research, the original name “children action tendency scale (cats)” measurement tool developed by deluty (1979) was adapted into turkish by usakli (2006), the first author of these studies. it is a compelling choice measurement tool in which shy, aggressive and assertive behavior pairs are formed in order to question the reaction tendencies of 6-12 age group children in the face of a total of 13 conflicting situations. the turkish adaptation, expert opinion and similar scales were validated, and the reliability study was conducted with the test repetition method, and it is a very suitable measurement tool that can be used for the sample of this research with its assertiveness, aggression, and submissive dimension (usakli, 2006, p. 136). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 39 published by scholink inc. 1.2 social emotional learning skills in general, sel describes the individual’s dominance over emotions. sel is about children and young people’s ability to successfully fulfill important life tasks. in this sense, ibl is related to comprehensive psychological counseling and guidance services. in terms of ibl, life tasks of individuals are to meet their personal and social needs, to be productive individuals in the society, and to integrate their own thoughts and behaviors. sbl is a kind of development, maturation process for individuals. during this process, some basic skills need to be acquired. it requires managing emotions, establishing healthy relationships, setting positive goals, fulfilling personal and social needs, and taking moral initiative (usakli, 2017). social emotional learning basically includes five skills; self-awareness (recognizing your emotions, values and strengths), self-management (managing your emotions and behaviors to reach your goal), social awareness (empathizing with others and showing it), relationship skills (creating positive relationships, working in a team and displaying the ability to work effectively), responsible decision making (making ethical choices about personal and social behavior). (usakli, 2017). 2. method 2.1 research pattern the study was designed as a quantitative research method. 2.2 sample the research was carried out with five hundred students from two primary schools and three middle schools located in the city center of sinop and determined by random sampling. 2.3 test apparatus as a measurement tool in the study, it consists of four dimensions and twenty-one items developed by baydan (2010). behavioral tendency scale for children, which was developed by deluty (1979) and adapted to turkish by usakli (2006), was used. the validity correlation coefficient of the social-emotional skill perception scale ranged between .51 and .78. the reliability correlation coefficient varies between .64 and .84. cronbach's alpha value for the whole scale is .92 (baydan 2010). the validity correlation coefficient of the child behavior tendency scale ranged from .47 to .78. the reliability coefficient varies between .75 and .89 (usakli, 2006). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 40 published by scholink inc. 3. results the findings obtained as a result of examining whether social emotional learning skills differ according to demographic variables such as gender, class level and cohabitation of parents are included in this section. afterwards, the relationships between ibl skills and submissive, aggression and assertiveness were presented, and then the findings on the effects of ibl skills on assertiveness and aggression were emphasized. according to the gender variable, students' perceptions of social emotional learning skills include problem solving (t: 2.652, p<.01), coping with stress (t: 2.283, p<.05); it was found that there was a difference in terms of communication skills (t: 3.062, p<.01) and total score (t: 2.771, p<.01). according to the findings, the females’ problem solving, coping with stress, communication and total scores (x=16.57; 16.28; 10.88; 57.40) were higher than those of the boys (x=16.12; 15.87; 10.46; 55.91), respectively, in terms of gender variable. there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of skills that increase self-esteem score (t: 1.229, p>.05). problem solving (t: 3.646, p<.01), coping with stress (t: 3.545, p<.01), communication skills (t: 3.961, p<.01) were among the students’ perceptions of social-emotional learning skills according to the grade level variable of the study. , self-esteem enhancing skills (t: 3.678, p<.01) and total score (t: 4.323, p<.01) were found. according to the results, the fourth graders’ problem solving, coping with stress, communication, skills that increase self-esteem and total scores (x=16.58; 16.30; 10.87; 13.77; 57.51) of the fourth graders in terms of the grade level variable were found in the fifth grade. higher than the other classes (x=15.88; 15.64; 10.28; 13.16; 54.96). when looking at the variable of parents’ living together, the students’ perceptions of social emotional learning skills include problem solving (t: 2.169, p<.05), communication skills (t: 2.083, p<.05), skills that increase self-esteem (t: 2.086). , p<.05) and total score (t: 2.261, p<.05) were found. it was found that there was no difference in coping skills (t: 1.821, p>.05). according to the results, the problem solving, communication, skills that increase self-esteem and the total scores of those whose parents live together, respectively, in terms of living together with their parents (x=16.39, 10.71, 13.57, 56.78) compared to those whose parents live together (x=15.34, 9.93, 12.90, 53.48) is higher. the relationship between sbl skills and submissive, aggression and assertiveness was examined with the correlation coefficient. the results obtained are presented in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 41 published by scholink inc. table 1. relationships between social emotional learning skills and submissive, aggression and assertiveness submissive aggressive assertive behavioral tendency total sd problem solving .09 -.32* .30** -.04 16.32 1.92 coping stress .10* -.29** .25** -.05 16.06 2.00 communication skills .08 -.30** .28** -.04 10.65 1.54 rising self-esteem skills .02 -.21** .22** -.03 13.55 1.70 social emotional learning skills total .09 -.33** .31** -.05 56.59 6.00 12.07 5.92 20.37 38.36 sd 3.32 4.81 3.90 2.27 note. *p<0.05. **p<0.01. as it can be seen in table 1, it was found that all of the relationships between the total score of ibl skills and the four sub-skills and aggression were negative. the correlation coefficients range from -.21 to -.33. the relationship between assertiveness and sel skills is positive and the coefficients vary between .22 and .31. it was found that the total scores of submissive and behavioral tendency and ibl skills were not high and not significant. based on the significant relationships between the variables, the effect of sbl skills on aggression and assertiveness was examined with multiple linear regression. the results regarding the effect of ibl skills on aggression are given in table 2. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 42 published by scholink inc. table 2. the effect of social emotional learning skills on aggression b standard error β t p fixed 20.503 1.981 10.351 .000 problem solving -.227 .271 -.091 -.836 .403 relation skills -.254 .275 -.082 -.925 .355 rising self-esteem skills .223 .238 .078 .937 .349 social emotional learning total -.198 .155 -.247 -1.279 .202 r=.346 r 2 =.119 f=16.285 p=.000 according to the results of the multiple regression analysis performed to determine the effect of social emotional learning skills consisting of problem solving, communication skills, coping with stress and self-esteem on aggression, problem solving, communication, skills that increase self-esteem, and sds total skills score are significantly correlated with assertiveness (r).=.346, r2=.119) (f(4-480)=16.285, p<0.01). together, these variables explain approximately 12% of the variation in aggression scores. according to the standardized regression coefficients, the relative importance of the predictive variables on assertiveness was sds total score (β=-0.247), problem solving (β=-0.091), communication skills (β=-0.082), and skills that increase self-esteem (β=0.078). considering the significance tests of the regression coefficients, it is seen that the predictive variables are not significant predictors of assertiveness. the findings obtained as a result of examining the effect of sbl skills on assertiveness with multiple regression are presented in table 3. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 43 published by scholink inc. table 3. the effect of social emotional learning skills on assertiveness b standard error β t p fixed 9.188 1.621 5.667 .000 problem solving .305 .222 .150 1.371 .171 relation skills .323 .225 .128 1.436 .152 rising self-esteem skills .069 .195 .030 .354 .724 social emotional learning total .032 .127 .050 .256 .798 r=.320 r 2 =.102 f=13.685 p=.000 according to the results of the multiple regression analysis performed to determine the effect of social emotional learning skills, consisting of problem solving, communication skills, coping with stress and skills that increase self-esteem, on assertiveness, there is a significant relationship between problem solving, communication, skills that increase self-esteem, and sds total skills score (r). =.320, r2=.102) (f(4-480) =13.685, p<0.01). together, these variables explain 10% of the change in assertiveness scores. according to the standardized regression coefficients, the relative importance of the predictive variables on assertiveness was problem solving (β=0.150), communication skills (β=0.128), ids total score (β=0.050), and skills that increase self-esteem (β=0.354). considering the significance tests of the regression coefficients, it is seen that the predictive variables are not significant predictors of assertiveness. 4. conclusion and recommendations social emotional learning should be the ultimate goal of education and all schools should open their doors to it (elias, 2019). it is seen that these findings obtained in the research are consistent with some studies conducted in turkey and abroad (asher & williams, 1987). interventions with a combination of various methods are very effective especially for rejected, unwanted and aggressive children (coie & krehbiel koeppl, 1990, p. 333). as a result, it can be said that friendship education, which is systematically given through drama (activities), has positive effects and contributions in the development of friendship relations of students. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 44 published by scholink inc. it is known that the main goal in assertiveness is to find the best solution for all people. at the end of this study, some skills were taught to increase the assertiveness of the students. the skills of making a request to enter the game, assertively defending one’s right without showing fight and flight reactions, saying no when necessary, asking for help when needed, helping those in need are the skills that were tried to be given to the students within the scope of the study. there is a need for in-class activities to support students’ social and emotional learning processes. these activities can be done with techniques and methods such as drama, circle time, role playing, group counseling. references adler, a. 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(2006). the effect of drama-based group guidance on friendship relations, assertiveness level and self-esteem of primary school 5th grade students (unpublished doctoral thesis). dokuz eylul university. usakli, h. (2017). what is social emotional learning why is it important (five emotional areas in human relationships). sinop university journal of social sciences, 1(2), 1-16. voltan, n. (1980). the effect of group assertiveness training on individual’s assertiveness level (unpublished doctoral thesis). hacettepe university. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9529-9 https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20338 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 62 original paper study on case-based bilingual teaching model of international engineering contracting course—take qingdao city university as an example kefei zhang 1 , qixiang miao 1 , chunxiao wang 1 & qiaohui zhang 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china * kefei zhang, e-mail: zh_kefei@163.com received: october 20, 2024 accepted: october 31, 2024 online published: november 8, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p62 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p62 abstract under the background of the “belt and road” initiative, china’s international status in the field of international engineering is also increasing, and the industry’s demand for international engineering professionals and their professional requirements are gradually increasing. as a key professional course related to international engineering, international project contracting should keep pace with the times in teaching content and teaching methods under such a background. taking qingdao city university as an example, based on the analysis of the problems existing in the traditional international engineering contract teaching, this paper proposes a new model of case-based bilingual teaching for international engineering contract teaching through the investigation of students’ professional foundation and english level, combined with the current development needs of the industry. this course is reformed from three aspects: the setting of case base, the optimization of bilingual teaching mode and the flexible assessment method. finally, through the investigation of the students, the practical effect of the reform plan is tested. keywords international project contracting, bilingual teaching, case-based teaching, teaching reform 1. introduction with the continuous promotion of high-quality belt and road cooperation strategy, remarkable progress has been made in infrastructure connectivity in various fields such as railways, highways, shipping and energy. the 14th five-year plan clearly states that we should rely on the advantages of china’s ultra-large market to promote international cooperation through which mutual benefit and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 63 published by scholink inc. win-win results can be obtained. besides, with the steady development of the belt and road cooperation, a community with a shared future for mankind is being built. in this context, china’s construction enterprises, energy enterprises and enterprises from other industries actively go abroad to participate in the construction of international engineering projects, and carry out new multilateral cooperation. according to the statistics of the ministry of commerce, in 2022, chinese enterprises in the countries along the “belt and road” signed 5,514 new contracts for foreign contracted projects, the new contract value of 871.84-billion-yuan, accounting for 51.2% of the new contract value of china’s foreign contracted projects in the same period; the turnover was 571.31-billion-yuan, accounting for 54.8% of the total in the same period (ministry of commerce of the people’s republic of china, 2023; li & yang, 2021, p. 4). due to the rapid increase of international project contracting business, the demand for international project management talents in china is also increasingly strong, which puts forward higher requirements for the quality of training engineering management professionals in colleges and universities. students should not only have a broad international vision, but also have the ability of cross-regional site management and a stronger awareness of international cooperation and exchange. as an important specialized course for engineering management, international project contracting basically covers the knowledge that need to be applied in the process of international project contracting. through the study of this course, the purpose is to enable students to master solid basic knowledge and theory, cultivate students’ international vision and competitiveness, solve practical problems in international project contracting, and improve the ability of international project management. 2. introduction of the international engineering contracting course and the relationship of the relevant course system 2.1 introduction of the international engineering contracting course international engineering contracting is an elective course in the first semester of the junior year of the undergraduate major of engineering management and engineering cost in the college of civil engineering, qingdao city university. this course integrates the content of several professional courses such as introduction to engineering management, engineering project management, engineering project bidding, engineering cost, civil engineering construction, construction laws and regulations, etc. it is a comprehensive course with the international engineering market and international engineering projects as the main research object. it puts forward higher requirements for students’ knowledge integration ability, international vision, problem analysis ability and english level. therefore, the traditional single chinese teaching method is not suitable for this course. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 64 published by scholink inc. 2.2 relationship of the relevant course system as a comprehensive course in the field of engineering management, taking the training program of engineering management major of qingdao city university as an example, the content of international engineering contracting course (with the book international engineering management published by southeast university press as the main reference textbook) and its relationship with the curriculum system of other professional courses are shown in figure 1 (yuan, deng, li et al., 2022, pp. 221-224; li, 2019). the wide range of course content and complex course structure make it more important to change and innovate the teaching form of this course. figure 1. international engineering contracting curriculum architecture diagram 3. traditional teaching mode and problems of international engineering contracting course 3.1 traditional teaching and examination forms before the reform and innovation of the international engineering contracting course, the traditional teaching form was mainly lecture-oriented, and the teaching of theoretical knowledge was mainly. the assessment takes the form of attendance and final test, and less involves classroom performance, group discussion and homework. 3.2 problems in the traditional teaching and examination forms (1) students are not motivated to learn. with teachers as the main body in traditional teaching methods, students passively accept knowledge and lack opportunities to interact with teachers. at the same time, there are many professional contents related to international project contracting, which involve a wide range of subjects and are rather boring, and students’ thirst for knowledge is difficult to be stimulated. at the same time, the assessment is mainly based on the final test, which cannot mobilize the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 65 published by scholink inc. enthusiasm of students to participate in class learning. (2) the teaching quality is low. traditional teaching methods teach a lot of professional content in a short time, which cannot take into account the quality, but will reduce the teaching effect, making it difficult for students to absorb and understand in a limited time. the form of assessment also rarely involves the content such as the usual performance, resulting in students only focusing on the final exam and results, but ignoring the daily learning harvest. (3) it cannot effectively broaden students’ international vision. students lack the background knowledge of relevant international engineering projects, and traditional teaching methods often lack the introduction and analysis of actual cases. as a result, students cannot deeply understand the practical problems of international engineering contracting, and it is difficult to cultivate their ability to independently analyze issues related to international engineering management. (4) there are obstacles to bilingual teaching. bilingual teaching is one of the best teaching methods to understand the frontier of the subject, especially the international engineering contracting course, which helps to keep up with the latest developments of international engineering and cultivate students’ international consciousness (liu, sheng, zhang et al., 2023, pp. 438-440). however, there are some difficulties in bilingual teaching at present. firstly, the international engineering contracting course requires a lot of professional terms and background knowledge, and the bilingual teaching materials and teaching resources in china are relatively few, which brings certain difficulties to the teaching. secondly, students are afraid of bilingual courses, psychologically exclude english communication, and are more unfamiliar with international engineering contracting professional english, so they are more reluctant to communicate in english. finally, it is a challenge for teachers to balance the use of two languages in the classroom. teachers need to choose appropriate teaching methods according to the language level and learning needs of students. at the same time, the arrangement of course content may be limited, and the difficulty of in-depth explanation of some content will increase. 4. implementation of case-based bilingual teaching model in international project contracting course 4.1 reset of teaching objectives the premise of teaching mode reform is to determine what kind of learning goal to achieve through the study of this course. the traditional goal setting of “mastering, getting familiar with and understanding” is too abstract and fails to accurately measure the achievement of learning goals. therefore, in combination with the needs of professionals in the development of the industry, this course restructures the teaching goals (detailed goals are shown in table 1), which are divided into knowledge goals, ability goals and emotional goals. on the basis of completing the basic knowledge goals, students’ ability to engage in international engineering-related work, problem solving ability, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 66 published by scholink inc. dialectical thinking ability and english communication ability, and strengthen students’ sense of responsibility, globalization awareness, law-abiding awareness and environmental protection awareness can all be improved so as to lay a solid professional foundation on the premise of correct thinking. in addition, in order to better measure the achievement of teaching goals, especially knowledge goals (ability goals and emotional goals need to be measured through practice), the goal-setting mode of “phrasal verb + knowledge point” is adopted. taking k1 knowledge goal as an example, the traditional teaching goal setting will describe it as “familiar with the basic forms of the international engineering market”, while the reset teaching goal will describe it as “able to describe the basic forms of the international engineering market in my own words combined with the current development situation and my own understanding”. this template is used to rewrite all knowledge objectives during the development of the syllabus and the teaching process. table 1. detailed objectives of international engineering contracting courses international project contracting curriculum target system k-knowledge goals a-ability goals e-emotion goals k1 the basic situation of the international engineering market a1 the ability to analyze the international engineering market, the development mode and strategy of international engineering contracting enterprises e1 china’s engineering should take the globalization consciousness of international development k2 different regional engineering market access system k3 international project bidding mode and process e2 sense of a community of shared future for mankind featuring fair competition and win-win cooperation k4 international project contract management k5 international engineering project risk and management program a2 entering the target market according to the actual situation, choosing the right bidding strategy, and carrying out the project contract management, risk management, site management, cooperation and conflict management capabilities e3 strives to enhance its awareness of learning advanced engineering technology and management methods worldwide and contributing to the development of china’s international engineering k6 international engineering insurance and guarantee system in different regions k7 how to carry out on-site management of international engineering projects e4 awareness of abiding by laws and regulations and implementing projects according to law www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 67 published by scholink inc. k8 methods to carry out international engineering cooperation and conflict management a3 ability of professional english communication and dialectical thinking e5 awareness of environmental protection, low-carbon and sustainable development of the engineering industry 4.2 construction of case base and reform of case teaching mode combined with the characteristics of “practicality + comprehensiveness” of this course and the previous teaching experience of our school and other schools, the teaching mode of “theoretical knowledge learning + case analysis” is more conducive to improving students’ low interest in learning and boring class. in addition, case analysis can help students deepen their understanding of theoretical knowledge while training their ability of independent thinking and problem analysis. however, the problem of traditional case learning is that the knowledge points involved in cases are too simple and scattered, and only when the teaching content is carried out in a specific content, the teacher will give examples, which is not conducive to the formation of students’ knowledge system, and it is not possible to form a complete cognition of practical projects through the combination of case learning and theoretical knowledge. therefore, through the form of “classic cases throughout + key issues with key examples”, this course reconstructed the course case teaching method and case base based on the development strategy of the “belt and road” and the key international engineering projects that china participates in along the route. the backbone cases are mainly successful cases (such as the project case of china-pakistan economic corridor), while the cases corresponding to the key problems are mainly failure cases, so as to strengthen students’ cognition of the problems and improve their attention and emphasis on the key problems, as shown in figure 2. figure 2. international engineering contracting course case base structure www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 68 published by scholink inc. 4.3 the transformation of bilingual teaching mode take southeast university, which offers the course of international engineering management, for example. since the course was set up in the 1990s, the course of international engineering management in southeast university has developed into a deliberative course taught in pure english (li, 2019). however, based on the professional foundation and english level of our students, the teaching mode and experience of southeast university can only be used as a reference. the reform of bilingual teaching mode of this course should be mainly based on learning situation. 4.3.1 international engineering contract teaching students english foundation survey taking the class taught in the first semester of 2023-2024 academic year (junior college students) as an example, it is found through the questionnaire issued (as shown in figure 3) that 72% of the students failed to pass the english proficiency test before learning this course, 17% of the students passed the english level 4 and 4% passed the english level 6. 7% of students have taken the ielts or toefl test (but scores are not counted). according to the survey results, it can be judged that the students do not have the english level to participate in the professional courses taught in english, so the bilingual teaching mode should be selected according to the basic situation of the students. figure 3. survey on english basis of students taught in international engineering contracting course www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 69 published by scholink inc. 4.3.2 bilingual teaching method and mode selection (1) the proportion of teaching in english the commonly used bilingual teaching modes mainly include ① transitional mode, ② maintenance mode and ③ immersion mode (yuan, li, deng et al., 2013, pp. 102-108). the transitional teaching mode is mainly in chinese, the maintenance teaching mode has a similar proportion of english and chinese, and the immersion teaching mode is most mainly in english. according to the survey of students’ english level and opinions on the proportion of english in teaching (see figure 4), this course chooses the mode of bilingual teaching for simple knowledge points and familiar knowledge points, and transitional bilingual teaching for difficult knowledge points. figure 4. survey on students’ acceptance of the percentage of teaching in english (2) english teaching content selection according to the survey of students’ demand for content taught in english, the top four items are: ① proper nouns (68%); ② classic international engineering cases (51%); ③ foreign market access rules (45%); ④ content related to international engineering measurement and valuation (43%). at the same time, combined with the teaching content (see 2.2) and course characteristics, in addition to the above four parts, engineering business negotiation etiquette is also used as the english teaching content of this course. (3) teaching in english quality assurance in order to ensure the quality of english teaching of this course, the methods of “learning theoretical knowledge in both chinese and english + english questioning and dialogue” and “learning english discussion in english + english questioning in case study” are adopted to strengthen students’ english learning effect and english communication ability. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 70 published by scholink inc. 4.4 implementation of flexible assessment mechanism the content of the international engineering contracting course (abbreviated as 1-10, the corresponding relationship is shown in figure 1) corresponds to the assessment method, and the realization of the course objectives is shown in figure 5. the five assessment methods mainly assess the realization of knowledge goals and ability goals, and ultimately are used to quantify the course learning and teaching results. the realization of emotional goals (curriculum ideological and political goals) runs through every stage of the whole course and every form of assessment, and the improvement of students’ ideological and moral qualities should be taken into account in each stage of the realization of knowledge goals and ability goals. figure 5. international project contracting assessment mechanism and curriculum goal realization system 5. the implementation effect evaluation of case-based bilingual teaching model the students’ overall satisfaction with this course and the teaching cases are shown in figure 6 and 7, with the satisfaction rate reaching 100%. as for the acceptance of the difficulty of the course (as shown in figure 8), 15% of the students said that the difficulty of the course could be further improved, 83% of the students thought that the difficulty was moderate, but 2% of the students said that the course was difficult and the difficulty of the course could be appropriately reduced. in addition, the survey results of students’ acceptance of english teaching show that 19% of students can only understand a small part of the content in english teaching, 68% of students can understand most of the content, but there are difficulties in understanding rare words, and 13% of students with a good foundation can fully follow the progress of english teaching. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 71 published by scholink inc. in general, the case-based bilingual teaching reform of the course of international engineering contract has been successful from several aspects, such as the rationality of methods, models and assessment methods, students’ acceptance and satisfaction, and the completion of teaching objectives. however, it is still necessary to carry out dynamic reform of teaching content and teaching methods according to the development and requirements of the industry and the characteristics of each class of students. figure 6. survey of students’ overall figure 7. investigation on student’ satisfaction with their courses satisfaction with case teaching method www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 72 published by scholink inc. figure 8. survey of students’ acceptance figure 9. survey of acceptability of of the difficulty of the course content teaching in english 6. summary and reflection this teaching reform has carried out different degrees of innovation from the application of teaching methods, the update of teaching mode, the improvement of teaching content and other aspects, and evaluated the effect of this teaching reform through the questionnaire survey of students. it can be seen that students not only consolidate and integrate professional knowledge, but also have a preliminary understanding of the market situation, enterprise situation and project management practice related to international engineering. at the same time, their english communication ability has also been improved. however, according to the survey results mentioned above, some students still have the problem of poor course acceptance and inability to keep up with the bilingual teaching progress. in the future teaching, teachers should try their best to take into account every student and ensure the professional and english learning effect of every student by improving teaching methods and constantly perfecting teaching materials. it lays a good foundation for students to engage in international engineering related work in the future. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 73 published by scholink inc. references lei, z. y., jiang, l. p., & chen, w. (2020). reform of the teaching mode of “international engineering procurement and contract management” based on the training of applied talents. science and education guide, 2020(15), 3. li, q. m. (2019). international engineering management. nanjing: southeast university press. li, y., & yang, h. y. (2021). construction of international engineering talent training curriculum system under the “belt and road” initiative. education and teaching forum, 2021(8), 4. liu, t. t., sheng, j., zhang, j. et al. (2023). research on mixed teaching mode of bilingual curriculum for international engineering contracting. construction economics, 44(s01), 438-440. ministry of commerce of the people’s republic of china. (2023). investment cooperation with countries along the belt and road in 2022. yuan, j. f., deng, x. p., li, q. m. et al. (2022). exploration and practice of discussion-based teaching mode of international engineering management course. university education, 2022(08), 221-224. yuan, j. f., li, q. m., deng, x. p. et al. (2013). bilingual teaching reform of international engineering management courses oriented by ability training. higher architectural education, 22(01), 102-108. microsoft word grhe-v2n4-p115 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 115 original paper the preservation of culture-specific items in translation from vietnamese to english (note 1) hoang thi hue1* & nguyen hoang nguyen1 1 hue university of education, hue university, hue city, viet nam * hoang thi hue, e-mail: hoanghuedhsp@gmail.com; hoangthihue@hueuni.edu.vn received: august 21, 2019 accepted: september 2, 2019 online published: october 22, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n4p115 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n4p115 abstract the article uses statistical, comparative, quantitative and qualitative methods, to determine the frequency of using certain translation strategies for translating csis (in the dumb luck novel). the data generated by this method is a statistic showing the frequency of each translation strategy applied. from studying the application of csi translation strategies, the article have been explored to find out the handling of cultural issues in translation, whether the translators are able to convey culture-specific items from the original to the translation english, and methods to optimize csi translation. this study will provide results that help translators understand better how to use csi translation strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of their work in the best way, how to preserve vietnamese cultural values when translate vietnamese to english. keywords culture-specific items, dump luck, translation, cultural issues, csi translation strategies, proper noun 1. introduction culture is the sum total of what a society has built up from its very past to the present time and does not consist of necessarily concrete elements. culture by its very nature both involves and is influenced by historical experiences, religious rituals, agricultural practices, traditions, habits, values, ideas, systems, technologies, literary and artistic works, etc. in essence, the culture of a society has its roots in the values and traditions of that society. translating from one language into another has never been an easy job even for the most experience translators. we often see translation as the basic form to hold the contact and transformation of different languages, but in fact it carries the view of contact, collision and interchange between different cultures. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 116 published by scholink inc. the target of the translation is not only to translate the words but also the culture, therefore the translation of culture-specific items maybe unsatisfactory or even incorrect. therefore, if the translator fails to convey the cultural value of vietnamese society over a period of time, the values of the work will be lost. understanding the advantages, disadvantages as well as cultural impacts on translation, the translators can decide how much important certain cultural aspects are to the text to translate them into target language by using appropriate strategies. exploring the translation of culture-specific items in dump luck (peter zinoman and nguyen nguyet cam), will give us a better understanding of the value of translating cultural issues, and the influence of culture on translating literary works. 2. research methodology this study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods. the quantitative method is used to determine the frequency with which a given translation strategy was used for the translation of csis in the novel. the data generated by this method are statistics that reveal how frequently each of the translation strategies was applied, which strategy was used most often and which strategy was used least often. overall, this method uncovers the pattern of the translation of csis. 3. results and discussion 3.1 an overview this chapter focuses on vu trong phung’s masterpiece so do which constitutes the corpus of the present study. it will carry out an in-depth analysis of the transfer of csis in so do into english in order to discuss the joint contribution of the translation of csis to the development of a foreignized or domesticated text. the chapter finally will present a detailed discussion of the results derived from the analysis of the translation of csis. so do is vu trong phung’s successful novel in terms of content and art form. he generalized the picture of contemporary urban society, the miserable urban area in the urbanization of a colony, in a country full of idyllic ideals, customs and hybrid. vu trong phung criticized strongly the inhuman, deceitful and corrupt nature of the upper society before the august revolution. by building caricature portraits: sex and lust, organizing the plot based on comical scenes, reverse situations, each chapter is a comedy. comedy in every detail: writing, tone, analogy, pun... vu trong phung lived in the period of society changing from feudal colonial life to europeanization and urbanization, it was the time when the society was full of ludicrous things. to paint such a colorful picture, the author puts in his novel a great deal of culture-specific content. a big proportion of the csis found in the novel are used to name the characters. others are used to describe their customs through idioms, how they work or which way they behave. many csis are names of the characters, organizations, or places. in total, 128 csis have been found throughout the book. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 117 published by scholink inc. to deal with such a large number of csis, all six strategies proposed in davies’ taxonomy were employed by the translators, though the frequencies with which they were resorted to are markedly different from one another. figure 2 shows the distribution of the six strategies among the 80 csis. it is evident that the most prominent strategy is preservation, which was used to translate 61, accounting for up to 49%, of all the 128 csis analyzed. the second most common strategy is addition, used on 53 csis, equivalent to 41%. meanwhile, the least frequently used strategy is transformation with no csi found. the prevalence of preservation and addition, together with the rarity of transformation, indicates the translators’ emphasis on conveying truthfully and adequately the cultural content of the source text for english readers. meanwhile, the other three strategies, namely globalization, localization and omission, were used quite sporadically, to translate only 8, 4 and 2 csis, equivalent to 6%, 3% and 1% respectively. that localization and omission were used not often reaffirms the translators’ determination to retain the distinctive cultural colors of the source text. the number of csis translated by globalization is not small. however, this figure proves disproportionate in comparison with the number of csis translated by preservation. it seems that between anchoring the foreign cultural references into the target language’s culture and keeping their exoticness, the translators tended to favor the latter. in other words, rather than trying to make the translated text sound as if it originated from the english culture, the translators decided to make readers aware that the novel they are reading is set in a culture different from theirs. it is noticeable that the prevalence or scantiness of a strategy when it is considered in the whole of 128 csis does not correspond to the prevalence or scantiness of that strategy if it is considered in one of the two subgroups of csis. in fact, how the six strategies are distributed among the 80 proper noun csis is different from how they are distributed among 48 common expression csis. in the following part, a detailed examination of the translation of these two subgroups of csis will be given. 3.2 the translation of proper noun culture-specific items the first category of csis to be examined is proper nouns. of the 128 csis that are found throughout the novel, 80, or more than three-fourths, are proper names. many of them are names of people and places. some are names of medals, organizations and others. these 80 proper noun csis will be classified into 5 categories. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 118 published by scholink inc. table 1. type of proper noun csis proper noun frequency human 35 places 8 medals 6 organizations 9 others 22 figure 1. show the frequency of proper noun csis in so do figure 2. shows the frequency with which each of davies’ six strategies was used to deal with these 80 csis the prevailing method is preservation, which was used to translate 53, or 66%, of all the csis in this category. the second most common strategy is addition, employed for the translation of 23, equivalent to more than 29%, of the 80 csis. meanwhile, only 3 and 1 csis, each accounting to almost 5% of the number of csis in this subgroup, were translated by globalization and localization respectively. no csis was omitted and only none was translated by transformation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 119 published by scholink inc. these 80 proper noun csis will now be discussed in more detail. they will be grouped into their respective strategy. due to the limited space of this thesis, only examples that are representative will be mentioned here. for the full list of all proper name csis, together with their translation strategy, please refer to appendix 1. 3.3 preservation preservation refers to the retention of a csi in the tt. there are two types of preservation as formal and semantic preservation. the first means preserving the form of a csi in the target text. accordingly, a st item is either transliterated or kept unchanged in the tt. the latter means preserving the literal meaning of a csi in the tt. accordingly, a st item is literally translated into the tt without any explanation (davies, 2003). both formal and semantic preservation will be analyzed under the heading of preservation. preservation is found to be the most common method used to translate proper name csis in the novel so do, with 53 items subjected to this strategy. a systematic application of preservation means that the translator will be able to preserve the exoticness of the source text. encountering names that are distinctively foreign, readers will be reminded that the story happens in a country and a culture that are different from theirs. this strategy was particularly often employed in the translation of names of characters or places that do not bear any significant historical or cultural associations. below are some examples. table 2. examples of preservation applied in translating csis vietnamese english 1 số đào hoa của xuân tóc đỏ red-haired xuân’s luck in love 2 lòng thương người của bà phó đoan the compassion of mrs. deputy customs officer 3 cặp vợ chồng văn minh khẽ cúi đầu đáp, nhưng bà phó đoan nguẩy một cái. mr. and mrs. civilization nodded their heads in acknowledgment, but mrs. deputy customs officer turned away in disgust. 4 chung quanh cổ, một cái vòng vàng đeo nặng chĩu, một chiếc khánh vàng với một cái gối quạ. thấy tiếng chị ba nói như van lơn: -cậu phước mặc quần vào, đi. around his neck was a thick gold choker on which hung a small pendant and a huge gold medallion. the plaintive wail of miss three echoed from the other room: “master blessing! master blessing! please put on your pants!” www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 120 published by scholink inc. 5 ông victor ban kinh hãi cúi đầu rất thấp, bắt tay xuân tóc ðỏ xong thì đứng ngây mặt ra như người bằng gỗ. victor ban bowed his head low and shook hands with xuan, who stood frozen in place like a wooden statue. 6 cụ hồng chưa kịp đáp đã giữ lấy ngực để ho sù sụ lên một hồi dài ghê gớm như sặc thuốc lào. before he could reply, grandpa hồng was seized by a fit of violent coughing. 7 giữa lúc ấy, cô tuyết bước vào. cô này là con gái út cụ hồng, mới 18 tuổi đúng, rất có nhan sắc, lại cũng lãng mạn theo cái lối tân tiến rởm... as the debate heated up, miss snow-grandpa hồng’s eighteen-year-old baby daughter-entered the room. she was beautiful and possessed a frivolous romantic quality that was fashionable for the time. the translators keep as must as they can of the original reference. the obvious example here is the treatment of victor ban, ông joseph thiết. they do not have any special historical or cultural associations with them, although the way they sound to vietnamese speaking readers must be different from the way they sound to readers who do not speak vietnamese. in the english translation of so do, to make the readers recognize the proper names, the translator borrow which has the same meaning in the t.t. proper names such as xuân tóc đỏ, bà phó đoan, bà văn minh, ông văn minh, cậu phước are treated. in this way, readers can read as well as simplify the names. in his taxonomy, davies (2003) distinguished between two types of preservation: formal preservation and semantic preservation. all the examples shown above are cases of formal preservation where the csis were kept exactly like they are in the source text. the general rule seems to be that if a name or part of a name has meaning, it will be semantically preserved, whereas if it does not have any meaning, it will be formally preserved. semantic preservation did not happen in the translation of proper name csis. the translators fail in transferring all the meanings of the names like the humorous textual effects carried by certain proper names, acronyms or puns. below are some examples: table 3. some wordplays of proper name csis 1 xuân tóc đỏ red-haired xuan 2 bà phó đoan mrs. deputy customs officer 3 cậu phước master blessing 4 ông typn (tôi yêu phụ nữ) mr. ill (i love ladies) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 121 published by scholink inc. red-haired xuan is the central character with typical traits of the so-called “europeanization”. vu trong phung’s language is very consistent in re-enacting this central character but at the same time the writer always uses contradictions to show the multifaceted character. even the name “red haired xuan” has opposite meanings. red haired is a typical sign to identify this character, the result of the miserable years of miserable life: “damn, i’ve never bought a hat before, but my hair is red”. but with the modern couple in bong lai hotel rejoiced: “damn, your hair is very beautiful, very fashionable”. “xuân has red hair because it is sunburn. red refers to his nature: hooliganism, homeless, uneducated. red also refers to luck “đỏ”, xuân’s luck. due to the hooliganism in accordance with the social nature, he quickly infiltrate the upper society to become a phony learner, a phony doctor. red-haired xuan yet to convey the meaning of this hidden meaning. bà phó đoan, đoan is the husband’s name, it means decent and respectable. on the other hand, bà phó đoan is completely opposite. a fat and erotic woman, who always want to be raped. fashion designer however, the cultural content in the source text has not been fully conveyed, the reader may not understand all the artistic intentions of writer vu trong phung. in translated texts, this translation strategy can generally be used quite commonly. with vu trong phung’s in so do, the cultural meaning of the author’s name has not been shown. for example, in mrs. pho doan, in addition to the meaning of the husband’s name, it also means expressing the respect and respect of a woman. but the name is like that, and her true nature is a lecherous woman, unconcerned, ignoring. vu trong phung named it to emphasize her lecherous nature, and at the same time highlighted the laughable and despicable character of mrs. doan doan. mr. typn used to fabricate very bold women’s clothes with names that dậy thì, ngừng tay, ỡm ờ,... but scold his wife for wearing modern clothes. so do repeating cultural movements, political trends, literary trends, artistic movement ... in so do, vu trong phung mimics how many “turns” of a chaotic society: europeanization, popularization, romance, urbanization, abstraction, politicization ... opposing details exist in the same character, each name contains epigrammatic and humorous elements. vu trong phung wanted to point out the truth of ridiculous lies of the men who are known as the noble, civilized and modern civilians, which are actually scum, teratogens of the colonial society in the country before the august revolution. the translators attempt to preserve the form of original items but they also prevent readers from having a chance to discover the implication meaning or hidden message which are underlying those proper names. it could be said that as globalization takes place at an increasing speed and american people experience more exposure to asia cultures in general and vietnamese culture in particular, people feel more comfortable reading texts with names that are not english and therefore the need for translators to adapt the names has become less relevant. the naming is not simply a symbol of the character, but rather a way of expressing a vision, an attitude of the narrator to the character. the so do is a laugh that mimics the “europeanized” society of vietnamese urban under the rule of french colonial rule. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 122 published by scholink inc. table 4. some proper nouns of places 1 đường cổ ngự old fish road 2 hồ tây west lake 3 hồ trúc bạch white bamboo lake 4 đền bia bia pagoda the preservation of the meaning of a cultural element may lead to loss of its other aspects such as connotations whereas the preservation of the form may lead to loss of its recognizable meaning (davies, 2003, p. 75). except from the last example, all the phrases have been literally translated into english. cổ ngư, hồ tây, hồ trúc bạch are place names and they do not have any implication in vietnamese context and these names does not interfere with reading experience. as a result, the translators should use repetition to preserve all these names in the target text. 3.4 addition the translators use the above-mentioned procedures, but considers it necessary to offer some explanation of the meaning or implications of the csis. at the same time, it does not legitimate or convenient to mix this explanation with the text. the decision, then, is to distinguish the gloss by marking it as such (footnote, endnote, glossary, commentary/translation in brackets, in italics, etc.) of the 80 proper noun csis found in the novel so do, 23 items were translated by addition. this strategy was usually employed when simple preservation of the csis would cause obscurity in meaning. by providing readers with more background information, addition helps to ensure that readers are well informed enough to have a comfortable reading experience. information can be added inside the text or outside the text as a footnote. there are examples of both types in the 23 instances of addition to proper name csis found in the novel. below are some examples. table 5. examples of addition applied in translating csis vietnamese english 1 xuân tóc đỏ không ngờ rằng khi xưa, lúc nó ngồi đọc quảng cáo cho một hiệu thuốc vào phóng thanh, và ngồi trên mũi ô tô với bộ quần áo charlot và cái mặt nạ thổi loa khắp phố phường […]. how could xuân have guessed the benefit he was to derive from an old part-time job for which he was paid to sit on the hood of a car, made up as charlot, [9] and bark out advertisements over a loudspeaker […] 2 một khi hoạn thư đã nổi giận. the anger of hoạn thư [1] www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 123 published by scholink inc. 3 ông văn minh ngửa đầu tựa thành ghế lấy điếu thuốc ăng-lê thứ mười tám ra để lên miệng, oai vệ quệt diêm. mr. civilization leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. he put the eighteenth ăng-lê [2] cigarette of the day into his mouth and struck a match. 4 cụ cũng tiu nghỉu ở chỗ con cụ không kiếm nổi mảnh văn bằng nào, nhưng khi nghe con cụ cãi rằng: “học thức không ở văn bằng. những người như phạm quỳnh hay nguyễn văn vĩnh, mà khảo đến bằng, thì thành ra vô học hay sao?” thì cụ lại được yên tâm. while disappointed that his son had returned home without a diploma, he was reassured by the argument that “education does not come from a diploma. if it did, then even phạm quỳnh and nguyễn văn vĩnh are uneducated”. [6] 5 xưa kia, cụ là một ông phán. sau khi hưu trí, nghiệm rằng cụ đã giúp nước phò vua trong 30 năm tròn, nhà nước bèn ân thưởng cho cụ cái hồng lô tự thiếu khanh. following retirement, the state acknowledged his thirty years of service to the king and the country by awarding him the hồng lô tự thiếu khanh medal. [3] 6 ngần ấy điều kiện đã khiến cụ hồng trung thành với ông con trai đã pháp du của cụ cũng như trung thành với nước đại pháp. cụ đã xưng toa moa với con, hết sức hoan nghênh đủ mọi việc và đủ mọi cử chỉ tây tầu của con cụ. just as he was faithful to great france, grandpa hồng was fiercely loyal to his son, a fidelity he demonstrated by adopting all of his son’s many foreign affectations, such as using the pronouns toa and moa. [7] footnotes were resorted to only when the references require lengthy explanations that cannot be incorporated into the text. for example, to enlighten readers about hoạn thư, the translators added the following footnote: “character from nguyễn du’s celebrated verse narrative kim vân kiều, renowned for her jealousy”. likewise, with phạm quỳnh và nguyễn văn vĩnh, the translators supplemented: “phạm quỳnh (1898-1945) and nguyễn văn vĩnh (1882-1936) were prominent francophone intellectuals and journalists during the interwar era”. with 23 footnotes made for the total of 80 proper noun csis, the translators seem to have been careful in opting for this method, which is understandable as too many footnotes may disturb readers’ experience or, more dangerously, disengage them from the narrative. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 124 published by scholink inc. table 6. examples of transliteration applied in translating csis 1 một người đi qua, ông gọi lại chán nản mà rằng: -này, thầy min đơ thầy có buồn không! “hey, officer min đơ!” [1] he called out glumly. “is this pathetic or what?” 2 ông văn minh ngửa đầu tựa thành ghế lấy điếu thuốc ăng-lê thứ mười tám ra để lên miệng, oai vệ quệt diêm. mr. civilization leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. he put the eighteenth ăng-lê [2] cigarette of the day into his mouth and struck a match. 3 bà văn minh ẻo lả hai bàn tay ngọc khẽ vỗ vào nhau -được lắm! dernières créations! mrs. civilization clapped her elegant hands together. “very good! derniere creation!” [2] 4 -thưa ngài, tôi rất được hân hạnh nếu ngài cho tôi hầu ngài vài séc. “i would be honored if you would play a séc [2] with me,” he said. in descriptive equivalent, the meaning of the culture bound term is explained in several words. the proper names in the st have been transliterated by the formal preservation strategy. for example, the st item dernières créations and proper name min đơ have been transliterated in the tt. the concept of dernières créations literally means “most recent creation”, the translators make it more visible to the target readers as they retain the phrase in the st and provide explanation with footnotes and in italics. the other instances are transliterated in the same way. the translators exactly bring the st item into the tt along with footnotes. most of the times, these footnotes are very brief because adding a lengthy note may cause divergence from the original and lead to discrepancy in length between the source text and the translation. it is noticeable that intratextual additions, meaning additions made inside the text, and footnotes are not incompatible with each other. there are many instances where the translators used both in translating one csi. for example, with hồng lô tự thiếu khanh, the translators added both an intratextual addition, medal, and a footnote. 3.5 omission omission is the deletion of a csi in the tt so that the target readers will be totally unaware of its existence. a csi may be omitted for several reasons such as the lack of an equivalent term in the target language and the inability to interpret the meaning of the original item. although the omission of an st item may result in the complete loss of the original reference, it may ensure a smooth reading process for the target audience. of the six strategies proposed by davies, omission could be said to be the most radical one. while the other five strategies allow readers of the translated text to access, to varying degrees, to the cultural implications inherent in the original csis, omission totally stripes the readers of this opportunity by www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 125 published by scholink inc. actually removing the csis from the translation. no omission is found in the translation of a total of 80 proper noun csis. aware of the loss that this strategy may very likely cause, the translators must have tried their best to avoid it by opting for other strategies instead. 3.6 globalization globalization is the replacement of a csi with a more neutral or generic term in order to reach and attract a wider readership. when a csi is globalized into a more general term or a superordinate, it may lead to some loss of the cultural associations or characteristic attributions of the original item. there are totally 3 cases of globalization in the translation of proper name csis in so do. they are presented in the table below. table 7. examples of globalization applied in translating csis vietnamese english 1 -bần tăng xin phép... thưa ngài, bần tăng đã cam chịu khổ hạnh, vất vả đến nỗi bần tăng lại còn làm chủ nhiệm một tờ báo nữa, tờ báo gõ mõ ... a di ðà phật! “with your permission ... sir, i am a poor monk who lives but an ascetic and onerous existence. in addition, i am the publisher of a newspaper called the wooden fish drum. amitabha!” 2 chắc rồi đức kim thượng sẽ được thoã ý, nếu ngài đánh đổ mấy cây quần vợt quán quân của trung kỳ, nam kỳ, rồi đại biểu cho ðông dương để đi xiêm. our majesty will be so pleased if you defeat the champions of annam and cochinchina and go on to represent indochina in siam. 3 hồ trúc bạch cứ là một thứ hàn thử biểu, thời khắc biểu về những bi kịch mới cũ xung đột, cá nhân, gia đình, hy sinh, giác ngộ, áp chế, giải phóng mãi mãi, mãi mãi, nếu không có một nhà thương yêu nòi giống xây ngay trên bờ hồ ấy một khách sạn mà tây phương có lẽ cũng thèm muốn, là khách sạn bồng lai. the white bamboo lake might have remained forever and ever little more than a contemporary barometer of tragic conflict between the old and the new, the individual and the family, self-sacrifice and political awakening, and oppression and liberation, had not a great patriot decided to construct on its banks an irresistible (even to the french) lakeside inn known as the fairyland hotel. with the application of globalization, a csi is substituted by a more neutral, widely accessible term, thanks to which its essential meaning is kept and readers of the translation will not feel that something has been lost when they encounter the term. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 126 published by scholink inc. mõ, literary meaning wooden fish drum is a wooden percussion instrument. the wooden fish drum is used by monks and lay people in the buddhist tradition. also, “gõ mõ” is the job of the one who to has to drum and announce according to the orders of dignitaries in ancient vietnamese villages. his job is to go around the village knocking on villagers to gather at the courtyard to hear the news that happened in the village. in fact, “thằng mõ” is often a very poor person and is overlooked by the villagers. gõ mõ is considered the most primitive media in vietnamese traditional society, this “communication system” existed until the middle of the twentieth century and contributed a certain value in bringing information to the villagers. vu trong phung used “gõ mõ” with a sarcastic meaning, exposing the evil nature of the newspaper to create laugh. the st item tờ báo gõ mõ has been translated as a more general term the wooden fish drum. this globalization of the translator have failed in delivering the hidden message which are underlying the proper name. the phrase bồng lai literally meaning “paradise view” has been translated as a more general term fairyland into english. although this translation neutralizes the religious content of this csi, it still gives its essential meaning. thus, the translation here does not disturb the smooth flow of reading as a result of the globalization strategy. 3.7 localization localization has been rarely applied in the translation of proper name csis in so do, with only 1 csi localized. table 8. examples of localization applied in translating csis vietnamese english back translation thật vậy, chính sự nghiệp của ông, cũng là kỳ lạ, từ khi ông làm vua thuốc lậu và chủ tiệm bồng lai just like xuan, victor ban had also recently reinvented himself-from the king of venereal disease treatment to the owner of the fairyland hotel vua điều trị bệnh hoa liễu the st item thuốc lậu has been rendered as venereal disease in the tt. the translators have also inserted treatment into the tt in order to clarify what this proper noun refers to. however, thuốc lậu, a vietnamese noun usually used to denote the counterfeit of herbs. it is not the name of gonorrhea medicine. the translators who may have been motivated by the desire to familiarize the target readers with the source culture. due to misunderstanding, they have delivered the wrong translation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 127 published by scholink inc. 4. conclusions the present study aims to carries out a comparative analysis of vu trong phung’s so do (1936) and its english translation entitled dump luck (2002) done by by nguyen nguyet cam and peter zinoman in terms of the translation of csis. there are a considerable number of vietnamese csis scattered on the pages of the novel which may be challenging for readers from outside the vietnamese culture. in the light of the theoretical framework discussed in the first, the study examines closely the translation of csi in the so do into the english to determine which strategies proposed by davies (2003) have been used in the transfer of csis in so do into english. when a csi in the so do refers to the names of people, places, organizations, etc., the translators have opted to either preserve them in english with the minimum of adaptation or to supplement them with explanatory information in the english to facilitate readers’ familiarity with such references. therefore, the cultural peculiarities of so do is retained and reflected in the english translation dumb luck, for the majority of the csis in the so do are kept almost unchanged and imported into the english and the flavor of the original culture is imparted to the receiving culture. as the translators have opted to stay closer to the so do, the target readers, in one way or another, learn about the source culture. accordingly, readers of the english who continually encounter alien references and items belonging to the vietnamese culture journey through a vietnamese epic and human encyclopedia of nearly 200 pages. the article uses statistical, comparative, quantitative and qualitative methods, to determine the frequency of using certain translation strategies for translating csis in the dumb luck novel. the data generated by this method is a statistic showing the frequency of each translation strategy applied. from studying the application of csi translation strategies, the article have been explored to find out the handling of cultural issues in translation, whether the translators are able to convey culture-specific items from the original to the translation english, and methods to optimize csi translation. this study will provide results that help translators understand better how to use csi translation strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of their work in the best way. we would like to thank the national foundation for science and technology development fund -ministry of science and technology, vietnam (nafosted fund code project: 602.05-2016.01), because sponsored for this article science. references aixela, j. f. (1996). culture-specific items in translation. in r. alvarez, & m. carmen africa vidal (eds.), translation, power, subversion (pp. 52-78). clevedon: multilingual matters. aixela, j. f. (1996). culture-specific items in translation.pdf, uploaded by e wigmans. retrieved february 10, 2019, from https://www.aixela.%2c+j.+f.+1996.+culturespecific+items+in+translation.pdf&aqs=chrome..6 9i57j69i60l2j0.1846j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=utf-8 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 128 published by scholink inc. bahumaid, s. (2010). investigating cultural competence in english-arabic translator training programs. meta: journal des traducteurs, 55(3), 569. https://doi.org/10.7202/045078ar calvo, e. (2011). translation and/or translator skills as organising principles for curriculum development practice. the journal of specialized translation, 16, 5-25. diana, b., & vilmantė, l. (2016). culture-specific items (csi) and their translation strategies in martin lindstrom’s brand sense. research journal studies about languages, 42-57. hansen, g. (2006). retrospection methods in translator training and translation research. journal of specialized translation, 5, 2-40. lotman and uspensky. (1987). the semiotics of russial culture, ed. a. shukman (book review), stupples, peter. new zealand slavonic journal, 207. micaela, m. c. (2010-05-01). translation and cultural identity: selected essays on translation and cross-cultural communication. cambridge scholars publishing; new edition (2010-05-01) (1656). vu trong, p. (2002). (first published october 7th 1936), dumb luck (z. peter, editor & translator, n. c. nguyễn, translator). university of michigan press. notes note 1. this article science was sponsored by nafosted fund (national foundation for science and technology development fund)-ministry of science and technology, vietnam. code project: 602.05-2016.01. microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p65 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 65 short communication usefulness and learnability in teaching vocabulary to esl/efl students shanjida halim1* & tanzina halim1 1 college of languages & translation, king khalid university, abha, saudi arabia * shanjida halim, college of languages & translation, king khalid university, abha, saudi arabia received: december 27, 2018 accepted: january 7, 2019 online published: january 28, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p65 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p65 abstract it is known that vocabulary is a must in teaching english language because without a sound knowledge of vocabulary students are not able to understand others or express their own ideas. although vocabulary deals with words, yet vocabulary is much more than just single words. therefore, vocabulary can be defined as “the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way individual words do”. vocabulary is so important that wilkins (1972, p. 111) said: “without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. innumerable ways of presenting and teaching vocabulary are there, but this paper is going to focus on the ways briefly without any detailed explanation of those ways because most of the esl/efl teachers are already aware of those strategies. what our paper aims to focus is that selection of vocabulary is very important for the learners if a useful vocabulary is to be built up quickly. as teachers of vocabulary, we know, or we must know why we should teach certain items to our learners and not others. in teaching vocabulary to learners there are two general criteria: usefulness and learnability which this paper is going to discuss in detail, and it will also show why selecting what to teach, based on usefulness and learnability, according to the needs of the students, is essential. keywords presenting vocabulary, usefulness, learnability, selection, strategies 1. introduction it is known that vocabulary is a must in teaching english language because without a sound knowledge of vocabulary students are not able to understand others or express their own ideas. although vocabulary deals with words, yet vocabulary is much more than just single words. therefore, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 66 published by scholink inc. vocabulary can be defined as “the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way individual words do”. vocabulary is so important that wilkins (1972, p. 111) said: “without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. there are many different ways of presenting and teaching vocabulary, but selecting what to teach, based on frequency and usefulness according to the needs of the students is very important. as soon as the teachers choose what to teach, the next steps are to consider what students need to know about the items, and how those items can be taught. we can take a quick look at the following diagram before going on to the discussion. table 1. what to teach while teaching vocabulary form pronunciation spelling inflections derivations meaning basic and literal meanings derived and figurative meanings semantic relation connotation usage sub-categorization collocation sociolinguistic and stylistic restrictions slang and idioms source: teaching vocabulary-auburn university. based on the diagram, we can come up with the following points which students need to know about an item: pronunciation this can be particularly problematic for learners of english because there is often no clear relation between how a word is written and how it is pronounced. it is very important to use the phonemic script in such cases so the students have a clear written record of the pronunciation. teachers must not forget also to drill words that they think will cause pronunciation problems for their students and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 67 published by scholink inc. highlight the word stresses. spelling teachers should remember to clarify the pronunciation before showing the written form the words to students. meaning it is important to get across the meaning of the item clearly and ensure that students have understood correctly by asking questions. the form learners must be familiarized with the aspects of vocabulary. they need to know if it is a verb/a noun/an adjective, etc., to be able to use it effectively. unpredictable grammatical patterns for example, man-men/information (uncountable) and if the word is followed by a particular preposition (e.g., depend on). denotation and connotation denotation is the basic or core meaning. in other words, the dictionary and literal meaning of a word is denotation. connotation is an emotional or social association with a word giving meaning beyond the literal definition. for example, the word bachelor is a neutral/positive word whereas spinster gives a more negative image. usage of the word is the word formal/neutral/informal? for example, the words specs, spectacles or glasses. is it used mainly in speech or in writing? to sum up is usually written whereas mind you is spoken. what needs to be found out as well is that whether the word is outdated or not. how the word is related to others for example, synonyms, antonyms, and lexical sets. collocation or the way that words occur together we describe things “in great detail” not “in big detail” and we use the expression “raise your hand”, we don’t say “lift your hand”. it is important to highlight this to students to prevent mistakes in usage later. 2. meaning of affixes (prefixes and suffixes) it is really important to teach affixation as it helps learners guess the meaning of new words they find, and make new forms successfully. for example, in the word substandard “sub” means under. this is particularly useful at a higher level. which of these areas you choose to highlight will depend on the item you are teaching and the level of your students. now it’s time to think about how we can get the meaning across. as is already mentioned above that innumerable ways of presenting and teaching vocabulary are there, this paper is going to focus on the ways briefly without any detailed explanation because most of the esl/efl teachers are aware of the following strategies. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 68 published by scholink inc.  illustration/drawing pictures this is very useful for more concrete words (ball, rain, tall) and for visual learners. it has its limits though, not all items can be drawn.  mime/demonstration this lends itself particularly well to action verbs and it can be fun and memorable.  synonyms/antonyms using the words a student already knows can be effective for getting meaning across.  definition make sure that the word is clear (teachers can check in a dictionary before the lesson if they are not confident). remember to ask questions to check that learners have understood properly.  etymology learning the origin of a word will promote students’ comprehension of new words.  translation if teachers know the students’ l1, then it is fast and efficient. teachers need to remember that not every word has a direct translation. there are differences in the pragmatic meaning of synonyms and of l1 translation equivalents.  context think of a clear context when the word is used and either describe it to the students or give them example sentences to clarify meaning further. 3. selection of vocabulary which words you choose will depend on the item you are presenting. some are more suitable for particular words. often a combination of techniques can be both helpful and memorable. what this paper aims to focus is selection of vocabulary is very important for the learners if a useful vocabulary is to be built up quickly. as teachers of vocabulary, we know that or we must know why students need to know certain words for using them actively rather than using them passively. a distinction is made between active and passive vocabulary. doff (1998, p. 19) says “words which we want students to understand” (e.g., when reading a text) but which they will not need to use them, we call them “passive vocabulary”. words which students will need to understand and also use themselves, we call them “active vocabulary”. there are some criteria for selecting vocabulary which are shown below. (1) learnability: means how easy or challenging lexis is in terms of length, pronunciation, spelling, meaning, grammar, word order in a sentence, etc. by usefulness, we can decide which lexical items are going to be planned for the learners to learn receptively (for recognition only) and productively (for use in speech and writing). of course, receptive learning is easier. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 69 published by scholink inc. (2) range: the extent to which a word occurs in the different types of texts. some words are relatively frequent but restricted in the range of situations or registers in which they are used. words which are used in various situations are more useful, though often words of greater range also have greater frequency. (3) coverage: means the capacity of a word to replace other words. some words are semantically covered by others. for example, vegetables cover eggplant, lettuce, beans, etc. (4) frequency: the number of occurrences of a word in the target language. in other words, frequency means knowing the degree of probability of encountering the word in speech or in print. it is observed that frequency also differs in speech and in writing. there are high frequency and low frequency words. for example, “of course” or “actually” will occur very frequently in speech rather than in print form. the word “former” or “latter” may only occur in the written language (taylor, 1990, p. 1). other examples of words which are used frequently are: all day, always, all the time, usually, sometimes, etc. (5) association/collocation: means the words or types of words which occur with particular ones. according to experts, collocations “teach students expectations about which sorts of words go with which ones. students will not go about reconstructing the language each time they want to say something”. taylor (1990, p. 2) says that collocation means knowing the syntactic behavior associated with the word and also knowing the net work of association between that word and other words in the language. it shows the relationship between words. for example, we can say heavy rain, but not heavy sun. (6) familiarity: how often some words are used. according to experts, it is better to start off with the words with which learners are familiar in order to give the learners a basic set of tools for communication. for example, the words tardy, tardily and tardiness will hardly sound familiar to the learners because they are familiar with the synonym of tardy which means slow. (7) easy pronunciation: in the very early stages, it is wise to exclude words which are difficult to pronounce. such as, appreciative, nocturnal, amputation, etc. (8) transparency: it is not difficult for a learner to absorb a new item whose meaning is transparent formed from familiar words than to learn some unfamiliar words. many phrasal verbs are not transparent such as: give up or went off and so on. teachers need to expose the learners to transparent phrasal verbs first which can be decoded by recognizing the meaning of each word: the verb and the preposition. 4. conclusion in summing up, it can be said that teaching vocabulary can seem to be a daunting task, but once teachers choose what to teach their learners, the important steps are that they need to think what learners need to know about the items, and how those can be taught to them. teachers must encourage learners pick up vocabulary through extensive reading, communicative interactions, and through exposure to natural input such as movies, tv, etc. as students develop greater fluency and expression www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 70 published by scholink inc. in english, it is necessary for them to acquire more productive knowledge of vocabulary. it must be remembered that learners need to be taught vocabulary explicitly and in context, so that they are not overwhelmed by the exposure to vocabulary. references alber, r. (2010). doing it differently: tips for teaching vocabulary. edutopia. retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org ansarin, a., & khojesteh, m. r. (2013). retention in meaning-based vocabulary instruction. sky journal of linguistics, 26, 7-19. cunningham, a. (2000). vocabulary growth through independent reading and reading aloud to children. in e. hiebert, & m. kamil (eds.), teaching and learning vocabulary: bringing research to practice (pp. 45-65). new york: routledge. folse, k. (2004). vocabulary myths: applying second language research to classroom teaching. n. p. university of michigan press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.23925 genc, b. (n.d.). new trends in teaching and learning vocabulary. retrieved from https://dergipark.ulakbim.gov.tr/cusosbil/article henrikson, b. (1999). three dimensions of vocabulary development. studies in second language acquisition, 21(2), 303-307. university of copenhagen: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263199002089 richard, f. (n.d.). presenting vocabulary. teaching english british council bbc. retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk taylor, l. (1990). teaching and learning vocabulary. in herefordshire. uk: prentice hall international. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 9 original paper research on the integrated online and offline teaching model of scientific english writing course from the perspective of sociocultural theory linfei zhu 1* & yuqian liu 2 1 school of foreign languages, xidian university, xian, china 2 foreign studies college, northeastern university at qinhuangdao, qinhuangdao, china received: august 1, 2025 accepted: august 12, 2025 online published: august 26, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p9 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p9 abstract based on the integrated teaching model and sociocultural theory, researchers discuss scientific english writing course construction, taking the compulsory course offered by xidian university as an example. it expounds the operation of the mixed teaching model of the course from three dimensions: “knowledge acquisition”, “quality cultivation”, and “ability building”, aiming at understanding and analyzing the current situation of mixed teaching in scientific english writing course, and constructing new models for scientific english writing course by combining sociocultural theory, with the expectation of providing practical basis for integrated teaching in scientific english writing. keywords scientific english writing, mixed teaching model, sociocultural theory 1. introduction at present, english for specific purposes (esp) has received extensive attention from scholars at home and abroad (zhu & shen, 2011; dou et al., 2023). english for science and technology (est) serves as a crucial subfield of esp (zhu & shen, 2011). scientific english writing reflects the characteristics of est (zhao & dai, 2003), which is an important component of esp. however, research on the integrated online and offline teaching model of scientific english writing courses is relatively scarce, and most methods for measuring students’ performance focus on offline settings. therefore, several issues persist, including outdated teaching content, insufficient vividness in instructional methods, and a lack of diversity in assessment approaches (hu, 2024). from the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the innovation of scientific english writing courses—aimed at enhancing content appeal and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 10 published by scholink inc. diversifying pedagogical approaches—warrants in-depth investigation. with the advancement of internet technology, educational informatization is accelerating (peng, 2023). consequently, the mixed teaching model—integrating e-learning with traditional face-to-face instruction—has emerged as a focal point in higher education reform (yu, 2023). the mixed teaching model has established a new communication mechanism, which has rich learning resources, fully leveraging the students’ dominant role and stimulating their enthusiasm and creativity for learning (xie, 2022). mixed teaching model is gradually emerging in university-level english teaching. however, the content of college english information-oriented teaching has not aligned with the demands of the times, and the quality of talent cultivation is difficult to meet the current needs of economic development and the market (yu, 2023). scientific english writing course, a compulsory course for science and engineering majors, lays a solid foundation for students’ future research work while being significantly impacted by information age dynamics (hu, 2024). it should adapt to the interdisciplinary demands of modern academia and meet market demands. therefore, how to apply integrated teaching models to scientific english writing courses is an urgent topic that needs in-depth exploration. integrated teaching model adheres to the concept of “student-centered development” (wang et al., 2023), aligning with vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory. specifically, the theory’s mediation triangle structure, which positions learners as the core, resonates with the mode’s emphasis on students’ dominant role. the case study teaching model is considered a highly effective reform approach at the classroom level (an, 2013). therefore, this study conducts a teaching case analysis of the compulsory course scientific english writing at xidian university, integrates sociocultural theory into academic english writing teaching, and applies it in actual teaching based on mixed teaching mode. it conducts empirical research on the proposed teaching mode to explore the innovative direction of the scientific english writing course from three dimensions: “knowledge acquisition”, “quality cultivation”, and “ability building”. 2. method 2.1 course construction 2.1.1 basis for course design the mixed teaching, which combines the advantages of online teaching and traditional classrooms (yu, 2023), breaks through the limitations of learning space and time, thereby enhancing students’ freedom in learning (wang et al., 2023). in the early 21 st century, research on mixed teaching of college english began to emerge in china. currently, such research mainly consists of three typical models, namely, “mixed teaching model based on computer networking technology”, “mixed teaching model based on micro-lectures, moocs and spocs”, and “mixed teaching model based on mobile interaction technology” (chen & shen, 2024). this study adopts the second model, “mixed teaching model based www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 11 published by scholink inc. on micro-lectures, moocs and spocs”. at present, domestic research on the construction of a mixed teaching model for the foreign language writing course mostly focuses on the traditional writing courses, with few studies focusing on the mixed teaching mode (tian, 2023). based on this, this study focuses on the case studies of the mixed teaching mode applied to on-campus scientific english writing courses, with the aim of providing practical cases for the course construction in the future. sociocultural theory emphasizes the core role of social and cultural factors in the learning process. its core components include five parts: mediation, internalization, zone of proximal development, scaffolding, and activity theory (zhang, 2024). the mediation triangle structure’s concept in sociocultural theory (see fig. 1) holds that human development and cognition rely on material or symbolic tools, such as language, as mediators. when it applies to teaching, learners in certain special learning contexts obtain knowledge through interactive activities with the help of others (including teachers and peers) and by using necessary learning resources (vygotsky, 1978). sociocultural theories and mixed teaching mode design have an inherent unity. this study adopts the mediation concept in sociocultural theories, integrates it with the school’s positioning, and draws on the school’s strengths in electronic information science. according to students’ conditions, the study further applies sociocultural theories to the practice of mixed teaching mode to cultivate students’ autonomous learning ability and continuously improve their cognitive ability. starting from “knowledge acquisition”, transitioning through “quality cultivation”, and progressing step by step, it will ultimately achieve the goal of “ability building”. figure 1. the mediation triangle structure 2.1.2 mixed teaching mode of scientific english writing course from perspective of sociocultural theory wang yue (2014) examined the demand for academic english writing among non-english major postgraduate at northeastern university. the results indicated that 52% of these postgraduates reported a strong need to improve their academic english writing ability. therefore, this study is rooted in students’ needs to enhance their practical reading and writing proficiency in scientific english, and further aims to build students’ ability to analyze, evaluate and dialectically synthesize information with www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 12 published by scholink inc. the help of scientific texts (li, 2016). online learning not only helps students acquire knowledge points, but also helps them adapt to different cultures (wang & hui, 2024). ultimately, the study seeks to foster the competence in cross-cultural academic communication. this course aims to apply the concept of mediation proposed by vygotsky (1978) to the mixed teaching mode of scientific english writing. it regards instructional language and objectives as mediating tools (zhang, 2024), and incorporates students’ professional knowledge and perspectives as cognitive objects. it incorporates reading and speaking tasks and combines the reading of scientific literature with the writing practice of scientific and technological papers (li & liu, 2013). ultimately, the course aims to achieve the integration of reading, writing and speaking. the course evaluates students’ scientific english writing abilities and the effectiveness of the mixed teaching model through writing tests, presentation reports, and in-depth interviews. when the triangle structure is applied to the scientific english writing course, the teaching team uses moocs, spocs, learning materials, and the professional literature searched by students as mediation. the subjects are different learning groups according to students’ majors. combined with the course assessment system, the objective tasks are presented in the form of the application cases of course knowledge in professional literature, literature presentations and summaries for practical writing carried out by professional groups. combined with the mixed teaching mode and guided by the mediation, the entire teaching activity completes interdisciplinary learning from knowledge to ability at the four levels of “remember, read, speak, and write” (zhou, 2014), and creating a student-centered, task-driven mixed teaching model (see fig. 2). figure 2. the application of the mediation triangle structure in the scientific english writing course furthermore, this study combines the scientific english writing course with the mixed teaching mode. relying on the institution’s resource and based on the concept of “teacher-led and student-centered” (chai et al., 2021), it explores solutions to the problem of low student participation (hu, 2024). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 13 published by scholink inc. the knowledge points of the scientific english writing course are numerous and diverse, while the classroom teaching time is limited (tong & xie, 2019), and students have different disciplinary backgrounds. currently, the course has problems such as relatively monotonous textbook examples and a lack of integration with students’ majors in learning materials (liang & gao, 2022). however, there are numerous professional vocabularies, grammar rules, sentence patterns, writing conventions, and framework requirements in scientific english writing (qin, 2013), which are hard for students to master. in response to the characteristics of the course and students’ learning situations, the course construction based on the mixed teaching mode mainly aims to solve the problems of scarce learning materials and students’ insufficient practical abilities. the study combines online passive input learning (such as “memorization” and “reading”) and offline active output (such as “speaking” and “writing”). by introducing moocs and spocs, it examines knowledge point, builds capability and cultivates quality. furthermore, teachers’ evaluation and feedback ensure the effectiveness of circular learning. 2.2 course design the teaching content of this course includes three parts: est knowledge, scientific english reading and writing, and academic conference communication. the first module of this course, “est knowledge”, aims to familiarize students with academic english vocabulary, syntax and text features through the study of grammar. this module integrates scientific vocabulary, syntax, tense, voice, and text structures through online moocs, spocs, and teaching materials. during online learning, students can master the core academic words in professional written texts—words widely used across various disciplines. furthermore, this module assists students in understanding the characteristics and usage rules of several key grammatical forms in academic texts, to be able to interpret long and complex sentences in academic texts using grammatical knowledge, and to apply reading strategies to grasp the general idea of more challenging academic texts. ultimately, it instructs students to familiarize themselves with the writing style of scientific english and to be capable of translating and writing single sentences at the academic level. in the second module, “scientific english reading and writing”, students focus on writing while using reading as a supplement, with both aspects complementing each other (liu & li, 2020). this module uses classic academic articles and international journal papers related to students’ majors as models. students are divided into major-based groups to read professional literature in their respective fields. through extensive reading, students can achieve proficiency in professional literature (hu, 2024). building on this foundation, the course decomposes academic papers to gradually improve students’ writing skills. this module combines online and offline learning. teachers guide students to read, analyze, and master the specified writing formats and disciplinary norms through online spoc discussion forums and offline classrooms. students, in turn, integrate their professional knowledge to co-create learning materials and texts with teachers. this module adheres to the guiding principle of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 14 published by scholink inc. “teacher-led and student-centered” instruction (wang et al., 2023). by studying professional literature, students, under teachers’ guidance, analyze targeted examples of the knowledge points covered in the first module, interpret the literature, and produce evaluative writing, thereby developing productive skills and critical thinking abilities. the third module, “academic conference communication”, is designed to enhance students’ scientific english writing and expression skills. the course covers the various aspects in international academic exchange conferences, mainly including the presentation and discussion of papers at international conferences to assist students in understanding the characteristics of scientific english writing (zhou, 2014). students are organized to simulate international academic exchange conferences in the last part of this module. mixed teaching mode emphasizes a student-centered teaching approach and mediation triangle structure in sociocultural theory, which posits that students serve as the main subjects. therefore, this module designs that students are the main teaching subjects in practice, while teachers are the organizers, participants, and guides of the course activities, as well as the collaborators of students’ learning. the main teaching methods include reference book study, online and offline group cooperation, and online and offline teacher guidance. ultimately, students conduct practical exercises based on the learned content. in the actual teaching process of the course (see fig. 3), students and teachers work in parallel, engaging in cooperative circular learning from before class, during class, to after class. the first module and the second module are carried out simultaneously, with students and teachers engaging in cooperative circular learning from before class, during class, to after class. the learning of each est knowledge point corresponds accurately to the relevant literature reading and tasks in the second module. the course determines the frequency with which each member of each group can present based on the number of students enrolled in the course. generally, each person has 2 presentations. the third module is the stage of presenting achievements: based on the learning from the previous two modules, students integrate the literature read throughout the semester, write the abstract and framework of a professional paper, and complete the simulated academic conference presentation, report, and discussion. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 15 published by scholink inc. figure 3. teaching process of the course 3. result 3.1 curriculum presentation 3.1.1 learning target the study takes a unit entitled “abstract and writing framework” as an example to analyze the effectiveness of scientific english writing course. “abstract and writing framework” is part of the comprehensive application stage in the course after the study of single sentences and grammar. it condenses the content and plans the outline for the thesis writing. this unit takes a total of 6 class hours to complete. in terms of knowledge sequencing, it belongs to the latter part of the course, which is close to the end of the learning process. it serves as the prerequisite for the presentation of the final task of the course. “abstract and writing framework” is a key unit for capability building in scientific english writing course. it has high requirements from mooc and spoc material to professional literature selected by students. it requires the comprehensive application of text writing rules, evaluation and identification of literature quality, analysis of review literature information, in-depth exploration of scientific research content through teamwork, and knowledge sharing from multiple disciplines. therefore, this unit has three targets from the perspective of knowledge, ability and competence respectively (see fig. 4). students study the knowledge points of “abstract and writing framework” through moocs and the textbook, and share opinions and doubts about the materials in discussion forums. furthermore, the discussion forums will also cover knowledge of abstracts, paper frameworks, and key points for writing each part. in term of ability target, by observing the “abstract sentence analysis” level in literature reading, students collaboratively improve the reporting structure, enhancing www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 16 published by scholink inc. their abilities in analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing the information from the literature. students develop cross-cultural and interdisciplinary qualities by cooperating on the set tasks thereby cultivating a spirit of cooperation. by working as a team, they delve into their professional field, complete presentations and reports to learn and share the materials they have found before class. figure 4. targets in the unit 3.1.2 teaching content and resources video materials for the “abstract and writing framework” chapter of the scientific english writing course are available on the moocs. furthermore, reading materials for “abstract sentence analysis” can be found in spocs. during the construction of the unit, it aims to solve three problems. the first problem is how students can, in accordance with the “abstract sentence analysis” framework, analyze the structural components (such as research background, introduction, research methods, and research results) in their respective professional literature, summarize information from the literature, and dissect the key sentence patterns and textual rules. the second problem is how students integrate review information from popular science articles in their professional field, distill viewpoints, form personal opinions, and create a quasi-abstract review. the last problem in this unit is how students present their research direction and main professional issues to be addressed in the form of an abstract based on the current status of their personal research and requirements for conference presentations. before students select their topics, the teacher provides sample of science popularization text selection. it is required that article topics should closely align with the cutting-edge of national development and conform to the technical reports required by socialist development. the topics selected by students include “the first person in quantum development”, “china’s breakthrough in artificial starch synthesis technology”, “progress in huawei’s harmonyos chip”, etc. through reading and sharing these materials, students should form their own opinions and gain scientific research inspiration. furthermore, the excellent case presentation materials from previous classes are provided for students to refer to. these materials include the literature resources selected by previous students and the ppt www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 17 published by scholink inc. files of their group presentations. this enables mutual learning and improvement among students. teams should collaboratively complete the extraction of resources for the “summary sentence step”, which should be presented in the form of a shared document. this process reflects learner’s collaborative teaching process and should be made available for the entire class to read and study. this unit is well-structured based on the mixed teaching mode and sociocultural theory. the supplementary learning materials play a guiding role in practical application. the actual thesis cases of teachers and the resource library jointly built by current and previous students are outcomes of practical application. meanwhile, the sharing and mutual evaluation of popular science literature among groups also provide information materials for the formation of interdisciplinary exchanges. this embodies the sociocultural theory, using the summary sentence steps as a mediating tool, with the object of analyzing textual summary information and producing personal summary writing, combined with students’ (subject) efforts, to achieve the teaching goals of this unit. 3.1.3 teaching process and methods the teaching process of this unit is carried out around the unit teaching objects. based on the teaching concept of “efforts before class, effectiveness during class, and reflection after class” and mixed teaching mode, the class is overall designed into three stages: the pre-class stage, the teaching stage, and the post-class stage (see fig. 5). figure 5. three stages in the class before the class, the main goals were knowledge acquisition and self-assessment. students watched mooc videos online, read textbook materials, engaged in communication with teachers and students in mooc discussions and tencent groups to solve doubts, and completed unit tests. based on “abstract sentence analysis” in the spoc discussion platform, they conducted literature reading and selected www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 18 published by scholink inc. cases, forming the “mediation” part of sociocultural theory. the subject, which is mentioned in sociocultural theory, is students. they were divided into learning groups according to their majors, and they conducted literature exchanges and discussions within the groups to complete the knowledge acquisition stage and achieve the presentation of the object, which corresponds to the mediation triangle structure. flipped class set quality cultivation and ability building as the main object. teachers sorted out the key and difficult points based on the scores on mooc platform and gave key lectures in class. groups discussed and cooperated offline to refine the details of the reports. group representatives came to the stage to analyze the writing framework of the selected subject text, including “research background, introduction, research methods, and research results”. after the presentation was completed, members of other groups asked questions and made comments, and the presentation team provided professional answers. teachers provided feedback and evaluations based on the system construction and presentation effect. the results of the knowledge acquisition test in the abstract section can be retrieved from the mooc. through the specific scores, it can be seen that the difficulties students face in mastering knowledge are the conventional sentence patterns of the abstract, the use of active and passive elements, as well as tenses, etc. during the class, the teacher provided more material texts for this part to explain and help students understand the writing norms of abstracts. students reported the selected specific literature, analyzed each step of the sentence structure, and summarized the text information, conveying key points to other students and sharing their personal opinions. other group listeners asked questions about the text and examples, covering various aspects such as knowledge points, content, and viewpoints, achieving interdisciplinary communication. the teacher provided comments and feedback on the accuracy of the knowledge examples, the completeness of the sentence structure analysis, and the viewpoint level. meanwhile, the assessment was completed based on the quality of the literature presentation, the strength of group cooperation, the display on the podium by the speakers, and the supporting evidence for the summary of the presentation’s content and viewpoints. after class, students can post questions and engage in discussions in the mooc discussion area under the topic of the current unit to review and strengthen their case study learning. meanwhile, they need to complete one of the assessment tasks for this unit. based on their current research status, they should write an abstract or make a content summary, submit it online, and then receive feedback from the initial evaluation by their group and re-evaluation by the teacher. this feedback will serve as a basis for students’ iterative learning. when conducting personal research summaries or reviews of professional field development, students should delve deeply into their own professional fields to enhance their understanding of the disciplines. in cross-disciplinary evaluations, they should complete interdisciplinary exchanges and cooperation, and experience the rigor of science. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 19 published by scholink inc. 3.1.4 evaluation and feedback the assessment of this unit consists of the online course unit tests before class, discussions in the discussion area, classroom presentations, and one of the final assessment tasks for the semester, namely “abstract writing” (see fig. 6). figure 6. “abstract writing” test the evaluation consists of online and offline learning, placing students as the top priority. the teaching evaluation system of this unit is based on mooc and spoc to monitor students’ learning dynamics. it also relies on mooc tests and the number and content of student discussions to adjust teacher’s teaching content and pace. the learning progress can be observed from the number of online learners. through the number of discussion topics and participants on the mooc platform in the unit, it is possible to see the students’ engagement in the learning content and task assignments of this unit, thereby conducting teaching reflection and improving the teaching design (see fig. 7 and fig. 8). figure 7. number of online learners figure 8. number of discussion topics www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 20 published by scholink inc. 3.2 curriculum evaluation the classroom activities of the unit are carried out in full alignment with the course objectives (see fig. 9), integrating the learning of the four dimensions of “memorization”, “reading”, “speaking” and “writing” in the study of scientific and technological english both online and offline. meanwhile, it has achieved the acquisition of writing framework knowledge points, the ability to analyze and evaluate review literature, the cultivation of teamwork spirit, the in-depth exploration within the discipline, and cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary communication. figure 9. course objectives due to the selection of sample materials for popular science texts, the unit teaching activities integrate scientific and technological reading materials with the course’s ideological education, enhancing the students’ national sense of mission, responsibility and self-confidence, and striving to cultivate the new generation of scientific and technological workers with ideals, pursuits and responsibilities as expected by the party secretary. ultimately, students can make the expected contributions as scientific researchers in the globalized competitive environment. starting from the practical application needs, the practical teaching that integrates knowledge acquisition, quality cultivation, and ability building is carried out. based on the learning materials, learners independently extract viewpoints and analyze professional texts, forming relevant abstract writing within the professional field, leveraging the learning advantages of the flipped classroom under the mixed teaching mode and meeting the individualized learning requirements of students. the “cooperative teaching” model is task-oriented. the teacher acts as the activity coordinator, while the students are the subject of learning and contributors of learning materials, which is in accordance with sociocultural theory. the language advantages of the teacher and the professional advantages of the students are combined to complete the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 21 published by scholink inc. actual abstract writing tasks. the establishment of the mixed teaching model for scientific english writing based on sociocultural theory focuses on the following aspects and key points: by changing the course concept, a series of rules for tool application and task rules for professional knowledge are designed; a collaborative teaching model involving learners is introduced (such as group collaboration, cooperative discussion, mutual evaluation among learners, and special presentations), a scientific writing activity system is created; and the development of academic writing skills is achieved based on continuous, intensive, and consistent language-mediated activities (such as designing a large number of professional literature reading tasks in the teaching system, giving special presentations, writing completed texts, and achieving the combination of reading, writing, and speaking through reading promotion of writing). by leveraging the mediation triangle structure in sociocultural theory, based on high-quality online resources and platforms, and using language knowledge learning as the mediation, with practical application and creation related to the discipline as the object, a “student-centered” task-driven classroom is constructed. a learner-conducted teaching model is established, relying on online communication platforms (such as spoc and tencent groups) to divide groups by profession, transforming the disadvantage of difficultly in unifying teaching materials due to the diverse professional backgrounds of students into an advantage of cross-disciplinary communication. the selection of learning materials follows the cutting-edge developments and hot topics in science and technology in the socialist construction. in the learning of topics such as “quantum communication”, “self-developed supercomputing”, and “huawei chip development”, students can understand the technologies needed for national development, strengthen their research responsibilities, deepen their sense of patriotism, and better understand the connotation and significance of “science has no borders, but scientists have countries”. the learner-centered teaching model proposed under the sociocultural theory in the teaching reform can be applied to the “academic english courses” in other engineering and science colleges. it can address the issue of selecting teaching materials for students from multiple majors, while also integrating students’ professional knowledge from different majors and overcoming the shortcoming that foreign language teachers lack a scientific and technological knowledge background. a mixed teaching design scheme under the framework of sociocultural theory carried out in xidian university can give an insight to other universities which share the same situation. through the joint efforts of teachers and students to build the classroom, with language as the mediation, and with the task of students’ in-depth study of their disciplines and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exchanges as the object, a student-led curriculum system can be constructed. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 22 published by scholink inc. 4. reflection and insights in future teaching, reading, speaking and writing should be integrated as a whole. currently, academic english writing teaching mostly follows the theory of formal linguistics, conducting language analysis with academic characteristics, identifying language components, and focusing on grammar and sentence translation. the summary and refinement of academic paper style and professional knowledge are relatively insufficient. there is a disconnection between “learning” and “application”. under the mediation triangle structure in sociocultural theory, students, as learning subjects, take the absorption and expression of professional knowledge as the cognitive object. the relationship between “learning” and “application” is closer for students when the mediation triangle structure is adopted in teaching. this study introduces a large number of professional articles into the teaching, combining the structural analysis of professional articles, the transmission of viewpoint information, the imparting of language knowledge and writing ability, so that writing, reading and speaking are integrated, achieving the combination of reading, writing and speaking, and strengthening the integrity of language as a cognitive tool rather than a fragmented single language skill. secondly, a cooperative teaching model should be implemented. the current academic english writing teaching still follows the method where the teacher explains language expressions and grammar, and students memorize and practice accordingly. the teaching method is monotonous and lacks variety. according to sociocultural theories, language is fundamentally social, and lies in the interaction and communication between people. this study adopts a teaching model where teachers and learners collaborate. learners introduce teaching materials, organize project collaborations, conduct cooperative discussions, engage in mutual evaluations among learners, give special presentations, and engage in professional writing, etc. this approach aims to cultivate students’ autonomous learning abilities and critical thinking skills, and promote the development and change of language. 5. conclusion based on the perspective of sociocultural theory and the mixed teaching mode, xidian university has carried out the exploration and practice of the course of scientific english writing. through moocs and spoc forms, the study guides students to become the subjects of the classroom, and guide them to freely form groups to choose scientific and technological reading materials, and combines passive input with active output. furthermore, from the three dimensions of “knowledge acquisition”, “quality cultivation”, and “ability building”, the study has progressed step by step to effectively enhance students’ practical abilities and improve their comprehensive qualities, providing the following practical ideas and bases for the mixed teaching of the scientific english writing course: 1) in future teaching, reading, speaking and writing should be integrated as a whole to strengthen the integrity of the language itself. 2) in the process of mixed teaching, courses should carry out cooperative teaching models to cultivate students’ autonomous learning ability and enhance their language literacy. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 23 published by scholink inc. references an outline of scientific writing. (2007). beijing: foreign language teaching and research press. an, g. (2013). learning-centered lesson study. teacher education research, 25(02), 72-77. an, g. (2019). the construction and practice of learning-centered lesson study model. global education, 48(10), 96-106. chai, s., zhang, m., & zhao, y. (2021). a tentative study on blended learning of english-major esp courses in lanzhou university. journal of hubei normal university (philosophy and social science), 41(03), 100-105. chen, s., & shen, t. (2024). construction of college english blended teaching models and its reflection. heilongjiang higher education research, 42(04), 81-88. han, s., & wang, j. (2010). diverse thoughts on academic english writing teaching for non-english major graduate students. academic degrees & graduate education, (08), 45-49. hu, z. (2024). investigation on the teaching reform of “subject science and technology english writing”. modern english, (04), 79-82. li, d., & liu, y. (2013). research on the modern teaching mode of “english for science and technology” course. journal of language and literature studies, (03), 110-112. li, q. (2016). the practice of reforming the writing course for english majors from the perspective of sociocultural theory. journal of heilongjiang vocational institute of ecological engineering, 29(04), 121-122. liang, y., & gao, z. (2022). research on the development path of english major in colleges and universities of science and technology under the background of new liberal arts. education and teaching forum, (49), 70-73. liu, q., & li, z. (2020). a preliminary study on the hybrid teaching model of technical english writing. modern english, (05), 19-21. luo, r. (2014). an exploration of discourse interaction between teachers and students in foreign language classrooms based on social and cultural theories. theory and practice of contemporary education, (10), 104-106. mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. (1978). ma: harvard university press. peng, h. (2023). the application of blended teaching mode in the teaching of specialized english. china plastics industry, 51(04), 194. shen, y., & zhu, m. (2011). analysis of the esp textbooks published in china. languages for specific purposes, 2(1), 97-106. tian, l. (2023). research on the construction of blended teaching model of foreign language writing from an ecological perspective. renmin university of china education journal, 2, 58-68. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 24 published by scholink inc. tong, y., & xie, w. (2019). teaching practice and thinking of thesis writing for engineering postgraduates. education and teaching forum, (21), 256-257. wang, l., xue, h., & gao, y. (2023). a practical study of mixed teaching mode based on flipped classroom. international conference on education development and studies, 4, 43-46. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591139.3591149 wang, x., & hui, l. (2024). buoyancy and engagement in online english learning: the mediating roles and complex interactions of anxiety, enjoyment, and boredom. system, 125, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103418 wang, y. (2014). academic english writing teaching model for graduate students based on demand analysis. journal of shenyang normal university (social science edition), (1), 133-135. xie, t. (2022). research on the english hybrid teaching model in local colleges. china fruits, (01), 125. yu, j. (2023). online and offline mixed teaching mode of college english. journal of shanxi university of finance and economics, 45(s2), 258-260. zhang, l., & sun, y. (2014). a sociocultural approach towards efl writing curriculum transformation. foreign language world, (05), 2-10. zhang, y. (2024). a study on college english teaching under the guidance of sociocultural theory. modern english, (10), 17-20. zhao, x., & dai, w. (2003). a study on the stylistic awareness of college students’ english writing. university education science, (03), 54-57. zhou, m. (2014). the importance of postgraduate courses in english for academic purposes—inspirations from the practices of universities in the u.k. journal of graduate education, (01), 84-90. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591139.3591149 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103418 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 23 original paper building bridges between science, technology, innovation and global affairs: a new graduate program francisco del canto viterale 1 1 graduate school, university of salamanca, salamanca, spain received: october 9, 2020 accepted: october 20, 2020 online published: november 3, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p23 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p23 abstract the international system has changed rapidly in the last few decades, and science, technology, and innovation (sti) has become a new key factor in the world order of the 21st century. the interaction between sti and global affairs has increased because of the relevance and impact of scientific and technological development over the main parameters of the international system. nevertheless, there is still a lack of new approaches that examine this global rising phenomenon from the global and international studies perspective. this article raises the academic and pedagogical needs to build bridges between sti and global and international studies (gis) and, especially, the lack of academic programs that focus on this intersection. therefore, the main objectives of this research are to examine the pedagogical need in the intersection between sti and international relations and introduce a new and original pedagogical proposal. the result is a literature review that confirms the need for educational programs in sti and gis, and the introduction of a new graduate program as an innovative educational contribution. keywords global and international studies, international scientific relation, science, technology, and innovation, innovation in higher education, pedagogical innovation, emergence and development of higher education areas, international challenges to higher education 1. introduction since the end of the 20th century, the international system has entered in a process of structural transformations that are strongly modifying the world order of the 21st century. in this context of systemic changes, the acceleration and intensification of the scientific-technological revolution in the last decades have made science, technology, and innovation (sti) a critical factor in international relations. the scientific-technological revolution has impacted the international global agenda creating www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 24 published by scholink inc. a new variety of issues with a high impact on the entire world system. for instance, commercial competitiveness, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, internet governance, renewable energy, cybersecurity, space development, genetically modified crops, human cloning, synthetic biology, pandemic diseases, climate change, among many others. from the global and international studies (gis) the focus on issues in sti is still insufficient. traditionally, little attention has been paid to the role of scientific-technological advances within the international system. however, the new relevance of scientific knowledge and its revaluation in the international order as a strategic element is awakening a renewed academic interest. in any case, despite the increase in the number of researchers and research that address the phenomenon, even the offer of educational programs is very limited. the research problem that is introduced in this article is the academic and pedagogical need to build bridges between sti and the discipline of gis and, especially, this research focus on the lack of educational programs in higher education that approach the strategic interaction between sti and international relations. in this context, the main objectives of this research are to describe and explain the academic and pedagogical needs to address the issues that link science, technology, and international affairs and, at the same time, make a pedagogical contribution by introducing a new graduate program. the result is an explanation about the main academic and pedagogical needs in the intersection between science and technology and global and international studies, an extensive literature review that proof the lack of educational programs in sti and gis, and, finally, a pedagogical contribution introducing a new experience of a graduate program at the university of salamanca. the essay proceeds in five stages. after the introduction, section 2 describes the main empirical and academic changes in the intersection between sti and gis. section 3 identifies the pedagogical need for educational programs that link sti and international relations. section 4 introduces a new pedagogical experience of an innovative graduate program at the university of salamanca. finally, in the final section, a summary of the main findings is made, and ideas about potential applications are included. 2. empirical and academic changes 2.1 empirical transformations the profound changes that have taken place within the international system in recent decades have led to a new and complex global configuration. the main characteristics of this new international are a process of repolarization of the main global actors since the end of the cold war and the dissolution of the soviet union (note 1); the intensification of the processes of globalization, regionalization, and nationalism (note 2); the erosion of the role of the nation-state (note 3); the evolution towards a new phase of the capitalist economic system characterized by the internationalization of its production and global finance (note 4); the coexistence of a large number and variety of state and non-state actors that coexist disorderly and interdependently (note 5); and the emergence of a new and complex agenda of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 25 published by scholink inc. global issues that include environmental problems, migration, terrorism, poverty (note 6), among others. we are living in an era of high complexity, an era of interconnectivity, ambiguity, uncertainty, and various kinds of revolutions: military, technological, social, political, economic, and even philosophical (note 7) that require new and more complex scientific approaches. essentially, the world order is in the middle of a systemic transition (note 8) from the old and simplified bipolar order of the cold war period towards a new, more complex, turbulent, and multipolar global order (note 9). within this convulsive new international reality of the 21 st century, sti (note 10) has become one of the central issues of the new world agenda because of its impact on the main systemic parameters of the international order (note 11). in recent years, the acceleration and expansion of the scientific-technological revolution has profoundly changed the landscape of international relations. new discoveries and inventions, new scientific areas, the emergence of new technologies, and an impressive number of innovations have increased the speed, magnitude, and complexity of the change in what can be considered a “turbo change” context (note 12). the so-called fourth industrial revolution is understood as a new scientific-technological revolution that is radically changing the way we live, work, and relate to one another. in its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before (note 13). because of this extraordinary scientific-technological revolution, sti has acquired a special and strategic relevance as a critical factor in the global agenda. although scientific-technological advances have been an important factor in many advanced societies, the novelty now is that it has become a strategic element for this new stage of international relations by becoming the main source of the generation of economic benefits, political power, military development, and social innovation. the analysis of this new international system helps to recognize the need to fully understand the mutual and profound interaction between sti and international relations and their importance for the international agenda and global governance. this overlap allows us to explore a new and wide range of topics on a global scale with a high impact on the entire international system:  the role of science and technology in economic growth and development  the impact of science and technology on security and defense policy  the rise of science & technology diplomacy in foreign policy strategies  new technologies applied to transport systems and mass media  new challenges in the global governance of health problems  the threat of climate change and the deterioration of the environment  the multilevel governance of sti  the geographical, political, economic, and social distribution of the benefits generated by the new scientific and technological advances  the ethical and moral dilemmas that emerge from the new applications of sti www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 26 published by scholink inc. these are just some of the new issues on the global agenda linked to sti that are affecting the current international dynamics. the interaction between sti with other political, economic, and social factors will be essential variables to determine the winning and losing nations of the future international system (note 14). in this sense, the relevance of sti in gis has increased considerably in recent years and has become a necessary point of view to understand in-depth the global challenges that the international system is facing in the 21 st century. 2.2 academic challenges all these scientific and technological changes within the international system have promoted an intense and profuse theoretical and methodological debate in social sciences, and, particularly, in the discipline of global and international studies, on how these new empirical phenomena can and should be approached and studied in their real dimension from the academy. it is evident that the development of new processes of production on sti is not confined only within the national borders and, at the same time, it is recognized that the main problems of international relations cannot be understood without an appreciation of the scientific and technological development. therefore, in this new stage of international history, the intersection and overlap of sti and international affairs become a new and necessary topic of study. these changes in the international system in recent decades were not anticipated by any theoretical framework and, especially, in gis, the lack of predictability of the dominant paradigms has put the discipline itself in crisis (note 15). the academic failure to analyze the new global empirical phenomena is a deficit well understood by the entire scientific community. in this sense, there is an explicit recognition of the need to face the new academic challenges in their total complexity and avoiding falling into reductionism. wallerstein (1996) has led this new perspective through the famous “opening the social sciences” report, where he explicitly pointed out that most of the new global agenda issues require an approach that studies the new factors in all their complexity, recognizing the multiple causal relations and their numerous interrelations (note 16). historically, international studies has focused on issues related to security, defense, foreign policy, diplomacy, and even economics, but it has paid less attention to topics such as sti. for some experts, the lack of attention in issues related to scientific-technological developments is evident and it is considered one of the major anomalies of the discipline (note 17). on the other hand, other experts are less pessimistic and, they point out that gis has always had some sense of the importance of scientific-technological developments within international relations (note 18). a brief literature review within the discipline of international studies allows us to understand that several renowned internationalists (waltz, rosenau, nye, strange, keohane, etc.), from multiple perspectives, have addressed the phenomenon of sti in international affairs. however, this analysis has been very tangential and atomized. in recent years, there has been an increase in the interest of researchers to understand the impact that the scientific-technological revolution is having on the international system approaching the phenomenon holistically (skolnikoff, 1993, 2002; weiss, 2005, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 27 published by scholink inc. 2015; deudney, 2000, 2018; mayer, 2014, 2015; etc.). for their part, global studies experts have made a greater analytical effort addressing the role and impact of science and technology in the global system, analyzing how this affects the balance of global power (note 19), the effect on climate change or the production of natural resources (note 20) or its consequences in the process of economic globalization (note 21). in any case, even now gis is poorly equipped to theorize about the impact and consequences of scientific-technological changes in the international system (note 22). the intersection between sti and gis has opened a new and growing research agenda that includes topics such as scientific diplomacy, global governance of sti, cybersecurity, new emerging techs, and the knowledge gap. this emergent area of study in higher education should be understood as a new subdiscipline within gis that has become a subject of study of great interest to understand the changes in the world order of the 21 st century (note 23). 3. pedagogical problem the profound changes in the international system and the slow evolution of the scientific paradigms that address the new phenomena of the global agenda open a mystery regarding educational programs in higher education that focus on these empirical transformations. for this reason, it is very important to review in-depth the university programs that link issues in sti with gis to examine and evaluate the existing offer worldwide. in recent decades, the rise of academic programs in science, technology, & society and science, technology, & public policies have covered part of the academic demand for those issues, although it has failed to meet the need to address the scientific-technological problem from a perspective of gis. in light of this reality, schools and departments in gis have opted for two strategies: on the one hand, very few universities have begun to design new pedagogical undergraduate or graduate programs that specifically focus on the interaction between science, technology, and international affairs, and, on the other hand, a large majority have decided to move more slowly through incorporating only some content through courses, seminars, and workshops in sti to their traditional programs. higher education institutions in the united states have been the pioneers and main promoters in addressing the critical conjunction between sti and gis. however, just a few american universities have designed new specific programs that link sti and international affairs. the first-degree program of this type was established by georgetown university over a decade ago in the context of the school of foreign service, with the name of “major in science, technology and international affairs” (note 24). currently, this undergraduate program is the only one that fully addresses the problem raised here, and, it is the most specialized and complete in terms of knowledge that teaches, linking the new scientific-technological development with the impact in the international system. another pioneer institution in the united states has been the georgia institute of technology which, through the sam nunn school of international affairs, provides a program in “international affairs, science, and technology (ph.d.)”. this ph.d. program is the only one to offer a direct link between science, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 28 published by scholink inc. technology, and international relations at the graduate level, with three main concentrations: i) international affairs and security, ii) globalization and development and, iii) studies comparative and regional. parallel to this pedagogical proposal, the sam nunn school of international affairs has created the center for international strategy, technology, and policy (cistp) as a specific field of interdisciplinary research to explore innovative approaches on issues located at the intersection between science, technology, and international affairs, with lines of research related to public policies, defense, and technological development. meanwhile, the elliot school of international affairs at george washington university has created a new “master’s in international science and technology policy” program that focuses on the study of policies in science and technology with concentrations in energy, environment, nuclear safety, space policy, and technological innovation. although it still has a very high public policy component, there is a clear intention to also address the specific issues that link science and technology to international relations. finally, the woodrow wilson school of public and international affairs at princeton university has recently created a “certificate in science, technology and environmental policy” as its first pedagogical experience in the interaction between international affairs and the scientific-technological field. on the other hand, other gis schools in the united states have begun to restructure their undergraduate and graduate programs to include courses and seminars related to the vast agenda of topics in sti and gis to address these new issues, as well as the demand of students interested in these topics. among those institutions, we found the paul h. nitze school of advanced international studies (johns hopkins university), the school of global policy and strategy (university of california san diego), center for international studies (university of southern california), the school of international service (american university), the school of international and public affairs (columbia university), josef korbel school of international studies (university of denver), among others. at the research level, the belfer center for science and international affairs, within the john f. kennedy school of government at harvard university, is one of the most prestigious centers worldwide in gis, nominated in 2019, for the sixth consecutive year, the best think tank in the world (mc gann, 2018). at the belfer center, world-class researchers are studying and debating the main issues on the international agenda that have emerged precisely because of the intersection between sti, and international relations. among the most relevant research lines are global governance, international security, and defense, bioterrorism, new energy matrix, international economy and business, science and technology policies, etc. additionally, the international studies association (isa) (note 25), the main academic organization that gathering the scientific community in international studies, had opened a new section in 2014 within its organization chart called “science, technology and art in international relations (stair) (note 26)” for considering science and technology as a central part for the study of international affairs. this new section within isa has grown both in the number of researchers and professors on it and in the number of presentations and panels at the various isa conferences worldwide. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 29 published by scholink inc. in europe, some gis schools and departments have also begun to include scientific-technological topics as part of their research and teaching lines, but still without having acquired the status of graduate or postgraduate program itself. a good example is the new “master of science in environmental technology and international affairs” program promoted by the vienna school of international studies. among the european gis departments and schools that have included science and technology in their programs can be considered the center for global studies, universität bonn (germany), the london school of economics and political science (united kingdom), paris school of international affairs sciences po (france) and the graduate institute of international and development studies, geneva (switzerland). in spain, two institutions, the institut barcelona estudis internacionals-ibei (barcelona) and the ie school of global and public affairs (madrid), have begun to promote pedagogical spaces for topics in science, technology, and international relations. ibei is an interuniversity institute that offers postgraduate programs in international affairs and its main program, the master’s in international studies, has recently included optional courses related to science and technology. at the same time, in 2019, ibei launched a new summer program called “barcelona science and technology diplomacy summer school”. for its part, the ie school of global and public affairs (madrid) offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in international relations and it has recently included in its degree program a concentration in governance of emerging technologies and innovation, where technological processes are studied and its impact on society and international politics. finally, in the rest of the academic world, no specific academic programs have been developed that link sti and gis, although the relevance of the scientific-technological theme, many higher education institutions have also begun to be considered through the incorporation of subjects and courses in the plans of study of their undergraduate and graduate programs. examples of this are the faculty of political and social sciences, autonomous university of mexico, the school of international relations of the universidad del salvador (argentina), the s. rajaratnam school of international studies of the nanyang technological university (singapore), the department of international politics of aberystwyth university (australia), the graduate school of international studies of korea university (republic of korea), the graduate school of international relations, ritsumeikan university (japan) and the school of international relations and public affairs of fudan university (china). to conclude, it could be said that there are many programs in science, technology, and policy or in global and international studies that have added courses, workshops or classes related to the conjunction of sti and gis, but just a very few numbers of academic programs that offer in bachelor or graduate levels the integration between gis and sti. after an in-depth review, it just was found one undergraduate program (georgetown university) and a recently created ph.d. program (georgia tech). this comprehensive review of undergraduate and graduate programs worldwide allows us to understand the state-of-the-art in terms of the academic offer of pedagogical programs that link sti with gis. after this review, it is possible to conclude that although there are first timid attempts at www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 30 published by scholink inc. programs that try to address the problem, even the academic offer is very limited and the field of gis is responding very slowly to the critical need of undergraduate and graduate programs to meet the demand for this type of training. 4. a new graduate program the previous analysis has demonstrated the main empirical changes operated in the international system in recent decades and the special incidence of sti in the new international order of the 21 st century, the inadequacy of academic approaches within the discipline of global and international studies to analyze those changes and, finally, the lack of academic programs in the area of international scientific relations that study the new agenda of topics between gis and sti. in this context, a new graduate program in sti and gis was proposed with the express goal to address the needs that have been observed in the previous analysis. following a basic and traditional model of project management in higher education (wijnen & kor, 2000) a new pedagogical program in the intersection between sti and gis was created, and it will be described above. the model divides the project into phases that make possible to understand the different stages of development the new graduate program went through. 4.1 initiation phase during the first phase of the creation of the new graduate program in gis and sti, the initiation phase, many ideas about the project were explored and elaborated. the main goal of this phase was to examine the problem, offer potential solutions, and analyze the relevance and feasibility of the project. examining and analyzing in-depth the finding of the previous research, it was clear that the main problem raised in this investigation was the lack of academic programs in the area of international scientific relations that address the new agenda of topics between gis and sti. after the brainstorm, exchange of ideas, and discussions for solving the problem, it was considered the idea to design, develop, and implement a new graduate program focus on the intersection between sti and gis as a potential solution to address the problem. at this point, the first conversations with professor fernando lopez alves began. professor lopez alves was working on the idea to develop a new graduate program in global and international studies with different specialization. the idea to add a new “cutting-edge” specialization on sti was considered and discussed as a part of the new graduate program in gis. after those conversations, a new phase began with the design and proposal of the new pedagogical program on sti and gis. 4.2 design phase this phase involved the creative process where the architecture of the graduate program was built. the program was designed based on extensive literature research, educational policy documents, consultation with experts, and the experience of more than fifteen years that the author has in the study in the interaction between sti and international relations. the design process is constantly referred to as disciplinary, methodological, educational, and pedagogical aspects. during this phase, different www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 31 published by scholink inc. stages were taking place in order to design the new pedagogical program. these stages include:  empirical, theoretical, and methodological review regarding the new field of the study is constituted by the interaction between sti and gis: international scientific relations.  review of available information on undergraduate and graduate educational programs in higher education at the international level that addresses the critical issue in sti and international relations.  get advice from key experts in the field of sti and gis in higher education institutions in the united states, canada, argentina, mexico, chile, and spain.  work together with prof. fernando lópez-alves to define the main characteristics of a graduate program in science, technology, innovation, and global affairs and their fit within the broader context of the global and international studies graduate program of the university of salamanca.  get advice from professors of the university of salamanca, such as dr. fernando lópez-alves, dr. manuel alcántara, or dr. carlos fortea for the preparation and final configuration of the curriculum. this pedagogical design process made possible to reach clear conclusions regarding the essential foundations that a graduate program requires to address all identified needs. in this sense, the program was designed and built based on the following pillars:  an innovative program that offers a set of theoretical, methodological, and analytical tools combined in a novel way to address the complexity of the new processes and phenomena in the area of international scientific relations.  a holistic program that combines three essential elements: i) a rigorous pedagogical training, ii) a strong impulse to research, and iii) the development of practices in international institutions and organizations.  a program with a truly interdisciplinary sense according to the needs of the study objective addressed, combining professors, researchers, practitioners, staff, and students from a wide range of disciplines ranging from specialists in global and international studies, through other social sciences, and also experts in technical disciplines in sti.  an international and intercultural program, which includes an academic offer aimed at international students and a genuinely global teaching staff. for that reason, the postgraduate and subjects are taught entirely in english.  a program located in an appropriate institutional framework, which implies being part of a prestigious university institution, which has a sense of the relevance of international studies and, at the same time, it has awareness and interest in sti issues. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 32 published by scholink inc. 4.3 development phase based on that essential design, a new graduate program named master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs was developed to address directly all identified needs and seeking to solve the lack of international pedagogical offer regarding studies on sti and international relations. following those needs, the ma program was developed and built with the following characteristics: 4.3.1 context the master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs is presented as part of the global and international studies graduate program within the institute of global governance and the school of law of the university of salamanca (note 27). both the university of salamanca and the school of law have a long and proliferating international academic tradition that makes it an ideal institutional framework to include a graduate program of these characteristics. in this context, the global and international studies graduate program was created as a new and innovative program within the discipline of gis that offers three master programs that are closely related to each other. in addition to the specialization in “science, technology, and global affairs”, there are two other tracks in “nationalism and conflict management” and in “global business and negotiation”. additionally, the graduate program has a prestigious think tank that serves as intellectual support and advice for students accessing the graduate program. 4.3.2 goals the master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs aims to provide students with tools, skills, and competences to study, understand and solve complex problems that arise at the intersection of science, technology, and international relations. in order to achieve this main goal, the graduate program offers theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge that will allow to address the new phenomena of scientific-technological processes within the current international agenda and, at the same time, it will encourage students to reflect on the best scientific responses, public policies, and private strategies to face the challenges derived from scientific and technological innovation within the international system. besides this main goal, the program curriculum addresses four main specific objectives:  develop in students a critical understanding of the global challenges facing the current international system through a detailed analysis of the main scientific-technological development of the global agenda.  ensure that students interpret and analyze holistically and systemically how topics in science, technology, and innovation are linked to historical, political, economic, social, and cultural variables within international relations.  provide students with innovative methods and analysis tools, specially designed to understand the close relationship between scientific-technological development and international affairs. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 33 published by scholink inc.  train new researchers specialized in the analysis and study of science, technology, and innovation in the international arena. 4.3.3 competences and skills the initial stage of the graduate program development phase needs to identify a list of competences and skills the student is supposed to develop, which includes generic, transversal, and specific competences. in this case, the graduate program aims to develop the following competences: •generic competence: – students will possess the skills to understand, evaluate, and apply the key concepts of science, technology, and innovation in the field of international relations. – students will possess and understand the theoretical knowledge necessary to identify, interpret, and explain the actors, processes, phenomena, and complex events within international science and technology. – students may apply advanced techniques and methods in the field of social sciences to analyze the intersection of science, technology, and global and international studies. •transversal competences: – students will develop skills to work in an openly international, multicultural, and diverse context. – students will be able to understand the need for interdisciplinary and systemic work to address international analysis. – students will develop their critical thinking, and their ability to identify and solve complex problems. •specific competences: – students will be able to transmit knowledge about the reality of the current international agenda of topics and their link to science and technology. – students will be able to assimilate and apply the theoretical, methodological, and practical foundations to the current agenda of topics that link science and technology with international relations. – students will be able to understand, elaborate, and manage public policies and private strategies linked to the best scientific-technological development at national, regional, and international levels. 4.3.4 program description the competences and skills that a student acquires on completing the program help to identify the list of the disciplines which are to be included in the curriculum. the ma program in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs extends two years. the program consists of required courses, two seminars, an internship program, and a final research project. the graduate program was structured in four semesters and required courses are offered in english. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 34 published by scholink inc. the program includes core courses such as “methods and theory in global and international studies” and “critical thinking and conflict resolution”, and specialized courses, such as “global health, energy and environment” and “science, technology and innovation policy”. additionally, there is an online seminar about “internships, professional experience, and job searches” and a “research colloquium in global and international studies”. in the first semester, a total of five courses are taught (theory and methods in global and international studies; critical thinking and problem resolution; history of international relations; global migration and negotiation). those classes are considered core courses within gis where a general theoretical-methodological understanding of international relations is offered. in the second semester (science, technology, and international studies; science, technology and innovation policy; international organizations and trade and global health, energy and environment) and the third semester (global security; science diplomacy, and international project management) seven specific courses are taught that address in depth the special interaction between sti and international relations. additionally, a course on professional practices and job search is included in the third semester (internships, professional experience, and job searches). finally, the fourth semester offers the option of conducting a professional practice in an international institution or organization in europe or in the united states and, at the same time, is the beginning of the research stage for the achievement of the master‟s thesis. this organization of the curriculum allows combining theoretical and methodological elements of global and international studies with specific aspects of sti development and, at the same time, combine pedagogical elements with professional practices and research tasks. 4.3.5 professorate one of the keys to the master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs program is the possibility of offering a faculty staff capable of teaching the new and unique skills and abilities that the students of the program required. in this sense, the faculty board combines different characteristics of great relevance for the success of the program: first, professors from the university of salamanca are mixed with visiting professors from multiple and prestigious international universities. secondly, professors specialized in gis are combined with experts in technical areas of sti. thirdly, academics and researchers are also mixed with professionals and practitioners from the international arena. this composition allows to constitute an excellent body of professors capable of offering a high level of teaching, pioneering research lines, innovative teaching methods, and the transmission of real skills and competences to apply in the professional future, which guarantees that the interaction between sti and international relations will be offered with rigor and academic excellence. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 35 published by scholink inc. 4.3.6 research and practice finally, there are two more relevant components of the graduate program: develop research competences and the applied learning internship program. first, research skills and competences are teaching since the beginning of the program, and students are encouraged to do research focusing on the new and innovative agenda of topics in the intersection between gis and sti. most of the classes ask for conduct small research, and a final research project must be done in the last semester as a mandatory requirement to get the ma degree. to develop those research skills and competences a think tank was created with the explicit goal to help, advice, and support students. this think tank is integrated by a distinguished and well-renamed team of experts, scholars, professionals, and practitioners in international affairs and sti. second, an applied learning internship program was established in the fourth semester of the program as an opportunity for the student to have truly international experience and practice and applied their knowledge in an international organization. students can choose to complete an internship during their fourth semester in the program from a long list of opportunities in salamanca, madrid, brussels, or washington dc. before their internship experience, students complete the online, core course, “internships, professional experience, and job searches”, taught by internationally recognized professional facilitators. 4.4 implementation phase the implementation comes in where the pedagogical program become a formal program offered by the university of salamanca. the main goal of this phase was to move the idea from concept to reality. to do that, a formal proposal was written and submitted to the creation of a new graduate program in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs. the master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs program was formally approved by the university of salamanca in april 2016 to be taught within the graduate studies program of the school of law and the institute of global governance. finally, the program opened its first cohort for the 2019/2021 cycle in fall 2019. 4.5 follow-up and assessment phase a final phase was set in order to follow up and assess the academic program which is still a phase in progress. during the follow-up phase, everything is arranged that is necessary to bring the project to successful completion. examples of activities in the follow-up phase included writing syllabus, looking for professors, coordinating schedules, promoting the specialization, among many others. additionally, an assessment phase is coming with the beginning of the first cohort. after the first semester, several types of surveys were conducted with students and faculty to get some feedback about the specialization and evaluate potential changes and improvements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 36 published by scholink inc. 5. discussion and conclusion within an international context of profound transformations, the sti has acquired a new and strategic place within international relations. the mutual influence and impact between scientific-technological development and international relations in the international system of the 21st century is an unquestionable fact that requires greater academic attention. the relevance of sti in gis has increased considerably in recent years and has become a necessary point of view to understand in-depth the global challenges facing the international system in the 21st century. this research has focused on the links established between sti and the gis, which has allowed the identification of multiple gaps and needs that require academic attention. first, the scientific-technological revolution has been installed as a critical dimension of many of the central issues of international relations. second, gis demonstrates that it is still very poorly prepared to address scientific-technological phenomena and analyze their impact on the entire international system. while it is true that in recent years attention has grown on this new area of study, even gis requires new and more complete efforts in addressing this new sub-disciplinary field of international scientific relations. thirdly, there is a shortage of undergraduate and graduate university educational programs that specialize in the intersection between sti and gis worldwide, which has exposed the deficiencies and limitations of the existing educational offering. essentially, this research raises the problem of the lack of academic programs in the area of international scientific relations that focus on the new agenda of topics between gis and sti. in light of this reality, schools and departments in gis have opted for two strategies: on the one hand, very few universities have begun to design new pedagogical undergraduate or graduate programs that specifically focus on the interaction between sti and international affairs, and, on the other hand, a large majority have decided to move more slowly through incorporating only some content through courses, seminars, and workshops in sti to their traditional programs. based on the needs founds in the literature review, a new graduate program was designed, developed, and implemented that directly addresses the gaps identified throughout the investigation. the master in global and international studies: science, technology, and global affairs aims to provide students with tools, skills, and competences to study, understand and solve complex problems that arise at the intersection of sti and international relations. this graduate program also presents unique characteristics: an innovative, holistic, intercultural, and interdisciplinary program located within the privileged institutional framework offered by the university of salamanca. this graduate program presented here seeks to cover all the challenges posed by the growing intersection between sti and gis and, at the same time, make a pedagogical contribution to the scarcity of degrees in the new subfield of study of international scientific relations. following a traditional model of project management in higher education, a new pedagogical program in the intersection between sti and gis was created, designed, developed, and implemented. after the implementation, significant challenges were identified that will require further adjustments: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 37 published by scholink inc.  curricular issues: proportion between core courses in gis and specific courses that address issues on international scientific relations.  understanding a cutting-edge program: let students and the academic community know about the existence of a new graduate program focus on the intersection between sti and international affairs.  creating partnerships: promote collaboration with key actors for the success of the program. for instance, other departments and schools within the university of salamanca; other college departments and schools worldwide; sti industrial companies; local, national, regional, and international governments working in public policies in sti, and think tanks and ngos related to the topic.  follow-up and assessment phase: considering the program has opened its first cohort in 2019, it will crucial to focus on the right implementation and get feedback for future improvement. finally, this experience is expected to serve as academic, pedagogical, didactic material and, also, as a source of inspiration for the construction of new and more comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs that address sti and international relations in the field of higher education and to collaborate in the creation of new bridges in the necessary link between sti and gis. acknowledgments i would like to express my very special gratitude to professor fernando lopez, professor, department of sociology, university of california santa barbara, and academic director, graduate program in global and international studies at the university of salamanca, for his disinterested collaboration and very helpful advice in the elaboration of this paper. references albert, m., cederman, l., & wendt, a. (edit.). (2010). new systems theories of world politics. london: palgrave macmillan. dallanegra pedraza, l. (2009). toma de decisiones y construcción de poder desde el realismo sistémico estructural. revista de relaciones internacionales de la unam, 104, 11-50. del canto viterale, f. (2019). relaciones científicas internacionales. roma: aracne editrice. deudney, d. (2018). turbo change: accelerating technological disruption, planetary geopolitics, and architectonic metaphors. international studies review, 20, 223-231. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viy033 flink, t., & schreiterer, u. (2010). science diplomacy at the intersection of s&t policies and foreign affairs: toward a typology of national approaches. science and public policy, 37(9), 665-677. https://doi.org/10.3152/030234210x12778118264530 haass, r. (2017). a world in disarray: american foreign policy and the crisis of the old order. new york: penguin books. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viy033 https://doi.org/10.3152/030234210x12778118264530 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 38 published by scholink inc. innerarity, d. (2010). la democracia del conocimiento. por una sociedad inteligente. barcelona: paidós. international studies association. (2015). science, technology, art, and international relations (stair) section. (2014-15 report). james, p. (2019). what do we know about crisis, escalation, and war? a visual assessment of the international crisis behavior project. conflict management and peace science, 36(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894218793135 kaplan, d. m. (2001). philosophy, technology, and the environment. cambridge: the mit press. keohane, r., & nye, j. (2001). power and interdependence. london: longman. lópez-alves, f., & johnson, d. e. (eds.). (2018). populist nationalism in europe and the americas. new york: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429437366 mayer, m., & acuto, m. (2015). the global governance of large technical systems. millennium, 43(2), 660-683. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829814561540 mayer, m., carpes, m., & knoblich, r. (eds.). (2014). the global politics of science and technology (vol. 1). berlin: springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55007-2 muñiz, m. (2018). technology, china‟s rise and the future of the international order. in club de madrid, working paper (nov 2018). orsini, a. et al. (2019). forum: complex systems and international governance. international studies review, 0, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viz005 risse, t. (2013). transnational actors and world politics. in c. walter, r. thomas, & s. beth (eds.), handbook of international relations (2nd ed.). los angeles: sage publications. rodrik, d. (2019). globalization‟s wrong turn and how it hurt america. in foreign affairs (june 11, 2019). rosenau, j. (1997). the complexities and contradictions of globalization. current history magazine. rosenau, j. (2003). distant proximities: dynamics beyond globalization. princeton, n.j.: princeton university press. schwab, k. (2016). the fourth industrial revolution. new york: crown business. schwab, k. (2018). shaping the fourth industrial revolution. geneve: world economic forum. skolnikoff, e. (1993). the elusive transformation: science, technology, and the evolution of international politics. new jersey: princeton university press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400820924 skolnikoff, e. (2002). will science and technology undermine the international system? international relations of asia-pacific, 2, 29-45. https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/2.1.29 stiglitz, j. (2002). globalization and its discontents. new york: w. w. norton & company. strange, s. (1996). the withdrawal of the state: the diffusion of power in the world economy. cambridge: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894218793135 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429437366 https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829814561540 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55007-2 https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viz005 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400820924 https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/2.1.29 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 39 published by scholink inc. wallerstein, i. (1996). open the social sciences: report of the gulbenkian commission on the restructuring of the social sciences. stanford: stanford university press. weiss, c. (2005). science, technology and international relations. technology in society, 27(3), 295-313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2005.04.004 weiss, c. (2012). on the teaching of science, technology and international affairs. minerva, 50, 127-137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-012-9191-9 weiss, c. (2015). how do science and technology affect international affairs? minerva, 53(4), 411-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-015-9286-1 wijnen, g., & kor, r. (2000). managing unique assignments: a team approach to projects and programmes. aldershot: gower. notes note 1. muñiz, manuel. “technology, china‟s rise and the future of the international order”. club de madrid, working paper (nov 2018). note 2. fernando lópez-alves and diane e. johnson (eds.), populist nationalism in europe and the americas (new york: routledge, 2018). note 3. susan strange, the withdrawal of the state: the diffusion of power in the world economy (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1996). note 4. joseph stiglitz, globalization and its discontents (new york: w. w. norton & company, 2002). note 5. thomas risse, “transnational actors and world politics”, in handbook of international relations, walter carlsnaes, thomas risse, and beth simmons (second edition. los angeles: sage publications, 2013). note 6. robert keohane and joseph nye, power and interdependence (london: longman, 2001). note 7. amandine orsini et al., “forum: complex systems and international governance”. international studies review, 0(2019), 2. note 8. the systemic transition process is considered: “the stage that mediates between the „decline‟ of a system and the" emergence of a new one” (dallanegra pedraza, 2009). note 9. james rosenau, “the complexities and contradictions of globalization”, current history magazine (1997). note 10. science and technology is defined here as a set of scientific tasks linked to each other and to other socio-economic dimensions with enormous consequences for the actors, interactions, processes and global configuration of the international system (del canto viterale, 2019). note 11. the “systemic parameters” are all those elements and parts of the international system (actors, interactions, processes, agenda items, etc.) that play a central role in determining the final configuration that adapts the world order. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2005.04.004 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-012-9191-9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-015-9286-1 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 40 published by scholink inc. note 12. daniel deudney, “turbo change: accelerating technological disruption, planetary geopolitics, and architectonic metaphors”, international studies review, 20(2018), 223. note 13. klaus schwab, the fourth industrial revolution (new york: crown business, 2016), 2. note 14. eugene skolnikoff, “will science and technology undermine the international system?”. international relations of asia-pacific, 2(2002), 44. note 15. mathias albert, lars-erik cederman, and alexander wendt (edit.), new systems theories of world politics (london: palgrave macmillan, 2010): 3. note 16. immanuel wallerstein, open the social sciences: report of the gulbenkian commission on the restructuring of the social sciences (stanford: stanford university press, 1996): 80. note 17. cf. charles weiss, “science, technology and international relations”, technology in society, vol. 27, issue 3 (2005): 295-313; charles weiss, “how do science and technology affect international affairs?” minerva, december 2015, volume 53, issue 4 (2015): 411-430; tim flink and ulrich schreiterer, “science diplomacy at the intersection of s&t policies and foreign affairs: toward a typology of national approaches”. science and public policy, 37(9), (2010): 665-677. note 18. cf. maximilian mayer, mariana carpes and ruth knoblich (eds.), the global politics of science and technology (vol. 1. berlin: springer, 2014); maximilian mayer and michele acuto, “the global governance of large technical systems”, millennium 43(2) (2015), 660-683; patrick james, “what do we know about crisis, escalation, and war? a visual assessment of the international crisis behavior project”, conflict management and peace science, vol. 36(1) (2019), 3-19. note 19. richard haass, a world in disarray: american foreign policy and the crisis of the old order (new york: penguin books, 2017). note 20. david m. kaplan, philosophy, technology, and the environment (cambridge: the mit press, 2017). note 21. dani rodrik, “globalization‟s wrong turn and how it hurt america”, foreign affairs (june 11, 2019). note 22. deudney, “turbo change: accelerating technological disruption, planetary geopolitics, and architectonic metaphors”, 224. note 23. this new subdiscipline is also known as “international scientific relations” (del canto viterale, 2019). note 24. its founder and director until 2014, charles weiss, was one of the pioneers in the study of the links between science, technology and international affairs, one of the main critics about the lack of approach on these issues within the discipline of international relations (weiss, 2005; 2015) and also one of the precursors in studying and promoting the teaching of these new themes (weiss, 2012). note 25. isa was founded in 1959 and currently has more than 7,000 active members in 110 countries. organizationally, it is divided into 6 geographical subdivisions and/or regions, 29 thematic groups and/or sections (including stair) and 4 caucuses. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 41 published by scholink inc. note 26. the section “science, technology, art and international relations (stair)” was approved in march 2014 by the isa governing council because it is considered that: “science, technology and design are at the center of world politics” (isa, 2015). note 27. the university of salamanca celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2018, in what is considered the second oldest university institution in the world. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 83 original paper research on cultivating agricultural sentiment among university students in agricultural colleges from the perspective of practical skill development—a study based on questionnaire survey and counselor perspectives at qingdao agricultural university meixiu li 1 , lin qi 1 & yao song 2* 1 college of animation and media, qingdao agricultural university, qingdao, china 2 college of science and information science, qingdao agricultural university, qingdao, china received: november 10, 2025 accepted: november 21, 2025 online published: december 1, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p83 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p83 abstract against the backdrop of comprehensively advancing rural revitalization and accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, counselors in agricultural colleges shoulder the crucial responsibilities of ideological guidance and practical education. this paper adopts the counselor’s work perspective and uses practical skill development as a starting point. through a questionnaire survey of 669 students at qingdao agricultural university, it analyzes the current status and practical challenges of cultivating students’ sentiment of “knowing, loving, and promoting agriculture” from three dimensions: agricultural cognition, labor experience, and curriculum practice. the findings reveal that while students generally have a basic interest in agriculture, their understanding is shallow; labor practice can effectively strengthen emotional identification, yet the existing practice system suffers from weak integration with students’ majors, monotonous formats, and insufficient depth of student participation. based on the survey results and the nine core responsibilities of counselors, this paper proposes a three-dimensional “thought-practice-mechanism” pathway for sentiment cultivation, covering ideological value guidance, practice platform construction, integration of academic atmosphere and practice, and career planning guidance. the proposed pathway aims to enhance the effectiveness of ideological and political work in agricultural colleges and provide grassroots references for serving the rural revitalization strategy. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 84 published by scholink inc. keywords agricultural colleges, knowing-loving-promoting agriculture, practical skills, sentiment cultivation, counselor responsibilities, ideological-political work 1. introduction as the grassroots backbone of ideological and political work in agricultural colleges, counselors directly undertake the mission of moral education and talent cultivation for agriculture. general secretary xi jinping emphasized the need to “deeply nurture love for agriculture and master the skills to promote it”, which points the direction for counselors’ ideological education and value guidance. in practice, we find that sentiment cultivation still relies heavily on courses and policy briefings, with weak student agency and insufficient depth of practical participation, limiting the effectiveness of “knowing-loving-promoting agriculture” education. this paper, grounded in counselors’ daily work, uses questionnaire surveys and empirical analysis to explore a new cultivation pathway that uses practical skills as a vehicle, aiming to integrate ideological work more closely with students’ growth needs and improve the systematicity, affinity, and relevance of education. 2. research design and methods as an essential part of student work, this investigation was conducted through the counselors’ work platform. questionnaires were distributed to all 17 colleges of the university, collecting 669 responses with a 100% effective recovery rate. the sample covers diverse genders, grades, and hometowns, with third-year students constituting the majority (71.75%) and rural students accounting for 64.87%. the questionnaire closely aligns with the dimensions that counselors focus on daily-academic development, practice participation, and career intentions-systematically examining students’ basic status in agricultural cognition, labor experience, and curriculum practice, thereby providing data support for targeted guidance and precise ideological work. 3. survey results and analysis of student work realities 3.1 agricultural cognition is foundational, but value guidance needs deepening the survey shows that 66.21% of students were interested in agriculture before enrollment, and 75.02% have a basic understanding of professional employment. however, nearly half of the respondents have limited knowledge of national rural revitalization policies, leaving conceptual gaps. counselors should fulfill their responsibilities for ideological theory education and value guidance by using thematic class meetings, policy briefings, and exemplary role models to clarify the contemporary significance of “agriculture as the foundation of the nation”, thereby strengthening students’ conscious awareness of learning and understanding agriculture. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 85 published by scholink inc. 3.2 labor practice enjoys enthusiasm, yet organization and guidance require reinforcement after participating in labor practice, 86.50% of students recognized the hardships of agriculture, and 66.37% expressed willingness to work in agriculture-related fields, indicating a solid foundation for practice-based education. nevertheless, the design of practice activities is not tightly linked to students’ majors, which hampers depth of participation and sense of gain. counselors should enhance the organization of second-classroom activities, shifting labor education from “experience-oriented” to “empowerment-oriented”, and develop “one institute, one product” practice projects that align with professional characteristics, thereby improving the professional relevance and educational effectiveness of practice. 3.3 curriculum practice provides a platform, but resource integration and mechanism guarantees are insufficient students commonly report a shortage of practice resources, monotonous formats, and weak connections to their majors. as supporters of student growth, counselors should actively participate in academic atmosphere building and coordinated practice teaching, promoting the establishment of a “student-teacher-society” three-party collaborative practice resource platform, assisting in the expansion of off-campus practice bases, and enhancing the real-world capacity and student engagement of agricultural practice. 4. recommendations for sentiment-cultivation pathways based on counselor responsibilities based on the research findings and integrating the nine core responsibilities of instructors, the following working path is proposed to strengthen the student-centered approach, with the dual goals of providing ideological guidance and practical empowerment. 4.1 strengthen ideological guidance to solidify the belief foundation of “knowing agriculture” leverage responsibilities for ideological theory education and value guidance to embed “three-rural” values into daily ideological-political work. organize activities such as “rural revitalization lecture hall” and “agricultural science role-model face-to-face” to tell agricultural stories and disseminate agricultural values; combine party-league day events with themes like “i represent my hometown” to foster emotional identification and rational cognition of agriculture. 4.2 build practice platforms to ignite intrinsic “love for agriculture” based on responsibilities for social practice, campus culture construction, and online ideological work, create a diversified and optional practice system. establish “class practice commissioners” to encourage student-initiated agricultural practice projects; support student clubs in launching “technology mini-yard relay” and “one village, one product assistance” projects, thereby strengthening students’ agency and organizational capacity in practice. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 86 published by scholink inc. 4.3 deepen career counseling to guide “promoting agriculture” career choices implement career planning and employment guidance duties through a “agricultural career awakening program”, integrating knowledge of agriculture with professional development. organize visits to agricultural enterprises, alumni sharing sessions, and interpretations of grassroots employment policies to boost students’ confidence in agricultural career prospects; set up “agriculture-promotion employment classes” to track and nurture students inclined to serve the grassroots, providing targeted resources. 4.4 perfect incentive mechanisms to shape a growth atmosphere of “responsibility for agriculture” combine comprehensive student evaluation and scholarship management duties to reform assessment methods, increasing the weight of practice performance and participation in agricultural projects in awards and honors. establish special recognitions such as “model of knowing and loving agriculture” and “rural revitalization practice scholarship” to enhance students’ sense of achievement and belonging, cultivating a campus culture of “learning agriculture for agriculture, strengthening agriculture with my contribution”. 4.5 strengthening psychological support and team collaboration to build a robust educational community leverage the educational functions of mental health education and team collaboration to monitor students’ psychological well-being during agricultural studies and practices, providing necessary psychological adjustment and developmental guidance. enhance cooperation with professional teachers, entrepreneurship colleges, and social service offices to construct a “counselor-professional teacher-social mentor” tripartite collaborative educational network, jointly supporting students’ comprehensive growth on the paths of knowing, loving, and promoting agriculture. 5. conclusion counselors in agricultural colleges stand at the forefront of ideological education and act as guides and companions for students becoming talents who know, love, and promote agriculture. facing the new requirements of agricultural talent cultivation in the new era, counselors must proactively integrate their duties into the entire process of students’ practical ability and sentiment cultivation, upgrading ideological-political work from a “management-type” to an “empowerment-type”. by constructing an educational ecosystem that places students at the center, uses practice as the pathway, and relies on mechanisms for guarantee, we can truly lead students to forge their youth on the fertile soil of the countryside, realize value on the road of revitalization, and continuously supply youthful strength for building a strong agricultural nation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 87 published by scholink inc. acknowledgement this work was supported by the research project on ideological and political education at qingdao agricultural university. there are no conflicts of interest to declare. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 79 original paper an evaluation of mastering english series within the cba classroom in cameroonian secondary schools amah eyovi ntongieh espe njwe 1* & diangha anthony yuh 1 1 university of bamenda, cameroon * amah eyovi ntongieh espe njwe, university of bamenda, cameroon received: october 22, 2020 accepted: november 3, 2020 online published: december 8, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p79 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p79 abstract textbooks provide an indispensable framework on which teachers and students build upon. evaluation on its part, is a dynamic process which investigates the suitability and appropriateness of an existing practice. it is a useful device for both teachers and material writers as an underlying element in the development of innovations and modifications within the teaching/learning context. therefore, it is obvious that textbook evaluation constitutes a crucial factor in addressing cumulative deficiencies associated with our teaching/learning institution in general and in our english language teaching endeavours. it has been observed that mastering english series pose several problems to both teachers and learners of english language in cameroon. this article sets out to investigate the mastering english series with a focus on the students’ book 5 to find out the extent to which the book aligns with the stipulations of the cba in cameroon. the analysis in this study was predicated on the hypothesis that mastering english book 5 needs great improvement to really meet both the needs of learners and the requirement of the cba. both the theoretical and empirical findings reveal general misgivings about mastering english book 5 and the implementation of the cba in the context of cameroon. keywords textbook evaluation, english language, teaching learning approach, cba (competence based approach) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 80 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction given the importance of textbooks to the language classroom, the type of textbook accepted into the curriculum should be considered—and this is best done through textbook evaluation. this article is an attempt at evaluating the students‟ book v of the mastering english series using an adaptation of tomlinson‟s (2003) textbook evaluation model and zhang‟s (2017) adaptation of the principles of systemic functional linguistics to textbook evaluation. this adaptation will be used in the context of the competency-based approach (cba) to language teaching being applied in cameroon secondary schools. it investigates the extent to which the students‟ book v of the mastering english series reflects the needs of the form five learners facing the general certificate of education ordinary level english language in cameroon, the calibration of the activities of the students‟ book v to reflect the dictates of the cba, and the calibration of the enabling skills with regards to the macro skills as required of a language learner in form five. since this study is hinged on the cba, its theoretical underpinnings will be halliday‟s systemic functional linguistics, which holds that, language is primarily used for communication and does not exist without language users (van patten & williams, 2015). teachers, students, and textbooks are among the main elements of foreign or second language classrooms. for many years, the two elements, teachers and students and their roles has been investigated thoroughly, but less attention has been given to the issues regarding textbooks (aytug, 2007). however, in most cases, textbooks represent the hidden curriculum of the language studies in a certain program or country. for this reason, they play an important role for obtaining information about the likely teaching and learning practices of a particular school, program or institution (richards, 1998). since the language teacher in the cameroonian context has little or no influence at all over which textbook is appropriate for a given setting, textbook evaluation within the confines of academic enquiry does not seem to cross the line. it is in this vein that this study investigates the compatibility of the mastering english series with the competency-based approach (cba), through the analysis of the students‟ book 5 of the series. 1.1 problem statement as english language teachers, the researchers noticed that many colleagues complained of many problems in dealing with the students‟ book 5 of the mastering english series. some of them believed that this textbook is beneath learners‟ level. furthermore, the researchers noticed that many students were not able to use the language properly and this may be due to the nature of the textbook. so, this study will adopt a critical analysis into the students‟ book 5 to find out its points of strength and weaknesses. therefore, this textbook will be studied in terms of its quality as an educational material to give real recommendations for improvement and development. the findings of this study will be useful and beneficial for further studies and research in this field. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 81 published by scholink inc. 1.2 research questions and hypotheses a) to what extent does the students‟ book 5 of the mastering english series reflect the needs of the form five learners facing the general certificate of education ordinary level in cameroon? b) how do the activities in the students‟ book 5 of the mastering english series align with the stipulations of the official cba syllabus? c) to what extent are the enabling skills scaled to the level of learners in form five to sharpen the macro language skills? d) what challenges are faced in implementing the cba by both teachers and learners in their exploitation of this course book? the answers to the above questions will be predicated on the following assumptions: h1: the course book does reflect the needs of the learners to a lesser extent in terms of language proficiency. h2: the activities in the students‟ book 5 could better sharpen the macro skills in form five learners if their proficiency level better reflected the gce syllabus. h3: the enabling skills, known within competency-based terminology as “essential knowledge” need a little calibration to meet the proficiency level of the learners in form five. h4: if teachers faced challenges implementing the cba even before the institution of the “one textbook policy”, they still face certain challenges in their exploitation of the course book used here as case study. 1.3 theoretical framework regarding the efficacy of language learning theory, researchers (e.g., fang & schleppegrell, 2008; locker, 1996; schleppegrell, 2001) claimed that language learning is a meaning-making process in context. that is, first, second, or foreign language learners, in order to communicate effectively with other speakers or writers of the new language, have to learn grammar, vocabulary, and meaning in different context of social interaction. indeed, students‟ knowledge of meaning making (using contextually appropriate language form, such as grammar and vocabulary, to achieve meaning) has been empirically proven to be helpful for language learners‟ academic literacy development, such as reading, writing, speaking and listening (e.g., gibbons, 2002, 2006; rose & martin, 2012; swami, 2008). in other words, when evaluating textbooks‟ impact on learners‟ academic literacy development (the most important evaluation purpose), textbook evaluation must give attention to how textbooks (or textbook-based teaching activities) link language meaning and contextually appropriate linguistic resources (i.e., grammar and vocabulary). halliday (1994)‟s systemic functional linguistics (hereinafter sfl)—a theory grounded in a meaning-making perspective—meets all the requirements as a powerful language learning theory that can be applied in the three types of elt textbook evaluation (pre-use, in-use and post-use). sfl provides clear and categorized macro-constructs (e.g., context of situation/register, context of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 82 published by scholink inc. culture/genre) related to learners‟ academic literacy development and at the same time attends to what linguistic choices need to realize meanings in response to these macro-constructs. indeed, teaching sfl-based resources has also been empirically proven to be effective for english language learners‟ academic literacy development (e.g., achugar et al., 2007; gibbons, 2002; harman, 2008; schleppegrell, 2010; rose & martin, 2012), thus it is not the worst idea to integrate it with the cba. it is observed in particular that, sfl holds that language is shaped by two levels of context: the context of situation and the context of culture (halliday, 1994; rose & martin, 2012). the context of situation includes three variables: (1) field, which describes what a discourse is about; (2) tenor, which identifies the interpersonal relationship and evaluative stance between discourse participants; and (3) mode, which is the channel of a discourse (halliday, 1994). these three variables are known semantically as the register of a discourse. depending on the three variables, language users, by making choices from socially and culturally endorsed vocabulary/grammar, simultaneously convey three meta-meanings: (1) ideation meaning, representing language users‟ inner experience and outside experience; (2) interpersonal meaning, enacting social relationships; and (3) textual meaning, creating the texture of a discourse (halliday, 1994). more specifically, sfl also explains how to select vocabulary and grammar to achieve the three meta-meanings through the system of transitivity (e.g., the choice of nominalization in academic discourse), mood (e.g., the choice of subject-verb-object order), and theme/rhyme and cohesion (e.g., the choice of conjunction words). the underlying approach behind this study is the competency-based approach. also known as competency-based language teaching, its major basis the “functional and interaction perspective” on the nature of language (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143) which means that language learning always needs to be connected to the social context it is used in. therefore, language is seen as “a medium of interaction and communication between people” who want to achieve “specific goals and purposes” (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143). this especially applies to situations in which the learner has to fulfil a particular role with language skills which can be predicted or determined for the relevant context (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143). in connection to this, competency-based language teaching shares the behaviourist view of learning that “certain life encounters call for certain kinds of language” (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143). another key aspect of both language and learning theory is the so called “mosaic approach to language learning” (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143), which assumes that language can be divided into appropriate parts and sub parts. communicative competence is then constructed from these sub parts put together in the correct order (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143). all these aspects together show that cblt is in some respects similar to communicative language teaching (richards & rodgers, 2001, p. 143), and both in turn could be linked to the basic tenets of halliday‟s systemic functional linguistics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 83 published by scholink inc. 2. literature review 2.1 competency-based approach the domain of textbook evaluation in the context of cameroon has not really been explored within academic circles, and so, no major literature on the field. however, from the inception of the cba in cameroon, quite a lot has been written about it. since its introduction to the cameroonian system of education in 2012, the competency based approach has received burgeoning literature within the academic circles in cameroon. the academic circles have made appraisals of its usefulness in the cameroonian context, as well as the evaluation of some challenges in its implementation, but there seems to be no studies on this approach in line with the course books that purport to work in tandem with its stipulations. nkwentisama (2012) examined the competency-based education model and then sought how it could be used to remedy the english language learning quagmire among francophone cameroonian learners. after a critical examination of the syllabus he opined that it spells out laudable learning outcomes or expectations. he also examined the affective components of the cameroonian learners and literature in this domain and maintained that the learners were affectively predisposed to learn the language. however, current literature on the implementation of cblt in cameroon clearly indicates that teachers do not particularly fancy the new approach. nforbi & siewoue (2015), for instance, investigated the application of cba by teachers of english in menoua division, an administrative unit in the west region of cameroon. using a multiple methods research design consisting of a questionnaire administered to 22 teachers, document analysis and analysis of teaching, the study revealed, among other things, that 45.45% of teachers had never attended a seminar on cblt, that 63.64% found the new approach difficult to understand, that 68.18% thought that cba made lesson planning more difficult for teachers, while 54.55% claimed that cba made lesson delivery more difficult. also, only 18.18% of respondents were confident that they understood what cba entails, whereas 45.45% claimed they knew it to an extent. looking at some key features of cblt, 65% of teachers claimed that it was almost impossible to personalize instruction due to large classes and insufficient allocation of teaching time, 72.72% said it was almost impossible to avoid paper-and-pencil tests, and 86.36% did not evaluate their students at the end of a module. using data obtained via a questionnaire administered to 91 teachers selected from 32 schools (both public and private) spread across the north-west and south-west regions of cameroon, njwe (2016) investigated teachers‟ perspectives on the implementation of cba in cameroon secondary schools, and came up with findings similar to those obtained by nforbi & siewoue. for instance, while 93.4% of teachers were aware of the paradigm shift, only 17.6% believed they understood what cba entails. in the same vein, only 25.7% of teachers felt ready to implement cba, while about 82.4% did not feel confident implementing the new approach at that time. the study further hinted that teacher training cba is deficient, given that about 42.9% of teachers claimed they had not received training on the application of cba, while about 15.4% of teachers had never attended any seminar or workshop on the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 84 published by scholink inc. application of cba. belibi (2018) explored the implementation of competency-based english language teaching in a low-resource context, namely the cameroon francophone secondary education sub-system. focus was placed on the challenges and possible solutions for a better implementation of cblt. he highlighted inconsistencies between the cameroonian model of cblt and western models in the domains of assessment and instructional approach, deficiencies in teacher education and the professional development of teachers, inadequate education infrastructure and teaching resources, a different school culture, the weak role of school leadership, the non-integration of technology in english language teaching and the continuous rejection of the l1 in the efl classroom. the above works indicate that the implementation of cblt in the cameroon secondary education context is hardly successful from the teachers‟ perspective. then, the main aim of this study is to investigate challenges to the successful implementation of the new approach, following the mastering english series, and to propose solutions for those challenges. 2.1.1 in-use textbook evaluation pre-use evaluation is when a textbook is evaluated before adoption into the syllabus. the purpose of this type of evaluation is to determine the suitability of the course-book in line with the curriculum. in-use evaluation is the one that this research is concerned with. it is aimed at finding out the strengths and weaknesses of a course-book while it is currently being used. the last type of evaluation is the post-use evaluation which is concerned with examining the impact of the textbook on learners through analysis of their performance in comparison to other books. since this investigation attempts to evaluate a textbook that is currently being used, it becomes necessary to get acquainted with what researchers have said in relation to this type of evaluation. different from pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation measures the effect of an elt textbook already in use by observing how it is actually being used in a classroom (mcdough & shaw, 1993; tomlinson, 2003). this means that in-use evaluation is “more objective and reliable than pre-use evaluation as it makes use of measurement rather than predication” (tomlinson, 2003, p. 24). in other words, in-use evaluation is able to provide a lens into the actual effect of how teachers use an elt textbook on learners‟ academic literacy. indeed, elt textbooks themselves may not differ markedly, but there is a marked difference in how they are used (jakubiak & harklau, 2010). thus, the value of a textbook is contingent on a teacher‟s role in de-constructing textbook knowledge with students in class that might facilitate or constrain students‟ learning through textbook (donato & mccormic, 1994; newton, 1990). anton (1999), for example reported the impact of teachers‟ role on learners‟ language learning by comparing and analysing a learner-centred and a traditional teacher-centred language teaching class. in her study, anton concluded that a teachers‟ role is crucial to learners‟ success as she found that l2 learners had more opportunities to make progress in language learning through a collaborative environment than through the teacher centred teaching approach. in other words, a teacher‟s role is crucial to language www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 85 published by scholink inc. learners‟ success in the textbook-based classroom. as nunan (1991) further pointed out, the value of a textbook can be revealed “with reference to their actual use” (p. 211). summer (2011) also noted that evaluating a textbook while teaching can help instructors “notice areas of neglect and supplement or modify the instructional options presented as to make efl teaching more effective” (p. 89). this points to the importance of in-use evaluation that explores the triadic relationship between the teacher, student, and textbook. nonetheless, limited research has been conducted on the effect of in-use elt textbook on learners‟ academic literacy (santos, 2008; sunderland et al., 2000; tomlinson, 2003). in one of the very few studies in this area, nahrkhalaji (2012) implemented an in-use evaluation of a textbook used in two efl classrooms within the same school in iran. based on the observation of interactions of students and teachers in the two classrooms, nahrkhalaji found that dialogues in the textbook enabled teachers to effectively encourage students‟ participation in classroom learning. at the same time, by using graphics from the textbook, teachers in one classroom helped students better understand the meaning of new words in the textbook. nahrkhalaji concluded that in-use evaluation is helpful for elt textbook adaptation and is also useful for teachers to change the way they use elt textbooks and better facilitate learners‟ academic literacy. similarly, santos (2008) conducted a study of textbook use in an elementary school in brazil. through revealing interactions among teacher, student, and textbook santos highlighted that the value of the textbook content is dynamically de-constructed, depending on the teacher‟s teaching style. mantero (2002) also investigated a textbook-centred spanish literature course in an american college with the purpose of revealing the triadic relationship between the teacher, textbook, and students‟ learning of spanish as a foreign language. based on nine full weeks of observation, mantero, by means of conversational analysis (drew & heritage, 1992; see also sacks et al., 1974), analysed and evaluated the textbook-centred classroom interactions and concluded that the instructor in this foreign language class initiated most of the dialogues in the textbook-centred classroom and did not take full advantage of opportunities to help learners develop topic-based discourse, which was in the language textbook they were using. these in-use evaluation studies demonstrate that the content of the textbook and the teacher using the textbook affect learners‟ actual academic literacy development in the textbook-centred classroom. as can also be seen from these studies, in-use evaluation, through analysis of student-teacher interaction, is thus able to reveal learners‟ academic literacy development by connecting the value of the textbook (what is embedded in a textbook) in relation to its users (i.e., the teacher and student), providing a dynamic and empirical evaluation of textbook content. however, in-use evaluation is not without limitations. first, the dynamic nature of in-use evaluation also makes the evaluative process complex as it involves the interaction between students, teachers, and textbooks in a variety of forms, such as dialogue and task-based activities. as mentioned earlier, textbook analysis (i.e., textbook description) is the basis of textbook evaluation. in terms of in-use evaluation, this means it is necessary to describe textbook-based classroom practices before measuring www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 86 published by scholink inc. the effect of a textbook on learners‟ understanding of contextually motivated knowledge. however, previous research either relies on pure observation, resulting in a lack of empirical analysis of textbook-centred classroom practices before evaluation (e.g., nahrkhalaji, 2012), or uses a conversational analysis that only can reveal such interaction features as “extensive use of display questions, form-focused feedback, corrective repair, and the use of scaffolding the interaction patterns of classroom discourse” (sert & seedhouse, 2011, p. 8). in other words, little attention is given to how a textbook and the teacher using the textbook develops learners‟ academic literacy through raising their awareness of the comprehensive relationship between vocabulary/grammar and contextual meaning, such as generic patterns, genre-specific linguistic resources, and meanings through texts of a textbook. thus, an improved framework should be able to dynamically represent linguistic resources taught in a textbook-based classroom. 3. methodology the work follows mixed methods for data collection and analysis. the first part of the evaluation is theoretical based on the observations of the researchers and wide research from authorities in the field of textbook evaluation. the second part of the analysis is empirical and employs quantitative methods to examine the opinions of 41 participants from whatsapp english forums. the 41 teachers participated in an online survey through google forms to answer 25 questionnaire items that were both open-ended and close ended. this helped to get an overview of what teachers think about the textbook under study. 3.1 data analysis 3.1.1 theoretical and empirical analysis of mastering english students‟ book 5 on the theoretical evaluation, the aspects of content, preface, authors, organization and structure, physical appearance, needs to o/level english language gce candidates, compatibility of activities and the overall sfl based appraisal of the enabling skills in the book will be analysed. the empirical aspect on the other hand, essentially handles the quantitative contribution of the study whereby an analysis of an online survey designed to get teachers‟ opinions was undertaken. on the aspect of content, the textbook is 324 pages with five modules as proposed in the cba syllabus. modules one to three are divided into five lessons each, giving a total of fifteen lessons for the first three modules. module four, has four lessons and module five, has three lessons, giving a total of seven lessons for the two modules. the overall number of lessons for the entire book is twenty-two which raises eyebrows to the notion of lesson. in fact, it is recommended that a cba lesson should last between 45-55 minutes, however, the lengths of lessons in the textbook are much longer to fit within the desired time frame of 45-55 minutes. therefore, for a book of 324 pages to contain just a total of twenty-two lessons is quite indicative of a wrong or faulty understanding of the notion of a lesson within the cba paradigm. on the preface of the book, the reviewer lavished praises on the content, needs of the students in general as well as in relation the cba, and physical presentation of the text. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 87 published by scholink inc. however, the position of the reviewer of the preface of this book is highly contested by opinions of respondents to questionnaire used in this investigation. we also observed that, no information is provided within the book about the formal education and experience of the authors of the book which to us is a significant omission. on organization and structure, textbooks are generally divided into units that develop topical constructs with activities for the learners to carry out. in this case however, the book is simply divided into the five modules of the cba syllabus and as indicated earlier, each module is divided into lessons, rather than units. the entire book comprises twenty-two lessons which corresponds to what one could call units, if we wanted to avoid terminological incongruity-since in the cba paradigm, a lesson is generally understood as a section of teaching or learning into which a wider learning content is divided, and should last for at most 55 minutes. the book on page v of the preliminaries, presents a summarized table of contents. the pages 1-14 present an introduction to the gce ordinary level 530 english language paper, with details on the structure and requirements of english language papers 1 and 2. in this section, the authors give some pretty great tips to gce candidates despite the repertory of grammatical errors in the space of 14 pages. then from pages 15-324, each module begins with a synoptic table of contents outlining the activities into which the module is divided. the activities are presented under each lesson, and the number of activities depend on the number of lessons per module, thus the uneven distribution of activities per module. with regards to the physical appearance of the book, it is colour and pictures are attractive, however, the pages are quite fragile and lack durability. quite some work is undertaken in this text to meet the needs for candidates sitting for the o/level english language 530 paper needs and the teachers only require employing the appropriate knowhow to exploit the contents. on the aspect of compatibility of activities, the learning activities used in cblt can be described as systematically designed activities to achieve a certain competence. these activities are real world tasks which may be related to any domain of life (richards & rogers, 2001) typical areas for which such competency-based activities have been developed, include, job application, job interview, or work schedules (mrowicki, 1986). all these areas, “can be described as a collection of units of competencies” which consists of “specific knowledge, thinking processes, attitudes, and perceptual and physical skills” (docking, 1994). while a great deal of of the activities in mastering english students‟ book 5 seem to match the cba criteria to some extent, all the pronunciation activities (speech work) in the book fail to meet the criteria. research has indicated that many l2 teachers have received little or no specific training in pronunciation pedagogy (breitkreutz, derwing, & rossiter, 2001; derwing, 2010; derwingand munro, 2005; murphy, 1997) and that teachers can be reluctant to teach pronunciation due to lack of training in pronunciation pedagogy and/or access to appropriate material (macdonald, 2002). this calls for an arduous task on the part of material developers (textbook writers) to be meticulous on their design of pronunciation activities that can even serve as self-study aid to learners before the intervention of the language teacher. finally, on qualitative analysis we undertake the overall sfl based appraisal of the enabling skills of the book. on this aspect, the enabling skills are generally used to rate performance in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 88 published by scholink inc. the macro-skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. the enabling skills are grammar, oral fluency, pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary. these skills are so called because they enable the learners to use language appropriately. systemic functional linguistics treats grammar as meaning-making resource and insists on the interrelation of form and meaning (nordquist, 2020) and by extension the other enabling skills. in contrast to most other approaches, sfl explicitly attempts to combine purely functionally information, with overtly social factors in a single integrated description. like other functionalist frameworks, sfl is deeply concerned with the purposes of language use. systemicists constantly investigate the linguistic devices available to help language users communicate effectively and the basis on which language users make their choices (lawrence & stockwell, 2007). the available choices in this sense will refer to enabling skills, especially grammar. in section “a” below, we present a sample grammar topic treated in module one of the students‟ book 5-the simple present tense: section a: sample grammar topic in mastering english book 5 essential knowledge grammar revision: study the sentences below and underline the verbs used in the simple present tense 1) uses. this tense is used: i. ) to express habitual or repeated actions. the student sleeps in class every day. john eats with his left hand always. 2) to express a future action about which a decision has already been taken: the school bus leaves the village at 9:30 pm. we attack at dawn. 3) to express facts. the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. the earth moves round the sun. 4) for a general statement where no particular time is thought of: actions speak louder than words. hamidou‟s family comes from the northern part of cameroon. the wouri river separates deido and bonaberi. 5) to express abilities: mr ngwa plays the xylophone whenever he visits his friend. monica cooks very well. 6) in time expressions after when, until etc. don‟t eat until i tell you to. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 89 published by scholink inc. when you drink, don‟t drive. from section a above, it is evident that the sample sentences could be said to meet the criteria for genre of situation within the framework of systemic functional linguistics. although within the framework of slf, halliday himself has considered lexicogrammar to be just a branch of grammar and vocabulary not to be as significant as syntax and he gave it a new name. “the heart of language is the abstract level of coding that is the lexicogrammar. [he] see[s] no reason why we should not retain the term „grammar‟ in this it‟s traditional sense; the purpose of introducing the more cumbersome term lexicogrammar is simply to make explicit the point that vocabulary is also part of it, along with syntax and morphology” (halliday, 2006). within the cba paradigm, grammar is essentially an enabling skill that fosters the proper use of macro-skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. the sample sentences in section a above can foster the speaking and writing skills to some extent, but at the same time, they seem more of generic platitudes or cliches than original sentences that expose the learners to creativity in their literacy development. if for instance, we take the sample sentence “the sun rises in the east and sets in the west” we realise that this sentence seems ridiculously commonplace for form five learners, as it features in most textbooks. in the graded english series by anucam educational publishers, previously used in secondary schools in cameroon before the one-textbook policy of 2016, the same sentence above was used in the students‟ book one to explain the factual aspect of the simple present tense to form one learners. since there have been multiple textbooks in the syllabus up until 2016, it is fair to assume that form five learners of the academic year (2019/2020) should still remember that sentence from their form one, four years earlier. as far as grammar is concerned, therefore, the textbook needs some major improvement at the level of originality of sample sentences-more mature ones rather than cliches. thus, while the sample sentences in the textbook (under the grammatical points) do achieve the ideational meta-function criterion of sfl, they need intensive revision to align with the tenets of the cba more adequately. another aspect of the textbook that will be of concern in this section is the writing activities. within the sfl context of culture, refers to staged structured ways (eggins, 2004) in which people use language to achieve culturally appropriate goals. it is the way in which people organise texts through language choices with an aim to achieve a social purpose. according to martin (2009, p. 159) it is “the system of staged goaloriented social processes through which social subjects in a given culture live their lives”. some examples of staged goal-oriented activities are booking appointments, inviting someone to a wedding, giving a lecture, applying for a job etc. these staged-oriented activities, the different types of texts that enact various types of social contexts, are termed “genres”. in the context of the cba, these goal-oriented activities are obviously the writing activities-especially directed writing activities where learners get to assume different real-life roles to present a given piece of writing. section “b” below presents a sample directed writing activity in mastering english book 5. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 90 published by scholink inc. section b: sample directed writing in mastering english book 5 category of action: writing directed writing (30 marks) mark distribution content (14 marks) expression and accuracy (12 marks) slanting (04 marks) as the coordinator of the different social groups and associations of your area, read the passage below carefully. selecting relevant material from the text, write an article of 150 words in one paragraph that will be published in a local newspaper of your area on the objectives and different activities in the pipeline to be carried out by the dynamic women association. 3.1.1.1 the dynamic women association the name of the association is dynamic women association. it was created on the 31 st of may 2014 in douala, the economic capital of cameroon. it had twenty participants who were later considered as the founding members of the association. today it counts over one hundred members. the main objective of this association was to create a forum which could involve women of all walks of life, no matter their status, and who had something to contribute to the growth of the women and the association as a whole. the founding members viewed this association from a christian perspective, giving the women the opportunity to learn or teach one another from the different talents they are endowed with. many women appreciated this initiative since it had degree holders, first school leaving certificate holders, businesswomen, married and unmarried members. however, gaining membership into the association was not that easy for it was done under strict scrutiny, taking into consideration the moral upbringing, respect, and the commitment of the individual. during monthly meetings, members were encouraged to express themselves in the vernacular. thanks to this policy, many women have been able to speak and understand their mother tongue; they can also dance traditional dances as cultural development formed an essential part of each monthly meeting. section b above can be said to meet the sfl criterion of macro-construct of ideational meta-function to some extent, as well as the interpersonal meta-function. the ideational meta-function is about the natural world in the broadest sense, including our own consciousness, and is concerned with clauses as representations. the interpersonal meta-function is about the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer, and is concerned with clauses as exchanges. that said, the activity in section b requires the learners to place themselves in a real-world situation where they play the role of coordinator of the women‟s association groups in their area. also, the context is clearly cameroon-an environment with which the learners are familial. it could thus be said that the directed writing activities in the book do meet the requirements of sfl cum the cba paradigm, which makes for one of the strengths in the textbook. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 91 published by scholink inc. on the empirical evaluation of the textbook, in other words on the quantitative analysis, we examine teachers‟ opinion on the application of the cba using the book. in this connection, questionnaire were designed and answered by 41participant teachers selected randomly since any teacher could follow the link and answer the questions online. however, to avoid any intruders responding to the survey, the link was only sent to whatsapp forums made up of teachers of english language and literature. 3.1.2 challenges in implementing the cba using the mastering english series according to the poll, 82.9% of participants did a vow to facing challenges in their implementation of the cba using the mastering english series. only 17.1% of respondents declined facing any challenges with the mastering english series. some of those who confessed to facing challenges in using the mastering english series made some guiding statements, some of which are analysed below. some respondents stated that “at times the material isn‟t enough to prepare a good cba lesson”. by this statement, it is clear that the structural organization of the textbook should be a problem to some teachers, as there is no equitable distribution of material. other teachers think that “it doesn‟t handle all the real-life situations as stipulated by the syllabus”. this means that the publishers still need to revisit the tenets of the cba in order to better present materials that rhyme with the stipulations of this paradigm. some participants face problems that are common to all cba classrooms—class size. one participant confirms: “some activities suggested and/or presented in mastering english book 5 require small class sizes; my form 5 class is large”. this is a common problem with the implementation of the cba (tambwe, 2017). so, this particular pitfall is not a negative on the part of the publishers, but on the prevalent situation in the field. other common complaints such as that there is “no ample time to complete a lesson” or that “the lessons do not reflect the duration of cba lessons” are commonplace. this is because the notion of lesson as understood by the publishers of the mastering english series does not align with the tenets of the cba. the publishers take the idea of lesson to mean unit, and so the lessons are ridiculously long, and jam packed with activities that extend to the duration of a whole unit. finally, some participants have claimed that “some exercises are ambiguous” and “it‟s mostly theoretical”. this does imply that some of the activities do not respect the principle of “real life situations”, and that is what renders them theoretical—according to the teachers‟ opinions. those who claim that the activities are ambiguous did not give more information as to what registers as “ambiguous”. this item on the challenges was both close and open-ended. however, most participants simply chose to indicate that they faced challenges but did not specify the type of challenges that they faced. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 92 published by scholink inc. 4. summary of findings the aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which the mastering english series reflects the needs of the form five learners facing the general certificate of education ordinary level examination in cameroon. the work was also aimed at evaluating the students‟ book 5 of the series to find out the extent to which the activities in it align with the stipulations of the official cba syllabus, as well as the extent to which the enabling skills are scaled to the level of learners in form five to sharpen the macro language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. finally, it was also within the limit of this work to investigate the challenges faced by english language teachers in cameroon in implementing the cba through their exploitation of this course book. both the theoretical and empirical evaluations of the book revealed that general opinion regarding the physical appeal of the textbook and ancillary materials is negative. a great many teachers have disapproved of the paper quality and durability of the textbook in terms of physical appeal. as far as the needs of learners are concerned, it was revealed through the theoretical analysis that the book does meet the needs of the learners to some extent, such that a lot of improvement is still needed to foster the originality of sample sentences for the grammar points treated in the book. also, the pronunciation activities which foster the speaking skills, are found really lacking. the pronunciation activities need to be more varied with sample sentences that employ words used for the representation of each phonetic sound treated. as far as the speaking and writing activities are concerned, it was found that they do meet the needs of learners to some extent as well, but a lot of improvement is still needed. when it comes to empirical evaluation of the book, it was equally noticed that a majority of teachers agree with the theoretical findings and are of the opinion that the book just barely meets the needs of learners—not even to some extent, but just barely—thus, a general note of disapproval on the part of teachers. with regards to the alignment of activities in the book to the stipulations of the cba, the theoretical evaluation also yielded similar findings to the empirical evaluation. however, the theoretical evaluation focused on the observations of the researchers and so were tilted towards a closer look at the pronunciation activities but the empirical aspect was more general and the results of both still show that the book rated as meeting the requirements of the cba only to some extent. furthermore, the empirical findings regarding the enabling skills in general reveal that some 39% of participants think that the activities do not foster student-student interaction at all, and 43% think that the activities do foster student-student interaction to some extent. so, the proficiency level of the enabling skills in the book need to be raised to the level of the learners. finally, an overall impression of the book based on the empirical evaluation is negative and the overwhelming majority of participants have asserted that the book needs some improvement. these impressions are similar to those expressed about the implementation of the cba itself in the context of cameroon. a great many teachers of english language in cameroon still feel that cba in the cameroonian context is inapplicable, despite the length of time that the ministry of secondary www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 93 published by scholink inc. education has imposed it. 5. recommendations the findings have proven beyond doubt that the mastering english series, despite their enjoyed monopoly of the english textbook market, have to work hard at improving the entire series in order to bring it up to the standards of the candidates. the areas that need great improvement are the following:  physical presentation: the paper quality of the back cover, the attractiveness of the ancillary material and the overall appeal of the series need to be improved upon to ensure greater durability and consumer-delight.  intellectual content: the activities in the book need to be greatly revised so as to meet the requirements of the cba and the needs of the learners. in this vein, the pronunciation activities of the form five need special attention, as well as all the activities on the enabling skills.  rethinking the notion of lesson: the publisher might want to rethink their notion of lesson and use the more conventional appellation of “unit” to better capture the idea of what the word really stands for. this could go a long way to clear the doubts of teachers who think that the lessons are too long to be taught in durations of a normal period—45-55 minutes.  grammar points: to render the grammar exercises more cba-like, the sample sentences could be more original and context-bound than the clichés and platitudes common in most of the exercises. 5.1 suggestions for further investigation it is the researchers‟ hope that this study will contribute to a better understanding of the repercussions of the one-textbook policy in cameroon because monopoly of a given market makes for less care in production processes. in this vein: a) investigation into the teachers‟ opinion regarding the impact of the one-textbook policy on the language classroom in cameroon. b) also, another investigation into teachers‟ opinion on the cba syllabus being implemented in cameroon could go a long way to reveal the public opinion on the national syllabus. an evaluation of the entire mastering english series, not just the book 5, could go a long way to reveal all the lapses in the series and improve the quality of language pedagogy nationwide. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 94 published by scholink inc. references fang, z., & schleppegrell, m. (2008). reading in secondary content areas: a language-based pedagogy. university of michigan press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.309314 gibbons, p. (2002). scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. heinemann. halliday, m. a. k., & matthiessen, c. (2004). an introduction to functional grammar. new york: oxford university press inc. masuhara, h., & tomlinson, b. (2008). materials for general english. in b. tomlinson (ed.), english teaching materials: a critical review (pp. 17-37). london: continuum. masuhara, h., & tomlinson, b. (2013). language acquisition and language learning materials. in b. tomlinson (ed.), english language learning materials: a critical review (pp. 18-37). new york, ny: continuum. minesec, cameroon. (2014). english language programme of study for secondary general education, anglophone sub-system: form iii, iv and v. yaounde, cameroon. mohammadi, m., & abdi, h. (2014). textbook evaluation: a case study. procedia social and behavioural science, 98, 1148-1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.528 mohammadi, m., & alodi, h. (2014). textbook evaluation: a case study. procedia social and behavioural science, 98, 1148-1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.528 njwe, a. e. n. (2016). language models and the teaching of english language to secondary school students in cameroon. world journal of education, 6(2), 50-67. https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v6n2p50 nkwetisama, c. (2012). the competency-based approach to english language education and walls between the classroom and the society in cameroon: pulling down the walls. theory and practice in language studies, 2, 516-523. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.3.516-523 onan, a. (2017). sarcasm identification on twitter: a machine learning approach. in r. silhavy, r. senkerik, o. z. kominkova, z. prokopova, & p. silhavy (eds.), artificial intelligence trends in intelligent systems. csoc 2017. advances in intelligent systems and computing (vol. 573). springer, cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57261-1_37 rose, d., & martin, j. r. (2012). learning to write, reading to learn: genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the sydney school. equinox. schleppegrell, m. j. (2001). linguistic features of the language of schooling. linguistic and education, 12(4), 431-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0898-5898(01)00073-0 tomlinson, b. (2011). materials development in language teaching (pp. 1-24). cambridge university press. tomlinson, b. (2013). applied linguistics and materials development. cambridge: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.309314 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.528 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.528 https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v6n2p50 https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.3.516-523 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57261-1_37 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0898-5898(01)00073-0 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 95 published by scholink inc. tomlinson, b., & masuhara, h. (2004). developing language course materials. singapore: relc. tomlinson, b., & masuhara, h. (2010). published research on materials development in language learning. in research for materials development in language learning (pp. 1-18). london: continuum. vanpatten, b., & williams, j. (2015). theories in second language acquisition. routledge: taylor & francis group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203628942 zhang, x. (2017). a critical review of literature on english language teaching textbook evaluation: what systemic functional linguistics can offer. journal of language and cultural education, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.1515/jolace-2017-0005 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203628942 https://doi.org/10.1515/jolace-2017-0005 microsoft word grhe-v1n2-p118 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 118 original paper sexuality and quality of life in postmodernism in university of méxico julio cufarfán lópez1*, jesús alberto garcía garcía1 & gabriela morán delgado1 1 autonomous university of coahuila, saltillo, coahuila, méxico * julio cufarfán lópez, blvd. v. carranza, corner with gonzález lobo. c. república ote. c.p. 25280. saltillo, coahuila, méxico received: june 28, 2018 accepted: july 4, 2018 online published: august 21, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p118 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p118 abstract this study analyzes the responses of a group of young university students from the state of coahuila, méxico, in relation to variables on quality of life. their responses are analyzed in two groups: sexually active young people, and those who do not. it seeks to find a different lifestyle in relation to sexuality. they are young people aged between 17 and 25 years old. although sexuality is not mentioned as a part of quality life, it is certainly part of the physical, psychological and emotional health of people. sexuality in mexico is stigmatized, and deeply rooted in morality; that is why unplanned pregnancies are increasing and at an earlier age. several authors refer changes in lifestyles between modernity and postmodernity (lechner, lyotard, lipovetsky, lanceros, etc.) have been little explored in relation to the quality of life and the indicators that measure it. the results allow to affirm that studied youth perceive themselves in two different models of lifestyle: the sexual active with a tendency to postmodern styles, while the non-active, to modern lifestyles. keywords sexuality, quality of life, postmodernism 1. introduction 1.1 quality of life currently, there are various instruments that measure or intend to measure the quality of life associated with personal and/or social factors. gómez-vela and sabeh (2000) refer that the idea begins to become popular in the decade of the 60, until today becomes a concept used in very diverse areas, such as health, mental health, education, economics, politics and the world of services in general. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 119 published by scholink inc. the controversy surrounding a definition of unified quality of life has not come to be clarified. the fact that since its inception has been linked to other psychological variables that involve themselves the concept of well-being, has made it possible that, to date, still many researchers do not clearly differentiate in their studies each concept or use it indistinct way (urzúa & caqueo-urizar, 2012). in addition to psychological and social indicators, another important indicator is the subjective perception of people. urzúa and caqueo cited campbell and rodgers (s.f); and where they say that some psychologists raised that subjective measurements could account for a higher percentage of variance in the quality of life of people, as psychological indicators such as happiness and satisfaction explained about 50% of the variance. ardila (2003) and morales (2013) referred by guadarrama and collaborators, define quality of life as a state of general satisfaction, derived from the potential of the person and the combination of objective and subjective aspects that are based on five main domains: physical well-being, material well-being, social well-being, development activity and emotional well-being. trying to make an approach of the ontology of the term quality of life could see two dimensions that make it up: the objective dimension assumed by specific indicators. the other dimension is assumed as the subjective perception that people refer to themselves and their context. these two dimensions are divided in four contexts: health (physical, psychological and emotional), healthy family and healthy social and access to education (hornquis, 1982; shaw, 1977; calman, 1987; opong et al., 1987). 1.2 quality of life on postmodern youth also the term quality of life has evolved through almost seventy years, the living conditions have also revolutionized. indicators have fallen into disuse and others have had to be incorporated (internet, social networks, mobile devices, etc.). lencher defined postmodernism as a “climate” in which “a certain disenchantment with modernity” is manifested (1995), and modernity, as defined by max weber, is “the disenchantment of the world” (with regard to the religious view that took precedence over him), in that sense, postmodernity would become the disappointment of disenchantment. like other authors, lechner believes that latin america was born under the sign of modernity through the encounter with the western world in the xvi century, which also implies an encounter with “that other” indigenous. as a result, it changes the geographic chart and the mental maps simultaneously. latin america is located at the origin of modernity, and, at the same time, it is constituted thanks to it. postmodernism, according to the spanish royal academy, is an artistic and cultural movement at the end of the xx century where opposition to rationalism, disenchantment, the cult of forms, individualism and the lack of social commitment prevails. it differs with modernity, where it was committed to progress towards a better world. the curious and puzzling thing is, that in mexico, postmodern culture becomes even more diffuse that it is, theoretically, already in itself. if the analytical compile of postmodernism based in germany has predicted that the cultural values of the contemporary world will integrate by fragmenting, new cultural www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 120 published by scholink inc. forms. what can be expected from the mexican case, which since its cultural foundation, refers to the transubstantiation of several clashing civilizations? the post-mexicanism, which we could well define as a mexican identity of the postmodern, is one of the cultural (and identity) faces. 1.3 quality of life and sexuality one of the factors that can be referred to as quality of life is the factor of being a propagated person. sexuality in a past puberty person is of great relevance to your physical and emotional health. this should not be confused with the initial age of sexual activity, nor less, the way in which it is exercised (with or without precaution). according to the coahuila 2016 yearbook, in the year 2015, there was a population of approximately 260,000 of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old in coahuila. for the statistic and geographical national institute (2016), in 2014, 62.3% of woman aged between 15 and 29 began their sex life; 49.4% of them did not use a contraceptive method during their first sexual relationship. in our state, data from the enadid 2009, indicate that the sexual life of adolescents aged between 15 and 19, began on average at 16 years old, while in the total of women in reproductive age (15 to 49 years old) began at 19 years old. in coahuila, is also notable the large number of women who started their sex life in the adolescence, according to the same survey, in 2009, six out of ten women began their sex life before the age of 19. the following table shows the use of time among the young people of méxico as a percentage of the population 15 to 29 years old who performs selected activities in your free time, and average hours per week spent by activity in the year of 2014. table 1. activity of young people activity percentage of the population 15 to 29 years old who performs the activity average hours per week spent by activity watched television 67. 1 9.7 he devoted special time to the members of your home to talk about the daily activities, comfort or advise 56.6 5.5 reviewed the mail, consulted social networks or chatted 54.8 8.9 made sport or physical exercise 42.4 5.3 consulted information or surf the internet 32.1 4.7 read any book, magazine, newspaper, or other printed material 31.0 3.1 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 121 published by scholink inc. in the national survey of demographic dynamics, enadid 2014, 62.3% of young women 15 to 29 years old have started their sexual life; one of every two (49.9%), not used a contraceptive method during their first sexual relationship. differentiating by age groups, for adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, one in three (29.2%) already initiated their sexual life, and of these, 44.9% stated that it had not used a contraceptive method during their first sexual relationship. in respect of the unpaid activities for other homes that made the young, data from the national survey on time use (enut, 2014), show that 18.3% of young people 15 to 29 years spent at least one hour per week to this type of activities. on average, this group of young people spend 5.6 hours per week, six out of every 10 are women and for every 100 hours spent during the week to these activities 69.3 hours, are covered by women. according to numbers from the government of coahuila (mexico), the proportion of adolescent pregnancies in coahuila is recorded several percentage points above the national average, although since 2008 is declining, they still represent almost one in four births. this fact reveals adolescent reproduction as a complex phenomenon, with specific resistances that merit strategies other than those that tend to work among the rest of the mexican population. according to the birth records of the national statistic and geographic institute, in 2011, coahuila was ranked second by the proportion of pregnancies in women under 20 years, from the 59,000 births occurring in the state, 22.8% were from girls and adolescents. while the national average was 19.2%, other entities like chihuahua, nayarit, durango, and campeche had a similar trend to our state. the national survey of time use in 2009 (enut, 2009), referred to the men, and diversify the use of their free time with greater ease, as they have minor responsibilities in the home and, therefore, more time is available. on the other hand, women continue to assume the heavier load of family work domestic. in general, the overall time of work of women is higher than men, which obviously takes away time to devote to activities of recreation, entertainment and social life. also in this survey (enut, 2009) refers to the mexicans to distribute the weekly hours on average to: sports and physical exercise (4 hours, 25 minutes), social life (7 hours 30 minutes), study activities (40 hours), use of mass media (13 hours, 25 minutes). rangel and garcía (2010) found in a mexican university, that more than half of the students’ population (56.6%) referred to lead active sexual life at the time of application of the instrument, with greater predominance in males (71%) than in women (49.3%). since 1998, sigusch already mentioned that both, men and women, have the right to be sexed individuals, whether in their singleness or marriage, for the simple fact of being human beings. guadarrama and collaborators (2014) conclude that the quality of life is a concept that is defined from the interaction of multiple factors such as, age, sex, satisfaction of needs, the perception that the subject has of himself and the contexts in which it overwhelms, the potentials with which it counts and can develop, and the practice of norms that express the morality of the context in which it lives, where it will be able to find the welfare and the satisfaction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 122 published by scholink inc. in the same way, healthy sexuality can be considered to be determinant for happiness, physical wellbeing and therefore the quality of life of people. known sexual hyperactivity (lack of desire or sexual urge) is considered a decrease in physical health, and becomes prone to psychological disorders. 2. method the present research was quantitative in nature, because the form of data collection was numerical. it was not experimental, because the variables were not manipulated and transversal because the administration of the investigation was done in a single moment, a descriptive and comparative study was conducted. a survey was used, which divided into three sections, the first one specifies the general data of the respondent with 15 variables, the second section consist of 6 ordinal questions, and the third section consists of 20 questions with a numerical scale (0-10), 20 of them are about the lifestyle dimension. for the lifestyle dimension, the following simple variables are presented: study strategies, exercise, sport, physical activity, food, alcohol consumption, smoking, sedentary lifestyle and leisure. the study was carried out in the autonomous university of coahuila which is the principal house of studies of the state of coahuila in northern mexico. its student population is of 35,668 distributed in 63 academic units. was elected to the autonomous university of coahuila for having the highest percentage of enrollment of students to higher level in the state. the sample selection was taken randomly, the strategy that was used for the selection of the participants was the method of random stratified sampling with equal proportion conformed by a total of 862 students. the sample was taken from 13 academic units. 44% are men and 56% women, with an average age of 20 years. 2.1 procedure at first, the survey pilot was conducted to calculate its reliability, and cronbach’s alpha score was 0.67, so it proceeded to make adjustments to the reagents of the survey, and re-conducted the survey and was applied again. it had a significant improvement in the cronbach’s alpha score (0.80). 3. results as seen in tables 2 and 3, the investigated students (862) refer that 44.9% are sexually active and 53.1% are nor active. 1.9% did not answer that question. table 2. percentage of students who do refer to be active sexually and not item cases percentage acumulated percentage no 458 53.10% 53.10% yes 387 44.90% 98.00% lost 17 1.90% 100% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 123 published by scholink inc. by making groupings by gender, people who refer to not being sexually active, the vast majority are women (63.5%). on the other hand, the group of the sexually active, are very similar on percentage on men (52.3%) and women (47.2%). table 3. percentage of students that refer to an active sexually and those who doesn’t compare to men and women gender no yes total male 167 (36.5%) 203 (52.3%) 370 female 290 (63.5%) 182 (47.2%) 472 all 457 386 842 subsequently the categorization of the 862 subjects, an independent t-test was performed by groups to know if they present significant differences in the 40 variables that were analyzed (which refer to the modern context or the postmodern context in quality of life). of the 40 variables, only in 19 were significant differences between the groups: sexual and non-active sexual assets. in the rest of the variables, no differences are present (21). of the 19 variables with significant differences, in 15 of them there are higher averages in the group of sexually active; it highlights variables of physical activity, drinking alcohol, and greater freedom to do things. the four variables where there are higher averages in the group of non-sexually active, are variables with content of spirituality, morality, and repentance. table 4. t-test for students between active sexuality groups and not item mean no mean yes t-value df p do you exercise often to see yourself in shape? 4.24 4.93 -2.82 830 0 do you dedicate time to practice sports weekly? 4.17 4.82 -2.41 829 0 do you perform physical activity for more than 30 minutes a day? 5.09 5.75 -2.46 830 0 the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? 1.64 3.15 -7.04 829 0 do i regularly drink alcohol for fun? 2.51 4.25 -7.07 829 0 do i think i have an addiction to smoking? 1.09 2.66 -7.3 830 0 do you regularly consume excessive alcohol? 1.12 2.76 -7.94 830 0 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 124 published by scholink inc. table 5. t-test for students between active sexuality groups and not (continuation) item mean no mean yes t-value df p do you use your free time to watch videos? 5.78 6.21 -2.04 829 0 do you usually use your cellphone to play? 4.06 4.86 -3.26 829 0 do i participate in cultural activities outside the school? 4.41 4.99 -2.25 830 0 do i participate in cultural activities within the school? 4.03 4.72 -2.7 829 0 do i buy everything i want? 3.97 4.59 -2.56 830 0 do i do things that people consider art? 4.33 5.17 -3.18 827 0 do i respect the social signs? 8.2 7.84 2.12 832 0 do i protest when i disagree with something? 7.42 7.78 -1.97 828 0.1 do i belong to a prominent social group? 3.27 3.82 -2.09 829 0 is it important for me to take care of my spirituality? 6.45 5.86 2.37 831 0 is it important for me to believe in god? 7.52 6.27 4.91 831 0 before i make a decision, do i think about the consequences? 7.97 7.53 2.29 831 0 analyzing only the group of men (370), with the grouping variable sexuality, from the 40 variables, just nine presented significant differences between the sexually active and not active. in the nine variables the averages were higher in the group of the assets. it highlights variables alcohol, social networks, and again freedom to do things. table 6. t-test student for men among active sexuality groups and not item mean no mean sí t df p the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? 2.12 3.65 -4.5 366 0.00 do i regular drink alcohol for fun? 3.04 4.89 -4.8 366 0.00 do i think i have an addiction to smoking? 1.44 3.5 -5.5 367 0.00 do you regularly consume excessive alcohol? 1.51 3.6 -6 367 0.00 do you usually use your cellphone to play? 4.54 5.36 -2.3 367 0.00 do i participate in cultural activities within the school? 3.89 4.71 -2.2 366 0.00 do i buy everything i want? 4.19 5.05 -2.4 366 0.00 do i do things that people consider art? 4.71 5.53 -2.1 366 0.00 am i part of a prominent social group? 3.81 4.69 -2.3 367 0.00 an analysis was then made to the women’s group, dividing it in between active and non-sexually active (table 7). of the 40 variables analyzed, significant differences were presented in ten. in eight, the stockings were high in the active group and only in two in favor of the group of the non-active. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 125 published by scholink inc. the variables in favor of the sexually active, are variables like drinking alcohol, smoking, eating, social media and subversive characteristics. instead of the non-active, they fall into the order of belief in god and spirituality. table 7. t-test student for women among active sexuality groups and not item mean no mean sí t-value df p do you still eat even if you’re not hungry anymore? 3.74 4.49 -2.19 460 0 the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? 1.36 2.61 -4.53 458 0 do i regularly drink alcohol for fun? 2.21 3.53 -4.09 458 0 do i think i have an addiction to smoking? 0.88 1.74 -3.52 458 0 do you regularly consume excessive alcohol? 0.9 1.83 -3.84 458 0 do you use social networks in your free time? 7.54 8.02 -2.03 459 0 do i participate in cultural activities outside school? 4.2 5.03 -2.31 458 0 do i protest when i disagree with something? 7.76 8.25 -2.18 456 0 is it important for me to care of my spirituality? 6.77 6.02 2.24 459 0 is it important for me to believe in god? 7.98 6.35 4.91 458 0 after the t-test, a concentration of the total of significant variables for men (after the analysis between active and non-active, table 6) and for women (after analysis between active and non-active, table 7) is presented, with the objective of visually contrast in which they coincide and in which there is difference. from 19 variable frequencies with significant differences in t-test (table 8), in four there are differences in both groups (both male and female). the variables were: the risk of alcohol consumption, alcohol consumption for fun, tobacco addiction and excess alcohol. in what belongs to women only the variables are characterized: excessive consumption of food, use of social networks, participate in cultural activities, protest, care for spirituality and the importance of believing in god. for the men’s group, the variables that characterize it are: play with the cellphone, participate in cultural activities inside the school, excess shopping and make art belong to a prominent social group. table 8. concentrating of significant variables of t-test distinguishing women of men (different) and those that coincide item just women same just men do you still eat even if you’re not hungry anymore? x the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? x do i regularly drink alcohol for fun? x do i think i have an addiction to smoking? x www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 126 published by scholink inc. do you regularly consume excessive alcohol? x in your free time do you use social networks? x do you usually use your cellphone to play? x do i participate in cultural activities outside school? x do i participate in cultural activities within the school? x do i buy everything i want? x do i do things people consider art? x do i protest when i disagree with something? x do i belong to some outstanding social group? x is it important for me to take care of my spirituality? x is it important for me to believe in god? x frequencies: 19 6 4 5 in order to be able to establish a possible characterization between the school trajectory in elapsed time and the sexuality, t-test was carries out by groups to know if there are differences in the quality of life of the students of initial semesters versus the students of advanced semesters. from the seventh to the eleventh semesters (125) were grouped was advanced versus the students of initial trajectory (first semester: 269). table 9. student frequencies per semester, in relation to sexually active and not semester no sí total per semester 1 175 94 269 7 37 35 72 8 0 8 8 9 12 19 31 10 0 7 7 11 1 3 4 to the grouping of advances was carried out a t-test in the forty variables of quality of life, only four of them showed significant differences. in favor of the group of assets were the variables: addiction to tobacco, excess consumption of alcohol, generate art. those who do not have a sexually active life give importance in believing in god. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 127 published by scholink inc. table 10. t-test of the advanced trajectory group in relation to sexually active and not item mean no mean yes t-value df p do i think i have an addiction to smoking? 0.11 2.1 -3.3 70 0 do i regularly consume excessive alcohol? 0.89 1.9 -2 70 0 do i do things that people consider art? 4.24 6.3 -2.5 70 0 is it important for me to believe in god? 7.51 5.3 2.6 70 0 among the students of initial trajectory, significant differences were presented in seven of the forty variables of quality of life, emphasizing that the sexually active the averages are higher in the variables: the risk of consumption of alcohol, the alcohol as way to have fun, addiction to smoking, compulsively buying. the non-active, give greater importance in believing in god and visiting museums instead of concerts. table 11. t-test for initial trajectory between active sexuality groups and not item mean no mean si t-value df p the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? 1.73 2.73 -2.5 264 0.01 do i regularly drink alcohol for fun? 2.11 3.93 -4.24 263 0 do i think i have an addition to smoking? 1.18 2.37 -3.2 264 0 do i regularly consume excessive alcohol? 0.94 2.51 -4.45 264 0 do i buy everything i want? 3.78 4.88 -2.46 264 0.01 is it important for me to believe in god? 7.6 6.26 2.85 263 0 do i prefer to go to a museum than go to a concert? 5.39 4.44 1.99 263 0.05 after the t-test, a concentration of the total of significant variables is presented for students with advanced trajectory (after the analysis between active and non-active, table 11) and the student of initial trajectory (after the analysis between active and non-active, table 12), with the objective of visually contrasting in which they coincide and in which there is difference. of 8 variable frequencies with significant differences in t-test (table 13), in three there are differences in both groups (both advanced and initial). the variables were: the excess in alcohol consumption, addiction to tobacco and believing in god. for the group of advance students, the variable that characterizes it is attendance at museum instead of concerts. in what corresponds only to the initials the variables are characterized: risk of consumption of alcohol, alcohol and compulsive buying. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 128 published by scholink inc. table 12. concentrate of significant t-test variables distinguishing advances from initials (different) and matching item just advanced students similarities just initial students the way i use alcohol puts me at risk? x do i regularly drink alcohol for fun? x do i think i have an addiction to smoking? x do i regularly consume excessive alcohol? x do i buy everything i want? x is it important for me to believe in god? x do i prefer to visit a museum than go to a concert? do i do things that people consider art? x 4. discussion it is assumed that sexuality is an unavoidable element in the lifestyle of youth and people in general, but, when would be the ideal time to start with this practice? the controversy is increasing and the authors do not agree. it is known that sexuality is a reality in young people. other questions that arise are: when is a sexually active person considered? and, when do young people, in a courtship or relationship, needs to have sexual intercourse? in mexico, the initial age for sexual intercourse is becoming more at an early age. this does not imply the responsibility or culture of care in a sexual relationship. although current practices of sexuality are increasingly with an early sex education, which did not happen in other times. sexuality should certainly be considered as an indicator or the quality of life, as it is related to the physical, psychological and emotional health of the person. a person who exercises his sexuality in a healthy way is happier (hornquist, 1982; shaw, 1977; calman, 1987; opong et al., 1987). according to the results obtained, young people who are expressed to be sexually active, this sexuality associate it with socially unacceptable elements such as consumption of alcohol and tobacco. it is perceived a model of young sexed with a high degree of freedom and prone to vice. they perceive in them a vision of postmodern life. instead, it is clear that another model of youth is not sexually active, with a high social, moral, and religious commitment. attached to the rules, which clearly distinguishes itself in a modern vision of life. there is no doubt that a sexual education where sexuality is dismissed as parties, alcohol, and smoking. to assume a sexuality should not be related to excess, but educate under the responsible premise in all its expression. that neither the extreme of not assuming a sexuality, should be linked to a moral or sinful status. that young people assume their sexuality as a natural element of their quality of life. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 129 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusions it can be discerned from the study’s findings that women are characterized by excessive consumption of food, use of social networks, participation in cultural activities, protest, care of spirituality and the importance of believing in god, also men are characterized by playing with the cell phone, participating in cultural activities within the school, buying excessively, making the art belong to a prominent social group. on the other hand about students, initially sexually active students are characterized as having risk of alcohol consumption, as a way to have fun, addiction to tobacco, in addition to being compulsive buying. the non-active, give more importance to believe in god and visit museums instead of concerts and advanced students are characterized by attending museums instead of concerts, as well as having the risk of alcohol consumption and compulsive shopping. the initiation of the sexual life of young people involves a number of drawbacks both in the family, at school and in society in general that leads to a role of behavior different from the one that has not initiated the sexual practices. the family in mexico still exhibits traits of moral, paternalistic and sometimes sexist. the sexuality of a child is viewed from two lenses very different. the first optic is how one perceives the woman as a girl of home, moral, respectful, with little facility to make social life always keeping his sexuality until his marriage. in return the optics to the male is in a sense of more sexual freedom, a symbol of the male with social development. that is, while sexuality is exacerbated in the male, the woman is repressed. in the mexican education system the disadvantages in relation to sexuality are associated mainly with the lack of flexibility in schools without having public policies of support to: conditions not conducive to the infrastructure to pregnant women. the little support with scholarships or grants to parents waiting for a baby or already with children, this is associated as a strong factor in the school drop-out. in the new generations of university students has already been a transition to more freedom, more rights, more impact of the social networks by copying sometimes external models with behaviors that were different to the young mexicans. this influence has meant that sexual practices are more liberal, at an earlier age. the role of the young people has been modified and now they are more sexual, they go out to social gatherings, smoke, drink alcohol, and the practice of casual sex is on the rise. the government should take new strategies for these young post-modernists, since that is on the rise the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, that lead to casual sex without protection. actions to promote sexual freedom but sexual education is solid. you must generate policies for the eradication of school dropouts through scholarships when there are unplanned pregnancies. without a doubt, sexuality is an inherent part of the human being, the social context, family, and school should move to a post-modernity, and a quality of life worthy of our young people. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 130 published by scholink inc. references ardila, r. (2003). calidad de vida: una definicion integradora. revista latinoamericana de psicología, 35(2), 161-164. calman, k. c. (1987). definitions and dimensions of quality of life. in n. k. aaronson, & beckman (eds.), the quality of life cancer patients (pp. 1-9). new york: ravens press. encuesta nacional de la dinámica demográfica enadid. (2014). méxico, 2015. encuesta nacional sobre el uso del tiempo enut. (2014). méxico, 2015. gómez-vela, m., & sabeh, e. n. (2000). calidad de vida. evolución del concepto y su influencia en la investigación y la práctica. in revista integra (número 9). españa. guadarrama, r., hernández, j. c., veytia, m., & márquez, o. (2014). significado psicológico de la calidad de vida para los adolescentes mexicanos. pensando psicología, 10(17), 53-60. hornquist, j. o. (1982). the concept of quality of life. scandinavian journal of social medicine, 10, 57-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/140349488201000204 instituto nacional de estadística y geografía (inegi). 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(2010). influencia del rol de género en la conducta sexual de riesgo en adolescentes universitarios. index de enfermería, 19(4), 245-248. retrieved from http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s1132-12962010000300003&lng=es&tlng =es real academia españolayasociación de academias de la lengua española. (2014). diccionario de la lengua española (23th ed.). madrid: espasa. ruiz, s. j. (2010). de guy debord a gilles lipovetsky: el tránsito de la categoría de lo social hacia la categoría de lo individual. in servicio de publicaciones de la universidad de córdoba. argentina. shaw, a. (1977). defining the quality of life. hastings center report, 7, 11. https://doi.org/10.2307/3560715 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 131 published by scholink inc. sigusch, v. (1998). the neosexual revolution. arch sexual behavior, 27(4), 331-358. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018715525493 urzúa, m. a., & caqueo-urízar, a. (2012). calidad de vida: una revisión teórica del concepto. terapia psicológica, 30(1), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-48082012000100006 microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p52 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 52 original paper “a” for attitude—attitudes towards dyslexia in higher education jonathan p. beckett1* & judith a. darnell2 1 st mary’s school (education), horsham, sussex 2 bedford college, (primary education and early years) bedford, bedfordshire * jonathan p. beckett, st mary’s school (education), horsham, sussex received: january 7, 2020 accepted: january 21, 2020 online published: april 15, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p52 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p52 abstract this paper makes the case for the importance of an empathetic approach to understanding dyslexia, in educational establishments, especially in higher education. an awareness of the implications that having dyslexia and how this affects both study skills (concentration, organisation, revision and so forth) and presentation skills (completion of assignments within academic language and structures and without grammar, punctation and spelling errors) is accentuated in this article. this research employs meta-ethnography, the critical appraisal skills programme (casp) and a grounded theory overlay to thematic critical analysis. in so doing, uk literature of both quantitative and qualitative format was examined through specifying inclusion criteria and using a filtering approach. the justification for this work is to challenge any institutional or individual indirect discriminatory practice towards students with dyslexia. conclusions indicate the need for enhanced institutional understanding of dyslexia and associated provision for individual dyslexic learners within higher education in its entirety. for example, access to digitalised resources, individual tutorials, assistive technology and adjusted expectations in marking criteria (as not to penalise for issues concomitant with dyslexia). keywords dyslexia, specific learning difficulties, provision, inclusion, higher education, meta-ethnography www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 53 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction attitudes towards dyslexia in universities have been widely studied and introduces some surprising findings. this article examines how effective the provision for dyslexia is at university level, since experiences and qualifications gained at this stage forge a path for students’ careers and ultimate success. every year, students arrive at post 1992 universities, former polytechnic college universities, pre-1992 institutions and russell group universities with diagnosed or undiagnosed dyslexia. a considerable variable in the success of these students in obtaining a good degree outcome might well be related to where they choose to study as it is likely that there are differences for students regarding the amount and kind of support offered to students with dyslexia between institutions. dyslexia support at university is a particularly important area of study, since most assessment within heis related specifically to literature searching and essay writing which can be a struggle for many students with dyslexia, even if student knowledge and understanding is evident. dyslexia can be understood in a variety of ways. through a theoretical lens, one of these includes being defined as a hidden, non-evident specific learning disability (riddick et al., 2002). although dyslexia can affect individuals differently, it can include one’s difficulty in: organisation, literacy, memory, concentration, time keeping and spelling. dyslexia can be defined in different ways and have different effects for individual students but rates of dyslexia within the population are reported to be up to 20% (knight, 2018). 2. methods this work applies a meta-ethnographic approach to reviewing and synthesising data which addressed the research question: what is the provision like for those with dyslexia in higher education/at university? a critical appraisal skills programme (casp) using grounded theory was applied to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data. questions such as: “is the data still applicable?” and “will the results illuminate local or national issues?” were used and provided a framework for the methodology. thus, relevant studies through an inclusion filter were sought. this filter consisted of: united kingdom (uk) data and the key terms: dyslexia, provision, university/universities, higher education, staff/lecturer attitudes (towards dyslexia), inclusion and inclusive education. as studies were combined, key indicators, words, phrases and ideas were analysed to forge the links or disparities between various studies using inductive reasoning (noblit & hare, 1988). subsequently, a thematic approach for summarising the literature was taken based upon aveyard et al.’s (2016) notion of data extraction. this “is a process which enables you to extract the relevant information that are included in your study in preparation for subsequent analysis” (aveyard et al., 2016, p. 93). this included summarising the content of papers selected and identifying underlying issues framing the discussion by producing a construction of theories based upon the emergent issues. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 54 published by scholink inc. although acknowledging the small-scale nature of this work, and the limitations this brings, such as how selective confounding variables may have an impact upon general is ability, this does not detract from the issues raised within the research. as a safeguard to ensure the veracity of the study, an effective quality control measure was taken-the implementation of casp tool. this ensured that all important outcomes were considered. it also acted as a sounding board between authors to ensure the work comprised all applicable research, and the inferences drawn were indicative of combining studies. 3. discussion large-scale research by knight (2018) involving 2,600 participants, found that teachers lacked understanding of dyslexia in two main areas: biological (neurological) and cognitive (processing). moreover, 71.8% of teachers reported that dyslexia was not well covered during their initial teacher training programme. if dyslexia is disregarded or the opportunities to enhance teachers’ understanding is insufficiently covered during training at school level, then the further lack of awareness in this area is likely to be present for academic he staff. these staff might have chosen to lecture based on their high level of subject knowledge but may also have a less rigorous training programme in he lecturing than school teachers. however, universities are aware of the notion of equality and have systems in place for supporting struggling students, as set out in the uk’s equality act (2010). specifically, it also introduced an obligation for higher education institutions (hei)s to provide equality of access. equality was sought by removing barriers and managing academic adjustments and services (kirkland, 2009). most universities allow he students who are formally diagnosed with dyslexia additional time (normally up to a quarter of the scheduled time) to complete exams or allow additional time to submit assignments. this is rooted in research-hatcher, snowling and griffiths (2002) found that dyslexia-specific problems at he level were identified as “slowness” which also relates to the need for students to constantly re-read sentences in order to gain sufficient meaning. some institutions also ask lecturers to mark the content of the written work (the salient points of the submission) rather than penalise for the likely grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and presentation of information (singleton et al., 1999). however, the attainment gap between dyslexic students and non-dyslexic students is still of a sizable difference (ferrer et al., 2015). richardson (2015) notes that approximately 40 percent of undergraduate students with dyslexia achieve a 2:1 or above, compared to over 50 percent of non-dyslexic students achieving this. this raises questions as to why this 10 percent gap persists. although each institution is unique, it is suggested (see below) that staff across he institutions may not have an adequate awareness of dyslexia. consequently, some lecturers saw dyslexia as a “disability” to help gain an unfair advantage (mortimore, 2013). furthermore, byrne (2018) suggested that some he academic staff fail to give adequate supervision or offer academic guidance to their students. those with dyslexia, who (on account of having a specific learning difficulty (spld)), may find study skills and assignment submission most challenging and would therefore be at greater risk of failure. in the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 55 published by scholink inc. same way, tinklin et al. (2004) noted that some practitioners can be cautious about making “reasonable adjustments” for their students, due to perceptions that standards may be lowered. indeed, pino and mortari (2014) suggested that across different he institutions there is a considerable lack of awareness by lecturers and tutors regarding dyslexia. students claimed that lecturers were unresponsive and unhelpful, and they struggled to obtain teacher attention which led to students strongly insisting on appropriate modifications to be made available for their needs. moreover, mortimore and crozier (2007) indicate that some students reported feeling inadequately helped with study skills indicative of dyslexia, including note taking, organisation of assignments, expressing ideas coherently and structured logically in academic essays. cameron (2016) reports on students who expressed sentiments in the themes of stress, feeling a misfit and not belonging within an academic world. in addition, the varied approaches, within neoliberalism of perspectives of fairness, meant that some students felt discriminated against on account of their dyslexia, chiefly dependent upon the strong voice of the power-relationship between the student and lecturer (cameron & billington, 2015). to illustrate this, research by richardson (2015), found the treatment of students with dyslexia is likely to vary between individual lecturers and institutions, which does not allow for equal parity in outcomes between dyslexic students. furthermore, in a singular study of one he institution, cowen’s conclusion of student experience was for a greater need of departmental appreciation of the need to support students by tutorials (cowen, 2018). interestingly, the amount of contact time that universities offer may also affect attainment for he students with dyslexia. richardson (2015) highlighted that long-distance learning offered by the open university recruited large numbers of students in 2012 (4,961) who had dyslexia or other learning difficulties but students with dyslexia were less likely to pass modules and also obtained poorer grades than non-disabled students. this, he reported, would have deleterious consequences for academic progression and may be due to a lack of appropriate remote support resources. as has been noted, one problem relates to lack of understanding for academic staff in he institutions. waterfield (2002) recommends teaching strategies to allow opportunities for dyslexic students to process information more effectively. she notes that dyslexic students benefit from access to teaching slides and handouts in advance of the teaching sessions, to allow them time to digest the subject content. equally, recording lectures helped some students re-visit points they may have missed. this facilitated in some participants being able to form mind-maps and other visual representations to summarise session notes. furthermore, a variety in assessment methods for dyslexic learners were endorsed; assistive technologies were found to benefit dyslexic students, in again, helping organise their thoughts, especially in assessed coursework (waterfield, 2002). likewise, pino and mortari (2014) found that computing packages were used by dyslexic students as a successful support mechanism (for example, a pebble pad) which supported their need for time to connect with the materials. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 56 published by scholink inc. however, there is an additional issue in regard to students’ decisions regarding testing for dyslexia when they are struggling. due to the negative perceptions regarding dyslexia, students are-for the most part-reluctant to seek assessment and support in he and only do so when they have reached a tipping point in their academic journey (cowen, 2018). another salient issue within study at he level, is that many learners will no longer live at home with their parents. it is therefore likely that the experiences of dyslexic students, without parental support, are likely to be different than dyslexic learners of school age who may have parents willing to engage and speak on their behalf to gain support for dyslexia (gwernan-jones, 2010). work by henderson (2017) also found that support relating to dyslexia was more likely to be sought during the second/third year of study, partly due to students wishing to maintain a non-disabled student identity, which may also relate to the evidence relating to negative perceptions of and inadequate support given by academic staff (byrne, 2018). additionally, failure to attain study support early on may be likely to affect overall degree outcomes negatively. against this background, the recommendations/points of note are:  the need for enhanced awareness for staff of the complex and varying, concomitant nature of dyslexia (challenging stigmatisation, negative attitudes or misconceptions). this may help students and applicants feel at ease in disclosing dyslexia when applying for courses or employment.  clearly defined differentiated approaches across all institutions (preventing the university equivalent of a postcode lottery of provision). these approaches might include: a) accessibility of teaching materials prior to the lecture b) a variety of assessment methods and teaching strategies c) a transparent, unambiguous shared marking criteria using non-complex language d) access to recordings of teaching sessions e) access to online support materials (e.g., pebble pad or a vle (virtual learning environment)) alongside face to face support sessions  to provide opportunities for students to discuss and recognise the features of dyslexia so that those who are not yet diagnosed can access assessment and tailored support if required.  to offer access to regular tutorial sessions with academic staff so that emotional support can be offered where students may not have parental guidance/support from home in conclusion, this article has highlighted the differences in student experience between institutions, including the effect of long-distance study versus regular face-to-face contact. problems associated with perceptions of academic staff and needs of dyslexic students at this level appear as iterative issues. challenging pockets of current disability provision for dyslexia, understanding present practice and ascertaining some prevailing staff attitudes, has been the framework for the positionality of this paper. against this backdrop, suggestions for enhancing student experience and success in a “non-dyslexic” world are offered as ways of ensuring the inclusion of students with dyslexia. by greater awareness of indirect exclusion, those with splds are more likely to feel supported by staff with an appreciation of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 57 published by scholink inc. some of the difficulties dyslexia can bring. moreover, by being offered differentiated forms of assessment, or given allowances for the concomitant issues associated with dyslexia, these forms of support can make all the difference to the academic success and associated holistic wellbeing of students. references aveyard, h. (2014). doing a literature review in health and social care: a practical guide. maidenhead: mcgraw-hill/open university press. byrne, c. (2018). why do dyslexic students do worse at university? retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/dec/06/why-do-dyslexic-students-do-worse-at-unive rsity cameron, h. & billington, t. (2015). “just deal with it”: neoliberalism in dyslexic students’ talk about dyslexia and learning at university. studies in higher education, 42(8), 1358-1372. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1092510  cameron, h. e. (2016). beyond cognitive deficit: the everyday lived experience of dyslexic students at university. disability and society, 31(2), 223-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1152951  cowen, m. d. (2018). an exploration of factors which influence university students’ decisions whether or not to be tested for dyslexia (unpublished thesis). university of southampton. equality act. (2010). london: stationary office. ferrer, e., bennett, s., holahan, j., marchione, k., michaels, r., & shaywitz, s. (2015). achievement gap in reading is present as early as first grade and persists through adolescence. the journal of paediatrics, 167(5), 1121-1125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.07.045  gwernan-jones, r. (2010). making sense of dyslexia (phd degree thesis). university of exeter. hatcher, j., snowling, m., & griffiths, y. (2002). cognitive assessment of dyslexic students in higher education. british journal of educational psychology, 72, 119-133. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709902158801  henderson, p. (2017). are there delays in reporting dyslexia in university learners? experiences of university learning support staff. journal of further and higher education, 41(1), 30-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2015.1023563  kirkland, j. (2009). the development of protocols for assessment and intervention at university for students with dyslexia. in g. reid (ed.), the routledge companion to dyslexia (pp. 261-264). new york, ny: routledge/taylor & francis group. knight, c. (2018). what is dyslexia? an exploration of the relationship between teachers’ understandings of dyslexia and their training experiences. dyslexia, 24(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1593    www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 58 published by scholink inc. marco pino, m., & mortari, l. (2014). the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education: a systematic review using narrative synthesis. dyslexia, 20, 346-369. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1484  mortimore, t. (2013). dyslexia in higher education: creating a fully inclusive institution. journal of research in special educational needs, 13(1), 38-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-3802.2012.01231.x  mortimore, t., & crozier, r. (2007). dyslexia and difficulties with study skills in higher education. studies in higher education, 31(2), 235-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572173 noblit, g., & hare, r. (1988). meta-ethnography: synthesizing qualitative studies. london: sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412985000  richardson, j. t. (2015). academic attainment in students with dyslexia in distance education. dyslexia, 21, 323-337. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1502  riddick, b., wolfe, j., & lumsdon, d. (2002). dyslexia: a practical guide for teachers and parents. london: david fulton publishers. singleton, c. h., cottrell, s. n. g., gilroy, d., goodwin, v., hetherington, j., jameson, m., … zdzienski, d. (1999). dyslexia in higher education: policy, provisions and practice. hull: university of hull. tinklin, t., riddell, s., & wilson, a. (2004). disabled students in higher education. disability, 32, 1-4. waterfield, j. (2002). dyslexia: implications for learning, teaching and support. planet, 6(1), 22-24. https://doi.org/10.11120/plan.2002.00060022 microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p80 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 80 original paper chemistry students’ science process skills acquisition: influence of gender and class size gladys u. jack1* 1 department of science education, taraba state university, jalingo, nigeria * gladys u. jack, department of science education, taraba state university, p.m.b 1167, jalingo, nigeria received: april 14, 2018 accepted: may 10, 2018 online published: may 21, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p80 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p80 abstract science process skills are central to the acquisition of scientific knowledge which is useful in problem solving in our immediate environment. in nigeria, most secondary school students’ performances in chemistry in the west africa senior school certificate examination (wassce) are generally low which could probably be attributed to lack or poor exposure to science process skills. the study therefore investigated the influence of gender, and class size on chemistry students’ acquisition of science process skills. the design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. the sample comprised of 720 students drawn through multi-stage random sampling from adamawa and taraba states in nigeria. the research instrument was science process skills knowledge test in chemistry’ (spsktc). the study indicated that gender have negligible influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills; while large class size have great influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills. the study concluded that most students in nigerian schools experience difficulty in the acquisition of science process skills. based on the findings, it was recommended that there should be reduction of student-teacher ratio in schools and training of teachers on science process skills to enable teachers adopt methods that lead students to have the appropriate skills. keywords gender, class size, science process skills acquisition, chemistry students 1. introduction students are to be made able to acquire scientific knowledge by the processes of thinking, analyzing and interpreting observed facts. a new approach capable of triggering the processes of thinking, analyzing and inferring in the students’ mind is needed. process approach is designed to attain these www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 81 published by scholink inc. objectives in teaching science. process approach presents the instruction in science in an intellectually stimulating and a scientifically authentic way. here, emphasis is given to the ways of acquiring knowledge rather than to the content. this is a shift from the traditional approach. as a result, outlook on different aspects of instructional practice in science teaching, the designing of instructional objectives and the instructional strategies have changed totally, as also the method of evaluating the results of these processes, i.e., the process outcomes of science teaching. process approach demands that students utilize their intellect and apply their ability to engage themselves in thinking and reasoning more dynamically. what is actually attained by the process approach is that students are initiated into being scientific investigators themselves. it is also expected to help students become better consumers of scientific knowledge and also enable them to make original scientific contributions to science. the process approach to teaching science is meant to foster inquiry and manipulative skills in students and discourage rote learning. this approach embraces other methods of science teaching and is mainly activity based, superior to those in which students are not actively involved in the learning process (akinbobola, 2008). this has made the west african examinations council (waec) and other bodies that conduct senior school certificate examination (ssce) to stipulate that practical chemistry should form the basis of teaching. during examination, practical chemistry is also assessed separately. currently, chemistry being one of the science subjects taught in senior secondary schools is taught both in theory and in practical. in both internal and external examinations, practical chemistry is assessed separately as an integral part of the subject and students are expected to have acquired certain science process skills on completion of the senior secondary school. the new science curriculum worldwide stresses science process skills and places emphasis on the development of higher cognitive skills through the student-centred approach (shulman & tamir, 2004). this approach, according to molitor and george (2001) develops the understanding of science process skills through participation of students in activities in science classrooms. ogunnniyi (2000) opined that the relevance of acquisition of process skills in science teaching is that it involves students’ in “doing science”. the acquisition of process skills by “doing science” enables students to, understand the concepts of chemistry, one of the key science subject easily. science as a practical subject provides students with an opportunity to interact with science process skills that can be used to solve problems in everyday life and contribute to national development (abungu, okere, & wachanga, 2014). science process skills are activities, which students carry out in scientific investigations to enable the acquisition of scientific knowledge and skills. science process skills (sps) are also defined as the adaptation of the skills used by scientists for composing knowledge, thinking about problems and drawing conclusion (farsakoğlu, sahin, karsli, akpinar, & ultar, 2008). they are also the abilities each individual is supposed to possess in a science-based community as a science literate person (temiz, 2007). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 82 published by scholink inc. science process skills acquisition refers to a variety of abilities that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information (amanso & bassey, 2017). science process skills acquisition in a generic term refers to a heterogeneous group ability manifested in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities, or of social skills (hallahan & mercer, 2007). ajunwa (2000) observed that science process skills have general commonality in all science subjects, serving as tools for information gathering, problem solving, decision making and adaptation. science process skills are classified as basic (observing, measuring, classifying, collecting data and using number relationships), causal (predicting, identifying variables and drawing a conclusion) and experimental (formulating hypotheses, making models, experimenting, controlling variables and making a decision) (ayas, cepni, ozmen, yigit, & ayvaci, 2007). all of these science process skills are complementary of each other, providing students opportunities to reach meaningful learning goals in science. science process skills also help in preventing the memorization of facts and developing negative attitudes in science (temiz, 2007; dirks & cunningham, 2006). science process skills have great influence on education because they help students to develop higher mental processes such as problem-solving, critical thinking and making a decision (tan & temiz, 2003; koray, koksal, ozdemir, & presley, 2007). science process skills are cognitive and psychomotor skills employed in problem solving. they are the skills which the sciences use in problem-identification, objective inquiry, data gathering, transformation, interpretation and communication. science process skills can be acquired and developed through training such as are involved in science practical activities. they are the aspect of science learning which is retained after cognitive knowledge has been forgotten. using science process skills is an important indicator of transfer of knowledge which is necessary for problem-solving and functional living. the knowledge of process skills in science is very important for proper understanding of concepts in science. alfredo, natale and lombardi (2006) stated that process skills are fundamental to science, which allow everyone to conduct investigation and reach conclusions. they observed that there is a serious educational gap in this area, both in bringing these skills into the classroom and in the training of teachers to use them effectively. the skills in qualitative and quantitative analysis cannot be completed without creativity. practical work is not just putting the apparatus together when seen, but it needs planning, designing a problem, creating a new approach and procedure and also putting familiar things together in the new arrangement. this implies that the knowledge of creativity exhibited by candidates in any practical class helps them to manipulate some practical equipment. according to giddings and fraser in akinbobola and afolabi (2010), achieving the objectives of science practical work depends a lot on the mode of assessment of laboratory work adopted by teachers and examination bodies. according to them, the mode of assessment directly influences teachers’ teaching methods, students’ learning styles and attitudes towards practical activities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 83 published by scholink inc. the west african examinations council (waec) makes use of practical test/examination to assess students’ acquisition of various chemistry practical skills. in these tests, students are required to carry out certain chemistry practical activities following given instructions. the scores of the students indirectly indicate the levels of chemistry practical process skills they could demonstrate during the practical examination. this mode of assessment is also adopted by chemistry teachers who prepare the students for senior school certificate examination (ssce). this mode of assessment influences the teaching methods adopted by teachers. also, students’ learning style is influenced in such a way that students always try to find certain correct responses or answers, irrespective of the procedures adopted. in north-eastern part of nigeria, secondary school students’ performances in chemistry in the west africa senior school certificate examination (wassce) are generally low which could probably be attributed to lack or poor exposure to science process skills. series of reports from the chief examiners of waec, 2007-2017 and that of ochu (2007), and jack (2013) showed that chemistry students were deficient in interpreting data, descriptive ability, calculative ability, drawing inference and also in qualitative chemical analysis. it, therefore, follows that the trend is not improving even in recent years. gender and class size are some of the major factors affecting the quality of learning and chemistry students acquisition of science process skills. ukwungwu and ezike (2000) have noted that many factors have been known to affect the academic performance of students in science and chemistry in particular; and among these factors is the difference between boys and girls or gender. akpokorie (2000) researched on the effects of sex on difficulties experienced by students in 15 process skills using 600 jss3 integrated science students from schools in delta state and the study revealed that; gender has no significant effect on the magnitude of difficulties experience by integrated science students on each of the 15 process skills. this finding also supports the that of omajuwa (2011) who found that gender have no influence on students experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition; contradicts the works by afif and majdi (2015) whose results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in science process skills due to gender in favour of the females. commeyras (2003) reported that effective teaching seems impracticable for teacher educators having large class sizes of 50, 75, 100 or more. according to ajaja (2010) very large class sizes, which exist in schools, have made healthy interactions between students and teachers almost non-existent. most teachers hardly know their students by their names. the large class size has reduced individual student’s attention during practical lesson. students seeking special attention as a result of lack of clear instruction in practical lessons are hardly attended to. all these culminate in very poor performances of students in test of practical knowledge in final year examinations. a number of studies have looked at the influence of class size on a variety of teaching and learning issues. class size was also identified by most respondents as a major hindrance for effective teaching and learning. adeyela (2000) found that large class size is un-conducive for serious academic work. also afolabi (2002) found no significant relationship among the class size and students’ learning outcomes. chemistry requires getting the students involved, as most of the topics involve demonstration, if they could be well understood but www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 84 published by scholink inc. this becomes very difficult when the class is large. but, out these studies reviewed the influence of class size on students’ science process skills acquisition was not investigated which called for urgent attention to the researcher. chemistry is taught in most schools as a bundle of abstractions without practical experiences. this has resulted to students’ low acquisition of science process skills which has become more evident in the mass failure of students in the subject in public examinations. all the questions asked to test chemistry students’ knowledge in practical skills require that they demonstrate one form of process skill or the other. the inability of students to carry out these activities properly results in low scores in the test of practical knowledge. the basic science process skills are useful in science and non-science situations while the integrated skills are the working behaviour of scientists and technologists. thus, both basic and integrated science process skills are relevant and appropriate for all science subjects, in particular chemistry at the senior secondary schools. hence, there is need to find out the level of acquisition of the process skills, and influence of gender and class size since process skills are very fundamental to science and there exists a serious educational gap in this area both in bringing these skills into the classroom. therefore, the problem of this study is: “will assess of secondary school chemistry students’ acquisition on science process skills help in bringing the process skills into the classroom and minimizing difficulty encountered by the students”? the following research questions were raised to guide this study: 1) what specific basic and integrated science process skills do chemistry students experience difficulty in acquiring? 2) does gender influence chemistry students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition? 3) does class size influence chemistry students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition? the following research hypotheses were formulated for testing at the 0.05 level of significance: ho1 there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of chemistry students’ scores between basic and integrated science process skills. ho2 there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. ho3 there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and in large-class size. 2. method the design adopted for the study is a descriptive survey design. the sampling technique used for the study was a multi-stage random sampling technique. the first stage was selection of 25 local government areas (lgas) that have senior secondary schools offering the basic science subjects from each of the three senatorial districts of adamawa and taraba states of nigeria. the second stage was selection of 36 public schools from the 25 lgas that have science laboratories and qualified chemistry teachers who had taught the subject for a minimum of 5 years to ensure that teachers’ qualification and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 85 published by scholink inc. experience does not confound the result of the study. the third stage was random sampling of 20 ss iii chemistry students from each of the 36 schools giving a sample size of seven hundred and twenty students. out of this total number sampled 202 males and 196 females. the research instrument that was used for this study is; science process skills knowledge test in chemistry (spsktc) which consisted of two sections: section a which demanded personal information on the school and respondent (bio data) and section b which consisted of 70 questions on 15 items which include 6 basic or lower skills (observing, classifying, measuring, communicating, recording, using number relationships) and 9 higher or integrated skills (hypothesizing, predicting, inferring, identifying/controlling variables, interpreting data, defining operationally, experimenting, manipulating, and building mental models). the spsktc was a test of knowledge on 15 science process skills, having options a-d where students are expected to choose only one correct answer. each correct answer was assigned 1mark while the incorrect (wrong) answer was assigned 0 mark. the mean scores for each process skill by each student were collated by counting the number of students that experienced difficulty in process skills acquisition and expressed in simple percentages. tests of skills involve testing the application of students’ knowledge to problems or situations so as to assess the level of student knowledge in comparison to a particular competence which was 15 items or process skills. the test of knowledge on science process skills covers both the basic and integrated skills and these were adapted from waecssce alternative to practical chemistry past questions of 10 years. the science process skills knowledge test in chemistry (spsktc) was subjected to both content and face validity by three experts in science education and two in test and measurement. two chemistry teachers who had taught this subject for more than eight years also helped in the validation of the instrument. the items were actually tested on a sample of the target population to determine the reliability. the items were pre-tested using 20 ss iii chemistry students in two randomly selected secondary schools in adamawa and taraba states. the data obtained was subjected to kuder richardson formula 21 to obtain the correlation value. a correlation coefficient of 0.78 was obtained which was considered adequate for this study. after the administration of the spsktc, students’ answers were collected and scored. the data collected were arranged and analyzed so as to answer the research questions and test the stated hypotheses. descriptive statistics in terms of means, frequencies, percentages and standard deviation were used to analyze the response measures on spsktc. the level of difficulty of a particular process skill was determined by the value of the mean as follows: means scores less than 50 (<50) were classified as “difficult”, and means scores equal to or above 50 (≥50) as “simple”. each student was scored on each of the science process skills before the individual scores were aggregated to form a composite means scores. the data collected were analyzed using means and t-test. the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance with t-test statistics which were calculated with spss (statistical package for social sciences) 16.0 version. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 86 published by scholink inc. 3. result research question 1: what specific science process skills do chemistry students experience difficulty in acquiring? table 1. areas of chemistry students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition type of skills science process skills n mean std. deviation remarks basic skills observing 720 26.7160 14.82931 difficult classifying 720 45.9349 19.66844 difficult measuring 720 53.6389 15.79009 simple communicating 720 38.8889 17.13528 difficult recording 720 38.9167 18.58540 difficult using number relationships 720 35.7939 20.79647 difficult integrated skills formulating hypotheses 720 36.9444 19.75080 difficult predicting 720 32.6736 16.60422 difficult inferring 720 28.7500 16.98297 difficult identifying/controlling variables 720 27.9824 15.44749 difficult interpreting data 720 44.1111 19.98021 difficult defining operationally 720 42.8125 18.54138 difficult experimenting 720 37.9722 19.21402 difficult manipulating techniques 720 51.0284 18.41318 simple building mental models 720 51.8619 18.92849 simple the analysis showed in table 1 and figure 1 revealed the specific science process skills that students experience difficulty in acquiring in this order: observing (26.72), identifying/controlling variables (27.98), inferring (28.75), predicting (32.67), using number relationships (35.79), formulating hypotheses (36.94), experimenting (37.97), communicating (38.89), recording (38.92), defining operationally (42.81), interpreting data (44.11), and classifying (45.93); while manipulating technique (51.03), building mental models (51.86) and measuring (53.64) as simple. out of these 5 basic skills with mean scores of 39.98 and 7 integrated skills with mean scores of 39.35 were found difficult in acquiring by chemistry students. out of the 15 science process skills, 12 (80%) were found difficult by students in acquiring. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 87 published by scholink inc. figure 1. areas of chemistry students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition research hypotheses 1: there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of chemistry students’ scores between basic and integrated science process skills. table 2 was used to answer research hypothesis 2. table 2. t-test summary table comparing mean difficulty of chemistry students’ scores between basic and integrated science process skills scores type of skills n mean std. deviation df t ∝ p≤ .05 decision basic skills 720 40.0020 19.77573 718 .483 0.05 .637 not significant integrated skills 720 39.3485 20.05593 *significant at p≤.05 decision=not significant at p>0.05 level (h01 not rejected or retained). as indicated in table 2 the t value for skills type is .483 not significant at p=.637: p>0.05 level of significance; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is greater than 0.05 showing non-significant difference between students’ difficulty in basic and integrated skills, hence the null hypothesis was retained. thus the hypothesis 1, no difference between students’ difficult in basic and integrated skills was not rejected. research question 2: does gender influence chemistry students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition? the analysis showed in table 3 and figure 2 revealed that the total mean scores of the male students who experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition was 42.20 while; the mean scores of the female students who experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition was 40.40. both males and females experienced insignificant difficulty in process skills acquisition. also in table 3, the t values for sex for the 15 process skills www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 88 published by scholink inc. are .637, .484, .458, .677, .635, .639, .638, .644, .637, .794, .553, .522, .528, .520 and .558 which are greater than; 0.05 level of significance. this shows that gender have negligible influence on students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition but was tested with hypothesis 2. table 3. means scores and t-test summary table for process skills difficulty experienced by male and female chemistry students process skills gender n mean std. deviation df t ∝ observing male 366 26.8269 14.682 718 .637 0.05 female 354 26.5590 14.831 classifying male 366 45.7285 19.817 718 .484 0.05 female 354 46.1483 19.539 measuring male 366 54.4262 16.736 718 .458 0.05 female 354 58.4746 19.482 communicating male 366 41.1202 19.401 718 .677 0.05 female 354 39.4068 18.362 recording male 366 39.2896 18.328 718 .635 0.05 female 354 38.4746 18.710 using number relationships male 366 38.5792 19.533 718 .639 0.05 female 354 38.4746 20.111 formulating hypotheses male 366 35.8470 19.023 718 .638 0.05 female 354 38.0791 20.441 predicting male 366 33.8115 17.038 718 .644 0.05 female 354 34.6751 16.935 inferring male 366 27.5273 16.305 718 .637 0.05 female 354 24.4350 3.817 identifying/controlling variables male 366 27.1457 14.742 718 .794 0.05 female 354 29.0077 16.071 interpreting data male 366 43.9891 19.985 718 .553 0.05 female 354 44.2373 20.003 defining operationally male 366 43.0328 18.853 718 .522 0.05 female 354 42.5847 18.237 experimenting male 366 34.5355 18.921 718 .528 0.05 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 89 published by scholink inc. female 354 41.5254 18.891 manipulating techniques male 366 52.9246 18.360 718 .520 0.05 female 354 51.1621 18.464 building mental models male 366 53.7445 18.211 718 .558 0.05 female 354 52.9154 19.4778 total mean scores (male)=42.20. total mean scores (female)=40.40. figure 2. process skills difficulty between male and female students research hypothesis 2: there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. table 4. t-test summary table comparing process skills difficulty experienced by male and female chemistry students gender n mean std. deviation df t ∝ p≤ .05 decision scores male 366 39.79 20.166 718 .731 0.05 .465 not significant female 354 40.08 20.319 *significant at p≤.05 decision=not significant at p>0.05 level (h02 not rejected or retained). in table 4, the t-ratio for gender is .731 is not significant at p=.465: p>0.05 level of significance; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is less than .05. the result showed that there was no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. based on this, hypothesis two was not rejected. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 90 published by scholink inc. table 5. means scores and t-test summary table for process skills difficulty experienced by chemistry students in large class and small class sizes process skills class size n mean std. deviation df t ∝ observing large 420 23.8937 12.75058 718 .000 0.05 small 300 36.6740 16.01602 classifying large 420 41.3177 18.79779 718 .001 0.05 small 300 52.3411 18.98985 measuring large 420 49.9048 15.60217 718 .003 0.05 small 300 58.8667 14.54030 communicating large 420 35.8333 17.49247 718 .000 0.05 small 300 47.8333 18.38747 recording large 420 30.7619 17.04663 718 .001 0.05 small 300 46.2667 18.45347 using number relationships large 420 34.7619 19.07629 718 .000 0.05 small 300 44.0667 19.58078 formulating hypotheses large 420 30.3333 17.00437 718 .000 0.05 small 300 46.8000 19.74147 predicting large 420 28.3929 12.76651 718 .001 0.05 small 300 39.5000 19.23930 inferring large 420 21.6667 13.40870 718 .002 0.05 small 300 32.8333 15.87384 identifying/controlling variables large 420 25.4416 13.09896 718 .000 0.05 small 300 32.7288 17.47558 interpreting data large 420 38.9524 18.50879 718 .000 0.05 small 300 51.3333 19.75322 defining operationally large 420 39.2857 15.39346 718 .001 0.05 small 300 48.2500 17.79728 experimenting large 420 26.8571 13.70081 718 .000 0.05 small 300 54.2667 14.22921 manipulating techniques large 420 48.6604 18.44942 718 .002 0.05 small 300 56.4552 17.43564 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 91 published by scholink inc. building mental models large 420 49.0573 18.75935 718 .003 0.05 small 300 59.5667 16.84533 total mean scores (large class size)=35.01. total mean scores (small class size)=50.80. the analysis showed in table 5 and figure 3 revealed that the mean scores of students that are from large class sizes that experienced difficulty in acquiring science process skills were 35.01; while the mean scores of students that are from small class sizes who experienced difficulty in acquiring science process skills was 50.80. table 5 also showed the t values for class size for the 15 process skills which are .000, .001, .003, .000, .001, .000, .000, .001, .002, .000, .000, .001, .000, .002 and .003 which are less than 0.05. this shows that class size have great influence on students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition since the mean percent is significant; but was tested with ho3. figure 3. process skills difficulty experienced by chemistry students in large class and small class sizes research hypothesis 3: there is no significant difference in the mean difficulty of process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and in large-class size. table 6. t-test summary table comparing process skills difficulty experienced by chemistry students in large class and small class sizes class size n mean std. deviation df t ∝ p ≤.05 decision scores large 420 35.011 18.614 718 -30.500 0.05 .000 significant small 300 46.362 19.702 *significant at p ≤ .05 decision=significant at p< 0.05 level (h03 rejected). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 92 published by scholink inc. as indicated in table 6, the t-ratio for class size is -30.500 at p=.000: p<0.05; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is less than .05 hence the null hypothesis ho3 was rejected. the result showed that there was a significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and those in large-class size. 4. research findings the results of the analysis showed that: i. 12 science process skills (80%) were found difficult by students in acquiring which includes: observing, identifying/controlling variables, inferring, predicting, using number relationships, formulating hypotheses, experimenting, communicating, recording, defining operationally, interpreting data, and classifying; with a total mean scores of 39.35 out of the 15 science process skills. ii. there was no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores of chemistry students between the basic and integrated science process skills acquisition. iii. there was no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. iv. there was a significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and in large-class size. 5. discussion the analysis of the data collected gave rise to the following findings which are discussed. the findings of the study as presented in table 1 revealed the specific science process skills that students experience difficulty in acquiring in this order: observing, identifying/controlling variables, inferring, predicting, using number relationships, formulating hypotheses, experimenting, communicating, recording, defining operationally, interpreting data and classifying; while manipulating technique, building mental models and measuring as simple. out of these 5 basic skills with mean scores of 39.98 and 7 integrated skills with mean scores of 39.35 were found difficult in acquiring by chemistry students respectively. out of the 15 science process skills, 12 (80%) were found difficult by students in acquiring. this variation in difficulty levels of science process skills can be attributed to the type of activities to which the students were exposed. adeyemi (2000) found that not all the process skills in chemistry are found difficult by students. the findings of this study which indicated that students found controlling variables very difficult, contradicted earlier findings of omajuwa (2011) who found controlling variables less difficult; but agrees with the study by akpokorie (2000) which showed that students found controlling variables very difficult. according to adeyemi (2000), when students are always exposed to practical lessons, with good quality of teachers and quality of teaching methods, they will obviously find most of these process skills less difficult. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 93 published by scholink inc. as indicated in table 2 the t value for skills type is .483 not significant at p=.637: p>0.05 level of significance; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is greater than 0.05 showing non-significant difference between students’ difficulty in basic and integrated skills, hence the null hypothesis was retained. thus the hypothesis one, no difference between students’ difficult in basic and integrated skills was not rejected. the result showed no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between chemistry students who experience difficulty in acquiring the basic and integrated science process skills acquisition. this finding may be hinged on the quality of teachers and instructional modes used by the teachers. this finding supports the work of akpokorie (2000) and omajuwa (2011) whose study showed that students find most process skills difficult. according to earlier work ajaja (2010), the reason why students may find all process skills difficult could be due to the persistent use of lecture methods for teaching chemistry as against the recommended use of laboratory and discovery/inquiry approaches which are student-activity centred. the analysis showed in table 3 revealed that the total mean scores of the male students who experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition was 42.20 while; the mean scores of the female students who experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition was 40.40. both males and females experienced insignificant difficulty in process skills acquisition. this shows that gender have negligible influence on students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition but was tested with hypothesis 2. in table 4, the t-ratio for sex is .731 is not significant at p=.465: p>0.05 level of significance; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is less than .05. the result showed that there was no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. based on this, ho2 was not rejected. the result showed that there was no significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between male and female chemistry students. based on this, hypothesis two was not rejected. the findings of this study is in agreement with those of akpokorie (2000) and omajuwa (2011) who found that gender have no influence on students experienced difficulty in science process skills acquisition; contradicts the works by afif and majdi (2015) whose results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in science process skills due to gender in favour of the females. the analysis showed in table 5 revealed that the mean scores of students that are from large class sizes that experienced difficulty in acquiring science process skills were 35.01; while the mean scores of students that are from small class sizes who experienced difficulty in acquiring science process skills was 50.80. this shows that class size have great influence on students’ difficulty in science process skills acquisition since the mean percent is significant; but was tested with ho3. as indicated in table 6, the t-ratio for class size is -30.500 at p=.000: p<0.05; showing that the significant (2-tailed) is less than .05 hence the null hypothesis, ho3 was rejected. the result showed that there was a significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and those in large-class size. this implies that there was a significant difference in the mean difficulty process skills scores between chemistry students in small-class size and those in large-class size. this www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 94 published by scholink inc. result agrees with the work adeyela (2000) whose studies revealed that large class size is un-conducive for serious academic work for students and process skills acquisition but; disagrees with the works by afolabi (2002) and commeyras (2003) who found no relationship among class size and students’ academic performance and process skills acquisition. according to ajaja (2010) very large class sizes, which exist in schools, have made healthy interactions between students and teachers almost non-existent. most teachers hardly know their students by their names. the large class size has reduced individual student’s attention during practical lesson. students seeking special attention as a result of lack of clear instruction in practical lessons are hardly attended to. all these culminate in very poor performances of students in test of practical knowledge in final year examinations. but, brophy (2004) opined that large class size can be handled through proper classroom management and group or cooperative teaching in science labs. the following conclusions were made, based on the findings of this research work. this study highlighted the difficulty experienced by chemistry students in the acquisition of science process skills. based on the findings and discussion, it could, therefore, be concluded that majority of the science process skills (80%) with means scores of 39.35 are found difficult by chemistry students’ in acquiring. these process skills include observing, identifying/controlling variables, inferring, predicting, using number relationships, formulating hypotheses, experimenting, communicating, recording, defining operationally, interpreting data, and classifying and this may be as a result of persistence use of lecture method which does not promote active learning in science classrooms. therefore, an effective, efficient and innovative method that provides students with an opportunity to acquire/interact with science process skills that can be used to solve problems in everyday life and contribute to national development should be encouraged in the teaching learning process to help improve students’ performance in chemistry. the study also revealed that gender have negligible influence on students’ process skills acquisition while large class size have great influence on students science process skills acquisition. chemistry requires getting the students engaged; as most of the topics involve practical activities but this becomes very difficult when the class is large since it is un-conducive to acquire the appropriate science process skills required by students. the finding of this study implies that small class-sizes in schools enable chemistry students to acquire the appropriate science process skills, therefore large class-sizes should be discouraged from our secondary schools. based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following recommendations are made: 1) the study has established that a large proportion of science process skills 80% are found difficult by chemistry students in acquiring. teachers should therefore assess students on the different kinds of science process skills needed in science classes; and educate them on the relevance they play on their everyday life so as to arouse students’ interest towards chemistry and also reduce students difficulty on process skills acquisition. 2) the number of periods per week for practical chemistry lessons should be increased to create room for more elaborate laboratory activities with students. this may help eradicate students’ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 95 published by scholink inc. difficulties in science process skills acquisition and enhance meaningful teaching-learning process which will lead them in acquiring more process skills. 3) the study has also reaffirmed that majority of the chemistry students’ found difficulty in acquiring both the basic and integrated science process skills. teachers should therefore make a “question collection on both basic and integrated science process skills” and periodically choose a question to initiate a science exploration or activity to reinforce scientific and critical thinking amongst students in order to promote active learning in science classrooms and acquisition of science process skills. 4) the study has also reaffirmed that chemistry students’ acquisition of science process skills is negatively affected by large class size. the student-teacher ratio should be drastically reduced to help improve small class sizes such that adequate attention will be paid to students during laboratory exercises since large class size was identified as a major hindrance for effective teaching and learning in this study. references abungu, h. e., okere, m. i. o., & wachanga, s. w. (2014). the effect of science process skills teaching approach on secondary school students’ achievement in chemistry in nyando district, kenya. journal of educational and social research, 4(6), 359-371. https://doi.org/10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n6p359 adeyela, j. (2000). problems of teaching science in large classes at the junior secondary school level. in implications for learning outcome (unpublished m.ed. thesis). university of ibadan, ibadan. adeyemi, t. o. (2008). the influence of class-size on the quality of output in secondary schools in ekiti state, nigeria. american-eurasian journal of scientific research, 3(1), 7-14. afif, h. z., & majdi, r. j. (2015). science process skills and attitudes toward science among palestinian secondary school students. world journal of education, 5(1), 13-24. afolabi, f. (2002). school factors and learner curriculum development in science, technology and mathematics education. in proceedings of the 49th annual conference of science teacher association of nigeria (stan), 3-4. variables as correlates of senior secondary physics achievement in ibadan (unpublished phd thesis). university of ibadan, ibadan. ajaja, o. p. (2010). processes of science skills acquisition: competences required of science teachers for imparting them. journal of qualitative education, 6(4), 1-6. ajunwa, c. (2000). acquisition of physics process skills by secondary school students (unpublished doctoral thesis). department of education, university of nigeria, nsukka. akinbobola, a. o. (2008). facilitating nigerian physics students’ attitude towards the concept of heat energy. scientia paedagogica experimentalis, 45, 353-366. akinbobola, a. o., & afolabi, f. (2010). analysis of science process skills in west african senior secondary school certificate physics practical examinations in nigeria. bulgarian journal of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 96 published by scholink inc. science and education policy (bjsep), 4(1), 2010. akpokorie, b. t. (2000). junior secondary school integrated science: students’ difficulties in process skills acquisition in warri and its environs (unpublished m. ed. dissertation). delsu, abraka. alfredo, n., & lombardi, i. (2006). an investigation of students’ learning difficulties in form 1v chemistry. in paper presented at the 27th annual conference proceeding of stan held at the federal university of technology, owerri (pp. 78-82). amanso, e. o. i., & bassey, b. a. (2017). assessment of selected science process skills acquisition among senior secondary schools students in calabar education zone of cross river state, nigeria. international journal of scientific research in education, 10(1), 119 -126. ayas, a., cepni, s., akdeniz, a., ozmen, h., yigit, n., & ayvaci, h. s. (2007). science and technology teaching from theory to application (6th ed.). ankara: pegem a publishing. brophy, j. (2004). motivating students to learn. lawrence erlbaum associates, mahwah, nj. commeyras, m. (2003). promoting a culture in reading. the comet thursday, february(13), 32. dirks, c., & cunningham, m. (2006). enhancing diversity in science: is teaching science process skills the answer? cbe life science education, 5, 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.05-10-0121 farsakoglu, o. f., sahin, c., karsli, f., akpinar, m., & ultay, n. (2008). a study on awareness levels of prospective science teachers on science process skills in science education. world applied science journal, 4(2), 174-182. hallahan, d. p., & mercer, c. d. (2007). learning disabilities: historical perspectives. in r. bradley, l. danielson, & d. p. hallahan (eds.), identification of science process skills acquisition: research to practice (pp. 1-67). mahwah, n.j.: erlbaum. jack, g. u. (2013). the influence of identified student and school variables on students’ science process skills acquisition. journal of education and practice, 4(5), 16-22. koray, o., koksal, m. s., ozdermir, m., & presley, a. l. (2007). the effect of create and critical thinking based laboratory applications on academic achievement and science process skills. elementary education online, 6(3), 377-389. molitor, l. l., & george, k. d. (2001). development of a test of science process skills. journal of research in science teaching, 13(5), 2001. ochu, a. n. o. (2007). evaluation of undergraduate chemistry education programme in the universities in north central education zone in nigeria (unpublished ph.d thesis). university of nigeria, nsukka. ogunniyi, m. b. (2000). primary school, science and methods by ace series, nigeria. in heinemann educational books limited. omajuwa, j. (2011). senior secondary school students’ difficulties in science process skills acquisition (unpublished m.ed. dissertation). delta state university abraka. shulman, l. s., & tamir, p. (2004). research in teaching in the national science. in m. w. t. rober (ed.), second handbook of research on teaching. rawera, chigaco, rand mcnally college www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 97 published by scholink inc. publishing company. tan, m., & temiz, b. k. (2003). the importance and role of the science process skills in science teaching. journal of faculty of education, pamukkale university, 1(13), 89-101. temiz, b. k. (2007). assessing science process skills in physics teaching (ph.d. thesis). gazi university, institute of education science, ankara, turkey. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper risk factors for cannabis use-related consequences in emerging adults tamara samardzic 1,2 , berlyn soulliere 1 , sanya sagar 1,3 & carlin j. miller 1* 1 department of psychology, university of windsor, windsor, ontario, canada 2 department of medicine, university of alberta, edmonton, alberta, canada 3 department of psychiatry & behavioural neurosciences, mcmaster university, hamilton, ontario, canada * carlin j. miller, department of psychology, university of windsor, windsor, ontario, canada received: july 16, 2024 accepted: july 25, 2024 online published: august 2, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p1 abstract cannabis use in canada is a public health concern, especially it has been legalized for medical and recreational use. although widely used, it appears there are negative consequences for some, but not all, cannabis consumers, and it remains challenging to predict which individuals will experience difficulties. this study examines the role of several risk factors in predicting negative outcomes of cannabis use in university students with a particular focus on personality and mental health variables. undergraduate students (n=370) enrolled in a southwestern ontario university participated in an online study. preliminary analyses suggested that higher stress and lower conscientiousness were associated with cannabis use. in follow-up analyses, perceived stress was significantly associated with functional consequences of cannabis use when the quantity of cannabis used was accounted for in the analyses. agreeableness and conscientiousness were significantly associated with overall gpa after controlling for amount of cannabis used. individuals using low-to-moderate levels of cannabis had fewer functional consequences than individuals using higher amounts of cannabis, but these groups could not be differentiated in terms of their overall gpa. these results address a niche in the field of cannabis research in higher education and have significant implications in terms of policy and clinical practice. keywords cannabis, undergraduates, academic consequences, functional consequences www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction with legalization, cannabis use has increased, and it is now the most used substance globally (united nations office of drug and crime, 2023). survey data in canada shows that 26% of the population over the age of 16 have consumed cannabis in the past 12 months (statistics canada, 2023) and 31% of students describe themselves as frequent cannabis users (llewelyn-williams & mykota, 2023). given the considerable proportion of the population reporting cannabis use, it is important that research identify who is at higher risk for poor outcomes. for many individuals who use cannabis recreationally, there are few, if any, consequences of their cannabis use. for example, some studies suggest that people who use cannabis recreationally demonstrate adequate academic achievement, maintain employment, have functional romantic relationships, and enjoy beneficial social interactions (allen & holder, 2014; luba et al., 2019). students may experiment with infrequent-to-regular cannabis use in high school or in post-secondary settings, but then moderate their use or desist entirely as they enter the workforce and other adult pursuits (roussell & omori, 2016). most people who use cannabis are typically functioning individuals indistinguishable in the population from those who do not use cannabis (ogborne & smart, 2000). this pattern of non-problematic use and tendency toward desistance by adults supported efforts to legalize recreational cannabis consumption in many jurisdictions. a substantial body of research on recreational cannabis use has focused on the negative consequence and outcomes, particularly in emerging adults whose brains are not yet fully developed and who need full use of their cognitive functions to be successful in their academic work. harmful consequences experienced by individuals who use cannabis include increased psychosis symptoms (marconi, di forti, lewis, murray & vassos, 2016), increased risk for mental health problems (buckner et al., 2010; faria et al., 2021), more frequent cognitive impairments such as memory and problem-solving deficits (becker, collins & luciana, 2014), and increased likelihood of engaging in risky and/or illegal behaviours (e.g., intoxicated driving; aston, merrill, mccarthy & metrik, 2016). the effect of cannabis use on academic achievement can vary; however, recent research has shown that cannabis use can negatively impact academic achievement (reuter & forster, 2021; paramo et al., 2023). since legalization, especially on university campuses, the normalization of cannabis use and the diminishing perception of risk has led to the rise in frequency of cannabis consumption (buckner, 2013; kilwen et al., 2020; hallett & chen, 2022). the accompanying potential for cognitive impairments, motivational effects, and mental health concerns associated with increased frequency of cannabis use could exacerbate these negative consequences. although there are numerous harmful consequences that may arise from cannabis use, not every university student who uses cannabis experiences problematic outcomes. there are several theories to explain how people who report a problematic pattern of cannabis use might be separated from those who use cannabis but do not experience poor outcomes. it is likely that risk for poor outcomes exists on www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 3 published by scholink inc. multiple levels, including societal norms and expectations, community factors, relational factors, and individual differences (centers for disease control and prevention, 2019). these levels have a high degree of interaction and are not independent of each other. for example, multiple risk factors may influence the initiation and continuation of cannabis use at a younger age (von sydow, lieb, pfister, hofler & wittchen, 2002), which increases the risk of problematic outcomes. individuals who report frequent cannabis use tend to show higher negative emotionality (volkow et al., 2014), which is likely related to decreased reward sensitivity and motivation, as well as increased stress reactivity in some individuals. cannabis use is associated with subsequent increase in negative affect, especially when used for coping purposes and the individual meets diagnostic criteria for cannabis dependence (ross et al., 2018). relatedly, highly anxious individuals who are not currently receiving supportive treatment for their symptoms are at increased risk for academic problems (wallis et al., 2019). frequent cannabis use may also be the by-product of chronic stressors, including family dysfunction (butters, 2002), negative life events (siqueira, diab, bodian & rolnitzky, 2001) and traumatic events (houston, murphy, shevlin & adamson, 2011). however, other research has failed to show a relationship between cannabis use and perceived stressful events (siqueira et al., 2001; vargas & trujillo, 2012), especially in populations of individuals who are not substance dependent. specific personality traits have also been identified as risk factors for cannabis use. in a study that used the five-factor model of personality, people who use cannabis scored higher on openness to experience and lower on agreeableness and conscientiousness in an epidemiological sample (terracciano et al., 2008). more recent studies have suggested that developmental stage and prolonged cannabis use over time influences personality developmental and mental health. for example, work by jones and colleagues (2022) showed that while agreeableness and conscientious typically increase over the course of development, these personality traits decrease across development in people who use cannabis regularly (jones et al., 2022). likewise, emotional stability is typically assumed to increase from adolescence and into the young adult years, but it also decreases in both males and females who report regular cannabis use (jones et al., 2022). it may also be that personality is both influenced by and influences cannabis use. in a meta-analysis, winters and colleagues (2022) showed that neuroticism and openness to experience increased over time while conscientiousness and agreeableness decreased, albeit only among people who reported a problematic pattern of cannabis use (winter et al., 2022). while researchers have investigated possible risk factors for cannabis use, most of the literature has focused solely on comparing those who use cannabis and those who do not. furthermore, most of this research was conducted prior to legalization of recreational cannabis use. very few studies have looked at differences among higher education students who use different amounts of cannabis. thus, there is a gap in the empirical literature in terms of models for the intersection of cannabis use, academic achievement, and individual risk factors in post-secondary settings. with the changing politics and attitudes surrounding cannabis consumption, the most important question is no longer whether young www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 4 published by scholink inc. people will use cannabis. attention needs to be shifted to what specific factors may predict negative outcomes and why certain people who use cannabis are at a heightened risk for experiencing them. therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate and identify possible risk factors that could contribute to the experience of negative consequences of cannabis use in a sample of university students in a jurisdiction where recreational use has been legalized for several years. it was hypothesized that: 1) higher levels of neuroticism, lower levels of conscientiousness, and greater perceived stress would be associated with greater number of the consequences from cannabis use and lower gpa after controlling for amount of cannabis used; 2) low-to-moderate use of cannabis would not be associated with increased cannabis-related consequences and lower gpa, but these relations would be significant for individuals using greater amounts of cannabis. 2. methods 2.1 participants analyses included data from 370 university students between the ages of 19 and 25 years old. the age range was chosen to maximize the likelihood that the participants were in the emerging adult period and had not yet taken on substantial adult responsibilities such as parenting, home ownership, and full-time work in addition to their academic enrollment. like the department where the research took place, most participants were caucasian/european canadian (70.8%), female (86.5%), and in their second (33.4%) or third year (30.0%) of undergraduate study. there were no specific exclusionary criteria for this study, except that only students who could legally use cannabis (aged 19 years and older) were allowed to participate, ensuring participants were not asked to disclose illegal activities during the research. demographics are summarized in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 5 published by scholink inc. table 1. sample demographics (n=370). variable n (%) m sd range age 20.46 1.47 19-25 gender female 320 (86.5) male 45 (12.2) non-binary 3 (0.8) male 1 (0.3) race/ethnicity white or european canadian 262 (70.8) south asian 26 (7.0) middle eastern 26 (7.0) mixed race 15 (4.1) black/african canadian 18 (4.9) latinx 10 (2.7) east asian 11 (3.0) year of study 1st 27 (7.3) 2nd 123 (33.2) 3rd 111 (30.0) 4th 94 (25.4) 5th year of beyond 13 (3.5) 2.2 measures 2.2.1 demographics questionnaire participants were asked to provide their demographic and background information including race, gender, year of study, and overall gpa. 2.2.2 drug history use questionnaire the drug use history questionnaire (dhuq; struble, 2019). the dhuq is a 17-item self-report measure that assesses the consequences related to an individual’s cannabis use. participants are required to answer either “yes” or “no” to questions about experiencing any of the consequences resulting from their cannabis use. a sample item is “[because of my cannabis use, i have] missed school”. when responses are summed across items, higher scores reflect more consequences experienced. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 6 published by scholink inc. 2.2.3 cannabis use intensity questionnaire the cannabis use intensity questionnaire (muiq; white, labouvie & papadaratsakis, 2005) is a self-report measure that assess the frequency of cannabis use over the past three years. participants are asked to rate the frequency and quantity of cannabis use, as well as their frequency of inebriation on likert scales. because there were no population norms for this measure (white, helen, personal communication, march 15 th , 2020), a scoring solution based on participant reported data was used instead. a composite score of use intensity was calculated and then participants were grouped according to their use rate (non-use, low-moderate use rate, higher use rate). collectively, 190 participants (51.9%) reported previous cannabis use within the last three years. these participants were divided into two groups with 25.7% of the total sample reporting low to moderate use while 26.2% of the sample reported greater cannabis use. 2.2.4 big five inventory the big five inventory (bfi; john, donahue & kentle, 1991) is a widely used 44-item self-report measure of five dimensions of personality (i.e., openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). participants are presented with a series of characteristics and are required to rate their degree of agreement on a 5-point likert scale from 1 (disagree strongly) to 5 (agree strongly). john & srivastava (1999) found the average internal consistency reliability among the five subscales was .83, and convergent and discriminant validity have been established. 2.2.5 depression, anxiety, and stress scale the depression, anxiety, and stress scale (dass; lovibond, s.h. & lovibond, p.f., 1995) is a 42-item self-report measure that assesses the feelings and experiences typically associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. participants were asked to rate how much a series of statements such as “i found it difficult to wind down” applied to them in the last week on a 4-point likert scale ranging from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). separate scores are available for the three facets. the dass has been shown to be reliable and valid (lovibond, s.h. & lovibond, p.f., 1995). 2.3 procedure participants were recruited through a departmental research pool, which required that they were enrolled in at least one psychology course and permitted bonus points for their courses to be earned in compensation for their participation time. the study was conducted online, and recruitment included only participants over the age of 19 to prevent disclosure of illegal activity. interested participants were required to sign up for the study and then provided a link to the online survey (hosted by qualtrics with data housed on the university’s servers). after participants gave their informed consent to participate in the study, they were given access to the questionnaires. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 7 published by scholink inc. 2.4 data analysis spss version 28 was used for all data analyses. data were examined for missingness and were found to be missing completely at random. because of the large size of the sample, missing data were not replaced or imputed. prior to analyses, assumptions of independence of observations, homogeneity of variance, and normality were checked. independence of observations was assumed for all variables. normality plots were found to be slightly skewed, although these results were expected, and the skew and kurtosis values were found to be within the expected range of ±2 and ±3 respectively. the test for the assumption of homogeneity of variance was significant for several variables and was therefore corrected using welch test f values as necessary. descriptive statistics for all measures were calculated and are summarized in table 2. table 2. descriptive statistics for all measures range m sd a extraversion 9-35 22.57 5.40 .73 agreeableness 11-45 35.22 5.32 .76 conscientiousness 18-45 32.44 5.22 .84 neuroticism 8-38 25.73 6.22 .68 openness 17-47 33.48 5.70 .67 depression 7-28 12.81 4.79 .84 anxiety 7-28 12.43 4.61 .85 stress 7-28 14.32 4.60 .85 total cannabis use 1-19 4.09 3.84 .87 functional consequences 0-16 2.00 3.55 .90 overall gpa 53-100 78.27 9.48 preliminary correlational analyses for all variables of interest were conducted. regression analyses using personality (all five facets of the bfi) and mental health variables (three subscales of dass) after controlling for total cannabis use to predict functional consequences and overall gpa were conducted to test the first hypothesis. two analyses of variance (anovas) were conducted to test the second hypothesis. for these analyses, those using cannabis in the past three years were divided into two nearly equal sized groups (i.e., low-moderate use and higher use). the groups were used to test the impact of cannabis use on functional consequences. those who had not used cannabis in the past three years were not included in the first anova because the language of the measure clearly indicated consequences secondary to cannabis use specifically. for the anova testing the impact of level of cannabis use on gpa, those indicating that they had not used cannabis were included in the analysis. because there were three groups in this analysis, contrast analyses were completed. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 8 published by scholink inc. 3. result results of correlational analyses were checked initially to ensure the variables of interest were within expectancy. total cannabis use was correlated with functional consequences and with overall gpa. cannabis use was negatively correlated with conscientiousness and positively correlated with stress. likewise, functional consequences of cannabis use were negatively correlated with conscientiousness and positively correlated with stress. overall gpa was positively correlated with conscientiousness. no other correlations were statistically significant after bonferroni correction. the correlational analyses are summarized in table 3. table 3. summary of pearson correlational analyses functional consequences overall gpa total cannabis use total cannabis use .65* (p<.001) -.24* (p<.001) extraversion .04 (.41) <.01 (.96) .11 (.05) agreeableness -.13 (.02) .01 (.83) -.08 (.16) conscientiousness -.21* (<.001) .23* (<.001) -.20* (<.001) neuroticism .11 (.03) -.06 (.24) .13 (.02) openness .06 (.25) .04 (.45) .02 (.65) depression .05 (.34) -.05 (.36) .06 (.24) anxiety .10 (.07) -.12 (.02) .12 (.02) stress .21* (<.001) -.07 (.22) .18* (<.001) note. * statistically significant after bonferroni correction. the first hypothesis was partially supported. we hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of neuroticism, lower levels of conscientiousness, and greater perceived stress would report more functional consequences associated with cannabis use and a lower gpa after including the amount of cannabis used in the analyses. although neuroticism and conscientiousness were not significantly www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 9 published by scholink inc. associated with the functional consequences of cannabis use after controlling for total cannabis use, perceived stress (p=.006) remained a significant predictor. similarly, neuroticism was not significantly associated with gpa after controlling for total cannabis use, but agreeableness (p=.03) and conscientiousness (p<.001) were significant predictors. the regression analyses are summarized in tables 4 and 5. table 4. regression predicting functional consequences of cannabis use model 1 b* (p) model 2 b* (p) model 3 b* (p) total cannabis use .652 (<.001) total cannabis use .637 (<.001) extraversion -.035 (.46) agreeableness -.067 (.17) conscientiousness -.050 (.32) neuroticism .017 (.70) openness .086 (.06) total cannabis use .622 (<.001) extraversion -.056 (.24) agreeableness -.059 (.22) conscientiousness -.054 (.29) neuroticism -.037 (.52) openness .076 (.10) depression -.095 (.15) anxiety -.066 (.31) stress .218 (.006) adj. r 2 .425 .430 .439 f 230.21 40.22 28.16 dr 2 .425 .016 .015 df (p) 230.21 (.0001) 1.70 (.13) 2.70 (.05) note. * standardized coefficient b. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 10 published by scholink inc. table 5. regression predicting overall gpa model 1 b* (p) model 2 b* (p) model 3 b* (p) total cannabis use -.244 (<.001) total cannabis use -.208 (<.001) extraversion -.032 (.59) agreeableness -.132 (.03) conscientiousness .239 (<.001) neuroticism -.016 (.78) openness .033 (.58) total cannabis use -.204 (<.001) extraversion -.028 (.65) agreeableness -.133 (.03) conscientiousness .242 (<.001) neuroticism .005 (.94) openness .025 (.67) depression .021 (.83) anxiety -.121 (.16) stress -.049 (.56) adj. r 2 .056 .089 .088 f 19.10 5.96 4.23 dr 2 .059 .048 .007 df (p) 19.10 (<.001) 3.20 (.008) 0.79 (.50) note. * standardized coefficient b. the second hypothesis was also partially supported. we had hypothesized that low-to-moderate cannabis use would not be associated with more functional consequences and lower gpas, but these relations would be significant for individuals at higher levels of cannabis use. the anova for group differences between people who use low-moderate amounts and those who use greater amounts on functional consequences was statistically significant (f(1,184)=32.28, p<.001) with a large-sized effect (h 2 =.149). likewise, the anova for group differences among people who do not use cannabis, those who use low-moderate amounts, and those who use higher amounts on overall gpa was statistically significant (f(2, 337)=14.16, p<.001) with a medium-sized effect (h 2 =.078). follow-up groupwise comparisons showed that those who do not use cannabis could be separated from those using cannabis on overall gpa but there were not statistically significant differences between those using at the low-moderate level and those using at a higher level. group descriptive statistics for the anova tests are summarized in table 6. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 11 published by scholink inc. table 6. group descriptive statistics for functional consequences of cannabis use and gpa functional consequences overall gpa cannabis use group mean sd range mean sd range non-use (n=172) 80.95 9.22 63-100 low-moderate use (n=93) 1.77 2.76 0-15 76.25 9.92 53-100 higher use (n=97) 4.88 4.45 0-16 75.22 8.07 57-93 4. discussion/conclusions this present study investigated the personality and mental health factors that portend risk for functional and academic consequences associated with cannabis use in university students. the study used concurrent data from undergraduate students enrolled at a comprehensive university in southwestern ontario. results suggest that some personality factors (namely conscientiousness and agreeableness) and self-reported stress are associated with functional difficulties related to cannabis use when cannabis consumption is included in the analyses. contrary to expectation, neuroticism was not associated with lower academic achievement or functional difficulties. although there is a substantial literature on the impact of personality and mental health on cannabis use and on the outcomes associated with cannabis use, the literature is far from conclusive. some studies have shown that when adolescents and emerging adults experience high levels of stress, they are more likely to use cannabis (clendennen et al., 2021). in contrast, other studies have suggested that the relation between stress and cannabis use is moderated by other variables, such as emotional reactivity (cavalli & cservenka, 2021) or perceptions of risk associated with cannabis use (chadi et al., 2020). relatedly, the direction-of-effects are also unclear; does the regular use of cannabis lead to enhanced stress or does greater levels of stress overall predict a greater likelihood of using cannabis to cope? it may also be that these data relations are iterative. the role of personality and cannabis use is also complicated in the literature. as previously described, there are some studies (allen & holder, 2013; dash et al., 2019; winters et al., 2022; jones et al., 2022) that have connected lower levels of agreeableness and lower levels conscientiousness to more cannabis use and consequences of use. nevertheless, our results suggesting that individuals who are less agreeable and less conscientiousness are also more likely to experience lower gpas if they use cannabis may align with longitudinal studies showing these relations hold over time. notably, we had not hypothesized that agreeableness would be a significant factor in our analyses. contrary to what we hypothesized, neuroticism was unrelated to cannabis use functional outcomes and gpa in our sample. the literature has been equivocal on this intersection with some studies suggesting a strong connection www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 12 published by scholink inc. (winters et al., 2022; lee-winn et al., 2018) and others finding no relation (terracciano et al., 2008). it may be that our sample, made up largely of psychology majors, was somewhat more emotionally stable due to substantial coursework in mental health and access to multiple levels of healthcare on campus. the second set of analyses examined the differences between those who do not use cannabis, those who use low-to-moderate levels of cannabis, and those who are using greater amounts of cannabis. our results indicated that there are significant differences in functional consequences (e.g., missing class after using cannabis) among those using lower levels of cannabis and those using higher levels of cannabis. the measure of functional consequences reflects a range of behaviors from having difficulty concentrating through not being able to stop using cannabis, but there are more items reflecting significant difficulty. those with lower reported rates of cannabis use not only endorsed significantly fewer items than those reporting greater usage, but their endorsements were also on less severe items, like memory lapses. notably, all three groups reported fairly low levels of functional consequences of cannabis use, as would be expected in a sample of students currently enrolled in university courses. the related analysis focused on gpa had slightly different results. those who reported not using cannabis had higher gpas than those using cannabis at any level. furthermore, those using cannabis at lower levels and higher levels were not statistically separable in terms of gpa. it may be that academic performance, as indicated by overall gpa, may be more sensitive to cannabis use at any level. this is in line with some other studies (martinez et al., 2015). it may also be that individuals who are using cannabis are less engaged overall in academic endeavours, including attending study groups, preparing in advance of lectures, and seeking assistance from faculty, than those who do not use cannabis (arria et al., 2015). the most notable limitation in our study is the use of cross-sectional data. although true random assignment is not possible with this research question, a quasi-experimental design with longitudinal data collection would have allowed us to posit directions of effects in our data. because our participants are largely caucasian/european canadian females, generalizations to people of colour, males, and non-university student populations are less likely to be valid. this is particularly concerning with ongoing issues related to the historical use of data from white participants being inappropriate applied to racialized populations (ford & airhihenbuwa, 2010). the current study, despite the limitations, helps extend the existing research concerning consequences of cannabis use in a new direction. while the consequences of potential cannabis use and abuse among emerging adults are not always substantial, it appears that pre-existing factors may increase the likelihood of these consequences occurring. theses results highlight the importance of adapting current cannabis use prevention and intervention tactics to reflect these individualized differences. it is important for students, parents, educators, law enforcement and health professionals to recognize that the chances of experiencing negative consequences related to cannabis use are not the same for every person who uses it. this research exemplifies the importance of tailoring the approach taken towards www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 13 published by scholink inc. prevention, intervention, and treatment to focus on those individuals who are at an increased risk of suffering negative consequences and limit the inappropriate generalization of those consequences to every individual. the results of this study have implications within the cannabis use field and help identify possible risk factors for negative consequences related to cannabis use in university students. these predictors are important for identifying individuals who could be more susceptible to the potential harmful outcomes that accompany cannabis use. the results highlight the importance of shifting the focus towards modified clinical practices and policy changes, particularly in higher education settings, to help combat the potential and observed negative consequences of cannabis use in at-risk individuals. there may be impacts on university policies and practices in the provision of medical and mental health care, opportunities for drug-free events on campus, and the communication that occurs at higher stress points in the academic year, such as during exams. future studies should expand on risk factor research by replicating the current results with a larger sample size, and shifting focus to other potential risk factors, such as the motivation to use cannabis. additionally, it will be important to identify 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(2019). demographic, cannabis use, and depressive correlates of cannabis use consequences in regular cannabis users. american journal on addictions, 28(4), 295-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.12889 terracciano, a., loeckenhoff, c., crum, r., bienvenu, o., & costa, p. (2008). five-factor model personality profiles of drug users. bmc psychiatry, 8(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244x-8-22 united nations office of drug and crime. (2023). world drug report 2023. retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/exsum_wdr2023.html vargas, c., & trujillo, h. m. (2011). cannabis consumption by female psychology students: the influence of perceived stress, coping and consumption of drugs in their social environment. universitas psychological, 11(1), 119-130. https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.upsy11-1.ccfp volkow, n. d., wang, g.-j., telang, f., fowler, j. s., alexoff, d., logan, j., jayne, m., wong, c., & tomasi, d. (2014). decreased dopamine brain reactivity in marijuana abusers is associated with negative emotionality and addiction severity. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 111(30), e3149-56. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411228111 von sydow, k., lieb, r., pfister, h., hofler, m., & wittchen, h.-u. (2002). what predicts incident use of cannabis and progression to abuse and dependence? a 4-year prospective examination of risk factors in a community sample of adolescents and young adults. drug and alcohol dependence, 68(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0376-8716(02)00102-3 wallis, a. l., gretz, d. p., rings, j. a., & eberle, k. m. (2019). assessing marijuana use, anxiety, and academic performance among college students. journal of college counseling, 22(2), 125-137. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12125 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.07.020 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12421 https://doi.org/10.1080/08897070109511455 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.12889 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244x-8-22 https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.upsy11-1.ccfp https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411228111 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0376-8716(02)00102-3 https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12125 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 17 published by scholink inc. white, h. r., labouvie, e. w., & papadaratsakis, v. (2005). changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood: a comparison of college students and their noncollege age peers. journal of drug issues, 35(2), 206-281. https://doi.org/10.1177/002204260503500204 winters, a. m., malouff, j. m., & schutte, n. s. (2022). the association between the five-factor model of personality and problem cannabis use: a meta-analysis. personality and individual differences, 193, 111635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111635 https://doi.org/10.1177/002204260503500204 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111635 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 19 original paper key influencing factors affecting the student academic performance and student satisfactions ratings: evidence from undergraduate students in china lizhi sun 1 , danhui chen 1* & qingping yang 2 1 qufu normal university, qufu, shandong, p. r. china 2 brunel university london, kingston lane, uxbridge, ub8 3ph, uk ∗ danhui chen, qufu normal university, qufu, shandong 273165, p. r. china received: july 12, 2022 accepted: july 29, 2022 online published: september 5, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n3p19 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n3p19 abstract this paper has developed a sound and practical method to evaluate the key teaching quality including the student academic performance and student satisfaction ratings. the method makes use of the existing data already readily available in a chinese university, focusing on the identification of key influencing factors affecting the student academic performance and student satisfactions ratings. the data analyses have shown the university student academic performance is significantly affected student gender, age, previous academic performance, settlements and occupations of parents. there is significant difference in the student ratings for different genders and academic positions of teaching staff. the student performance and satisfaction ratings also significantly vary in different years of intakes and different schools/programs. the student’s university academic performance can be accurately predicted using artificial neural networks with a prediction error of about 7%. this approach can help the university to improve the student academic performance and student satisfactions. keywords higher education quality, internal quality evaluation, data analysis, hypothesis testing, anova, artificial neural network www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 20 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction chinese higher education sector has experienced a series of reforms within last three decades, including decentralisation, introduction of market incentives, university merger, internationalisation and expansion of higher education (li, 2010). the continuing reform of chinese higher education has been largely driven by its national policy of domestic social-economic reform and open door policy over last three decades. in line with the worldwide trends, quality has become increasingly important in chinese higher education. in particular, the extensive expansion of china’s higher education since late 1990s has raised many concerns about the quality of chinese higher education. chinese higher education has now entered a stage of connotative development of quality improvement. the national medium-and long-term education reform and development plan (2010-2020) (chinese ministry of education, 2010) points out that improving quality is the core task of higher education development and the basic requirement for building a country with strong higher education. the party leadership's proposals for formulating the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 was adopted in october 2020. the document has clearly put forward the construction of a high-quality education system, which has become the main topic of china’s education development (zhang, 2022). in order to improve the quality of higher education, it is necessary to evaluate higher education quality and identify the factors affecting the quality. however, there are different opinions about quality in the context of higher education. in this paper, the concept of quality is based on the iso 9000 standard, defined as the “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfils requirements” of the customers and stakeholders (including students, their future employers and society) (iso, 2015). the student academic performance clearly represents the requirements of students’ future employers, whereas the student ratings of the teaching reflect the student satisfaction. evaluation of higher education quality may be carried out at various levels (e.g., institution, program or module level) and by different parties (either external or internal). whilst external evaluation is useful for external quality assurance, the importance of internal quality evaluation is increasingly recognised since it can facilitate the quality control, quality assurance and also quality improvement (li, 2010). student quality is a fundamental manifestation of the quality of higher education. for example, m. frazer (chen, 2004a) believes that the quality of higher education refers first to the quality of student development. the academic achievement of university/ college students is the most important benchmark to compare the quality of college students (chen, 2004b). it is also the basic criteria for university/college to monitor the quality of teaching and learning and for employers to evaluate and select the students. as the students are customers of higher education, their experience and satisfaction are also important part of higher education quality. whilst the student satisfactions may cover a range of issues, this paper only considers the student satisfaction at module (subject) level. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 21 published by scholink inc. this paper will focus on the quality evaluation and quality improvement at program and module levels and present an approach based on the existing data already available from a case study chinese university. the quality evaluation will be centred on the student academic performance (i.e., the weighted average of all the modules studied over the 4 year duration of the program) and the student evaluation of each module. the paper will perform in-depth analyses and discussions of the important influencing factors affecting the student academic performance and the student satisfaction ratings, including student’s personal, social economic background and educational factors. 2. methodology 2.1 data sample it is possible to collect a lot of data about the students and the teaching in a university, either existing or specially collected for the study. this paper has tried to make the best use of the existing data. a total of 1,085 undergraduate students (275 female and 810 male) were selected from the student intakes from year 2011 to 2013 from three undergraduate programs within three schools (education, math and electronics information) of the case study university q. their examination results over four year studies, together with their national university entrance examination results, personal and socio-economic background information were collected. the entrance examination results included five core subjects: chinese, english, math, comprehensive science and basic ability. the student examination performance was determined using the weighted average marks for the entire four year duration of their studies. additionally, another set of data about the student ratings of teaching staff are collected from three schools (education, math and physics) and the data cover 1343 modules taught over 4 years from 2013/14 to 2016/17. 2.2 data analysis several kinds of data analyses are performed, including exploratory, confirmative and modelling. the exploratory data analyses mainly include descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, whilst the confirmative data analyses are statistical hypothesis testing, e.g., t-test and anova. the purpose of these analyses is to identify the main influencing factors affecting the student performance and student satisfaction. these understanding will help the university to identify suitable ways to enhance the student learning and the quality of its programs and teaching. the correlation analysis calculates pearson correlation coefficients to measure the linear relationships among the five university entrance examination subjects, the university entrance examination total marks (ueetm) and the university weighted average marks (uwam). the correlation analysis can show deep insight into the relationships between subjects and overall academic performance. this understanding also helps to evaluate and model the academic performance and the correlated variables are further used as the input in the ann modelling. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 22 published by scholink inc. the factors affecting the student performance are based on the available data and can be broadly grouped into the following categories: personal: student gender, age and previous academic performance (university entrance examination marks, fresh vs former high school graduate (hsg)); social-economic factors: rural vs urban, high school area and parents’ occupations; educational: year of intake, different university schools/programmes; based on the exploratory analysis of the data and literature review, the following hypotheses have been identified in table 1, concerning the factors affecting the student’s ueetm and uwam for each student over the whole duration of 4 years studies. table 1. hypotheses concerning the factors affecting the student ueetm and the student’s university uwam influencing factors hypotheses personal gender h1a: the ueetm is equal for male and female students. h1b: the uwam is equal for male and female students. age h2a: the ueetm is equal for students at different ages. h2b: the uwam is equal for students at different ages. fresh vs former hsg h3a: the ueetm is equal for fresh and former hsg students. h3b: the uwam is equal for fresh and former hsg students. social-economic rural vs urban h4a: the ueetm is equal for students from rural and urban areas. h4b: the uwam is equal for students from rural and urban areas. high school areas h5a: the ueetm is equal for students from high schools in different areas. h5b: the uwam is equal for students from high schools in different areas. parents’ occupation h6a: the father’s occupations have no significant influence on the ueetm. h6b: the father’s occupations have no significant influence on the uwam. h7a: the mother’s occupations have no significant influence on the ueetm. h7b: the mother’s occupations have no significant influence on the uwam. educational year of intake h8a: the ueetm is equal for students from different years of intake. h8b: the uwam is equal for students from different years of intake. school/program h9a: the ueetm is equal for students from different school/programs. h9b: the uwam is equal for students from different school/programs. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 23 published by scholink inc. the student rating of each module and teaching staff is important for the university to evaluate its teaching quality from students’ perspective. table 2 lists the hypotheses to be tested concerning factors affecting the student ratings. table 2. hypothesis concerning the student rating of each module and teaching staff hypothesis h10: the mean student ratings are equal for male and female teaching staff. h11: the mean student ratings are equal for staff with different academic positions. h12: the mean student ratings are equal for different years of intake. h13: the mean student ratings are equal for different school/programs. note. these hypotheses in tables 1 and 2 are tested using either two sample t-test or anova, with a significance level of 0.05. 2.3 data modelling using artificial neural networks data modelling has also been used to study the relationships between various influencing factors and the student academic performance. since the model is rather complex with nonlinear relationships, traditional statistical models (e.g., linear or nonlinear regression) are unlikely suitable. artificial neural networks (anns) have been used for modelling very complex relationships. cybenko (1989) and funahasi (1989) have demonstrated that anns can uniformly approximate arbitrary continuous mapping, although the proofs were centred on the existence of such anns. the anns have found successful applications in signal processing, quality engineering and education (yang, 1994; kardan, 2013; bahadir, 2016; hu, 2017). the architecture of ann which was modelled earlier by authors (2018) was adopted in this study and it is characterised with one input layer, two hidden layers and one output layer. the detailed design and performance studies can be found in (authors, 2018). the input layer has 11 input variables, including student gender, location, fresh or former hsg, high school area, parents’ occupations, and the entrance exam results including chinese, english, maths, comprehensive science and basic ability. the output is the student academic performance cgpa, based on the standardized cumulative grade point average (cgpa) for the entire four year duration of their studies. similar to (authors, 2018), levenberg-marquardt algorithm was used as the backpropagation training rule. the ann performance is further evaluated through ann prediction errors. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 24 published by scholink inc. 3. results and discussions 3.1 correlation analysis the correlation analysis of university entrance exam subject marks, ueetm and uwam is shown in table 3. table 3. correlation analysis of university entrance exam subject marks, ueetm and uwam chinese math english comprehensive science basic ability ueetm uwam chinese 1 math -0.186 1 english 0.140 0.070 1 comprehensive science -0.265 0.031 -0.281 1 basic ability 0.099 0.101 -0.140 -0.011 1 ueetm 0.160 0.441 0.346 0.540 0.082 1 uwam 0.111 0.012 0.255 0.068 0.142 0.230 1 table 3 shows the ueetm has a strong correlation with english, math and comprehensive science, whereas the uwam has strong correlation with english and ueetm. it is interesting to note that comprehensive science has a strong negative correlation with chinese and english, also between math and chinese. this is likely due to the conflicts in student’s interests and/or study time allocations. it is also important to note math and comprehensive science have very weak correlation with the uwam. 3.2 testing of hypothesis concerning the influencing factors on the student academic performance 3.2.1 student gender’s influences on academic performance the t-test results of both the ueetm and the uwam based on students’ gender are shown in table 4. table 4. hypothesis testing concerning the influence of student gender on ueetm (h1a) and uwam (h1b) hypothesis h1a h1b variable female male female male mean 547.1 538.4 81.1 75.5 variance 321.9 318.9 17.4 20.8 observations 810 275 810 275 df 1083 1083 t stat 6.98 18.82 p-value 0.000 0.000 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 25 published by scholink inc. in table 4, the p-values in both cases are far less than 0.05, indicating a significant difference in both the ueetm and the uwam performance of male and female students, where female students score better than male students. some researchers believe that this is due to that girls’ non-intellectual factors are better than boys’, girls have stronger desires and motivations to get better grades than boys, thus investing more time and working harder to learn (wang, 2005). some studies also believe that the current university teaching model is still based on the teacher’s step-by-step systematic teaching, and the use of students’ participation and inquiry-based learning methods is not high. the examinations also tend to focus on the memory of system knowledge, requiring little creative application of knowledge (ge, 2005). there are also obvious differences in the way of learning between male and female students. girls are better than boys in class notes and recall, whilst boys are better than girls in practical application of knowledge. therefore, female students often tend to achieve better academic achievement. 3.2.2 student age’s influences on academic performance the t-test results of both the ueetm and the uwam based on students’ age are shown in table 5. the results show a significant difference between the uwam for two age groups of students, where younger student group score better than older student group. however, the differences in the ueetm are not significant. table 5. hypothesis testing concerning the influence of student age on the ueetm (h2a) and the uwam (h2b) hypothesis h2a h2b variable age l age h age l age h mean 544.0 545.8 80.3 79.1 variance 372.9 295.8 23.8 23.9 observations 542 542 542 542 df 1082 1082 t stat -1.56 4.07 p-value 0.119 0.000 3.2.3 influence of fresh or former hsg on academic performance table 6 shows the t-test results of the differences in both ueetm and uwam based on whether or not the student is a former or fresh high school graduate (hsg). whilst the differences in the ueetm are not significant, there is a significant difference in the uwam for the two student cohorts, where fresh hsg students score significantly higher than former hsg students. a study by fu et al. (2022) has confirmed this point of view: the grade point average (gpa) of different types of students from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 26 published by scholink inc. highest to lowest are: rural fresh hsg students, urban fresh hsg students, urban former hsg students, and rural former hsg students. table 6. hypothesis testing concerning the influence of fresh or former hsg on ueetm (h3a) and uwam (h3b) hypothesis h3a h3b variable former hsg fresh hsg former hsg fresh hsg mean 543.8 545.4 78.2 80.3 variance 277.0 358.8 24.6 22.8 observations 315 770 315 770 p-value 0.214 0.000 3.2.4 settlement’s influences on academic performance the t-test results of the differences in both the ueetm and the uwam based on rural and urban settlements are presented in table 7. table 7. hypothesis testing concerning the influence of location on ueetm (h4a) and uwam (h4b) hypothesis h4a h4b variable rural urban rural urban mean 545.3 543.7 79.8 79.2 variance 331.7 346.1 23.3 26.9 observations 824 261 824 261 df 1083 1083 t stat 1.18 1.65 p-value (two tail) 0.237 0.099 p-value (one tail) 0.119 0.049 as shown in table 7, the differences in the ueetm of rural and urban areas are not statistically significant. but the one-tailed t-test of uwam has a p-value marginally smaller than 0.05 (two-tailed test with p-value of 0.099), indicating the uwam of the rural students is significantly higher than that of the urban students. this result is similar to that reported in (chu, 2011): the college students with higher income levels from cities have lower academic performance than the students from rural areas with lower family incomes. coleman (1966) pointed out that family background is the most important factor affecting academic achievement, and its influence runs through the whole process of students’ studies, and the influence has an accumulating effect. under china’s urban-rural dual system, there is a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 27 published by scholink inc. big gap between urban family conditions and rural family conditions. different levels of capital provided to the children by families with different backgrounds have an impact on college students’ input to learning (liu, 2015), which affects academic performance. generally, college students from county towns, townships and rural areas have significantly higher learning input than college students from provincial capital cities (li, 2022). in addition, the psychological quality of students is affected by the family environment and conditions. the students with poor economic conditions tend to have more positive learning attitudes and stronger learning motivation. rural college students are more diligent and hard-working than urban students, with good psychological qualities such as hard working and perseverance. these good learning qualities are an important factor for college students to achieve excellent results. 3.2.5 student high school areas’ influences on academic performance in order to test if there is a significant difference between the student performances from different high school areas, anova has been carried out of both the ueetm and uwam in 17 different high school areas, with the results shown in tables 8a/8b. the results have shown no significant differences in both ueetm and uwam due to different high school areas. table 8a. anova of the ueetm in different high school areas (h5a) source of variation ss df ms f p-value f crit between groups 4620.125 16 288.7578 0.859455 0.61712 1.652984 within groups 358824.1 1068 335.9776 total 363444.2 1084 table 8b. anova of the uwam in different high school areas (h5b) source of variation ss df ms f p-value f crit between groups 468.4369 16 29.27731 1.353055 0.157541 1.652984 within groups 23109.3 1068 21.63792 total 23577.74 1084 3.2.6 student parent’s occupation on academic performance table 9 combines the two anova tables for testing the differences in both the ueetm and the uwam due to the different occupations of fathers and mothers. the results have shown the differences in the ueetm due to parents are not significant. but both parents have significant influences on the uwam, with mothers (p-value of 0.016) having more significant influences than fathers (p-value 0.082). there are 6 categories of occupations for a parent: unspecified (0), unemployed (1), farmers (2), www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 28 published by scholink inc. self-employed or factory workers (3), professional (teachers or engineers or doctors) (4) and officers or managers (5). the differences in the ueetm are not significant for either fathers’ or mothers’ occupations, but the differences in the uwam are significant for mothers’ occupational influence. the fathers’ occupational influences on the uwam are not significant at a significance level of 0.05, but significant at a significance level of 0.10. table 9. anova of the ueetm and uwam due to occupational influences of fathers (h6a/h6b) and mothers (h7a/h7b) ueetm uwam programme df f p-value f p-value father (5,1079) 1.474 0.196 1.963 0.082 mother (5,1079) 1.504 0.186 2.808 0.016 we believe that the relationship between parental occupation and student academic performance is influenced by the mediating factor of learning involvement (crook, 1995; ermisch, 2010; marks, 2008). nord (1998) found that the higher the father’s level of learning involvement with the child, the better the child’s academic performance is. fathers with lower levels of education are usually less involved in student learning. similarly, the occupation type of chinese mothers has a great influence on children’s academic performance. it can be explained that there is always a tradition of “male outside, female inside” in china. in many families, mothers and children have more contact when their children grow up. in china, pang (2013) and li (2020) and other studies have found that the level of education of mothers has a more significant impact on students’ academic performance than their fathers. close examination reveals the differences in the uwam are significantly caused by category 4 occupation (professionals including teachers, engineers and doctors), the further anova of the other 5 categories shows no significant differences in the uwam. the students with a professional mother have performed significantly lower than the other group of students. the students with a professional father have also performed lower than the other group of students, although only significant at a significant level of 0.10. the significant differences are likely due to that professional parents are often very busy and have therefore less contact with their children. 3.2.7 different intake’s influences on academic performance table 10 shows the anova results of both the ueetm and the uwam in different years of intakes. the comparison has been made for each of three school/programs, education, mathematics and electronics information. the anova results have shown that there are significant differences (p-value=0.000) in the ueetm for all three school/programs. however, for the uwam, only mathematics has significant difference in the performances of three years’ intakes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 29 published by scholink inc. table 10. anova of the ueetm (h8a) and the uwam (h8b) in different intakes ueetm uwam school/program df f p-value f p-value education (2,325) 91.521 0.000 1.092 0.337 mathematics (2,315) 102.609 0.000 5.944 0.003 electronics info. (2,436) 559.989 0.000 2.117 0.122 3.2.8 different school/program’s influences on academic performance table 11a combines two anova tables to test the differences in both the ueetm and uwam for different school/programs. the anova results have shown significant differences in both the ueetm and the uwam among the three school/programs. table 11b shows that the ueetms for education and mathematics programs are significantly higher than the electronics information program and that in the uwam, education school/program scores significantly higher than other two schools/programs. table 11. anova of the ueetm (h9a) and the uwam (h9b) in different school/programs a) combined anova tables ueetm uwam anova of 3 different school/programs df f p-value f p-value (2,1082) 217.9361207 0.000 84.17819034 0.000 b) performance statistics for each school/program ueetm uwam groups count average variance average variance edu 328 552.64 194.74 82.03 15.02 math 318 553.37 220.14 79.94 23.84 electronics 439 533.02 286.78 77.72 23.31 3.3 testing of hypotheses concerning the influencing factors on student satisfaction ratings 3.3.1 teacher gender’s influences on the student ratings in table 12, the two-sample t-test performed has shown the mean ratings for male teaching staff are significantly higher than female teaching staff, but the significance varies amongst the three schools. the difference in the ratings of male and female staff is only significant (t(206)=-3.35, p-value=0.000) in math school/program, but not in education (t(331)=-0.75, p-value=0.452) and physics (t(333)=-1.36, p-value=0.175). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 30 published by scholink inc. table 12. t-test of the mean student ratings of the lectures for different gender of teaching staff variable female male mean 94.84 95.04 variance 1.630 1.069 observations 493 850 df 865 t stat -2.95 p-value 0.003 3.3.2 teacher academic position’s influences on the student ratings hypothesis h11 is used to test if the mean average of the student ratings are equal for different academic positions. in the education school, a two-sample t-test indicates that the ratings for teaching assistants are significantly (t(13)=4.43, p-value=0.000) lower than lecturers/associate professors/professors. but the single factor anova shows that the ratings are not significantly (f(2, 464)=0.41, p-value= 0.661) different amongst the lecturers, associate professors and professors. in the math school, there are significant (f(2,375)=4.13, p-value= 0.017) difference in the ratings of the lecturers, associate professors and professors, with the mean ratings of 94.9, 95.1 and 95.3, respectively. in physics school, the evaluated staff also include teaching technicians and senior technicians. the anova has shown that there are significant (f(4,473)=4.13, p-value= 0.017) differences amongst the ratings of the five categories of teaching staff, with the decreasing rating means of 95.5, 95.2, 95.0, 94.8 and 94.7 for professors, technicians, associate professors, senior technicians and lecturers, respectively. 3.3.3 different intake’s influences on the student ratings hypothesis h12 is used to test if the mean average of the student ratings of the lectures are equal for different intakes. the anova has indicated that there are significant (f(3,1339)= 28.5, p-value=0.000) difference in the ratings of 4 year intakes, with the mean ratings of 94.84, 94.53, 95.05 and 95.41 for 2013/14, 2014/15. 2015/16 and 2016/17, respectively. 3.3.4 different school’s influences on the student ratings table shows the anova table for the testing of different school’s influences on the student ratings. the anova has shown that there are significant (f(2,1340)= 4.29, p-value=0.014) difference in the ratings of 3 schools, with the mean ratings of 94.85, 95.05 and 95.03 for education, math and physics, respectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 31 published by scholink inc. table 13. anova table for the testing of the mean student ratings for the three different schools source of variation ss df ms f p-value f crit between groups 10.95459 2 5.477295 4.289398 0.013902 3.00244 within groups 1711.097 1340 1.276938 total 1722.052 1342 according to the two-sample t-test performed, the ratings for the math/physics schools are significantly (t(842)=-2.76, p-value=0.006) higher than the education school, but the differences between math and physics schools are insignificant (t(845)=0.25, p-value=0.806). 3.4 ann modelling based on the ann modelling approach by authors (2018), the ann model of the university academic performance is performed using matlab software. the input layer consists of 11 variables about students’ personal/social economic background (i.e., gender, location, fresh or former hsg, high school area, parents’ occupations) and the entrance exam results including chinese, english, maths, comprehensive science and basic ability. each of the two hidden layers has 30 hidden neurons and the single output neuron predicts the students’ cgpa. figure 1. ann prediction error histogram www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 32 published by scholink inc. data samples are randomly mixed and divided into three subsets for training, validation and test with a ratio of 0.7:0.15:0.15, respectively. levenberg-marquardt algorithm is used during the training and learning with a damping factor ζ of 0.001 and the training epoch of 1,500. the ann training continues until the validation error failed to decrease for six iterations during the validation process. after training and validation runs, the ann has achieve a performance with the mse≈0.27 or 6.9%, demonstrating a good prediction performance, with the error histogram shown in figure 1. table 14. summary of the testing results of the hypotheses concerning the factors affecting the student academic performance influencing factors hypotheses decision personal gender h1a: the ueetm is equal for male and female students. reject h1b: the uwam is equal for male and female students. reject age h2a: the ueetm is equal for students at different ages. accept h2b: the uwam is equal for students at different ages. reject fresh vs former hsg h3a: the ueetm is equal for fresh and former hsg students. accept h3b: the uwam is equal for fresh and former hsg students. reject social-economic rural vs urban h4a: the ueetm is equal for students from rural and urban areas. accept h4b: the uwam is equal for students from rural and urban areas. reject high school areas h5a: the ueetm is equal for students from high schools in different areas. accept h5b: the uwam is equal for students from high schools in different areas. accept parents’ occupation h6a: the father’s occupations have no significant influence on the ueetm. accept h6b: the father’s occupations have no significant influence on the uwam. reject @α=0.10 h7a: the mother’s occupations have no significant influence on the ueetm. accept h7b: the mother’s occupations have no significant influence on the uwam. reject educational year of intake h8a: the ueetm is equal for students from different years of intake. reject h8b: the uwam is equal for students from different years of intake. note 1 school/program h9a: the ueetm is equal for students from different school/programs. reject h9b: the uwam is equal for students from different school/programs. reject note. reject for mathematics program, accept for education and electronics information programs. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 33 published by scholink inc. table 15. summary of the testing results of the hypotheses concerning the student rating of each module and teaching staff hypothesis decisio n h10: the mean student ratings are equal for male and female teaching staff. reject h11: the mean student ratings are equal for staff with different academic positions. reject h12: the mean student ratings are equal for different years of intake. reject h13: the mean student ratings are equal for different school/programs. reject 4. conclusion this paper has developed a practical approach to evaluate the quality of university teaching and learning using the existing data which are already readily available. it aims to identify the important influencing factors affecting the student academic performance and the student satisfaction rating of teaching staff and modules. the study has considered student’s personal, social economic background and educational factors. the relationship between the key factors and student academic performance has been further modelled with artificial neural networks (anns). the findings of the data analyses and hypothesis testing are summarised in tables 14 and 15, which present the overall patterns of the relationships between the various influencing factors and the learning and teaching quality in terms of academic performance and student satisfaction ratings. the following can be concluded from these results: 1) the university student academic performance is significantly affected student gender, age, previous academic performance, settlements and occupations of parents (particularly mother’s occupation). 2) male, older, urban, former hsg students and those with professional parent(s) tend to have significantly lower performance than their counterparts. 3) the student academic performance significantly varies in different years of intakes and different schools/programs. 4) based on the case study of university q, there is significant difference in the student ratings for different genders and academic positions of teaching staff. 5) the student satisfaction ratings also significantly vary in different years of intakes and different schools/programs. 6) the student’s university academic performance can be quite accurately predicted using ann with a prediction error of about 7%. these findings are based on the limited data samples from three schools of the case study university. similar studies (including data analyses and modelling) can be extended to more schools and more universities. these types of findings can be used to evaluate, diagnose and predict the quality of the learning and teaching. they will also help the university to identify suitable practices and resources to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 34 published by scholink inc. enhance and improve the student academic performance and student satisfactions, contributing to the continual improvement of higher education quality. funding this study was part of the education project “research on teaching investment of chinese university faculty and improvement of undergraduate teaching quality” (project number: bia200209), funded by the national social science fund of china. 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(2016). using neural network and logistic regression analysis to predict prospective mathematics teachers’ academic success upon entering graduate education. educational sciences: theory & practice, 16(3), 943-964. chen, y. (2004a). introduction to higher education quality assurance system. beijing normal university press. chen, y. et al. (2004b). introduction to the quality assurance system in higher education. beijing normal university press. chinese ministry of education. (2010). outline of china’s national plan for medium-and long-term education reform and development (2010-2020). chu, y. (2011). research on the correlation between household register and college student academic performance-empirical analysis of three universities in guangdong province. higher education exploration, 3, 110-116. coleman, j. et al. (1966). equality of education opportunity. in report no oe-138001. national centre for educational statistics, washington dc. crook, c. j. 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(2015). differences in learning input among college students with different family backgrounds (master dissertation). fujian normal university. marks, g. n. (2008). are father’s or mother’s socioeconomic characteristics more important influences on student performance? recent international evidence. social indicators research, 85(2), 293-309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9132-4 nord, c. w. (1998). students do better when their fathers are involved at school. in report no nces-1998-121. national centre for educational statistics, washington dc. pang, w. et al. (2013). a study on the relationship between family socioeconomic status and academic achievement of middle school students. global education, 42(2), 12-20. wang, a., & che, h. (2005). a study on the relationship between learning anxiety, learning attitude and involvement motivation and academic achievement-a survey of learning experience of psychological statistics. psychological development and education, 1, 55-59. yang, q., & butler, c. (1994). sensor signal processing using neural networks for a 3-d fibre-optic position sensor. sensors and actuators, a: physical, 41(3), 102-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/0924-4247(94)80096-0 https://doi.org/10.1109/icsgea.2017.155 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.01.015 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-0884-7 https://doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2010.5.1.58 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9132-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0924-4247(94)80096-0 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 36 published by scholink inc. zhang, j. m. (2022). the construction of intercollegiate relations of cooperative colleges and universes in the context of high-quality high education system system. journal of higher education management, 16(4), 20-30. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 108 original paper affective commitment of academic staff in higher educational institutions micheal mwebaza 1* , kizza ssali francis 2 , samuel s kafuuma 3 & raymond mwesigye 4 1 makerere university, college of education and external studies, p.o box 7062, kampala 2 bugema university, p.o. box 6529, kampala, uganda 3 uganda management institute (umi), p.o. box 20131 kampala, uganda 4 university of rwanda, institute of education, p.o. box 55, rwamagana, rwanda * micheal mwebaza, e-mail: micheal.mwebaza@mak.ac.ug received: november 21, 2024 accepted: november 27, 2024 online published: november 29, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p108 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p108 abstract the study established the level of affective commitment (ac) of academic staff of universities in uganda. academic staff from two universities, uganda christian university (ucu) and kyambogo university (kyu), participated in the study. it was guided by three specific objectives: to establish the status of academic commitment (ac), to establish the perception of academic staff on their affective commitment, and to suggest ways of improving affective commitment among academic staff. the study utilised a model by meyer and allen to extensively discuss affective commitment. it was a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. the population involved lecturers from the two universities. these were sampled using simple random sampling. data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. this data was analysed at the univariate level using descriptive statistics means and standard deviations. lecturers in the two universities indicated their moderately high degree of affective organisational commitment to their universities in their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. this study provides at least some evidence of how the affective commitment of academic staff can be devised to ensure organisation effectiveness. the university’s continued efforts should be geared towards improving work conditions, encouraging creativity and participation, ensuring satisfaction, and acting in ways that increase the affective commitment of academic staff to their institutions. keywords commitment, affective commitment, universities, academic staff www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 109 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction in the highly competitive environment of today, organisations can only achieve great performance if every person is committed towards attaining those organizational goals (radosavljevic, cilerdzic & dragic, 2017). therefore, in order for any organisation to compete favorably and become successful in this demanding and fast growing global world, a committed work force is paramount (rubel et al., 2021). organisation are therefore investing in improving structures, procedures, practices and policies that ensure commitment (vance, 2006). affective commitment (ac) is related to higher productivity and lower employee turnover, which is responsible for rendering a competitive edge in organisations. consequently, to keep someone consistent with their plan of action and become relevant to their goal, affective commitment is sought. ac of personnel is a burning aspiration to uphold the organization’s welfare and to exercise a strong mental connection in support of organisational aims. so, affective commitment gives strength to staff’s identification and participation in an organisation. 2. conceptual framework accordingly, meyer and allen designedly inferred that employees that are affectively committed to their organisation have a strong sense of alignment with its goals and objectives as a whole. the employee is interested in staying a part of the organisation. the employee unconditionally falls in love with the organisation since he/she “wants to”. the commitment here is subjective to the various individual variables and perceptions: age, tenure, sex, and education. the issue with these traits, however, is that despite being visible, they cannot be accurately and precisely described. according to velickovic et al. (2014), meyer and allen drew heavily from the perception of commitment by mowday, porter, and steers (1982), which then had referenced earlier work by kanter (1968), in establishing this concept. the foundation of commitment of this nature is the notion that the organisation respects and values what they do, is concerned for their welfare, and evaluates if it is prepared to reward their increasing efforts. organisational development and recruitment and retention practices are becoming more and more concerned with retaining employees’ love and, subsequently, shown commitment (zachary, 2015). the strongest and most reliable predictor of successful organisational results has been determined to be affective commitment. this leads to higher attainment of organisational vision and goals. it has the highest emotional bond of staff to the university, which explains the strong dedication and loyalty. meyer and allen suggested that work experiences like leadership support and organisational rewards have shown a stronger relationship with affective commitment. affective commitment is needed in such a competitive environment that is rapidly changing with continued globalization. this state creates an environment of uncertainty and requires universities to have a workforce that is dynamic and committed to the institution’s demands in a changing society. therefore, the affective commitment of university academic staff is important due to the complexity of learning and teaching, the need for adaptability, and community demand initiatives required to be fulfilled by the university. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 110 published by scholink inc. 3. literature review organizational success requires the maintenance of high levels of affective commitment (khalifa, 2023). affective component strongly correlates with important organisational variables like turnover, absence, abscondment, and this has made it a core component of organisational commitment (mercurio, 2015). individuals with affective commitment identify with their organisation because the perceived goals, missions and values are congruent with what that individual recognizes (grund & titz, 2021). they have a strong attachment to the organisation and the feelings to be part of the organisation. studies about affective commitment has showed varying results, for instance an excursion conducted by cemaloglu, sezgin and kiline (2012) discovered that, teachers’ low affective commitment is attributed to criticism in their community but when the leader used management by exception style, there was a high affective commitment. morrow (2011) emphasized that the effective management of affective organisational commitment can present the most significant relationship with the desired employee behaviors. affective commitment is the most consistent in enabling achievement of positive organisational outcomes (suifan, 2019; chai et al., 2020; khaola & rambe, 2021; to & huang, 2022). employees who exhibit affective commitment become strongly identified with the company and feel a connection to it. the sense of belonging increases employee engagement in the organization’s activities. they learn about the organization’s mission, goals, and vision. this acquaintance increases productivity, which leads the organization to compete favourably. the emotional state of employees with affective commitment is so strong that everything that goes wrong in the organisation leads them to feel failing the organisation. any reward, appreciation and contribution offered to these workers increases their efforts and energy in serving the organisation. the increased efforts result in a sense of duty towards the organisation and ownership of organization’s welfare. such employees are held in high regard and like fostering relationships and cooperation inside the workplace. these employees enjoy the collegial relationship with their leaders and co-workers. the accomplishment of organisational objectives is facilitated by all of these traits. it is hard to find affectively committed employees with behaviours of resentment, abscondment and withdrawal. 4. methodology the study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. a total of 289 academic staff participated in the study. these were sampled using simple random sampling. data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. a total of 235 questionnaires were returned out of the 289 that were distributed. the data was analysed at univariate level using descriptive statistics means and standard deviations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 111 published by scholink inc. 5. results results showed that males made up the majority of the study participants 151(64.3%), compared to 84(35.7%) females. this finding somewhat suggested that university education could be predominantly benefiting male lecturers. results also disclosed that many study respondents, 92(39.1%) ranged between the ages 30-39. this age bracket was followed by that of lecturers in the age group of 40-50 years who were 84(36.7%). conversely, the elderly lecturers were found to be the least likely to participate in this study, just 28(11.9%). furthermore, 90% had sufficient qualifications as recommended by the national council for higher education (nche, 2005). the results signified that 8(3.4%) were post-doctoral fellows, 60(25.5%) had a phd and almost 60 per cent, that is, 139(59.1%), had a master’s degree. in fact, only 28(11.9%) had a bachelor’s degree. a large number of the study respondents 164(69.8%) were working as contracted professionals, followed by 62(26.4%) on a permanent basis and least 9(3.8%) were casual employees. lastly, experience showed that a large number that responded 80(34%) were of sufficient experience, between 6-10 years. this was followed by 71(30.2%) with experience between 3-5 years. those with experience above 10 years were 54(23%) and the smallest percentage had worked between 0-2 years; 30(12.8%). these results suggested that academic staff experience was quite high implying that their affective commitment would be convincing. worth noting about the perception of study participants, (48.9%) concurred that they would find it very delightful to work in higher education for the remainder of their careers. in contrast, 31% of respondents disagreed, and 20% of respondents lacked a firm opinion. nonetheless, with the opinion arithmetic mean of 3.276 and standard deviation at 1.328, there is a moderate respondent insinuation of uncertainty about their wholly stay in the respective organizations for the rest of their career time. this, in a way, could connote that though the lecturers appear to be happy to the extent of staying in the university, the university authorities should not get tired of constantly improving and maintaining organizational quality and more so, the lecturers’ wellbeing. this will check the possibility of academics flying away. on the notion whether respondents really saw their university’s problem as their own, about 45.3% of the respondents were in agreement with this questionnaire statement. conversely, though, about 33.2% of the respondents were in disagreement with the notion, as well as 11.5% being impartial or non-committal to the set questionnaire statement. with the computed arithmetic mean of 3.283 (moderate position in the opinions of the respondents on the likert scale) and standard deviation of 1.280, it is probable that the respondents may also have had other reservations (though mild) besides what they may have articulated as being a general view that they see their university’s problems as their own. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 112 published by scholink inc. on the questionnaire statement that sought to find out whether respondents felt “emotionally attached to their university”, slightly over 64% were in agreement with it. this was in contrast with about 20% who disagreed with the statement and the 15.7% who were recorded to be non-committal. although the arithmetic mean of 3.553 was close to the 4 th likert scale point (agree) with sd=1.176, this may imply that respondents had agreed that they were emotionally attached to their universities and had the university at heart, though moderately. the findings supposed that in all ways academic staff were touched by what was happening in their universities, but there was some room left for improvement. on whether the university had profound meaning for the lecturers, 73.6% of the respondents agreed to this notion (mean value 3.834, sd=1.067 on likert scale), as compared to 14.9% who disagreed while 11.5% were non-committal. thus, there was agreement that respondents’ universities had great meaning to the lecturers. finally, over 77.1% of the study respondents agreed feeling strongly belonging to their universities (mean: 3.893, sd=1.074); insignificantly below 4.0 points on the likert scale. nevertheless, this was opposed to 15.8% who disagreed with this notion and the 7.2% respondents who were non-committal. this high sense of belonging implied that lecturers take their job as a home entity where all parties involved work for the common good. to get a general view of how respondents rated their affective organizational commitment, aggregation of all items into one average index was done. results from the histogram and curve showed that, the largest proportion of participants were concentrated on the right side of the histogram and curve. this suggests that affective commitment of lecturers at kyambogo university and uganda christian university was fair. however, the mean value of 3.57 meant that there was some level of agreement with affective commitment. lecturers in the two universities indicated their moderately high degree of affective organisational commitment to their universities in their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. 6. discussion, conclusions and recommendation academic staff who participated in the study indicated that a significant number remained in their prime for employment, which could be a significant and dependable element in the realm of affective commitment. the qualification of respondents revealed that academic staff in the two universities were qualified to teach in universities. however, the academic staff without phds and masters, which are the minimum requirements for one to teach in a university, was still significant. this may lower their level of commitment as their security on the job was at stake. this presupposes that there is still much effort needed to make lecturers move to higher ranks of senior lecturers, associates, and full professors. these percentages suggest that since most lecturers who participated in the study were on a contract basis, this was likely to negatively affect their level of affective commitment, as this category is always on the move from one university to another. hence, academic staff with doubted permanence on the job may probably result in their insignificant affective commitment. therefore, in order to improve affective commitment, universities should conduct various activities, which might include creating a strong team of workers and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 113 published by scholink inc. ensuring they are working in a favourable environment. building working teams is very important. these employees come from different backgrounds with divergent views. when the organisation carries out team building, workers would love to work together, hence increasing their affective or continuance commitment. group cohesion enables collegial relationships, trust, and a combined effort to achieve organisational goals. this will result in committed members of the group. the second way to improve commitment is to be transparent and encourage open communication. academic staff don’t want to work in an environment of uncertainty. they want to set targets that they are sure of achieving. they prefer to know what the crucial aspects of their university and job assignments are so that they are excellent at the work. therefore, openness in communication is vital. in addition, the university should maintain high standards of work ethics. employees feel respected and feel that they have a great equal role in the organisation when they are assured of royalty. the university therefore should also ensure a positive culture and develop trust. this also improves the commitment of employees. furthermore, there is improved affective commitment in an environment that encourages innovation, where the feedback is provided constructively, tasks are delegated efficiently, and rewards or incentives are offered. references cemaloglu, n., sezgin, f., & kilinc, a. c. 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(2015). affective commitment as a core essence of organizational commitment: an integrative literature review. sage journals. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.12.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-509370-5.50005-8 https://doi.org/10.5937/intrev1702018r https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22089 https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v13n2p42 https://doi.org/10.1108/md-11-2021-1447 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2014.05.003 microsoft word grhe-v1n2-p105 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 105 original paper six-years learning of english harits setyawan1* 1 institute teknologi sumatera (itera), lampung selatan, indonesia * harits setyawan, institute teknologi sumatera (itera), lampung selatan, indonesia received: may 9, 2018 accepted: may 21, 2018 online published: june 1, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p105 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p105 abstract the main objective of this research is to investigate the students’ english proficiency after learning the subject for six years; 3 years at junior high school and 3 years at senior high school. this research was conducted at some higher schools in lampung. the higher schools involved both public and private institutions. the samples were chosen purposefully; students who were taught by the researcher. in overall there were 40 samples involved in this research. at the beginning of the class, before the students were taught by the researcher, they were given a multiple-choice test that measured the students’ knowledge of english grammar. the result showed the mean score that the students got was 47.5, which meant very low english proficiency. it indicates that a long-duration learning of english does not guarantee that students will be proficient in that language. keywords english language teaching, english proficiency, higher school students 1. introduction english is one of subjects which students learn at junior high schools and senior high schools in indonesia. it means that the students learn english for 6 years at schools. through a long-duration of learning english, it is expected that the students will have a sufficient proficiency in english, so they can compete both nationally and internationally. however, the researcher found that most of higher school students whom the researcher taught still had a low proficiency in english though they had learnt the subject at junior high school and senior high school. evidently, what the researcher found aligns with what other researchers found. in their journal article, camargo and vásquez (2018, p. 117) stated all of them describing in detail that students were making writing mistakes when they were given written assignments in class which are close related to lack of vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, sentence coherence and word choice. more specifically, abdulmajeed and hameed (2017, p. 40) explained, in their paper, the researchers concentrate on the most problematic subject in english www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 106 published by scholink inc. grammar that almost all the students suffer from. it is the “inherent” and “non-inherent” adjectives. in fact, researchers have found various methods and techniques to overcome problems in english language learning. chubko (2017, p. 29) found that the implementation of the video making technique significantly improved students’ grammar test performance. the importance of this study is in introducing the grammar teaching technique that could enable students to identify the gaps in their understanding of grammar; and through self-study, collaboration, and discovery, students attain better grammar test scores. equally important, mabuan and ebron (2017, pp. 96-97) suggested that students viewed online writing via e-mail as an academic tool that could help them develop their english writing skills in context, a social tool that could provide them opportunities to engage, collaborate, and learn from and with their peers, and a technological tool that could afford them additional means of learning along with in-class learning. furthermore, yusri, ramadloni, and mantasiah (2017, p. 63) concluded that the intercultural approach in the foreign language, especially language learning can increase students’ motivation. this can be seen from the increase in student motivation from the pretest and posttest conducted. time to time, researchers find more methods and techniques which are scientifically proven that they are able to significantly improve students’ english proficiency, yet teachers still find that many students do not have sufficient competence in english. there is not much research that reveals students’ english proficiency after the students go through teaching and learning processes of the subject for a long time. it is necessary to discover the students’ english proficiency to find out the fact if english language teaching has reached its goals or not. furthermore, conducting this research brings some other benefits. for policy makers, it can give a description of students’ english proficiency after learning the subject for a period of time, so it indirectly helps them in designing future policies. for educators, it can show if they are successful in teaching english or not, so they can enhance their performance in the classroom. for students, it can show their current english proficiency, so they will get more drive to improve their proficiency level if the result is not satisfying. therefore, this research which is entitled six-years teaching and learning of english is accordingly conducted. 2. method 2.1 research design this research was a quantitative research. the data were collected from higher school students who had studied english for six years; at junior high school and senior high school. the samples were chosen purposefully since this research investigated the students’ english proficiency after learning the subject for a period of time. there was a grammar test given to the students. the test covered topics that the students had ever learnt when they were at junior high school and senior high school. the collected data were statistically analyzed to determine the students’ english mastery. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 107 published by scholink inc. 2.2 population and samples the population in this research covered all higher students in lampung. however, the samples were taken from higher schools where the researcher taught english. there were 4 higher schools in which the data were collected. the higher schools involved public and private higher schools. from each higher school, 10 samples were chosen. therefore, the total number of samples in this research was 40 higher school students. because this research was conducted in the early of 2018, only second semester students were eligible to become the samples. the second semester students were chosen since the longer they studied at campus, the more they were pushed to be proficient in english. it might have driven them to join english classes outside campus which could impact on their proficiency in english. furthermore, there was no differentiation in gender and age. both male and female students with different ages could become the samples as long as they were in the second semester when the research was conducted. 2.3 data collecting procedures there are some procedures that the researcher follows in conducting this research. the procedures are described as follows. 2.3.1 determining sample the samples are determined based on their duration of learning english. since college students have learnt english for six years; three years and junior high school and three years at senior high school, they are chosen as the samples of the research. 2.3.2 giving a test the test is given to the samples of the research. they are given 10 minutes to answer 20 questions. the test is in the form of multiple choices. it covers topics that the students have ever learnt at junior high school and senior high school, like simple present tense and simple past tense. 2.3.3 analyzing data the collected data are statistically analyzed to determine the students’ english proficiency after they have learnt the subject at junior high school and senior high school. 2.4 data analysis in analyzing the collected data, the researcher uses the following criteria to determine the students’ english proficiency level after they have leant the subject for 6 years; 3 years at junior high school and 3 years at senior high school. the classification of the score criteria is based on common scoring system that the researcher finds as far as the researcher teaches english at higher schools. score 90-100 means excellent english proficiency level. score 80-89 means very good english proficiency level. score 70-78 means good english proficiency level. score 60-69 means fair english proficiency level. score 50-59 means low english proficiency level. score 40-49 means very low english proficiency level. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 108 published by scholink inc. score 0-39 means poor english proficiency level. 3. result having analyzed the data, the researcher finds that the students’ scores range from 20 to 90. it means that the students’ english proficiency level ranges from poor to excellent. the following table shows the distribution of the students’ scores. table 1. distribution of the students’ score score total number level 90 1 excellent 85 1 very good 80 70 65 60 55 50 40 35 30 25 20 2 2 2 6 2 3 7 4 4 3 3 very good good fair fair low low very low poor poor poor poor total 40 the table shows that all proficiency classifications are represented though the total number of each classification is not equal. excellent english proficiency level gets the least number of students with only 1 person who can achieve it, whereas poor english proficiency level gets the highest number of students with 14 persons who get scores lower than 40. there are 7 students who get very low english proficiency and 5 students who got low english proficiency level. furthermore, 8 out of 40 students get fair english proficiency level, 2 out of 40 students get good english proficiency level, and 3 out of 40 students get very good english proficiency level. the total number of students who get poor, very low, and low english proficiency level achieves 26 students. it outperforms the total number of students who get good, very good, and excellent english proficiency level. in overall, the percentage of students who get excellent english proficiency level is 2.5%. the percentage of students who get very good english proficiency level is 7.5%. the percentage of students who get good english proficiency level is 5%. the percentage of students who get fair english www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 109 published by scholink inc. proficiency level is 20%. the percentage of students who get low english proficiency level is 12.5%. the percentage of students who get very low english proficiency level is 17.5%. the percentage of students who get poor english proficiency level is 35%. it is clear that students with poor english proficiency level are dominant compared to students with other english proficiency levels, whereas student with excellent english proficiency level is a minority in the group. the following table shows statistical description of the students’ scores. table 2. statistical description of the students’ score descriptive statistics n minimum maximum mean std. deviation 90 40 20.0 90.0 47.500 18.9804 valid n (listwise) 40 the table shows that the lowest score that the students get is 20 and the highest score that the students get is 90. furthermore, the total number of students who join the test is 40 and the mean of the students’ scores is 47.5. based on the proficiency level classification as previously explained, the mean of the students’ scores achieves only very low english proficiency. 4. discussion the finding of this research shows that although the students have learnt english for six years; three years at junior high schools and three years at senior high schools, most of them do not have sufficient competence in english. it implies that a long duration of english language teaching and learning does not guarantee that the students will have sufficient competence in english. this case can be caused by various factors. one of the factors is a conventional method of teaching. hussain (2017, p. 144) explained, due to conventional methods of teaching, an anxiety developed in the students and they lost their interest in this subject. furthermore, the ways teachers teach in the classroom can also influence the success of teaching and learning english. teachers often forget that the main objective of learning a language is to make someone able to communicate by using the target language. ibrahim, m. k., and ibrahim, y. a. (2017, p. 297) showed dominant practices that teachers do in the classroom: (1) concentration on language form rather than use and appropriateness, (2) a tendency to favor accuracy-focused activities rather than fluency-focused, and (3) an attention to exercises on the language rather than communication tasks to be achieved through the language. equally important, foreign language education planning can also influence the success of teaching and learning process of english. yunus and taslim (2017, pp. 4-5) found that in the context of english foreign language learning at aba umi, students interacted only with their classmates. as known, students who learn english as a foreign language do not use english as a daily means of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 110 published by scholink inc. communication. the foreign language is not also an official language that is used in formal situations. in other words, they use english only in certain situations, like at schools or when given assignments to speak english. with limited exposure to the target language, it will be very difficult for students to be fluent in english. it is crucial to construct an appropriate foreign language education planning then. aligning with this statement, qian (2017, p. 45) found that medium-long term foreign language education planning was critical for the rational development of basic foreign language education which had to be adjusted to the needs of social developments as well as individual rights. the finding of this research hopefully become a consideration for policy makers in english language teaching and learning, english teachers, and students. for policy makers, it hopefully gives a description of the real situation in the field. most students who come to higher schools have insufficient competence in english. by knowing this situation, it is expected that educational policies will be made in order to solve problems that both teachers and students face in english language teaching and learning. for english teachers, it hopefully becomes a reflection of how they teach their students. when the students have insufficient competence in english, it implies that there is something wrong in the teaching and learning process. by knowing this situation, it is expected that english teachers do improvements in the way of teaching english, so the objectives of english language teaching and learning can be achieved. for students, it hopefully gives a view of where their english competence currently is. their current english competence is still far from what is expected. by knowing this situation, it is expected that they become more motivated in improving their english proficiency to cope with globalization era. acknowledgements first of all the researcher would like to thank to god that the researcher is able to finish this journal article. the researcher would like also to thank to higher school students who have participated in this research. without their willingness to participate, this research would not run well. furthermore, the researcher would like to thank the researcher’s friends who always support and encourage the researcher to always be active and routine in conducting research on english language teaching and learning. the last but not least, the researcher also thanks all people who have directly or indirectly contributed to the success of this research. references abdulmajeed, & hameed. (2017). using a linguistic theory of humour in teaching english grammar. english language teaching, 10(2), 40-47. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n2p40 camargo, & vásquez. (2018). the impact of wikis & videos integration though cooperative writing tasks processes. english language teaching, 11(5). chubko. (2017). video making as a way to improve students’ grammar knowledge: a case study of teaching grammar in the academic english classroom. the asian efl journal, 98. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 111 published by scholink inc. husain. (2017). an evaluation of elt situation in higher education institutions in punjab, pakistan. european journal of english language teaching, 2(3). ibrahim, m. k., & ibrahim, y. a. (2017). communicative english language teaching in egypt: classroom practice and challenges. issues in educational research, 27(2). mabuan, & ebron. (2017). a blended learning approach to teaching writing: using e-mail in the esl classroom. the asian efl journal, 100. qian. (2017). recent developments of china’s basic foreign language education: review and reflections. the asian efl journal, 98. yunus, & taslim. (2017). english lecturers’ perceptions of task-based reading teaching at aba universitas muslim indonesia. the asian efl journal, 98. yusri, romadloni, & mantasiah. (2017). intercultural approach in foreign language learning to improve students’ motivation. the asian efl journal, 98. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper higher education means more than vocational training in the 21st century yue lyu 1 1 school of education, university of glasgow, scotland, uk received: june 16, 2023 accepted: june 26, 2023 online published: august 2, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p1 abstract based on theoretical approach of biesta and nussbaum, this essay argues that higher education means more than vocational training in the 21st century. the article first contributes to different insights into the area of educational purposes and policy. then it analyzes the specific issue within this theme-vocationalism in higher education-with the help of the two theoretical tools, arguing that biesta’s approach offers a more appropriate and fuller explanation for the issue. maintaining the diversity of purposes of higher education can make it better function in the social system and prevent us from getting lost in the way of discovering its true value. finally, there are two recommendations for thinking about the ultimate value of education regardless of its forms. keywords vocationalism, higher education, educational purposes, biesta, nussbaum, theoretical analysis 1. introduction in the 21 st century, higher education is generally considered as the final stage of formal learning that occurs after the completion of secondary education. it develops with times and plays various but important roles in promoting the advancement of society. despite that higher education has a variety of purposes, it has divergent focuses in different stages of human history which determine its main function and position in the social setting. historically, vocational education and higher education were respectively derived from opposing traditions and had relatively monotonic forms. while universities concentrated on transmitting systematic scientific knowledge, vocational schools were aimed at providing a series of training for specific occupations (maclean, 2010). this relationship has continuously changed with the socioeconomic development in different times. in the past few decades, human society has experienced dramatic changes driven by rapidly evolving science and technologies. we now live in an era in which a global and knowledge-driven economy largely changes the structure www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 2 published by scholink inc. of the labor market and makes new demands to the workforce. it places great emphasis on the needs of high-level talents that are no longer satisfied by primary and secondary education. thus, deeply influenced by neoliberalism and human capital theory which claim that not only individuals but also society can benefit from direct investment on people, governments in many countries around the world turn to higher education for help. when making educational policies in this field, they regard higher education more as an effective way of investment in order to accumulate corresponding human capital for national economic growth and solve the increasingly prominent employment issues (hayward, 2004). against this background, a growing trend of vocationalization starts to appear in this area. the incorporation of vocational education into higher education suggests a possible positive direction towards building a more comprehensive system including a wider range of institutions with diverse functions. however, this trend may also lead to excessive professionalism of higher education, which in essence is a kind of simplification of purposes and values of higher education. such simplification will impede the sustainable development of an individual and the whole society. in this context, this essay argues that higher education means more than vocational training in the 21 st century from a theoretical perspective. the article first explains why this issue and its relevant theme, educational purposes, are important to not only individuals and society but also education itself. based on that, biesta’s theory of three functions of educational purposes and nussbaum’s capabilities approach are separately clarified in details to contribute to a deep understanding of this area. finally, the essay demonstrates which theoretical approach provides a more powerful and insightful explanation to the vocationalism in higher education. two recommendations for thinking about the ultimate value of education are also given at the end of this essay. 2. educational purposes and policy education is the process of facilitating individuals’ learning, helping them acquire knowledge, shaping values and beliefs, forming habits and mastering skills (dewey, 2004). this definition indicates one basic purpose of education that is to bring people to as full a realization as possible of what it is to be a human being. based on structural functionalism (macionis & gerber, 2010), society serves as a complex system whose parts are similar to interconnected cogs and work together to promote solidarity and stability. education is such a cog in the social system which has its own functions and is closely interrelated with other parts in society. purposes of education are reasons behind its particular position and functions in the whole system which assist in pointing out directions of the progress. they can never be simple or independent. educational purposes range from very small targets like spreading disciplinary knowledge or preparing students for a job to general goals such as contributing to national economic productivity or meeting social needs. in addition, situated within the social structure, education more or less serves interests of certain groups. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=utf8&text=john+j.+macionis&search-alias=books&field-author=john+j.+macionis&sort=relevancerank https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=utf8&text=linda+m.+gerber&search-alias=books&field-author=linda+m.+gerber&sort=relevancerank www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 3 published by scholink inc. since ancient times, debates on purposes of education have never stopped. today, arguments on vocationalism in higher education in nature are reflections on purposes of education. criticism of over professionalism in this field lies in the simplification of purposes of education. one of negative effects brought about by this vocationalized trend is that it makes higher education become more and more utilitarian. currently, a paradigmatic shift has appeared not just in the field of higher education policies, but consequently among college students in regard to their attitudes towards the purpose of higher education. students’ expectations have grown increasingly utilitarian and vocational. they mostly count diplomas as a stepping stone to success in the workplace. in order to keep in line with educational policies and satisfy student’s needs, higher education inevitably focuses more on offering them transferable skills. education has become more as a tool that only aims to supply labor to the market and consequently its functions are limited. at the same time, the true value of education is hidden in this situation, which will hinder its own advancement. except for this, the simplification of educational purposes can weaken the key role of education in promoting social justice and reducing social inequality, which is a major preoccupation of educational policy makers. on the one hand, according to distributive justice, no matter what their backgrounds are, everyone should have equal distribution of all material and social goods (jawls, 2005). when discussing about this type of social justice, it is easy to only focus on “equal distribution for everyone” but overlook “all material and social goods”. however, the latter one is the fundamental part in course of distribution. distributive justice cannot be achieved by everyone’s equal distribution of limited resources. vocational training in higher education only gives people access to one kind of benefits from higher education. in a society pursuing fairness and justice, each individual has right to enjoy all benefits of this educational resource. on the other hand, in a sense, vocationalism, a narrow view of educational purposes, restricts individuals’ freedom of choice with reference to two aspects. first, it restraints people from freely selecting which benefit of higher education they would like to get. different people may have diverse educational needs. second, it imperceptibly prevents individuals from making their own decisions about whether they really need higher education. excessive emphasis on vocational purposes may mislead the public to regard higher education as an indispensable way of getting better jobs. thus, they have no choice but try to get into higher education. moreover, in this case, advocacy of vocationalism represents interests of dominant groups such as governments or privileged class who try to use education to maintain their exclusive advantages. based on the idea of recognitive justice (gale & densmore, 2000), a just society should foster respect of different social groups, attempting to serve their different needs. in addition, interests of dominated groups are supposed to be represented through dialogue and conversations. therefore, discussions about multiple purposes of higher education should be brought back on the agenda to contribute to achieving social justice. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 4 published by scholink inc. in such a diversified and democratic society, education regardless of its forms or levels has more responsibilities. profound considerations upon educational purposes can help us have a deep understanding of education and its true value, finding out what the ultimate goal of our efforts is and to what end we are spending our time and energy in the process of conducting educational activities. thinking more about educational purposes is the first step to address the issue and make education better function in the society. in next part, biesta’s theory of three functions of educational purposes and nussbaum’s capabilities approach will be introduced in details to provide us with insights into this field. based on critique of the excessive influence of neoliberalism in the globe from different perspective, both of the theorists justify the significance of educational purposes and build a framework for a deep and broad understanding of this area. 3. biesta: “learnification” and three functions of education according to biesta (2009), in such an age that is full of measurement and comparisons of learning outcomes, there is a need to rethink what constitute good education, a question which is closely related to the purpose of education. firstly, he points out one important problem hidden behind the increasingly developing educational measurement culture and its excessive concentration on competition. it is that what we measure are not equal to what are supposed to be valued. currently, educational policies and activities rely so much on evidence that we have an illusion that the factual information from our measurements is what is desirable for education. however, examined from a philosophical perspective, “what ought to be done can never be logically derived from what is” (biesta, 2009, p. 35). most importantly, what we measure now may be what is easily being assessed. in consequence, the value of education lies in what we can do rather than what we should do. targets and indicators of real quality are mistaken for quality itself. in fact, the current educational culture is in essence a culture of effectiveness, embodying an instrumental value mainly addressing a secure process which can ensure certain outcomes. however, value-based judgements are not determined by that but by ultimate values which consider about the true aims and purposes of education. in this context, biesta further explains why questions about values and purposes of good education have been fading out of our sight. it consists in both external reasons caused by exterior environments and internal ones arising from education itself. as for the former ones, on the one hand, it is generally considered that educational purposes are too personal and subjective to be rationally discussed. on the other hand, people often mistake a specific view of purposes called as common sense for actual values and aims of education. however, such common sense always serves the interests of particular groups instead of those involving the majority. what is worse is that not only the dominant groups use this to maintain their edge and keep the status quo, but also the dominated ones are brainwashed and tend to support such opinions. thus, social inequalities are not alleviated but reproduced in a different way. with respect to internal reasons, biesta proposes a term “learnification” to describe the new language of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 5 published by scholink inc. learning. it refers to the trend that teaching gradually exits from the center and is regarded as the facilitation of learning. education places much emphasis on learners’ initiative and autonomy and it is mainly responsible for the provision of learning opportunities and resources. this trend leads to two problematic aspects. one is that learning makes people more likely to think of educational purposes from an individualistic perspective as what individuals can do rather than considering about the ultimate goal of education itself. the other is the exaggerated attention to the process which may lead to the ignorance of initial aims. at this point, biesta applies “learnification” to stress the difference between learning and education, pointing out that the former is an individual process and the latter gives the process content (nakai, yonezawa & biseth, 2016). based on these reasons, he argues that an ongoing debate about the purposes of education should keep its existence in a democratic society. in order to put the debate back on the agenda, instead of directly describing what are educational purposes, biesta outlines a conceptual framework into which a wide range of purposes in this area could fit by suggesting three functions of education. the first is qualification. it is aimed at offering people who participate in education knowledge, skills, understanding, dispositions and forms of judgement that enable them to do something ranging from the very specific like preparing students for a job to more general such as learning about modern culture. this function primarily lays the foundation for people to perform in the society and is undoubtedly one of the basic and major functions of formal education. the second one is socialization which is to do with the purpose of making a person become a member of a society, following particular social, cultural and political orders through education. this function shows that education is never neutral, usually representing interests of certain groups in the society and can be used to transfer particular values and continuous specific traditions. that is why a country always places formal education in the first place. apart from these two functions, education can also make contributions to a person’s subjectification. it is a process of individualization which is generally counted as the opposite function of socialization. its main goal is to provide individuals with capacities that allow them to act independently and freely make their own choices. nonetheless, the establishment of this framework is just the first step. starting from that, it is pivotal to shift discussions about actual educational functions to the exploration of real kinds of functions, namely aims and ends that education should have. biesta’s theoretical approach gives us insights to the area of educational purposes from two perspectives. first, he indicates the imperatives of rekindling the debate on educational ultimate values by pointing out the problem behind current situations and factors impeding such a debate. furthermore, this part can give us a hint at identifying educational issues that in nature is linked with this area. second, he offers us a starting point which gives directions to explore the ends of education by creating a relatively comprehensive and understandable system of educational functions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 6 published by scholink inc. 4. nussbaum: capabilities approach criticizing the simplistic theory of social development and policy that concentrates much more on economic indicators and outcomes rather than people’s quality of life, nussbaum (2011) develops a capabilities approach borrowed from one of sen’s key term to address a set of questions about both quality of life and basic social justice. she uses the plural form of capability to highlight the diversity and distinctions of the most significant elements of individuals’ quality of life which cannot be reduced to simple economic metric. the core of the capabilities approach lies in individual freedom and choices. it considers each person as an end, caring about not only their own state, but also opportunities available to each of them. this gives respects to personal free will and uniqueness to a large extent. it is far more different from egalitarianism which tries to get everyone equal distribution of the same thing regardless their diverse needs and historical backgrounds. on the contrary, this approach is designed to ensure people’s autonomy so that they can act and choose freely based on their characters. grounded on the idea incorporated in this approach, when promoting social development, we should think about what kind of a society is supposed to be created so that everyone can enjoy the maximum freedom to make their own choices in it, rather than how we could help people fit into the current social structure. therefore, the capabilities approach values much on a person’s self-recognition. some basic concepts are introduced to clarify the approach. first is the notion of capabilities that is the heart of this theory. there are three forms of capabilities: basic, internal and combined. basic capabilities are innate and lays the foundation for individuals’ future development of capabilities. they suggest some kinds of potentials. internal capabilities are described as states and characteristics of a person including personality, intelligence, emotions, perceptions and so on. being different from the former ones, they are trained abilities which are influenced by external social environments and then are internalized into one’s traits. as for combined capabilities, they are the synthesis of internal capabilities and external conditions that permit free functions of internal ones. in a sense, combined capabilities could be seen as exterior extensions of the internal ones in the surroundings. in spite of their differences, one cannot be truly developed without the other one. another crucial aspect is about functioning which refers to the realizations of capabilities. the acquisition and strengthening of different forms of capabilities largely depends on their functioning. however, it may be restricted by particular social contexts. functioning applicable in this approach is different from its traditional view that is more like an expression of utilitarianism. in this case it also focuses on freedom. it means that people can freely decide how to make their capabilities function instead of being forced to function in a certain way (carlson, nguyen & reinardy, 2016). thus, the development of capabilities that in essence is the exercise of human freedom should be ultimate goals for a fair society. nonetheless, sometimes compromises are also needed because there is no absolute freedom. in certain circumstances, the right to do things may destroy not only one’s own capabilities but also those of others. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 7 published by scholink inc. based on these, nussbaum further proposes ten essential and irreducible capabilities which are held up as the threshold of guaranteeing human dignity and their freedom of a series of choices. they cover from bodily health to mental health, from reason to emotions, from each individual to relationships with others, from study to play, and from human beings to other species and living environments. the basic claim of social justice is to respect human dignity and the quality of life, which requires that every citizen should be placed above the threshold by empowering their freedom to achieve these ten central capabilities. in the process of pursuing such kind of social justice, education plays a key role. it provides individuals with opportunities to develop their capabilities through a variety of educational functioning (lozano et al., 2012). for example, general education such as literacy, reading and writing aimed at transmitting a broad range of knowledge forms the value system of students and exercises their abilities of imagination and reasoning. physical education ensures them to be able to keep healthy. vocational education helps people master professional skills. environmental education makes individuals aware of the significance of surroundings and learn how to get along well with the nature. in this way, the capabilities approach builds a framework which also gives directions to thinking about educational purposes in different ways around the core issue of developing necessary capabilities. the quality of life is always supposed to be taken into considerations as well. at the same time, nussbaum’s theory offers us a new way to approach educational purposes. since ancient times, one continuing humanistic purpose of education is to evoke human beings’ self-recognition. the objects of education are thus always people themselves. however, as time goes by, education become more and more complicated with the development of the society. it has increasingly closer connections with its situated setting. as stated in nussbaum’s theory, individuals develop capabilities within certain circumstances. it is also necessary to provide enough social setting for the functioning of people’s capabilities. thus, the objects of education in current times are not limited to individuals. they can also be environments. furthermore, when we think about educational purposes, we can not only consider about the value of educating people, but also the value of educating environments, in other words, how we could create better environments for the free development of people’s capabilities through education. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 8 published by scholink inc. 5. vocationalism in higher education as demonstrated in the previous section, theoretical approaches of biesta and nussbaum make great contributions to the area of educational purposes and policy. in terms of the issue, while both of them can be used to have a deep understanding of the vocationalism in higher education, biesta’s theory better fit in with the situation. to begin with, the trend of professionalism in higher education is largely influenced by neoliberalism coming from the economic field and its focus on human capital, which in essence suggests a simplistic view on purposes of education. such simplification could be seen as a part of educational measurement culture mentioned by biesta. it regards graduates’ employability as an important learning outcome. the higher the employment rate is, the more effective the higher education can be. meanwhile, in this case, similarly being criticized by nussbaum, the quality of higher education is only measured by economic indicators. whether higher education meets the needs of labor market becomes the standard of measurement. as for negative effects caused by the excessive vocationalization in this field, both theories can provide certain explanations but from divergent aspects. according to biesta, fitting into labor market is just an instrumental value of higher education. the extravagant emphasis on vocational training may make people have a wrong understanding of the ultimate value of education. moreover, in fact, such a trend largely represents interests of governments for improving national economic productivity which may fail to address the real needs of different groups in the society. apart from these, vocationalism also limits individuals’ freedom of choices that is placed at the center of capabilities approach. the imposed significance of receiving higher education as the guarantee of a better career prospect prevents people from freely deciding whether they truly need higher education and which kind of benefits they would like to get from it. besides, it also impedes the exercise of people’s central capabilities by narrowing down the function of higher education. given these situations, it is necessary to carefully rethink about the purposes of higher education so that it can better promote individual development and social justice. the criticism of the vocationalized trend in higher education does not mean that vocational training is not needed in this field. on the contrary, it is one of the main purposes of higher education in the 21 st century. however, in such a diversified and democratic society, higher education is supposed to mean more than just vocational training. thus, there should be an ongoing debate on its purposes. at this stage, biesta’s theoretical approach has more explanatory power. it directly points out three functions of education. with reference to this issue, vocational training serves as the qualification and socialization functions of higher education. it gives students transferable skills which prepare them for better jobs. meanwhile, it tries to make them become a qualified member who satisfy the needs of the labor market in the society. however, subjectification also has the same value of the other two which is aimed at providing students with capacities that allow them to act independently and make their own choices. this point is in accordance with the ultimate value of capabilities approach. although www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 9 published by scholink inc. nussbaum’s theory could provide different insights into this issue, in contrast with biesta’s theoretical concepts, the capabilities approach is a more comprehensive and multidimensional framework for the whole human development based more on a political perspective. in addition, because the central capabilities are supposed to be secured to everyone at least at a threshold level in a decent political order, discussions about purposes around their development are more likely to be related to earlier stages such as primary or secondary education which is compulsory. moreover, capabilities approach is critiqued for being too individualist and universal which can be applied to a variety of fields but lacks specific measurements (carlson, nguyen & reinardy, 2016). 6. conclusions education plays a key role in history of human development. the purposes of education decide its functions and positions in the society. they should always be taken into careful considerations in order to not only promote the advancement of human beings and the society, but also find out the ultimate value of education itself. based on theoretical approach of biesta and nussbaum, this article first contributes to different insights into the area of educational purposes and policy. then it analyzes a specific issue within this theme (the vocationalism in higher education) with the help of the two theoretical tools, arguing that biesta’s approach offers a more appropriate and fuller explanation for the issue. as for the issue itself, this essay points out that higher education is supposed to mean more than just vocational training. maintaining the diversity of purposes of higher education can make it better function in the social system and prevent us from getting lost in the way of discovering its true value. finally, there are two recommendations for thinking about the ultimate value of education regardless of its forms. first, no matter how many kinds of purposes education may have, what we really pursue is a comparatively pure education which gives everyone infinite possibilities. second, the existence of education is to make each person and each nation in the world be able to believe the truth. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 10 published by scholink inc. references biesta, g. (2009). good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. educational assessment, evaluation and accountability, 21(1), 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9064-9 carlson, j., nguyen, h., & reinardy, j. (2016). social justice and the capabilities approach: seeking a global blueprint for the epas. journal of social work education, 52(3), 269-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1174635 dewey, j. (2004). democracy and education. new york: macmillan. gale, t., & densmore, k. (2000). just schooling: explorations in the cultural politics of teaching. buckingham: open university press. hayward, g. (2004). foreword: a century of vocationalism. oxford review of education, 30(1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305498042000190032 lozano, j. f., boni, a., peris, j., & hueso, a. (2012). competencies in higher education: a critical analysis from the capabilities approach. journal of philosophy of education, 46(1), 132-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2011.00839.x macionis, j. j., & gerber, l. m. (2010). sociology. canada: pearson education canada. maclean, r. (2010). vocationalisation of higher education: issues and challenges. [pdf] researchgate. retrieved april 29, 2018, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228485992 nakai, y., yonezawa, t., & biseth, h. (2016). teacher education as a high-quality learning environment. bulletin of the graduate school of education, hiroshima university., learning and curriculum development, 1(65), 15-24. nussbaum, m. c. (2011). creating capabilities: the human development approach. cambridge, ma: belknap press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200 rawls, j. (2005). a theory of justice. london: harvard university press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9z6v https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9064-9 https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1174635 https://doi.org/10.1080/0305498042000190032 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2011.00839.x https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=utf8&text=john+j.+macionis&search-alias=books&field-author=john+j.+macionis&sort=relevancerank https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=utf8&text=linda+m.+gerber&search-alias=books&field-author=linda+m.+gerber&sort=relevancerank https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9z6v global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 18 original paper reform of teaching mode in higher education institutions under the background of new engineering huaken zhang 1* , ziming qiu 1 , lijuan chen 1 , xiaoxiao sun 1 , qun liu 1 & qingchi zhang 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china * zhang huaken, e-mail: 958064480@qq.com received: january 5, 2025 accepted: january 16, 2025 online published: march 19, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p18 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p18 abstract new engineering refers to majors established in higher education institutions based on the new economy and emerging industries. with the rapid development of technology, the education sector has also undergone unprecedented changes. in order to promote the high-quality development of education, enhance students’ practical abilities, and effectively implement the fundamental task of cultivating morality and talents. as educators, we deeply understand that innovation is an important force driving the development of education. therefore, in order to promote the construction of the “four new” curriculum in schools, we have launched a “three-stage” (pre class preparation, in class communication, and post class practice) practical teaching mode for the course of “soil mechanics and foundation engineering”, aiming to explore how to improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers’ teaching and students’ engineering practice experience. keywords three paragraph structure, engineering practice, practical teaching 1. course background and objectives (teaching problems and solutions) with the development of the economy, the demand for talents in new occupations is constantly changing. as a carrier of talent cultivation and scientific and technological development, disciplines must adapt to this development through innovative reforms to meet the social demand for talents. in response to the development needs of emerging engineering education and to gain a strategic commanding height in the future global innovation centers, there is an urgent need to cultivate a large number of innovative talents in emerging engineering fields. at the same time, domestic universities generally face problems such as weak on-campus practical teaching links, a disconnect between the knowledge taught in courses and engineering requirements, insufficient practical experience of teachers, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 19 published by scholink inc. and poor effectiveness of enterprise internships (lu, l., liu, p., lu, l. etc., 2021, pp. 215-218, p. 231). these issues do not meet the strong demand of the current and future environmental engineering industry for high-quality composite talents with strong innovative awareness and engineering practice capabilities. therefore, centering on the connotative characteristics of the construction and development of “emerging engineering education”, developing engineering education that “returns to engineering practice”, strengthening the practical awareness and professional skills training of engineering students, and exploring the development model of capabilities have become an urgent task (zeng, l. l., wang, y. j., bian, x. etc., 2023, pp. 92-96). students are expected to master the principles and methods of shallow foundation design and pile foundation design, be familiar with the design principles and methods of soft soil foundation treatment, and understand the engineering geological survey methods and data collation of construction sites. by combining relevant structural design knowledge, students’ ability to analyze and solve foundation design and calculation problems will be improved. to better adapt to the development of the times and improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching, we have decided to carry out a teaching innovation project. this teaching innovation aims to introduce advanced information technology means, improve teaching methods, enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and initiative, cultivate students’ innovative thinking and practical abilities, with the goal of cultivating an innovative talent training model featuring “solid foundation, outstanding specialty, and broad vision”. reforms and innovations have been carried out in aspects such as talent training models, curriculum construction, practical teaching systems, and school-enterprise joint training mechanisms. now, a “three-stage” (pre-class preview, in-class communication, post-class practice) practical teaching model has been created. the cultivation of students’ engineering design, teamwork, and professional quality abilities is organically integrated into practical teaching. students are led to visit and practice according to course requirements, realizing the transformation of teaching activities from one-way transmission to an exchange among three parties (in-school teachers, off-campus practice, and students). a “new engineering” teaching model and talent training curriculum system based on engineering practice have been formed. 2. implementation process and measures first stage: pre-class preview students conduct online pre-class preview through the online resources on the chaoxing xuexitong platform, which helps them gain a perceptual understanding and increase their interest in the course. with the bimvr platform, students can enter a three-dimensional world to understand the general situation and processes of relevant projects (seeing the forest before seeing the trees). second stage: in-class interaction in-class theoretical teaching is closely combined with on-site cases (linking theory with practice). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 20 published by scholink inc. third stage: post-class practice, teachers go out to gain practical experience and then bring it back to nourish teaching. organize students to participate in engineering design practices, on-site engineering learning, practical competitions, and internships in enterprises to verify the teaching effectiveness (undertaking real-world engineering projects). figure 1. three stage teaching technology route the three-stage teaching technical route is shown in figure 1. the specific reform methods and practical effects are as follows: 2.1 construction of the online chaoxing platform + offline practice base (pre-class preview) the course “soil mechanics and foundation engineering” thoroughly implements the fundamental task of cultivating students with moral integrity, promoting the all-around development of students in terms of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor. based on fully considering the professional characteristics, the course studies “the hot topics that students are concerned about”. with the help of modern teaching methods such as chaoxing xuexitong (yin, y. & yu, x. j., 2020; liang, q., zou, h. b. & liu, j., 2021, pp. 69-72; ge, j. y., ge, g. j. & zhang, y. h., 2024), it uses these hot topics to arouse students’ curiosity, splits and combines the knowledge points of the existing teaching content, organically integrates the hot topics with professional knowledge, and conducts online and offline teaching based on “the hot topics that students are concerned about”, thus enhancing the attractiveness of the course and strengthening the multi-dimensional dissemination of knowledge points both online and offline. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 21 published by scholink inc. 2.1.1 construction of the chaoxing online platform to facilitate students to study anytime and anywhere, we have established an online learning platform. the cumulative page views of this platform have reached more than 120,000 times. the platform includes functional modules such as course resources, online tests, and learning exchanges, providing students with an all-round learning support environment. through the online learning platform, students can arrange their learning progress independently, freely choose learning content, and at the same time communicate and discuss with other students, improving the interactivity and effectiveness of learning. 2.1.2 establish a teaching practice base based on course requirements based on the school enterprise joint training model, a joint training base has been established according to course requirements. in terms of engineering design, a joint training mechanism has been established with beijing yingjianke co., ltd. and tekla digital construction center; in terms of construction, a training base has been established with qingdao haichuan construction group. we have established a comprehensive resource sharing mechanism and cooperation platform that combines industry, academia, and research. the school has also collaborated with beijing exhibition network to purchase a bimvr virtual simulation display platform, allowing students to experience virtual simulation engineering cases. teachers can conduct 3d teaching demonstrations to enhance students’ learning interest. through simulation of soil mechanics foundation, students can have a more comprehensive understanding of this course. 2.2 application of cbl teaching method in teaching based on engineering certification background (in class communication) at present, most courses in soil mechanics and foundation engineering use traditional teaching methods, namely teacher lectures and student learning, and the teaching method is mostly ppt teaching. however, due to the complexity of the course content and the independence between course chapters, students are inevitably left with many knowledge doubts after the first round of traditional project-based teaching (shi, s., wang, y., si, j. et al., 2024, pp. 331-336; weiguang, z., jijun, l., lei, l. et al., 2024, pp. 238-243; gao, y. & deng, d., 2023). in response to the problem of the disconnect between traditional soil mechanics and basic engineering teaching content and engineering practice, engineering case studies are added to the teaching process of soil mechanics and basic engineering. real engineering video cases are shared in class, and students are organized to visit and learn from construction projects when conditions permit. at the same time, share research literature on relevant engineering examples in recent years to cultivate students’ ability to learn and analyze complex engineering problems from literature. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 22 published by scholink inc. we actively explore new classroom teaching models, transforming traditional teacher centered classrooms into student-centered interactive classrooms. in the flipped classroom, students master certain basic knowledge through pre class preview and self-directed learning, and then engage in in-depth learning and communication through group discussions, case analysis (ran, l., 2021, p. 032207), and other methods in class. this teaching model can better stimulate students’ interest and initiative in learning, cultivate their teamwork and communication skills. in the process of course learning, classroom group communication sessions will also be organized, where students will share an engineering case related to soil mechanics and then explain and discuss the case. enable students to better integrate textbook knowledge with practice, achieving the effect of applying what they have learned. fun classroom activities will also be organized every semester, where students can freely form teams and groups to simulate role-playing scenarios and analyze foundation pit collapse accidents. someone plays the roles of developer, surveyor, construction contractor, and intern, bringing them into their own woven storylines. finally, analyze the cause of the engineering accident and identify the responsible party. encourage students to take the lead in the classroom and actively learn knowledge through fun activities. 2.3 engineering design, on site practice, and social practice (after class practice) engineering education certification follows three basic principles: student-centered, outcome oriented, and continuous quality improvement. for an application-oriented undergraduate institution, more emphasis is placed on students’ practical and hands-on abilities. due to the comprehensive, practical, and experiential nature of the course “soil mechanics and foundation engineering”, achieving ideal teaching results cannot rely solely on classroom lectures. therefore, the structural design software pkpm is integrated into the teaching process of “soil mechanics and foundation engineering” to guide students to become familiar with the physical and mechanical indicators of relevant soils, understand the characteristics of different types of foundations, and master various basic design calculation methods during the operation of the software, in order to effectively enhance students’ learning effectiveness and comprehensive practical abilities. 2.3.1 application of pkpm software in soil mechanics and foundation engineering the shear strength of soil in the course of soil mechanics and foundation engineering is different from the materials involved in other courses of civil engineering. it is not a constant, but a variable that increases linearly with the change of normal stress σ value. in soil mechanics, the shear strength index internal friction angle ψ and cohesion c are generally used to characterize the strength of soil. beginners often encounter certain difficulties in understanding these physical and mechanical parameters. at this point, the geological model part of the jccad module of pkpm software (wang, y. q. & chen, j., 2013, pp. 2739-2742) is introduced to assist teaching. through the default geotechnical parameter table provided by the software, students can understand the common types of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 23 published by scholink inc. geotechnical parameters in engineering practice and the approximate range of their parameter values. draw soil profile maps and contour lines to help students understand how to apply the scattered parameter indicators learned in textbooks to engineering practice, deepen their understanding of the relevant physical mechanics indicators in the course of soil mechanics and foundation engineering, and improve their practical abilities. 2.3.2 constructing an educational model of “internal mentors going out, external mentors coming in” on campus teachers go out and lead students to visit various foundation pit support structures on the construction site, explaining the selection basis of corresponding foundation forms and support structures, as well as the issues that should be paid attention to in the design and calculation process, so that students can discover the differences between teaching and practice from the on-site inspection. through the teaching mode of linking practical engineering with theoretical knowledge, students’ interest in basic engineering disciplines is established, and their understanding of basic engineering course knowledge is deepened. external mentors walked in and invited frontline experts from enterprises to teach students at the practical base. through on-site practical teaching, many abstract knowledge points in the classroom can be explained, and students can be taught more cutting-edge engineering practice experience, allowing them to have a preliminary intuitive understanding of the course content. this teaching model can better stimulate students’ interest and initiative in learning, allowing for a better integration of theory and practice. organize teachers and students to visit the china construction project department during their spare time, and apply some theoretical knowledge to practical engineering projects. overall, guiding students to think through practical engineering, stimulating their enthusiasm for learning, and seeking the best state of self-directed learning. make classroom teaching three-dimensional and three-dimensional. enabling students to understand the forefront of engineering technology development and industry trends has effectively improved classroom teaching effectiveness and solved the problem of disconnection between classroom teaching content and actual engineering development. integrate the learning of professional knowledge with the stimulation of personal ideals and social responsibility, and reflect scientific and humanistic literacy in the teaching process. 2.3.3 established a teaching model of “learning through competition” and “teaching through competition” the model of “teacher guidance, student participation” not only enhances students’ enthusiasm and confidence in participating, but also greatly improves teachers’ teaching ability and professional skills. students participate in the “national college student reinforced earth retaining wall design competition” to fully utilize their practical and exploratory abilities. experiential learning based on competition projects, including experiments, hands-on operations, and teamwork, can enhance www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 24 published by scholink inc. students’ sense of identification with engineering, improve undergraduate professional skills, and achieve the educational goal of applying what they have learned. 3. implementation effect of teaching mode 3.1 significant educational effect by comparing the academic performance of the experimental group and the control group, we found that the students in the experimental group had significantly better academic performance than those in the control group. in the various exams of the experimental class, the average scores of students were higher than those of the control class, and the excellent and passing rates also showed significant improvement. this indicates that teaching innovation projects have a positive impact on improving students’ academic performance, and some students have also achieved excellent results in the postgraduate entrance examination process. 3.2 students’ comprehensive quality has been improved in addition to improving academic performance, innovative teaching projects have also had a positive impact on enhancing students’ overall quality. hangzhou bay cross sea bridge, hong kong zhuhai macao bridge, qinghai tibet railway, etc. these large-scale projects embody the excellent construction wisdom of the chinese nation, and their construction is closely related to the mechanical properties of the foundation soil and the design of the foundation engineering. in terms of course teaching content, these large-scale domestic projects can be selected as classic cases, which can not only enhance students’ interest in professional learning and national dignity, but also cultivate their patriotism. in the experimental class, students’ self-learning ability, innovative thinking, and practical ability have been effectively improved. students are able to actively participate in classroom learning, and are good at identifying, analyzing, and solving problems. at the same time, students’ communication and teamwork skills have also been exercised and improved. 3.3 the teaching level and research ability of teachers have been improved the implementation of teaching innovation projects not only improves students’ academic performance and comprehensive quality, but also has a positive impact on teachers’ teaching level. the humanistic literacy of teachers has a significant impact on the effectiveness of ideological and political education for students. teachers’ teaching concepts have been updated, teaching methods have been improved, and teaching abilities have been enhanced. the teaching level of teachers has been comprehensively improved. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 25 published by scholink inc. references gao, y., & deng, d. (2023). reflections on the current situation of teaching soil mechanics and its reform and practice. journal of research in vocational education, 5(9). https://doi.org/10.53469/jrve.2023.05(09).03 ge, j. y., ge, g. j., & zhang, y. h. (2024). reflections on the reform and innovation of university teaching in the context of “internet plus”. contemporary education and teaching research, 5(11). https://doi.org/10.61360/bonicetr242017381107 liang, q., zou, h. b., & liu, j. (2021). practice of blended online and offline teaching reform—taking the course of “soil mechanics and foundation” as an example. education and teaching forum, 2021(11), 69-72. lu, l., liu, p., lu, l. etc. (2021). reform and practice of soil mechanics and foundation engineering course teaching based on engineering certification background. journal of water resources and construction engineering, 19(04), 215-218, 231. ran, l. (2021). teaching reform of engineering mechanics course based on obe mode with computer aid. journal of physics: conference series, 1744(3), 032207. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1744/3/032207 shi, s., wang, y., si, j. et al. (2024). exploration of reforming hydraulics experimental teaching methods based on engineering education accreditation. international journal of social science and education research, 7(12), 331-336. wang, y. q., & chen, j. (2013). teaching reform and thinking of the course electro-mechanical systems dynamics based on higher engineering education mode. applied mechanics and materials, 2658(397-400), 2739-2742. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.397-400.2739 weiguang, z., jijun, l., lei, l. et al. (2024). exploration on teaching reform of basic mechanics course for engineering majors in universities. education reform and development, 6(9), 238-243. https://doi.org/10.26689/erd.v6i9.8308 yin, y., & yu, x. j. (2020). exploration of methods for ideological and political construction in engineering civil engineering courses: taking soil mechanics and foundation engineering as examples. education observation, 9(25), 54-57. zeng, l. l., wang, y. j., bian, x. etc. (2023). discussion on the construction of integrated curriculum of soil mechanics and science education. education and teaching forum, 2023(52), 92-96. https://doi.org/10.53469/jrve.2023.05(09).03 https://doi.org/10.61360/bonicetr242017381107 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1744/3/032207 https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.397-400.2739 https://doi.org/10.26689/erd.v6i9.8308 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 78 original paper innovative teaching model of structural mechanics from the perspective of smart construction qingchi zhang¹, lijuan chen¹, qun liu¹, xiaoxiao sun¹ & huaken zhang¹ 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: february 20, 2025 accepted: march 4, 2025 online published: march 6, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p78 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p78 abstract with the rapid development of information technology, automation, and smart construction, the traditional approaches to civil engineering education are increasingly being challenged. structural mechanics, one of the core courses in civil engineering, is facing the need for transformation in order to meet the requirements of emerging technologies and innovations. as the construction industry shifts toward smarter, more efficient systems, structural mechanics education must also evolve. this paper explores how smart construction technologies such as building information modeling (bim), big data, artificial intelligence (ai), and immersive tools like virtual reality (vr) and augmented reality (ar) can be integrated into the teaching of structural mechanics. the paper proposes an innovative teaching model that bridges theoretical knowledge with practical applications, with the aim of equipping students with the skills needed to excel in the future construction industry. the proposed teaching methods also stress the importance of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration, and project-based education to ensure a holistic understanding of structural mechanics in the context of smart construction. keywords smart construction, structural mechanics, teaching model, innovation, engineering education 1. introduction the construction industry, long known for its traditional practices, is undergoing a significant transformation with the advent of smart construction technologies. the integration of these advanced technologies into the construction process has had profound implications for the way civil engineers approach the design, construction, and maintenance of structures. as such, the education system for civil engineering, particularly the teaching of structural mechanics, must evolve to address the challenges and opportunities posed by this shift. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 79 published by scholink inc. structural mechanics is one of the fundamental courses in civil engineering education. it covers the essential concepts of forces, stress, strain, and deformation, which are critical for understanding how structures behave under different loading conditions. however, with the increasing complexity of modern construction, these traditional methods need to be enhanced with new technological tools and pedagogical strategies. the rise of smart construction demands that students not only master the theoretical aspects of structural mechanics but also become proficient in applying cutting-edge technologies such as building information modeling (bim), artificial intelligence (ai), big data analytics, and internet of things (iot) in real-world projects. smart construction refers to the use of digital tools and systems to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of buildings and infrastructure. these technologies facilitate enhanced communication, greater accuracy, and the ability to predict and prevent issues before they arise (oesterreich & teuteberg, 2016, pp. 1-14). according to wang et al. (2019), smart construction integrates various technologies such as ai, bim, and robotics to facilitate automation in the construction lifecycle, enhancing design accuracy and operational efficiency (wang, li & xu, 2019, pp. 1-10). furthermore, in a study by zhang et al. (2021), the authors argued that smart technologies in construction are redefining how structural engineers interact with the built environment, from digital modeling to advanced material usage (zhang, liu & gao, 2021, pp. 233-242). as the industry moves toward these innovations, the role of structural engineers is evolving. they must now be equipped with skills that go beyond classical mechanics and embrace interdisciplinary knowledge from fields such as data science, computer modeling, and automation. in this context, it is essential for structural mechanics education to incorporate these smart construction technologies and methodologies. by integrating bim, ai, big data, and other advanced tools into the curriculum, students can gain practical experience in solving real-world engineering problems while deepening their understanding of structural behavior. this paper explores innovative teaching strategies that align with the evolving demands of the construction industry, bridging theory with practical applications in structural mechanics. additionally, it discusses the role of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration, and project-based education in ensuring a holistic understanding of structural mechanics in the context of smart construction. 2. the evolution of smart construction and its impact on structural mechanics education 2.1 the emergence of smart construction technologies smart construction refers to the integration of advanced technologies in the design, construction, and operation of buildings and infrastructure. these technologies enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and safety of construction processes. some of the key technologies driving the rise of smart construction include: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 80 published by scholink inc. building information modeling (bim): bim is a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a building. it enables the visualization of designs, facilitates collaboration among stakeholders, and helps in making data-driven decisions regarding construction materials, costs, and scheduling (azhar & brown, 2016, pp. 1-8). artificial intelligence (ai): ai enables the automation of tasks such as structural health monitoring, predictive maintenance, and design optimization. it can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, predict potential issues, and suggest solutions (xie & wang, 2020, pp. 104-112). big data: the use of sensors and monitoring devices embedded in buildings generates vast amounts of data about how structures behave under various conditions. this data can be used for real-time monitoring, performance analysis, and predictive maintenance (liu & zhang, 2019, pp. 143-150). internet of things (iot): iot technologies enable the connection of physical devices, such as sensors and actuators, to a network that collects and exchanges data. in construction, iot devices are used to monitor the health and performance of structures, track construction progress, and improve safety (lee & kim, 2018, pp. 230-240). these technologies have revolutionized the way structures are designed, constructed, and maintained, and they are reshaping the role of structural engineers. as a result, structural mechanics education must adapt to incorporate these emerging technologies and provide students with the necessary skills to navigate this new landscape. 2.2 the need for change in structural mechanics education traditional structural mechanics education typically focuses on teaching students the fundamental principles of mechanics—such as force, stress, strain, and deformation—through lectures, textbooks, and laboratory exercises. however, these methods often fail to adequately prepare students for the challenges they will face in the modern construction industry. the increasing complexity of building designs, the adoption of smart technologies, and the demand for sustainable and resilient infrastructure require engineers to have a broader skill set that extends beyond the traditional boundaries of structural mechanics. to meet these demands, structural mechanics education must evolve to integrate new technologies, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and encourage innovative problem-solving. in this context, an innovative teaching model that incorporates smart construction technologies is essential to ensure that students are not only proficient in structural theory but also capable of applying modern tools and methodologies to real-world engineering challenges. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 81 published by scholink inc. 3. integrating smart construction technologies into structural mechanics education 3.1 bim-based structural mechanics teaching building information modeling (bim) is arguably the most significant technology driving innovation in the construction industry. by integrating bim into structural mechanics education, students can gain a more hands-on understanding of how structural systems function in the real world. virtual structural simulations: through bim software, students can create 3d models of structures and simulate how they will perform under different loads. these virtual simulations allow students to visualize the forces and deformations acting on a structure, providing a deeper understanding of structural behavior (brown & smith, 2021, pp. 205-212). collaboration and interdisciplinary learning: bim also facilitates collaboration between students from different disciplines, such as civil engineering, architecture, and mechanical engineering. this fosters an environment of teamwork, which is essential in modern construction projects where multiple stakeholders are involved (zhao & li, 2020, pp. 111-118). real-time analysis: bim allows for the integration of real-time data, enabling students to perform structural analysis and see the immediate effects of design modifications or changes in load conditions. this dynamic approach to learning helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills (wang & zhang, 2017, pp. 44-53). 3.2 big data and ai in structural mechanics education the use of big data and artificial intelligence (ai) in structural mechanics education offers students the opportunity to explore cutting-edge technologies and learn how they are applied in the construction industry. big data for structural analysis: big data analytics allows students to analyze large datasets generated by sensors embedded in buildings and other infrastructure. these datasets can provide insights into how structures behave under different conditions, such as varying loads, temperature changes, and environmental factors (liu & zhang, 2019, pp. 143-150). ai for design optimization and health monitoring: ai algorithms can be used to optimize structural designs by analyzing multiple design alternatives and selecting the most efficient and cost-effective solutions. additionally, ai-based systems can automate structural health monitoring, detecting potential issues such as cracks, corrosion, or material fatigue before they become critical (xie & wang, 2020, pp. 104-112). by integrating these technologies into the curriculum, students can gain valuable skills in data analysis, machine learning, and predictive modeling, preparing them for the growing role of ai and data science in civil engineering. 3.3 virtual and augmented reality (vr/ar) in structural mechanics teaching virtual reality (vr) and augmented reality (ar) are transformative tools in education that offer immersive, interactive learning experiences. in structural mechanics education, these technologies can www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 82 published by scholink inc. be used to create realistic simulations and visualizations of structural behavior. vr for structural simulations: with vr, students can interact with 3d models of buildings and experience how forces such as wind, earthquakes, or heavy loads affect the structure. vr provides an immersive learning environment that enhances understanding by allowing students to experience structural behavior firsthand (zhang & huang, 2019, pp. 78-84). ar for on-site learning: augmented reality overlays digital information onto the physical world, offering a unique way to visualize structural components in real time. for example, students could use ar glasses to view the internal stress distribution of a building while inspecting it on-site, helping them understand how different parts of the structure respond to forces (liu & zhang, 2019, pp. 143-150). both vr and ar technologies provide opportunities for students to engage with complex concepts in structural mechanics in a more interactive and intuitive manner, improving retention and application of knowledge. 4. pedagogical strategies for innovative structural mechanics education to fully leverage the potential of smart construction technologies, it is essential to adopt innovative pedagogical strategies that foster active learning, collaboration, and critical thinking. 4.1 project-based learning (pbl) project-based learning (pbl) is an effective teaching method that encourages students to work on real-world engineering problems, mirroring the challenges they will face in their professional careers. real-world applications: in pbl, students collaborate to solve engineering challenges, such as designing a bridge or skyscraper. they apply principles of structural mechanics, conduct analyses, and propose design solutions, all while utilizing modern tools and technologies. an independent samples t-test confirmed that the differences in engagement levels between the experimental and control groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05), supporting the hypothesis that the tbl-pbl model is more effective in enhancing student engagement and motivation. after a six-week teaching experiment, semi-structured interviews with nine students of different majors from the experimental class were conducted to investigate the pbl class model’s influence on argumentative writing and its acceptability. team collaboration: pbl encourages teamwork, which mirrors the collaborative nature of the modern construction industry. students learn to communicate and collaborate with their peers, simulating the interdisciplinary teams they will encounter in their professional careers (lee & kim, 2018, pp. 230-240). pbl not only enhances students’ technical skills but also helps them develop problem-solving, project management, and teamwork abilities, which are critical in the smart construction industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 83 published by scholink inc. 4.2 flipped classroom and online learning platforms the flipped classroom model is a student-centered teaching approach that reverses the traditional teaching methods by delivering content online and using class time for active learning activities such as discussions, case studies, and collaborative projects. active learning: by providing online lectures and resources, students can learn theoretical concepts at their own pace, freeing up class time for engaging in hands-on activities such as structural simulations, design challenges, and group discussions (brown & smith, 2021, pp. 205-212). incorporation of smart technologies: flipped classrooms provide the opportunity to integrate vr, ar, and bim tools in the classroom, creating a more engaging and interactive learning experience. this approach fosters a deeper understanding of structural mechanics by emphasizing application over memorization, and it encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning. 5. conclusion the evolution of smart construction technologies is transforming the construction industry, and as a result, structural mechanics education must adapt to meet the demands of the modern workforce. by integrating smart technologies such as bim, ai, big data, and immersive tools like vr and ar into the curriculum, students will gain the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in the future of construction. additionally, innovative teaching strategies such as project-based learning, flipped classrooms, and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential for fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork in students. ultimately, by embracing these innovative teaching models, structural mechanics education will prepare students to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the smart construction era, ensuring that they are well-equipped to contribute to the advancement of the construction industry. funding [fund projects] 2024 annual research project of qingdao city’s 14th five-year plan for educational science “research on the construction of an interdisciplinary intelligent construction curriculum cluster system under the context of industry-university cooperation in higher education” (qjk2024e053). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 84 published by scholink inc. references azhar, s., & brown, j. (2016). bim-based approach to construction and facilities management. journal of construction engineering and management, 142(1), 1-8. brown, j., & smith, p. (2021). enhancing structural engineering education with vr and ar. engineering education journal, 38(5), 205-212. lee, s., & kim, h. (2018). iot-based smart monitoring systems in construction. automation in construction, 94, 230-240. liu, m., & zhang, l. (2019). big data applications in structural health monitoring. structural engineering and mechanics, 67(2), 143-150. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811201097_0004 oesterreich, t. d., & teuteberg, f. (2016). understanding the impact of industry 4.0 on the construction industry. technological forecasting and social change, 110, 1-14. wang, f., li, y., & xu, y. (2019). smart construction technologies: applications, challenges, and future trends. automation in construction, 98, 1-10. wang, l., & zhang, h. (2017). integrating bim in civil engineering curricula. journal of civil engineering education, 34(1), 44-53. xie, f., & wang, y. (2020). the role of artificial intelligence in modern civil engineering. journal of civil engineering and technology, 12(2), 104-112. zhang, p., & huang, x. (2019). vr-based learning environment for structural mechanics. engineering education review, 35(4), 78-84. zhang, x., liu, s., & gao, j. (2021). the impact of smart construction technologies on the role of structural engineers. journal of civil engineering education, 38(4), 233-242. zhao, z., & li, y. (2020). collaborative learning in bim-based construction education. journal of engineering education, 54(3), 111-118. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811201097_0004 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 35 original paper research on education and teaching of artificial intelligence enabling intelligent construction ziming qiu 1 & chuanli yang 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: september 1, 2024 accepted: september 20, 2024 online published: october 14, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p35 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p35 abstract this study is committed to in-depth analysis of the practical application of artificial intelligence in intelligent construction teaching and its empowerment effect. an efficient and intelligent teaching platform is built, which can intelligently recommend relevant learning resources according to students’ learning progress and feedback, and track students’ learning situation in real time. this personalized learning style not only improves the learning efficiency of students, but also enables them to better adapt and master the knowledge and skills in the field of intelligent construction. the introduction of artificial intelligence technology has innovated the method of intelligent construction teaching. based on the learning analysis technology of big data, we can conduct in-depth analysis of students’ learning behaviors and achievements, so as to grasp students’ learning status and needs more accurately. these achievements not only show the great potential of artificial intelligence technology in the field of education, but also provide new ideas and methods for the reform and innovation of intelligent construction teaching. keywords artificial intelligence, intelligent construction major, empowering higher education, personalized learning path, digital transformation the parallel meeting of the world digital education conference 2024, a grand event of “artificial intelligence and digital ethics”, was held in shanghai on the morning of january 31, 2024 (ding & wu, 2024, pp. 3283-3299), aiming to deeply exchange the policies and practices of various countries in the field of artificial intelligence education application, and jointly promote the positive application of artificial intelligence in education. and reached an important consensus to promote the digital transformation and development of education. the ministry of education also officially launched the ai empowerment education action on march 28 of the same year, and launched four specific measures www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 36 published by scholink inc. (pedro, subosa, rivas et al., 2019). these initiatives aim to promote the deep integration of teaching and learning through ai to enhance digital education literacy and skills for all. at the same time, it is also committed to developing a large model of artificial intelligence for education, and emphasizes that scientific ethics should be followed in the use of artificial intelligence to ensure the standardized use of technology. the “14th five-year plan” of shandong province also supports qingdao to build a benchmark city for artificial intelligence education, aiming to reshape the teaching form of schools and enhance the competitive advantage of discipline and professional construction. we are committed to building a high-level talent training system that meets the needs of economic and social development. 1. the case of artificial intelligence empowering professional education and teaching in universities 1.1 xihua university—first-class undergraduate education and first-class curriculum construction enabled by artificial intelligence (ding, 2024, pp. 43-47) in order to further promote the digital transformation of professional education and further strengthen the enabling role of artificial intelligence in talent training, the school of architecture and civil engineering of xihua university actively carries out innovative exploration and practice of talent training from multiple dimensions. first, from the aspect of knowledge graph construction, carry out ai curriculum construction based on knowledge graph. two core professional courses, “installation engineering measurement and valuation” and “construction engineering measurement and valuation”, are selected to construct the knowledge map. the second is to carry out the three-dimensional digital textbook construction based on the construction of digital resources. digital teaching materials have strong updating and iteration ability due to their innovative, multimedia, interactive and agglomeration characteristics, and their efficiency and effectiveness in knowledge transmission is the concrete embodiment of their new quality productivity. 1.2 southeast university—promoting the whole process of teaching and learning of artificial intelligence empowerment course in six dimensions (hussein, mohamed, halima et al., 2022, pp. 14209-14209) southeast university “ai+ teaching” pilot course construction ideas, from the “personalized teaching design”, “intelligent assisted teaching tools construction”, “diversified teaching resources integration”, “virtual classroom and virtual laboratory scene construction”, “virtual learning community online collaborative learning”, “real-time learning situation monitoring intelligent analysis and decision-making” six dimensions to promote the whole process of ai empowered curriculum teaching and learning reform ideas. the process of constructing knowledge map by combing knowledge system, integrating teaching resources, introducing intelligent ai teaching assistants, etc. taking each experiment course of civil engineering discipline as an example, this paper introduces the construction process of the experiment practice course system of physical experiment + virtual simulation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 37 published by scholink inc. experiment, and shares the exploration of the immersion experiment teaching practice of civil engineering metauniverse. 1.3 central south university—how ai technology empowers civil engineering (xu, liu, cao et al., 2021) central south university focuses on how ai technology can empower civil engineering, and compares traditional measurement methods with integrated new measurement methods, highlighting the advanced concept of “one plus one is greater than two” at the technical level, and arousing students’ interest in this emerging field of civil engineering development. the application of ai technology in road condition comprehensive measurement was demonstrated to the students by displaying models for real-time processing of picture data and visiting multi-functional road detection vehicle (3d laser road maintenance design and detection system), so that the students present could experience the important role of ai technology in improving detection efficiency and accuracy. i intuitively feel the new power of science and technology to empower traditional engineering. 2. artificial intelligence enables the path of intelligent construction professional education 2.1 artificial intelligence enables personalized learning path customization and evaluation in the field of modern education, the customization of personalized learning path has become a key means to improve the efficiency and quality of students’ learning. in the learning process of students, we use artificial intelligence technology for real-time progress tracking and feedback. by collecting various data of students in the learning process, we can accurately understand their learning progress and existing problems, and then provide timely feedback and suggestions. these feedback and suggestions include not only objective evaluation of students’ learning outcomes, but also professional guidance on learning methods and strategies, aiming to help students better adjust their learning state and optimize their learning path (yekollu, bhimraj, sunil et al., 2024, pp. 507-517). 2.2 artificial intelligence enabling simulation experiment environment construction and optimization with the continuous development of science and technology, virtual reality technology and artificial intelligence technology are increasingly widely used in the field of education. in the field of intelligent construction, the construction of virtual laboratories can provide students with a new way of learning and effectively improve their practical ability and hands-on ability. in the construction of virtual laboratory, virtual reality technology is used to simulate the real intelligent construction experiment environment and operation process, so that students can carry out experiment operation in the virtual environment and experience the experiment process. this learning method not only has a high sense of reality, but also can reduce the cost of the experiment and improve the efficiency of the experiment. through repeated practice and simulation, students can better master experimental skills and improve their understanding and application of theoretical knowledge (yi, 2020, p. 6672). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 38 published by scholink inc. 2.3 artificial intelligence enables the construction of intelligent course resource library in the field of civil engineering education, it is a crucial task to integrate and use high-quality teaching resources. to this end, we are committed to collecting a wide range of teaching resources in the field of civil engineering, including but not limited to teaching videos, case studies and practical projects, in order to build a comprehensive and rich teaching resource library. in order to ensure the practicality and efficiency of the resource library, we use artificial intelligence technology to intelligently process and classify the collected resources. by integrating high-quality resources, intelligent processing and classification, and dynamic updating and maintenance, we have successfully built an efficient, practical and professional civil engineering teaching resource library, which provides strong support for the development of civil engineering education. 3. optimization strategies of education evaluation reform empowered by artificial intelligence 3.1 strengthen the digital foundation for evaluation and build a data brain technology is the cornerstone of artificial intelligence education evaluation, and strengthening the base construction of intelligent education evaluation system is an indispensable link for the development of artificial intelligence education evaluation. at present, intelligent educational assessment is in the stage of exploration and beginning. in the practice of intelligent educational assessment, a large number of cases are conducted as independent studies, focusing on the assessment of certain complex skills. this process tends to result in a pattern that focuses on a single research point and lacks holistic consideration. from the whole practice of educational evaluation, this form of “each for himself” is not conducive to the continuous development of educational evaluation. the brain’s ability to calculate, store and analyze can meet the needs of intelligent education. the improved evaluation status is re-evaluated by forming a functional closed loop. on this basis, education evaluation data brain can be further established. the construction of data brain is based on the aggregation of a large number of data resources in the field of education, including but not limited to learning behavior data, teaching interaction data, measurement results data and academic achievement data. the construction of the basic education database can eliminate the data barriers between different departments, realize a more efficient way of education evaluation, and build a comprehensive intelligent, scientific and multi-faceted education evaluation system. 3.2 break through the limitations of intelligent technology and introduce expert knowledge avoid overreliance on technology to ignore the substantive objectives of educational evaluation, and integrate multiple tools and methods to meet the various challenges posed by the application of technology. on the one hand, for the limitations of technology itself, educators and researchers must remain vigilant, timely track and adapt to new technological developments to prevent investment losses, and choose stable and mature software and hardware platforms as much as possible to maintain system stability and avoid sunk costs. at the same time, more resources should be invested to promote www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 39 published by scholink inc. breakthroughs in key educational technologies, such as adaptive learning platforms, data mining and learning analytics, so that they can achieve material breakthroughs, while maintaining a critical view of the promotion of scientific and technological products and rationally evaluating technologies. the maturity of the technique. on the other hand, it is essential to incorporate the knowledge of experts in the field of education. the so-called expert system refers to the computer program that simulates the decision-making process of human experts, which provides decision support for users in a specific field. under this framework, the expert knowledge is encoded, the expert knowledge base combined with artificial intelligence system is created, and the knowledge is transferred and applied through the expert system to enhance the decision quality of artificial intelligence. these expert knowledge may cover various aspects of learning theory, cognitive psychology, educational assessment methods, etc., so that ai systems can deal with complex problems in educational activities with a deeper understanding. at the same time, through continuous machine learning and self-optimization, ai models can calibrate strategies under the guidance of experts in the field of education, thus enhancing the learning process and educational evaluation more effectively. 4. conclusion the introduction of artificial intelligence technology has a profound impact on the field of intelligent construction teaching, which not only improves the quality and efficiency of teaching, but also opens up a new path for the sharing of educational resources and innovative development. the application of artificial intelligence technology makes the teaching of intelligent construction more accurate and efficient. through intelligent algorithms and data analysis, teachers can more accurately grasp students’ learning progress and difficulties, develop personalized teaching programs, and improve teaching effects. at the same time, ai technology can also automate a large number of repetitive teaching tasks, such as homework correction, score statistics, etc., so as to reduce the work burden of teachers, so that they have more time to focus on teaching research and innovation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 40 published by scholink inc. references ding, l., & wu, s. (2024). digital transformation of education in china: a review against the backdrop of the 2024 world digital education conference. science insights education frontiers, 20(2), 3283-3299. https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.24.re340 ding, y. (2024). the integration of artificial intelligence and university mathematics teaching: strategies and practices to empower educational reform. computer informatization and mechanical system, 7(5), 43-47. hussein, a., mohamed, m. a., halima, a. et al. (2022). teaching, learning and assessing anatomy with artificial intelligence: the road to a better future. international journal of environmental research and public health, 19(21), 14209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114209 pedro, f., subosa, m., rivas, a. et al. (2019). artificial intelligence in education: challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. xu, y., liu, x., cao, x. et al. (2021). artificial intelligence: a powerful paradigm for scientific research. the innovation, 2(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100179 yekollu, r. k., bhimraj, g. t., sunil, b. s. et al. (2024). ai-driven personalized learning paths: enhancing education through adaptive systems. in international conference on smart data intelligence. singapore: springer nature singapore (pp. 507-517). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3191-6_38 yi, h. (2020). visualized co-simulation of adaptive human behavior and dynamic building performance: an agent-based model (abm) and artificial intelligence (ai) approach for smart architectural design. sustainability, 12(16), 6672. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166672 https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.24.re340 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114209 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100179 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3191-6_38 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166672 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 46 original paper philippine mutual funds performance 2008-2019 revelino d. garcia 1 1 director, phd programs, philippine christian university, manila philippines received: february 7, 2023 accepted: february 15, 2023 online published: march 3, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n1p46 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n1p46 abstract this paper examined the effects of macroeconomic variables as interest rate, inflation rate, and exchange rate on the performance of mutual funds in the philippines from 2008 to 2019. ols and polynomial regression were initially tested for goodness of fit. the result showed that ols regression was better suited for the analysis as it has a lower standard deviation. macroeconomic variables. the philippines economic forecasts 2008-2019 outlook provided a declining trend from 5.20% 2008 to 4.3% in 2019. the downtrend in inflation provided an upturn of the mutual funds as seen in the inverse relation of the mutual funds (-coefficients), that is, an upturn of inflation rate reflects a corresponding downturn in mutual fund values. likewise, interest rates are expected to rise from 3.5% in 2008 to 4.0% in 2020. the results showed that an increase in interest rate will cause to increase the return of investors. the dollar denominated funds as expected were vulnerable to inflation rate. for the period 2008-2019, the philippine mutual funds remained resilient and yielded expected results. the effects of macroeconomic variables as interest rate, inflation rate and exchange rates were not significant. keywords interest rate, inflation rate, exchange rate, mutual funds 1. introduction this paper examined the effects of macroeconomic variables as interest rate, inflation rate, and exchange rate on the performance of mutual funds in the philippines from 2008 to 2019 (data for 2020-2021 were not included due to their extreme volatility, for a future study focused on disruptive times). the basic investment tenet “historical returns are not a guarantee of future performance” remains true to form. one cannot predict the future performance of a fund just by looking at its past performance due to the difficulty of ignoring uncertainty. “exposure to risk”, meanwhile, refers to volatility in the returns achieved by the fund and deviations from expected returns; these are calculated www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 47 published by scholink inc. as financial indicators such as the sharpe ratio, r-squared, beta, or standard deviation. these provide the figures to determine the risk exposure of the investment fund. the augmented dickey fuller was used to test whether the mutual funds had unit roots, that is, they were not changing significantly over time. regression equations were derived to determine to what extent the macroeconomic variables affected the returns of the mutual funds. interest rate. the impact of changing interest rates is clear when it comes to the profitability of debt-oriented mutual funds. nonetheless, rising interest rates may make mutual funds, and other investments, less attractive in general since the cost of borrowing increases as interest rates rise, individuals and businesses have less money to put into their portfolios. this means mutual funds have less capital to work with, making it harder to generate healthy returns. however, the stability of short-term debt, money market funds or other mutual funds that invest primarily in secure, short-term assets issued by highly rated governments or corporations are less vulnerable to the ravages of interest rate volatility (boyte-white, 2018). rising rates is bad news for debt fund investors. when the interest rate starts to move up, the price of existing bonds falls which in turn pushes down the net asset value (nav) of debt funds, translating into lower returns for the investor (dhawan, 2018). but rising rates affect both the equity and fixed-income markets, albeit in different ways. interest-rate movements are essentially the bond market’s way of signaling how investors feel about future their future returns. despite all the seemingly complex machinations behind rate fluctuations, it can boil down to a simple supply-and-demand equation. inflation rate. inflation is one that consumers and investors want to be as low as possible. for the simple reason that it erodes both purchasing power and the returns on investments as the prices of goods and services rise. since this factor is inevitable knowing how to protect investment value from shrinking considerably, several types of mutual funds can protect investment value in different ways. one way of fighting inflation’s effect on the investment is to buy mutual funds that invest in commodities, real property or in real estate investment trusts or invest in treasury inflation-protected securities. mutual funds do not have inflation rate. one talks about inflation when he considers the purchasing power of money (anindya dhar, bde, 2017). inflation rate is the rate at which the price of general goods and services increase with time. this is a result of increase in money supply and the subsequent reduction in the purchasing power of money. the only consideration to make while investing in mutual funds about inflation rate is whether the returns offered by one’s investment are greater than inflation rate. gusni, silviana, faisal hamdani (2018) investigated the performance of equity mutual fund using risk-adjusted performance proposed by treynor (1965) and examined factors affecting mutual fund performance by using the ability of investment manager (market timing and stock selection skill), fund size, and inflation. the result showed that equity mutual fund performance tends to fluctuate in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 48 published by scholink inc. indonesia. equity mutual fund performance was influence by stock selection skill and inflation, meanwhile, market timing skill and fund size had no significant effect on the equity mutual fund performance. exchange rate. in overseas investing, currency movements play a major role in a fund’s total returns (dierking, 2017). understanding how foreign currencies behave against the u.s. dollar can help investors manage foreign exchange risk in their portfolios. exchange rate movements could either enhance or diminish the return of that security. currency risk, or exchange rate risk, comes from the chance that exchange rate movements could negatively impact an investment’s total return. it is important to note that currency risk can affect both the price appreciation of a security and the dividend and interest payments it makes. exchange rate movements reflect short-term economic conditions and can occur because of a number of different factors: interest rates. higher interest rates lead to higher rates of return for investors. trade balance. the balance of trade between imports and exports can impact the supply and demand for currencies. public debt. high levels of government debt can have a negative impact on a country’s exchange rate. political environment. a country experiencing political unrest or governmental instability likely makes for a less attractive investment opportunity. both domestic mutual funds and international funds expose investors to currency risk (zacks, 2018). in contrast, a global fund can protect the investor from fluctuations involving the dollar. when the dollar rises, the foreign securities in the fund lose value but the market value of the u.s. securities rises. depending on the exact makeup of the fund, rising u.s. asset prices may more than offset losses tied to foreign holdings. the investment risks posed by changing exchange rates emphasizes the importance of investing in companies, not in currencies. the shifts and turns of currencies are largely unpredictable and can be volatile, even dramatic, in the short term. however, over the long term, research studies have found that the effect of currency volatility tends to balance out (mackenzie investments, 2017). this is why one should consider focusing on funds that buy the stocks of competitive companies at attractive prices. these are businesses that have long-term advantages in their industries and offer products and services that customers want. the variability in short-term exchange rate movements and the impact this can have on investment returns shows that currency movements tend to have minimal impact over the long term. over periods of 15 years or longer, the impact of exchanges between the canadian dollar and the u.s. dollar on investment returns gets closer and closer to zero—an important point for long-term investors (global asset management, 2018). mutual funds in the philippines. the year 2008 was not a good year for most mutual funds that declined severely in values thus wiping out the gains earned in 2007. likewise, bonds and money markets suffered from the economic crunch that hit the global markets. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 49 published by scholink inc. the 1st quarter of 2009 showed positive returns of philippine mutual funds showing recovery. the 2nd quarter showed a continuing improvement in the funds. most of the equity funds tracked the performance of the pse index, which grew up 30% year to date. some balanced funds, which invest in both stocks and bonds, were even comparable with other equity funds in terms of returns. in 2010, just 1 out of 8 equity funds underperformed compared to the pse index while of the peso balanced funds, 5 out of 8 funds were above par index performance. it should be noted that the benchmark philippine stock exchange index (psei) increased 63% in 2009 but grew by only 37.6% in 2010. in 2011, the philippine equity market got a net gain of 4.07% considered as the best performance of a stock market in southeast asia. also, investment funds followed while most mutual funds ended positive. the philippines survived 2011 and managed to end the year with above-average performance even with the continuing economic crunch in the global markets due to the european debt crisis and the united states troubled finances. despite the continuing economic crunch in the global markets, fueled by the european debt crisis and the united states’ troubled finances, the philippines survived 2011 and managed to end the year with above-average performance. bond funds registered an average return of 7.43% last year—better than the average return of 3.12% booked by equity funds brought about by the improving credit rating of the philippines and investors’ risk made bonds more attractive in 2011. the year 2012 was a good year for mutual funds with positive growths. nonetheless, only a few managed to outperform the benchmark index. all stock mutual funds grew by two-digits, but they paled in comparison to the 32.95% return of the psei. balanced funds had returns that matched the performance of equity funds. even with the presence of external threats such as credit rating downgrades, loan defaults and recession in the european region, and the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff problem of the united states, the market rallied. yields of philippine bond funds and money market funds were relatively higher compared to the previous year. their returns were a lot higher than the interest rates offered by bank’s savings and time deposit accounts. in 2013, bond funds outperformed equity funds. equity mutual funds actually underperformed in 2012 with barely half of philippine equity mutual funds managing to beat the 1.33% growth of the benchmark philippine stock exchange index (psei) in 2013. peso-denominated bond mutual funds also easily outperformed the psei’s growth in 2013 and also that of the equity funds. the year 2014 was also a good year for the mutual funds each of which posted two-digit returns, better off than their performance in 2013. the year 2015 was not a good year for the funds each of which posted negative returns although with a minimal positive net gain against the returns in 2014. of the 40 peso-denominated mutual funds, just 9 posted positive returns. the rest suffered a loss, below par the psei with a -3.81% as of january 2016. in the year 2016, investments reached new highs and peak returns, both in the performance of the philippine stock market and in mutual funds. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 50 published by scholink inc. the mutual funds also ended up with positive returns in 2017 most of them outperforming the psei. the mutual funds ended the year 2018 and 2019 with positive returns. overall, the mutual funds posted positive returns. on year to date, the philippine mutual funds have positive returns above psei. 2. method david diltz and david rakowski (2018) in his study, “mutual fund research: a perspective on how we have arrived at the current state of academic research on mutual funds” presented studies done by various authors on various factors affecting mutual funds’ performance. the mutual funds included in this study were classified into the following: peso stock funds (psf), peso balanced funds (pbf), dollar balanced funds (dbf), peso bond funds (pbf), foreign currency bond funds (fcb) and peso money market funds (pmmf). this paper attempted to study the top mutual funds’ performance from 2008 to 2019 focusing on three macroeconomic variables: interest rate, inflation rate and exchange rate. ols and polynomial regression were initially tested for goodness of fit. the result showed that ols regression was better suited for the analysis as it has a lower standard deviation. the r-squared, beta and standard deviation were used to test the risk exposure of the funds. likewise, the augmented dickey fuller test statistic (adf) was used to test the presence of a unit root. the performance data were taken from investment company association of the philippines published online by pinoy moneytalk. 3. results ljung-box test. many statistical tests are used to try to reject some null hypotheses. in this particular case, the ljung-box test tries to reject the independence of some values: *if p-value < .05: reject the null hypothesis assuring a 5% chance of making a mistake. one can assume that the values are showing dependence on each other. *if p-value > .05: one does not have enough statistical evidence that the values are dependent. this could mean that the values are dependent anyway or it can mean that they are independent. but one is not proving any specific possibility, what the test actually said is that one cannot assert the dependence of the values, neither one can assert the independence of the values. in general, what is important is to keep in mind that p-value < .05 lets one rejects the null hypothesis, but a p-value > .05 does not let one confirm the null hypothesis. the ljung-box test statistic results showed that the mutual funds under study had all p-values > .05, that is, the mutual funds were independent from the changes in interest rates, inflation rate, and exchange rate. durbin-watson statistic. it is a test statistic to detect the presence of autocorrelation at lag1 in the residuals from a regression analysis. later, john denis sargan and alok bhargava developed several von neumann-durbin-watson type of test statistics for the null hypothesis that the errors on a regression model follow a process with a unit root against the alternative hypothesis that the errors www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 51 published by scholink inc. follow a stationary first order. dw = 2.0 indicates no autocorrelation. a dw which is substantially less than 2.0 indicates presence of positive serial correlation while a dw which is substantially greater than 2.0 reflects successive error terms negative correlation that are negatively correlated which implies an underestimation of the level of statistical significance. the computed dws ranged from 1.898 to 2.209 which can be considered relatively close to 2.0. table 1. f-test performance of mutual funds in the philippines—inflation rates 2008-2019 statistics mutual funds dbf fcb pbf pb0 pmm psf coefficients -10.7 -1.71 -.535 -13.28 .140 10.65 durbin-watson 1.91 2.97 1.91 1.10 2.016 2.010 std. dev. (res.) .775 .775 .775 775 .775 .775 t-value -1.44 -.643 -.402 -1.465 -.434 -1.22 mean (residuals) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 p-value .199 .544 .702 .193 .679 .268 f-value 1.11 .686 1.19 2.271 .726 .773 p-value .42 .627 .403 .177 .605 .581 r-square .42 .314 .442 .602 .326 .340 table 1 provides the f-test performance of mutual funds in the in the philippines for 2008-2019 to show the effects of inflation rate. coefficients. the effects of inflation rate to the mutual funds were negative. the t-values were significantly small and correspondingly the p-values were greater than .05. also, except for pmm, the rest of the mutual funds had year beginning of negative rates caused by inflation rate. durbin watson test. the durbin-watson test for test of stationarity shows that mutual funds understudy was within the range of normality (dw = 1.898-2.209). an exception is the foreign currency mutual funds (fcb) which was beyond the normal range (dw = 2.97). in general, the mutual funds tended to changing negatively, though rather not significant. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 52 published by scholink inc. standard deviation of residuals and mean of residuals. the standard deviation of residuals is a test of volatility of the fund. when the mean of the residuals is zero, the volatility is considered to be not significant. the standard deviations were less than 1.0, which implied that the mutual funds yields were close to the mean or expected results. the mutual fund rate of returns was not volatile; hence, their expected returns were attained. also, the computed values of the residuals were .775 which were significantly low with the mean residuals equal to 0.0. in such case, it can be noted that the mutual funds volatility was not significant, that is, the mutual funds yielded expected returns. f-test of significance of performance. the f-test is a test of significance of the whole regression equation. a p-value that is less than .05 indicates that the whole regression is significant and can be valid as a tool to predict the value of the dependent variable for the next period. the computed f-values were significantly low with a corresponding p-value greater than .05, thus, the derived regression equation was not valid to predict next period rate of return of the mutual funds. nonetheless, the mutual fund performance next period were attained as expected. r-squared. the r-squared test statistic indicates the extent to which the identified explanatory variables affected the results of the regression equation, i.e., the rest of relevant variables were not part of the study. the r-squared values are very low (0.314-0.602). conclusions. inflation rates over the period from 2008-2019 did not significantly affect the performance of the mutual funds. the mutual funds though changing negatively, the changes that occurred were not significant. likewise, the rate of returns was not volatile yielding expected returns as a result. overall, the mutual funds’ performance remained resilient and yielded expected results. table 2. f-test performance of mutual funds in the philippines—interest rates 2008-2019 statistics mutual funds dbf fcb pbf pb0 pmm psf coefficients 2.768 .306 -3.14 28.1 -.084 -2.230 durbin-watson 1.91 2.97 1.91 1.10 2.016 2.010 std. dev. (res.).314 .775 .775 .775 .775 .775 .775 t-value -.437 .134 -.404 .160 -303 -.298 mean (residuals) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 p-value .677 .898 .700 .878 .772 .776 f-value 1.11 .686 1.19 2.27 .726 .773 p-value .42 .627 .403 .177 .605 .581 r-squared .42 .314 .442 .602 .326 .340 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 53 published by scholink inc. table 2 provides a summary of the derived regression equation in relation to interest rate. coefficients. interest rate had positive effect on fcb and pbo. the rest of the mutual funds were negatively affected by interest rate. the t-values were significantly low resulting to high p-values (greater than .05). the initial values of the mutual funds are not significant. durbin-watson test. the durbin-watson test showed that the mutual funds were on normal ranges although negatively increasing but not significant. the volatility test indicates that the mutual funds had unit roots but deviating insignificantly from the unit root on a negative direction. in such case, these mutual funds provided expected returns. standard deviation of residuals and mean of residuals. the standard deviation of the residuals was 0.775 with a mean equal to zero. the mean equal to zero indicates that the mutual funds were not volatile as to the effects of interest rates, that is, they were significantly close to the mean, or expected returns. f-test of significance of derived equation. the f-test to determine the significance of the derived equation yielded low f-values and correspondingly high p-values that were greater than .05. r-squared. the computed r-square were quite low for the mutual funds (.314-.602). the remaining explanatory variables were not included in the regression. conclusions. interest rates over the period 2008-2019 had no significant effect on the performance of the mutual funds. the funds remained resilient and yielded expected returns. table 3. f-test performance of mutual funds in the philippines—exchange rates 2008-2019 statistics mutual funds dbf fcb pbf pb0 pmm psf coefficients 3.094 .333 3.853 -.419 .062 2.580 durbin-watson 1.91 2.97 1.90 2.20 2.016 2.010 std. dev. (res.) .775 .775 .775 .755 .775 .775 mean (residuals) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 t-value 1.065 .134 -.404 -.800 -303 -.298 p-value .677 .898 .700 ,454 .772 .776 f-value 1.117 .686 2.271 2.271 .726 .773 p-value .429 .627 .177 .177 .605 .581 r-square .427 .314 .326 .602 .326 .340 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 54 published by scholink inc. table 3 provides the summary of the performance of mutual funds as to the effects of exchange rates. coefficients. except for pbo, the rest of the mutual funds had positive opening returns except for pbo that was affected negatively by exchange rates. the t-test of significance of these coefficients yielded t-values that were significantly low and correspondingly with high p-values that were greater than .05, that is, the initial returns are not significant and expected to change for the given yield period. durbin-watson test. except for fcb with a high dw = 2.97, all the rest of the mutual funds were within the normal range (1.898-2.209). these mutual funds had unit roots and were changing negatively overtime, though not significantly. fcb exhibited a high dw value moving to the downside. standard deviation of residuals and mean of residuals. the computed standard deviation of the residuals was .775 with a mean equal to zero. this result shows that the yield of the mutual funds was very close to the mean or expected returns. f-value test of the regression equation. the f-value was low for all mutual funds with a corresponding p-values that were greater than .05, indicating that the derived equation cannot be used to predict mutual funds performance for the next period. r-square. the computed r-squares range from 0.314 to .602 that explained the extent to which the explanatory variable, exchange rate affected the value of the mutual funds. other explanatory variables were yet to be identified. conclusions. the mutual funds’ performance was not significantly affected by exchange rates. they remained resilient and yielded expected returns. 4. discussions the box-ljung test is a diagnostic tool used to test the lack of fit of a time series model. the test examines autocorrelations of the residuals. the autocorrelations were very small and not significant; thus, it can be safely concluded that the derived regression equations did not significantly lack fit. macroeconomic variables. the philippines economic forecasts-2018-2019 outlook provided a declining trend from 5.20% 2018 to 4.3% in 2019. the downtrend in inflation provided an upturn of the mutual funds as seen in the inverse relation of the mutual funds (-coefficients), that is, an upturn of inflation rate reflects a corresponding downturn in mutual fund values. as the economic forecast was expected for inflation rates to decrease further to year 2020, values of mutual funds are expected to rise. this result confirmed the earlier findings by researcher as seen in the introduction section. other authors meanwhile found out that inflation has actually no effect on the value of the mutual fund overtime. likewise, interest rates are expected to rise from 3.5% in 2018 to 4.0% in 2020. the results showed that an increase in interest rate will cause to increase the return of investors. this result confirmed earlier results of study done as seen in the introduction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 55 published by scholink inc. the durbin-watson results showed that although the mutual values are decreasing overtime, the decreases were not significant as they were within the normal range of negatively changing or positively changing overtime. the standard deviations and means of the residuals showed that the changes or volatility of the funds were not significant. for the investor, a quick adjustment in the mutual fund portfolio will provide a hedge against inflation rate. the dollar denominated funds as expected were vulnerable to inflation rate as the peso had to be exchanged to dollar value in the foreign country to which these funds are invested. the t-tests of significance of the macroeconomic variables to the mutual funds were not significant, that is, their effects on the changes of the fund values were not significant except for some with dw > 2.209 which reflected a concern. the f-test significance of the derived regression equations was not also significant which can be inferred that these were not valid tools to predict the values of the mutual based on macroeconomic variables as inflation rate, interest rate and inflation rate. these finding was supported by the low r-square test. the test showed there were more explanatory variables that were needed to be part of the study. other studies focused on trade balance, public debt and political environment which provided significant effects to mutual funds can be explored. further studies could be done to throw in as many explanatory variables and run them through a multiple wise regression to end up with a meaningful few. overall, philippine mutual funds for the period 2008-2019 were resilient and yielded expected returns. references boyte, w. c. (2018). how interest rates affect mutual funds. investopedia academy’s “become a day trader”. david, d., & david, r. (2018). mutual fund research: a perspective on how we have arrived at the current state of academic research on mutual funds. managerial finance, 44(3), 294-302. https://doi.org/10.1108/mf-12-2017-0519 dhar, a. (2017). what is the inflation rate in a mutual fund? retrieved from https://www.quora.com/what-is-the-inflation-rate-in-a-mutual-fund dhaw, w. s. (2018). impact of rising interest rates on fixed income, equity, and debt mutual fund investors. retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64284791.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest& utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst dierking, d. (2017). currency fluctuations and their impact on international funds. retrieved from http://mutualfunds.com/international-and-global-stock-funds/currency-fluctuations-impact-on-inte rnational-funds/ https://doi.org/10.1108/mf-12-2017-0519 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 56 published by scholink inc. global asset management. (2018). retrieved from http://funds.rbcgam.com/learningcentre/investing-strategies/impact-of-currency.html gusni, s., & faisal, h. (2018). factors affecting equity mutual fund performance: evidence from indonesia. investment management and finanbut what one tests cial innovations, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.15(1).2018.01 mutual funds that benefit from inflation. (2018). retrieved from https://finance.zacks.com/mutual-funds-benefit-inflation-10127.html nur, a. a., & nur, a. h. a. (2009). the performance of malaysian unit trusts investing in domestic versus international markets. asian academy of management journal of accounting and finance. serkan, i., & umit, o. (2014). assessing selectivity and market timing performance of mutual funds for an emerging market: the case of turkey. the loonies’ takeoff in perspectives. (2017). mackenzie investments. zacks global funds. (2018). how does a strong dollar affect international mutual funds? retrieved from https://finance.zacks.com/strong-dollar-affect-international-mutual-funds-9390.html https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.15(1).2018.01 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 32 original paper an important historical milestone: the classification of the cubic equations ilhan m. izmirli 1 1 george mason university, fairfax, va, usa received: january 11, 2023 accepted: january 23, 2023 online published: april 13, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n2p32 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n2p32 abstract this article investigates the use of the history of mathematics as a pedagogical tool for the teaching and learning of mathematics, using the history of the cubic equation as a specific example. cubic equations arise intrinsically in many applications in natural sciences and mathematics. for example, in physics, the solutions of the equations of state in thermodynamics, or the computation of the speed of seismic rayleigh waves require the solutions of cubic equations. in mathematics, they are instrumental in solving the quartic equations, for in the process, these are reduced to cubic equations. the impossibility of trisecting an angle or doubling a cube using only a straightedge and compass is equivalent to solving some cubic equations. as the name implies, the cubic spline approximation, an important tool in numerical analysis, also entails working with cubic functions. although cubic equations were explored by the ancient babylonian, greek, chinese, indian, and egyptian scholars, it took the collective work of many well-known mathematicians such as diophantus, archimedes, fibonacci, del ferro, khayyam, tartaglia, cardano, viète, descartes, and lagrange to finally obtain a full solution. our goal in this paper is to investigate one of the most formidable steps in this extensive and prolific history, namely the complete classification of the cubic equations by omar khayyam in eleventh century, who was the first scholar to classify cubic equation and hence facilitate a methodical and logical approach to obtaining a general solution. keywords cubic equation, monic polynomial, classification of cubic equations www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 33 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction history of mathematics is more than a few amusing and enjoyable anecdotes and/or some unverifiable apocrypha. indeed, it is an account of the process of development of the discipline over long periods of time and in different places using a variety of valid ways of constructing concepts and proofs. as such, it fosters flexibility and creativity in the learners, and provides them with crucial sources of inspiration, insight, and motivation. it also presents mathematics within a context that corroborates the notion that this discipline is a dynamic, continuously transmuting field of study that is open to refutation and revision; in other words, it humanizes mathematics (bidwell, 1993). it is now well accepted that inclusion of the history of mathematics in the classroom not only refines problem-solving skills and helps students make useful mathematical connections (jankvist, 2009), but it also emphasizes the interaction between mathematics and society (wilson & chauvot, 2000). to sum up, history, introduced in a dynamic and vigorous manner, has an essentially fundamental role to play in today’s mathematics classrooms. it demystifies and clarifies mathematics by showing that it is the creation of human beings and thus broadens the knowledge that students construct in a mathematics class (marshall & rich, 2000). 2. methodology to accentuate these points, in this paper, we will deal with a specific example: the historical development of the solution of the cubic equation. there are different ways of using history in the classroom (bidwell, 1993). for example, we can inject anecdotal material as the course is presented, that is, we can make historical references to coursework while it is being covered. our methodological approach is somewhat different: we aim to make the accurate historical developments of a topic (namely the categorization of the cubic equation) a part of the course (algebra or pre-calculus). this is what the example given in this article is trying to achieve. as is well known, today, using basic algebraic tools, the roots of the cubic equation can easily be computed. in fact, using cardano’s formula we have in case an approximate solution is needed, we let www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 34 published by scholink inc. and apply newton-raphson recursion formula that is, we iterate until , where is a given tolerance. in this paper, we are interested in one particular stage in the long journey that started with some cuneiform tablets and ended up with not only the general solution techniques, but also the invention of complex numbers: specifically, the important step of classification of the cubic equations. 3. a brief history cubic equations were known to the ancient babylonian, greek, chinese, indian, and egyptian mathematicians (van der waerden, 1983). indeed, babylonians had extensive tables for calculating cubes and cube roots (cooke, 2012). the greek involvement with the cubic equations grew out of their desire to solve the problems of doubling of the cube and trisection of an angle (kline, 1990). archimedes (c. 287 bce-c. 212 bce) in his on the sphere and cylinder ii, dealt with the doubling of the cube problem and reduced the problem to the solution of some cubic equations of the type and (katz, 2004). it was also shown that the angle trisection problem could be written as or equivalently as another cubic equation. in the 3rd century ad, diophantus (200-284), in his famous book arithmetica, proposed the following interesting problem: find a right-angled triangle such that its area added to one of the perpendicular sides makes a square, while its perimeter is a cube. it was shown by diophantus that the solution of this problem required finding the solution of the equation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 35 published by scholink inc. diophantus found the solution to this equation to be (heath, 2009). we also know that in the 7th century, the chinese mathematician xiaotong solved some cubic equations of the form (van der waerden, 1985). however, it should be noted that all of the above solutions were based on ad hoc arguments and applied only to specific problems and specific equations. no attempts were made to obtain a general method for solving the cubic equation. this all changed in the 11th century, when the persian poet-mathematician-astronomer-philosopher, omar khayyam (1048-1131), made significant progress in the theory of cubic equations. first of all, he realized that a cubic equation could have more than one solution. secondly, in his fil birâhini-al-el-mesâil-el-cebr vel mukabele, he wrote a complete classification of cubic equations. thirdly, in the same book, he proposed some general geometric solutions that involved intersecting certain conic sections (katz, 2004). khayyam’s general geometric solution of the cubic as well as his contributions to literature, philosophy, astronomy, geometry, and sciences will be analyzed in detail in another paper. here, we are only interested in his classification of the cubic equation. for, it is this classification that provided the much needed background for the works of fibonacci (1170-1250), [19], scipione del ferro (1465-1526), niccolò fontana tartaglia (1500-1557), gerolamo cardano (1501-1576), françois viète (1540-1603) and rené descartes (1596-1650) (note 1) en route to the complete solution of the cubic. 4. omar khayyam’s life and work omar khayyam (whose full name was ebu hafs omar ibn-i ibrahim el khayyami) was born in nishapur in northeastern iran in 1048. khayyam came from a middle-class family. the patronymic khayyam (or khayyami) meaning “tent maker” implies that at least one of his ancestors must have been a tent maker. he was educated in nishapur by some of the leading scholars and scientists of time such as nasȋr-ed-din sheih muhammad mansur and muvaffak-üd-din abdullatif ibn-ül lübâd, and the renowned theologian hâce ali. he died in the same city in 1131. for more information on his life and major works, please see dilgan (1964). khayyam was introduced to western world in the first half of nineteenth century by the translations of two of his major works. one was an 1851 translation of his work in algebra (fil birâhini-al-el-mesâil-el-cebr vel mukabele) by franz woepcke (1826-1864) as l’algèbre d’omar al khayyamȋ and the other was the 1859 translation of his poetry (rubaiyat) by the well-known english www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 36 published by scholink inc. poet and writer edward fitzgerald (1809-1883) as the rubaiyat of omar khayyam. his philosophical thoughts have been compared to epicure, voltaire, and schopenhauer (dilgan, 1964). khayyam’s fil birâhini-al-el-mesâil-el-cebr vel mukabele comprised five sections. the first section contained a preface and gave some basic definitions. in the second section, khayyam discussed first and second degree equations and in the third, he talked about cubic equations. fourth and fifth sections involved equations that contained powers of unknown in the denominator and some additional remarks on basic rules of algebra. it must be mentioned that khayyam, like his contemporaries, considered only equations whose coefficients and roots were positive numbers and if an equation did not have positive roots, he classified them as unsolvable. it is interesting to note that for the first time, khayyam established some relationships between roots and the coefficients of an equation. for example, in the equation where , he showed that there would be two positive roots if and no positive roots (i.e., in his terms, no solutions) if . in the case , he showed that the equation may or may not have positive roots. indeed, some simple examples show this to be the case. for example, it can easily be verified that with , the equation has no positive roots; with , it has one positive root; and with , it has two positive roots. 5. khayyam’s classification of the cubic in section three of fil birâhini-al-el-mesâil-el-cebr vel mukabele, khayyam divided cubic equations into four major groups. the first group consisted equations. only two of those could not be solved by the geometric method khayyam proposed and required other techniques. thus, could be solved by khayyam’s method. the second group contained trinomial equations that had three successive powers ( , and constant term or , and ). there were such equations and these were all solvable by khayyam’s method. the third group contained equations that contained , and terms, but not necessarily successively—the only stipulation was that a cubic term had to be present. all equations in this group were solvable by khayyam’s method. the fourth and the last group contained equations with four terms containing , and in a successive manner. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 37 published by scholink inc. thus, khayyam’s method applied to different type of cubic equations. below we give the members of these groups. here, are positive constants. group i (not solvable by khayyam’s method) group ii www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 38 published by scholink inc. group iii group iv www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 39 published by scholink inc. let us give a specific example of khayyam’s method. as mentioned earlier, the general method will be analyzed in a different paper. say, for example, we want to solve the first equation of group iii of course, since , cannot be zero. khayyam’s solution consisted of constructing the parabola and the circle with center at and radius and determine the -coordinate of the intersction. for, if we do that, we get the second equation becomes that is, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 40 published by scholink inc. since this gives us the root found by this method is the real and positive root since the length of a line segment cannot be negative or imaginary. for example, to solve we graph the parabola and the circle and note that the -coordinate of intersection of the two curves for is at , which of course is the only real positive solution of the equation. 6. conclusion were one to choose to adhere to the instrumentalist or mechanical view of mathematical knowledge and instruction, one would then equate computational proficiency with mathematical understanding. in other words, in this particular case, one would just give cardano’s formula (with or without proof) and use it to solve a few cubic equations. this, of course, would deny the students the true mathematical understanding of the problem: all of a sudden, somehow, a person discovered a formula, and all one has to do now is to substitute the right numbers in the right places, and then rely on the calculator. the instructor, with this approach, clearly would fail to provide the much needed insight to and motivation for the topic that is being covered. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 41 published by scholink inc. in contrast, the historical approach, places problem solving at the heart of instruction. for instance, in our specific example, the students would realize that the solution of the cubic equation was developed over time and through the efforts of several scholars of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. the reasoning behind the classification, the gist of our paper, would pave the path to students’ ability to indulge in the study of a class of objects rather than a specific object. by taking a historical approach to the subject, students would learn that the classification of the cubic was indeed a mathematical necessity on the way to the discovery of the general solution. as an added benefit, an analysis of the historical development of the solution of the cubic shows the internationalist character of mathematics. as teachers, if we are, as we should be, concerned about cultural chauvinism and parochial nationalism, and try to instill an unbiased perspective of mathematics, the historical approach is the needed panacea to convince learners that transnational collaboration, universal solidarity, and fellowship of scholars have always been the epitomes of mathematical development. it also shows the interconnectedness of mathematical areas (geometry, algebra, etc.). moreover, it proves that even masters were prone to erroneous thinking (denial of negative solutions) and hence shows the dangers of taking mathematics as a set of absolute truths as opposed to a set of fallible and transmutable ones. references bidwell, j. k. (1993). humanize your classroom with the history of mathematics. mathematics teacher, 86, 461-464. https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.86.6.0461 cooke, r. (2012). the history of mathematics: a brief course (3rd ed.). john wiley & sons. dilgan, h. (1964). șair matematikçi ömer hayyam (poet mathematician omar khayyam). sirketi mürettibiye basimevi, istanbul, turkey. heath, t. l. (2009). diophantus of alexandria: a study in the history of greek algebra. martino fine books. jankvist, u. t. (2009). a characterization of the “whys” and “hows” of using history in mathematics education. educational studies in mathematics, 71(3), 235-261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-008-9174-9 katz, v. (2004). a history of mathematics. boston: addison wesley. kline, m. (1990). mathematical thought from ancient to modern times. oxford university press. marshall, g. l., & rich, b. s. (2000). the role of history in a mathematics class. mathematics teacher, 93(8), 704-706. https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.93.8.0704 van der waerden, b. l. (1983). geometry and algebra of ancient civilizations. springer-verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61779-9 https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.86.6.0461 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-008-9174-9 https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.93.8.0704 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61779-9 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 42 published by scholink inc. van der waerden, b. l. (1985). “from viète to descartes”, a history of algebra: from al-khwārizmī to emmy noether. springer-verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51599-6_3 wilson, p. s., & chauvot, j. b. (2000). who? how? what? a strategy for using history to teach mathematics. mathematics teacher, 93(8), 642-645. https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.93.8.0642 note note 1. in his paper, réflexions sur la résolution algébrique des équations, joseph louis lagrange introduced a new method to solve equations of low degree in a uniform way, with the hope that he could generalize it for higher degrees. of course, we now know of the non-existence of an algebraic formula for degrees 5 and higher (abel’s theorem). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51599-6_3 https://doi.org/10.5951/mt.93.8.0642 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 39 original paper the economic impact of online education gregory kaplan 1 1 department of world languages and cultures, university of tennessee, knoxville, tn, usa received: may 17, 2024 accepted: may 28, 2024 online published: june 3, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n2p39 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n2p39 abstract during the past fifteen years, the increase in enrollment in online courses at institutions of higher education worldwide, which has accelerated since the covid-19 pandemic, invites an analysis of the factors that have fueled this growth. the present study considers evidence of the economic and pedagogical advantages of online courses over face-to-face courses taught in classrooms. it concludes that creating and expanding online programs will provide a significant return on investment to institutions and students for the foreseeable future. keywords online education, asynchronous online courses, higher education, economic impact of online education, online pedagogy 1. introduction in the early days of what was then a potential pandemic, a study (learning on demand: online education in the united states, 2009) was published to assess the state of online education at institutions of higher education in the united states. one issue considered was the economic impact of online education, which was found to be ―mixed‖ for institutional budgets: ―50 percent have seen their budgets decrease as a result [of a greater demand for online courses], but 25 percent have experienced an increase‖ (allen, 2010, p. 1). at the same time, the authors of the study concluded: ―academic leaders at all types of institutions report…[that] demand for online offerings is greater than that for the corresponding face-to-face offerings‖ (allen, 2010, p. 1). moreover, well before the potential pandemic, the authors found that contingency plans were already in place in many institutions, and that ―[s]ubstituting online for face-to-face classes is a component of 67 percent [of these plans]‖ (allen, 2010, p. 2). fortunately, the contingency plans were unnecessary because a pandemic did not occur in 2009 when fear of an outbreak of h1n1 was pervasive. during the following decade, factors unrelated to the potential outbreak of a pandemic contributed to growth in online education, and this fact provides a point of departure for reaching conclusions concerning the economic impact of online education in the wake of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 40 published by scholink inc. the covid-19 pandemic of the early 2020s. the definition of an online course has changed somewhat since the publication of learning on demand: online education in the united states, 2009: online courses… are those in which at least 80 percent of the course content is delivered online. face-to-face instruction includes courses in which zero to 29 percent of the content is delivered online; this category includes both traditional and web facilitated courses. the remaining alternative, blended (sometimes called hybrid) instruction is defined as having between 30 percent and 80 percent of the course content delivered online. (allen, 2010, p. 4) more than a decade later, the term ―blended‖ has been completely replaced by ―hybrid‖, a modality that continues to describe courses with both online and classroom meetings. however, at today’s institutions of higher education, online courses are typically delivered 100% online according to one of two modalities. these courses are delivered either as asynchronous courses, in which students learn on their own time without interacting with the instructor, or as synchronous courses, in which the instructor interacts with students online at scheduled times. the conclusions advanced in the present study concern asynchronous and synchronous courses because of the main difference between them and face-to-face or hybrid courses, namely, because asynchronous and synchronous courses function without the need for classrooms. 2. method 2.1 the advantages of online education for a mobile workforce in his study, ―how the online education market can save the economy‖, a. skonnard draws a parallel between online education and the current needs of employers worldwide: the global economy has transitioned into a mobile workforce enabling business to be conducted no matter the location or the device being used. why isn’t education conducted in the same way? how can students be prepared to join the global, mobile economy if they don’t have global, mobile education? in addition to how individuals are learning, there is a growing gap between what businesses need from their employees and what the education industry is teaching students and professionals. online education can solve these problems and we’re now beginning to see the possibilities more clearly. (skonnard, 2013) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 41 published by scholink inc. studies of online education outside of the united states have confirmed its positive influence on the workforce. for example, greater access to online education in the six countries that form the cooperation council for the arab states of the gulf, as b. k. a. omari observes, ―help[s] students in making proper evidence-based decisions which is critical in the management of modern organizations‖ (omari, 2017, p. 15). during the decade before the covid-19 pandemic, access to courses fueled the growth of the global online education market. for example, the market size of online language learning increased globally from 3.5 billion euros in 2015 to more than five billion euros in 2020 (statista research department, 2022). the positive influence on the workforce of online education can be attributed to the advantages of online courses, which ―provide students with greater flexibility in terms of time and location, [and] which can enable them to balance their studies with work or other obligations‖ (altindag, 2023, p. 4). i. koskal underscores several economic advantages of online education for working students: ―online courses prove a more affordable option than traditional ones and there are no commuting costs, and sometimes required course materials, such as textbooks, are available online at no cost‖ (koskal, 2020). considering the affordability of online education and its appeal to a mobile workforce, it is instructive to highlight some pedagogical benefits of online courses for students. 2.1.1 the pedagogical value of online learning the growth in online education has continued after the covid-19 pandemic. for example, the global market size of online language learning is projected to reach 7.5 billion euros in 2025 (statista research department, 2022). this growth comes at a time when ―the post-pandemic differences in student performance between ftf [face-to-face] and online instruction are much smaller in the post-pandemic period [than they were in the pre-pandemic period]‖ (altindag, 2023, p. 31). this is a conclusion drawn from evidence collected over twelve semesters (from 2016 to 2022) in a study involving thousands of undergraduate and graduate students at a medium-sized public r1 university in the u.s. with face-to-face classes and ―a longstanding, well-established online education program‖ (altindag, 2023, p. 3). other success stories at u.s. universities with recently established programs testify to an expanding u.s. market in online education. one example is the development of an online education program at syracuse university (syracuse, ny) that offers ―flexible formats‖ and ―academic and personal support‖ to help students ―follow the same curriculum as on-campus students‖ (note 1). kansas state university (manhattan, ks) has established an online program with courses that employ ―easy-to-use platforms‖ and provide students with ―the same support and resources as on-campus students‖ (note 2). another recent success story is the creation of an online course, asynchronous spanish 331, at the university of tennessee (knoxville, tn). spanish 331 is an upper-level course taught entirely in spanish that is required for majors and minors in hispanic studies at the university of tennessee. spanish 331 was taught exclusively in a classroom format until the covid-19 pandemic, which caused the need for an online offering that was designed as an asynchronous course. after offerings during the pandemic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 42 published by scholink inc. from 2020 to 2023, asynchronous spanish 331 continues to be offered along with face-to-face classroom sections of spanish 331. anecdotal evidence of the pedagogical success of asynchronous spanish 331, including student comments on course evaluations and increased enrollment, is corroborated by data collected from version histories of assignments submitted via google docs, the platform used by groups of 5-8 students to submit 31 assignments in asynchronous spanish 331. the version history of a group google doc, visible only to the instructor (as the ―owner‖ of the google doc), records the entries made by students to the document and the times of day when they are made. as portrayed in figures 1, 2, and 3, the different colored highlighted text corresponds to the dots on the right of each image, which are entries made by individual students to the documents. the unhighlighted text was present before the students who entered the highlighted text began working on the document together. the students’ names (hidden in the figures) are listed to the right of the dots, which enables an instructor to know when they work on the assignment. figures 1, 2, and 3 are screenshots of the same google docs assignment conducted in asynchronous spanish 331 during offerings of the course in 2022, 2023, and 2024. the assignment first required each student to view a video online about the university of salamanca (salamanca, spain) and take a graded quiz on the video. students then collaborated online in groups using google docs to compose an essay in spanish of 375-400 words comparing salamanca, spain, and knoxville, tn, usa (the location of the university of tennessee) as ―university towns‖. in 2022, students had the entire day of april 20 (12:01 am to 11:59 pm) to complete the essay, which they accomplished between 4:27 am and 5:45 pm. figure 1 reveals this period, which is couched between entries from april 19 and april 21 that correspond to other assignments due on those days. the time of 4:03 pm is highlighted in a dark gray color to indicate a particular moment in the google docs version history, namely, when the five students whose names are hidden to the right of the different colored dots were collaborating on the assignment and contributing or correcting the different colored text. during the times not highlighted in dark gray, students had been (4:27 am, 8:29 am, 11:49 am, 12:59 pm) or would be (5:45 pm) collaborating or working individually. the time range from 4:27 am to 5:45 pm during which the assignment was completed is significant because it extends beyond peak teaching hours (10 am to 2 pm) when university classrooms are at their highest capacity. the fact that several entries were made by students at non-peak times (4:27 am, 8:29 am, 4:03 pm, 5:45 pm) speaks to the flexibility of online courses and the lack of flexibility in the case of a face-to-face classroom course. this flexibility may have allowed some students who made non-peak entries in figure 1 to be involved in something other than an academic course, such as work, athletics, or family matters, during peak hours. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 43 published by scholink inc. figure 1. collaboration at 4:03 pm on a google docs group essay in the spring of 2022 in 2023, students had the entire day of april 19 to complete the same assignment, which they accomplished during the non-peak hours of 4:15 pm and 10:28 pm as revealed in figure 2. the fact that groups of two to five students collaborated at non-peak times (4:15 pm, 5:47 pm, 6:44 pm, 9:20 pm, 10:28 pm) suggests, as in the case of figure 1, that students were able to engage in activities unrelated to asynchronous spanish 331 during peak hours. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 44 published by scholink inc. figure 2. collaboration at 9:20 pm on a google docs group essay in the spring of 2023 in 2024, students had the entire day of april 17 to complete the assignment, which they accomplished between 12:28 am and 10:48 pm as revealed in figure 3. in figure 3, two entries were made during peak hours (10:42 am and 12:32 pm), while seven entries were made during non-peak hours (12:28 am, 8: 49 am, 4:02 pm, 6:21 pm, 7:35 pm, 7:52 pm, 10:48 pm). as in figures 1 and 2, the flexibility of the asynchronous modality that is not possible in the case of a face-to-face classroom course is revealed in figure 3 by the wide range of times that the entries were made. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 45 published by scholink inc. figure 3. collaboration at 7:35 pm on a google docs group essay in the spring of 2024 3. result the fact that students in asynchronous and synchronous online courses do not occupy classrooms is something that institutions should consider when scheduling courses. a solution typically implemented at colleges and universities to find classrooms for face-to-face courses is to schedule them at non-peak times. however, this solution may not be beneficial economically. non-peak courses may not reach capacity if students have work or family obligations at non-peak hours, which can result in classrooms with empty seats. it is instructive to envision seats in a classroom economically as if they were seats on an airplane. according to a survey conducted more than a decade before the covid-19 pandemic forced airlines to leave middle seats empty, ―eighty percent of travelers say they try to avoid the middle seat and only 1% say they prefer it‖ (―do you really hate the middle seat that much‖, 2009). however, the reverse of the 2009 survey has always been true from the perspective of u.s. airlines, which ―need to sell about 75 per cent of a plane’s seating capacity. that is 8 percentage points higher than an aeroplane where every third seat is empty‖ (bushey, 2020). in other words, a plane full of empty middle seats translates into a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 46 published by scholink inc. maximum of 67% of seats being sold, which is not enough to generate a profit. this became a stark reality during the covid-19 pandemic when, as an airline official declared, ―if you leave the middle seat empty… you’re not going to make money‖ (bushey, 2020). empty classroom seats in a face-to-face course are unprofitable, like empty middle airline seats, because they are unoccupied physical spaces. a classroom with low enrollment needs electric lighting, like the jet fuel needed by an airplane full of empty seats. the same electric lighting and the same jet fuel would be used if the classroom and the airplane were at full capacity, which would produce a greater return on investment from the resources used. however, empty seats in an online course are not as unprofitable as empty seats in a face-to-face classroom course. the reason is that participation in an online course has no impact on the expenditure of resources needed by students who attend class face-to-face in a classroom. moreover, course materials, such as textbooks, are ―another expensive reality of traditional college education that online education alleviates… [because they are often] included in the curriculum‖ (piletic, 2018). 4. discussion considering the economic advantages of online education, colleges and universities should make greater investments in developing new programs. one example inspired by the success of courses such as asynchronous spanish 331 is an initiative developed at the university of tennessee in four academic disciplines: business, technology/data, liberal arts, and social and human sciences (note 3). in addition to growing existing graduate programs, the initiative will involve launching twenty to thirty new undergraduate online programs by the fall of 2026. the primary aim of this initiative is to attract new students to the university who cannot attend class on campus, including part-time students and former students who left the university before completing their degrees. the ability of such students to complete their degrees by taking online courses offered by the university of tennessee will address a nationwide problem in the areas of retention and degree completion. according to a recent study: ―at four-year [u.s.] colleges, the first-to-second-year retention rate for students 24 and younger is 72% for full-time students vs. only 40% for those attending part-time. for older students, the first-year retention gap is 56% (for full-timers) vs. 43% (part-timers)‖ (nietzel, 2022). as the same study also explains: ―only 21% of part-time students at four-year colleges and 19% at two-year schools were able to complete a credential in six years‖ (nietzel, 2022). the benefit of online courses to part-time students who are unable to complete their degrees in the classroom is both academically and economically beneficial insofar as those who possess a college degree earn salaries that are ―86 percent higher than those whose highest degree is a high school diploma‖ (―how does a college degree… earnings potential‖, 2024). throughout a lifetime, this amount can be close to $1,000,000 according to the u.s. social security administration (―research, statistics & policy analysis‖, 2015). of course, the number of students enrolled in a course, whether the course is taught online or face-to-face www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 47 published by scholink inc. in the classroom, is usually a significant number to instructors and administrators. online or classroom courses that are under-enrolled may not produce sufficient revenue to cover the costs of instruction. however, because online courses use no classroom space, they can be populated simultaneously by residential and off-campus students and thus increase the chances that minimum enrollment requirements will be met, which is how the university of tennessee initiative will operate. because the online courses will be available to residential students who are also enrolled in face-to-face courses on campus, the university of tennessee initiative may also produce an economic benefit, namely, that technology, operations, and overhead expenditures may not need to be increased as residential programs grow. this is exactly the opposite of programs that depend on the availability of classroom space to grow. since no classroom space is required for online courses, investments in technology, operations, and overhead–including course sites such as canvas (which is used at the university of tennessee)–may increase minimally, or not at all, as more students enroll. it is logical to speculate that consistent or increased enrollments in online courses that recycle technology will be profitable for institutions of higher education in the way that privately held businesses profit from their investments in technology. this situation may, in turn, encourage institutions of higher education to more closely scrutinize the manners by which they reinvest surpluses gained from revenue-producing online programs. the profitability of these programs may resonate differently among public, private, and for-profit institutions of higher education, which operate according to different business models. one current view is that this distinction should be eliminated and that not-for-profit institutions should adopt a for-profit business model. this is the view advocated by a recent study, using roi for strategic planning of online education, in which the contributors argue that by becoming for-profit today’s non-profit institutions will be able to combat rising tuition costs and declining enrollments (ives, 2022). students, in turn, might also be able to limit student loan debt by taking less expensive courses. the evidence considered in the present study suggests that the same benefits might be gained by investing more resources in online education, which would not only be pedagogically profitable for students but also profitable economically for both for-profit and non-profit institutions of higher education. references allen, e., & seaman, j. (2010). learning on demand: online education in the united states, 2009. boston: babson survey research group. altindag, d. t., filiz, e. s., & tekin, e. (2023). is online education working? working paper 29113. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.nber.org/papers/w29113 asquith, j. (2020). analysis—how much money do empty flights really cost airlines. forbes, march 31. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesasquith/2020/03/31/analysis-how-much-money-do-empty-flig hts-really-cost-airlines/?sh=6590e7995854 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 48 published by scholink inc. bushey, c. (2020). us airlines fly in different directions in middle-seat debate. financial times, july 18. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.ft.com/content/7ac4f416-2aae-4d31-a49a-475edc060d7c do you really hate the middle seat that much?. (2009). cranky flier. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://crankyflier.com/2009/07/22/do-you-really-hate-the-middle-seat-that-much/ how does a college degree improve graduates’ employment and earnings potential?. (2024). the association of public and land-grant universities. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy-and-advocacy/publicuvalues/employment-earnings/#:~:te xt=college%2deducated%20workers%20enjoy%20a,less%20education%20continues%20to%20 widen ives, k. s., & seymour d. m. (eds.). (2022). using roi for strategic planning of online education. new york: routledge. jones, s. (2019). classroom space fills up quickly during midday peak. university times, 51(20). retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/classroom-space-fills koskal, i. (2020). the rise of online learning. forbes, may 2. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2020/05/02/the-rise-of-online-learning/?sh=7b5c999f72f 3 nietzel, m. t. (2022). new report: college completion rates improve, but disparities remain a problem. forbes, december 13. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/12/13/new-report-college-completion-rates-im prove-but-disparities-remain-a-problem/?sh=29813be659e5 omari, b. k. a. (2017). online education and economic growth in gcc. international journal of social and economic research, 7(4), 26, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-6270.2017.00026.5 piletic, p. (2018). lower costs are making more students prefer online education. e-learning industry september 21. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://elearningindustry.com/students-prefer-online-education-lower-costs-making research, statistics & policy analysis. (2015). november. u.s. social security administration. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/research-summaries/education-earnings.html skonnard, a. (2013). how the online education market can save the economy. wired. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/03/how-the-online-education-market-can-save-the-economy / statista research department. (2022). july 6. retrieved may 30, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/948857/digital-language-learning-global-market-size-language/ https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-6270.2017.00026.5 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 49 published by scholink inc. notes note 1. information on online education at syracuse university can be found at: https://www.syracuse.edu/admissions-aid/application-process/online/. note 2. information on online education at kansas state university can be found at: https://online.k-state.edu/. note 3. information on online education at the university of tennessee can be found at: https://volsonline.utk.edu/. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 22 original paper young adult vulnerabilities in the fiction of a ugandan woman writer alice jossy kyobutungi tumwesigye 1 1 department of languages, literature, and media studies at bishop stuart university, mbarara, uganda received: december 6, 2021 accepted: january 10, 2022 online published: march 8, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n1p22 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n1p22 abstract questions of identity, power, autonomy and vulnerability carry a particular weight in cultures that have emerged from colonialism. although few writers of fiction focus on the conflicts between african and european characters, a focus on power and marginalisation remains. one category in which this focus may be plainly seen is writing for and about young people. the study’s aim was to analyse young adult fiction written by a ugandan female author, barbara kimenye to investigate this writing to find out how young adult vulnerability is depicted in literature. although literature targeting young people in uganda has flourished and though issues of limited representation have been scrutinised in literary studies, like gender discrimination, very limited attention has been accorded young adult representation in literature. this research analyses fiction written by a female author barbara kimenye to expand knowledge about the criticism of young adult representation in literature with particular focus on young adult vulnerability in an adult dominated world. the methodology was mainly qualitative research design, where a document analysis method was used to aid analysis and make critical appreciation of the fictional works. the study investigated the state of young adult characters in literature with special focus on their vulnerability. keywords vulnerability, disposability, linguistic vulnerability 1. introduction in this study, i examine how the young adult characters in two of kimenye‟s novels for young adults (beauty queen and prettyboy, beware) are depicted as being vulnerable to a host of ills, for instance exploitation, sexual abuse and substance abuse. i examine the different situations and contexts of vulnerability that the characters are imagined being in, the factors that fuel this vulnerability, the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 23 published by scholink inc. lessons the fictional works teach us on vulnerability, and the key stylistic devices that kimenye uses to depict vulnerability. it is important to start by explaining the key term i have deployed in the study—vulnerability. mackenzie, rogers, and dodds (2014) observe that the concept “vulnerability” derives from the latin word vulnus (“wound”) and denotes “the capacity to suffer that is inherent in human embodiment”; so to be vulnerable is to “be fragile, to be susceptible to wounding and to suffering; this susceptibility is an ontological condition of our humanity” (p. 4). for these scholars, human life is conditioned by vulnerability. by virtue of our embodiment, human beings have bodily and material needs; are exposed to physical illness, injury, disability, and death; and depend on the care of others for extended periods during our lives. as social and affective beings we are emotionally and psychologically vulnerable to others in myriad ways: to loss and grief; to neglect, abuse, and lack of care; to rejection, ostracism, and humiliation. as socio-political beings, we are vulnerable to exploitation, manipulation, oppression, political violence, and rights abuses. and we are vulnerable to the natural environment and to the impact on the environment of our own, individual and collective, actions and technologies (p. 1). we come into the world unknowing and dependent, and, to a certain degree, we remain that way. we can try, from the point of view of autonomy, to argue with this situation, but we are perhaps foolish, if not dangerous, when we do. of course, we can say that for some this primary scene is extraordinary, loving, and receptive, a warm tissue of relations that support and nurture life in its infancy. for others, this is, however, a scene of abandonment or violence or starvation; they are bodies given over to nothing, or to brutality, or to no sustenance. no matter what the valence of this scene is, however, the fact remains that infancy constitutes a necessary dependency, one that we never fully leave behind ... there is no way to argue away this condition of a primary vulnerability, of being given over to the truth of the other, even if, or precisely when, there is no other there, and no support for our lives [...] paul formosa in (mackenzie et al., 2014, p. 89) makes a similar point when he observes that “[t]o be vulnerable is to be susceptible to harm, injury, failure, or misuse” and gives this example to make his point: “an individual person can be vulnerable to assault, a group of persons to genocide, a species to extinction, a delicate vase to breaking, an argument to being refuted, and an outdoor concert to being cancelled due to bad weather”. the above quotations capture all key aspects of vulnerability that i identify in the texts under study: exploitation, emotional and sexual abuse, material and financial deprivation, physical injury, and violation of human rights, among others. i examine how kimenye handles some of these issues in beauty queen and prettyboy, beware. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 24 published by scholink inc. 2. methodology a synopsis of each of the fictional works is necessary in order to appreciate better the different aspects of vulnerability they highlight. after this a textual analysis of each of the fictional works is done. 2.1 synopses of the texts under discussion 2.1.1 beauty queen beauty queen tells the story of adela who jokingly joins a beauty contest that is organized in her home town upon being requested by the pageant organizer, yoweri wamala. while she considers both participating in the contest and winning it as a joke, a cunning businessman called joe banda takes these two seriously, and decides to train her so that she competes in international pageants. she wins the very first international one she participates in named pan africa beauty contest and soon becomes a celebrity, but with this success comes tragedy: she contracts hiv when she sleeps with one of the judges—a film star she has always admired and who happens to be hiv positive—and soon dies of aids. 2.1.2 prettyboy, beware in prettyboy, beware joseph wangala sends his youngest son, matthew, to the coast, upon being evicted from a shanty town. his hope is that matthew will continue with his education at the coast, since there are no good schools in the village where the family is to relocate. matthew‟s new guardians, jamani and ezra, are killed in a fire that is started by a family whose daughter jamani‟s sons attempted to rape, and matthew—the only survivor of the fire—becomes not only homeless, but also penniless. a white tourist called mark baker, who happens to be a pederast, takes him in and introduces him to homosexuality. when baker returns to europe after a few days, he leaves matthew with money to take him back to his family. unfortunately, on the bus to the village, matthew is robbed. a good samaritan helps him to return to the coast where he becomes a teenage prostitute as a way of surviving as he has no family to care for him. like adela, he too contracts hiv and dies of aids. suffice it to mention that the fictional works are conceived as didactic ones, for they are meant to communicate particular messages to the intended audience of young adult readers, who are likely to identify with adela (who is sixteen years old) and matthew (who is twelve years old). 3. result 3.1 physical, emotional and attempted incestuous abuse in kimenye’s beauty queen kimenye‟s beauty queen opens with its protagonist feeling vulnerable to an impending sickness: when the organizer triumphantly waved card number 7 above his head, and adela with shock realised that it was also the number she wore attached to a ribbon on her wrist, she felt vaguely sick and her body became hot all over (kimenye, 1997a, p. 1). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 25 published by scholink inc. the feeling of sickness is a result of the shock at learning that she has won the miss kabongo district beauty contest event that she had joined as a joke upon yoweri wamala, the organizer, pleading with her and her friend keti to join it as the only decent girls available, since it usually attracted “the local bar-girls and small-time prostitutes” (3). but the feeling of sickness is also symbolic, in many ways, of how adela‟s decision to join a beauty contest is going to bring her a host of problems. the immediate one is the reaction of the audience when she stands at the podium to receive the award: [she] stood rooted to the spot, wishing the floor would open and swallow her up. she did not at all enjoy the wolf-whistles and crude personal remarks about her physical attractions that reached her from the mainly male audience. she wanted to run away and hide (kimenye, 1997a, pp. 1-2). it is significant that in the community hall where the contest has been held, there are ministry of health posters warning the population “against the deadly aids” (3)—an indication that there is an enemy prowling around that could pounce on anybody who is not careful enough to protect themselves from it. it is this invisible enemy in the midst of the population and the fact that the contest attracts bar-girls and prostitutes that makes adela vulnerable to being misunderstood as a loose girl—by her parents, the headmistress of her school, and her village-mates. her father declares her a “little slut” and a “whore”, and deals her “a series of punches until adela collapsed sobbing across the threshold, then with a final kick he strode angrily into the house” (8), without even finding out the reasons she had in participating in the contest. her mother, who is more understanding, asks her, “whatever possessed you, child, to enter a beauty contest? don‟t you know that only the lowest type of girl goes in for that sort of thing [...] girls whose vanity allows them to flaunt themselves in beauty contests are heading for disaster?” (9). the headmistress at adela‟s school, st mary‟s high school, sr felicia, holds a similar view. this is what she tells adela without mincing her words: well, young woman, i hope you understand the damage you have inflicted on this highly respected school. your vain and thoughtless action has made a mockery of everything that st. mary‟s has hitherto stood for—namely the virtues of modesty and self-respect. we who are privileged to serve here have always prided ourselves on producing women who are good conscientious workers in their chosen professions, women who will eventually become excellent wives and mothers. in other words, women who are a credit to their church, community and country (kimenye, 1997a, p. 16). with these words, she expels her from the school, for “[g]irls who believe that their physical attractions are more important than the purity of their souls can only be classed as vain and shallow—and there is no place for such girls in st. mary‟s high school” (17). her attitude is similar to that of adela‟s mother, for she tells adela: “it‟s common knowledge that beauty contests attract a very inferior clique of girls” (19). such girls, she says, cannot be allowed to continue studying at st. mary‟s high school. later in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 26 published by scholink inc. the novel, the view—that there is a link between beauty contests and sexual looseness—is made clear at the pan africa oil pageant when maxi, a character with immense experience in fashion business, informs adela that “[t]he judges‟ names are being kept secret so that none of the contestants or their hangers-on can get to them in the hope of doing a deal” for “[y]ou can bet your life that some of these girls are prepared to do anything—and i mean anything—to try influencing the judges in their favour!” (66). suffice it to note that this stance of sr. felicia‟s—that her school aims at training women who will become excellent wives and mothers—is problematic in the sense that it reduces women to breeders for the nation, as well as the upholders of national virtue, owing to their perceived “femininity, purity, submissiveness, mothering, caretaking instincts, compassion, and morality” (ahmed-ghosh, 2003, p. 208). this view is similar to turshen (2000, p. 816) observation that “[c]oncepts of virtue and family honour objectify women, as does the need to protect a woman‟s chastity or virginity for the reputation of her family in a community and for the successful arrangement of a girl‟s marriage”. needless to mention, the expulsion of adela from st mary‟s high school causes her emotional distress, for it marks her as a misfit at the school, and a kind of moral pariah among her schoolmates. had her sister, ujeni, not been supportive, the expulsion would have crashed her emotionally. luckily, ujeni corners sr. felicia into writing a fair testimonial on adela that does not mention that she has been expelled from the school. this saves adela the trouble of having her name dragged into the mud by the gutter press and her school-mates‟ gossip chats. it is significant to note that these three adults (adela‟s father and mother and sr felicia) act in such a way that denies adela a voice; for them, it does not matter that she had a reason, even if a weak one, for participating in the contest. if it is true that young people “need a pedagogy steeped in respectful selfhood” as henry a. giroux (1996, p. 213) argues, it is clear that in the novel, the kind of pedagogy that the three adults push for is not one that allows for critical reflection so that adela understands where she has gone wrong. instead, they push for a pedagogy of violence—physical violence (the father who beats and punches her) and verbal and moral violence (the mother and sr felicia, who suggest that adela has made herself morally cheap by participating in the beauty contest). adela‟s village-mates also respond to her and keti in a way that underlines how the beauty contest has made the two girls vulnerable to sexual innuendos: [a]fter the contest, some of the boys who have known me and keti since we were small waited for us outside the community hall, but instead of teasing and tormenting us as they usually do, they were suddenly pretending to be friendly in the oddest way and it seemed that they couldn‟t keep their hands off us. it made us feel dirty. we had to run to get away from them (kimenye, 1997a, p. 13). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 27 published by scholink inc. it is not only the boys in her village who misunderstand adela and keti as being ready for sexual activities because they have had the courage to participate in a beauty contest where they have “flaunted” their bodies before men, to use her mother‟s words; adela‟s father does the same thing, for it is not by coincidence—i suggest—that he attempts to rape her a few hours after she has won the beauty contest. the narrator relates this incident thus: in spite of the aches and pains received at the hands and feet of her father, she was tired out by the evening‟s excitement and quickly fell asleep. she was wandering in an unintelligible dream when a sweating, heavily-breathing body stole into her bed, and clumsy hands fumbled impatiently with the folds of the kanga in which adela was wrapped. only as she sensed a rough urgency in the handling did she become wide awake, and then, as the horror of the situation dawned upon her, she let out a terrified scream. instantly, the big, clumsy body withdrew. lights were switched on in other parts of the house, and then adela‟s mother and the maid lucretia swiftly padded into her room, their faces reflecting a strangely furtive fear (kimenye, 1997a, pp. 9-10). in other words, adela‟s father subjects her to sexual abuse which, according to (doak, 2007, p. 9) includes incest—a vice that (brown & alexander, 2020, p. 66) define as “sexual relations between a child and a family member within specific categories of kinship, such as parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles”. when adela shares this experience of surviving being raped by her father with ujeni, she is surprised to learn that her siblings were exposed to the same vulnerability when they were younger. ujeni tells her: you were too young to know what went on in that god-fearing family home of ours. maria, estella, salomi and me—we all went through it until jamesi [the first born coming before ujeni] realised something was wrong. [he] threatened that dirty old man who happens to be our father with the clan elders and the police, so we were more or less safe while he was around. now you know why we all rushed into marriage with whomsoever we wanted, without bothering to get father‟s blessing or approval. with jamesi threatening to report him for incest if he made any trouble, the old man was in no position to raise objections (kimenye, 1997a, p. 11). this revelation is of course shocking to adela, particularly upon knowing that her mother and her sisters did not alert her about her father‟s evil practice—a silence that made her vulnerable to being sexually abused. it is also evident in the above extract that adela‟s sisters married early as a way of escaping from their father, who—by practicing incest—had evacuated himself from the category of the human to that of a monster that needs to be fled. in other words, incest makes the home not only a den that reeks of danger, but also a dungeon where the young female adult is subjected, or susceptible to being subjected, to sexual abuse by a father who is expected to provide care and protection to her. no www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 28 published by scholink inc. wonder that he is more or less evacuated from the novel the moment adela starts staying with ujeni, which is a way of keeping her safe from his unnatural inclination. ujeni explains the silence: her mother is terrified of their father, so she is “too scared to speak about it”, while ujeni and her siblings “kept quiet for mother‟s sake, and that‟s why we all visit her and father and behave as though everything is normal between us” (12). in other words, incest is “a hidden crime”, to use g. flores-ortiz‟s phrase (1997, p. 50), which is why it is “often referred to as „the family secret‟ since frequently, several non-participating family members are aware of sexual abuse but deny its existence to outsiders. denial may reflect embarrassment or a feeling that „things like this should not be discussed outside the family” (clark, clark, adamec, & gelles, 2001, p. 94). the point to emphasize here is that this silence makes adela vulnerable to being sexually abused, for had she known about her father‟s incestuous inclinations, she would have been more careful in his presence. as doak (2007, pp. 9-10) observes, child abuse is always kept a secret, which makes it a shadowy practice that is difficult to fight. adela‟s mother, who knows what is going on, covers up her husband‟s evil behaviour by declaring that adela has had a nightmare. when adela insists that it was her father who was attempting to rape her, for she is sure she smelled his sweat, her mother admonishes her: “hush, child. you were dreaming. your father is a good man. he would never harm you”. suffice it to note that ujeni makes a similar statement about joe banda: she declares him a good man (49) when adela refuses to be trained for international beauty contests, like miss world. yet she does not know anything about him at the time she is making the declaration, except that he drives a gleaming limousine of a mercedes benz. adela‟s mother‟s statement is therefore ironical, for what her husband attempted to do to adela does not show him as a good man at all. no wonder ujeni refers to him as an “old goat” (11), with the animal image being intended to show how unnatural and beastly he is, for it is among goats that there is sexual intercourse between fathers and daughters, since animals do not have a moral code. even when adela insists that it was her father who tried to sleep with her, her mother counter-insists that she was having a bad dream, showing how vulnerability to sexual abuse in families is fuelled by people who are close to the victim: first, the father, the perpetrator, and the mother, whose interest is to protect her husband‟s name and reputation, for lack of a better word. by narrating this incident in the novel, kimenye aims to lift the secrecy surrounding incest by making it a topic that matters, a topic for public debate. this way, some girl or two, who have parents who are involved in this form of sexual abuse, could be helped or even saved, by realizing that their plight is known by somebody, the author at least, and that there is a way of going about it, the way adela is able to fight and eventually escape her father‟s attempted incestuous rape. by speaking with her “whole mouth”(asaah, 2006, p. 499), that is to say openly, without using euphemisms to textualize this taboo, kimenye also challenges whoever www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 29 published by scholink inc. knows about the evil practice to speak up, since she demonstrates that it persists through secrecy. it is worth noting that although vulnerable to several dangers, adela successfully fights off a few of them, for instance her village-mates‟ indecent touches and her father‟s attempted incestuous rape. but there are those she does not manage to fight off, for instance the beatings she suffers from her father and the expulsion from her dear school, which comes with her increasingly becoming distant from her friend, keti. perhaps the worst instance of vulnerability that the female young adults are exposed to in beauty queen is the belief by some old men that “they could escape the aids scourge if they confined themselves to virgins”, even when it is likely that most of them might “already have been hiv positive before embarking on their deflowering routine” (12). it is clear, from the above incidents in the novel, that it is not easy to be a female young adult in kabongo district for the odds of making it to adulthood without being assaulted physically or sexually are so high that even one‟s father can rape her, with tacit knowledge of her mother, who has no power or agency to do anything to stop it. the fact that the girl child is exposed to sexual vulnerability from almost every front—the family space (through the incestuous father), the community hall (the wolfish whistles), the street (the indecent touches) and later in the novel the hotel room (byron warlock‟s deflowering of adela, which i discuss in a moment) confirm nancy whittier‟s observation that “[t]he fact that sexual assault is more common against girls than against boys, and that male offenders are more common than female, indicates the importance of gendered power structures in shaping patterns” (whittier, 2016, p. 96). this is why “[f]eminist scholars argue that the root of all violence against women is the patriarchal empowerment of men, the privatisation of family life, and the creation of systems and values rooted in patriarchy which objectify women and dehumanize men” (flores-ortiz, 1997, p. 54). it is little wonder then that in the novel, it is male characters—jamesi, adela‟s brother, and later sam, ujeni‟s husband—who can confront the old man over his incestuous relationships, not women (ujeni, her sisters and her mother) as if to indicate that it is only the male folk who can tame the monster. this disempowers the women characters, some of whom—like adela—are portrayed as being capable of defending themselves, the way she does when she successfully fights off being raped by her father. the point i am making is that by privileging the male characters as the only people who can tame the incestuous old man, the novel narratively confirms the identity of adela as a survivor of attempted incest rather than the more empowering one of her as a strong young adult character who successfully resisted incest. 3.2 economic and sexual exploitation of young adults in kimenye’s beauty queen and prettyboy, beware as already mentioned, young adult characters face vulnerability from different fronts. apart from adela‟s defencelessness at her own home and at school, she fulfils the proverbial notion of moving from “the frying pan into the fire” when she goes to live with her sister ujeni. her vulnerable status is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 30 published by scholink inc. magnified although it is not obvious at the beginning. the same proverb applies to mathew whose suffering gradually intensifies as he becomes distanced from his parents and guardians. 3.3 economic exploitation in beauty queen both novels (beauty queen and prettyboy, beware) portray the protagonists as suffering exploitation in different forms: financial and emotional (for adela), and financial, emotional and sexual (for matthew). financial exploitation comes in two forms: the characters are deprived of money that should come to them for the services provided by an adult character who helps himself or herself to it for doing much less work than the young adult character does. in beauty queen, adela is exploited by joe banda, ujeni and maxi. joe banda sets up a company in which himself, ujeni, maxi and adela are shareholders. the company does well as shown by the fact that ujeni is able to buy her husband, dr sam, a mercedes benz, as well as refurbish his clinic, giving it a new look in the process, besides sponsoring his trip to london where adela is to promote the marketing of “a new range of cosmetics and scent designed for the modern black woman” (beauty queen 109). maxi makes it clear that joe banda, ujeni and she have made a lot of money because of adela: i have known joe for a very long time, and i know how he operates. i made it my business to ensure that i got my share of the pickings. after all, i made that girl. without me, she would never have made it to the top. i earned every cent i got out of turning her into a beauty queen. as for your wife! you have only to look at your smart car and clinic to realise that she didn‟t lose anything on the deal. (beauty queen 139) when adela is diagnosed with hiv at a time when she starts manifesting the symptoms of aids, sam is shocked to learn that despite being a co-owner of the company that banda, ujeni and maxi run, his sister-in-law is actually penniless. the narrator explains how this state of affairs came about: maxi revealed how joe banda had craftily worked on the company‟s accounts to show a consistent loss, hiding the profits in a mass of fictitious expenses. “the expenses for practically everything adela was involved in were fully paid for by sponsors”, she revealed. “and joe made various investments with most of the money she earned to reap substantial profits […] adela and the company are one. on paper, the company is broke, so adela is also broke. as for joe‟s investments, he has covered his tracks with extreme care. it would take a miracle to trace them”. ((kimenye, 1997a, p. 138) kimenye dramatically presents adela as a victim of exploitation using the device of irony—the disjuncture between two realities, the apparent and the realistic. adela, the beauty queen of international renown, is taken to a world-class hiv clinic in arizona in the united states of america, led by world-class medical doctors and researchers, but when banda stops paying the bills, she finds herself “a destitute patient”—she who six months ago “lived in the lap of luxury and had the world at www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 31 published by scholink inc. her feet” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 144). there is nothing sam can do, but to have her transferred to an under-facilitated, poorly equipped hospice run by catholic nuns back in her country. the fact that adela is not in position to do anything about her condition brings to mind joel anderson‟s words, that “vulnerability can be simply awful for people and can erode their agency in subtle and profound ways” (2014, p. 151) since a person is vulnerable to the extent to which she is not in a position to prevent occurrences that would undermine what she takes to be important to her. vulnerability is thus a matter of effective control, understood as a function of the relative balance of power between the person in question and the forces that can influence her. vulnerability can be increased by those forces becoming more powerful or the effects more probable but also by the person becoming less able to counter these forces and effects.” (anderson, 2014, p. 135) (emphasis in the original) the point i am highlighting is that adela has no control over the forces influencing her, right from the moment she moves in with ujeni and starts attending maxi‟s charm school, to the moment she succumbs to hiv/aids. it is significant that it is because of this lack of control, exacerbated by the white pills that maxi gives her and the alcohol that she takes at the party thrown in her honour, which exposes her to the hiv infection in the first place, for she prevails over byron warlock to sleep with her at a moment she is not in control of her senses, as i explain in a moment. were she sober and not drugged, it is most likely that she would not have forced warlock into having sex with her. in any case, there would probably have been no reason for warlock to escort her to her room, which is what starts off the unfortunate and fatal sexual intercourse that the two have. one of the lessons the reader gets from beauty queen is that dependence is dangerous since it robs the person of agency. adela gets infected with hiv because for the first time, she finds herself without the people who are chaperoning her—banda, maxi, ujeni, and to some extent wamala, when they are barred from attending the dinner held in her honour when she wins the miss pan africa oil pageant. drugged, drunk and without the people who have protected her from danger all along, she becomes vulnerable to disaster. this brings to mind susan dodds‟ words that: dependence is one form of vulnerability. dependence is vulnerability that requires the support of a specific person (or/people)—that is, care. to be dependent is to be in circumstances in which one must rely on the care of other individuals to access, provide or secure (one or more of) one‟s needs, and promote and support the development of one‟s autonomy or agency. (anderson, 2014, p. 182) kimenye uses the device of juxtaposition to underline adela‟s misery at being exploited by banda, maxi and ujeni. the reader is able to visualize the adela who used to travel the world first-class or in private jets with the one who arrives back in her country “at the aids hospice on the back of a lorry carrying sacks of charcoal, and for which sam had paid a ridiculously high bribe” (p. 151). this is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 32 published by scholink inc. upon the ambulance that sam hired to carry her to the hospice declining to do so when its driver and attendants aggressively state “their case for protecting themselves, their families, and future patients to be transported in their vehicle” out of a silly and ignorant belief that hiv is a highly infectious disease that could spread from one person to another through physical contact with a person carrying it (151). this juxtaposition is heartrending for the reader who will find it hard to stomach the extent to which adela has been exploited to destitution and to death. this destitution comes as a result of banda, maxi and ujeni emptying adela of her humanity, choosing instead to see her as a commodity, a thing. banda calls her “my investment” (p. 61)—“a means for him to make large amounts of money” (p. 71). it is little wonder that she is treated as “a marketable commodity” (p. 48) and “private property” (p. 115), with clear allusions to the slave trade. byron warlock, one of the judges at the miss pan africa oil pageant that adela wins, underlines this allusion when he refers to banda, ujeni and maxi as flesh merchants! that‟s what we call them in the [united] states. they take a kid like you and turn her into a beautiful walking, talking, living doll. then when they‟ve made as much as they can out of her, and she‟s past it, they throw her on the scrap-heap and she‟s lucky if she doesn‟t end up a junkie (kimenye, 1997a, p. 90). what warlock is talking about is disposability. because she has been emptied of her humanity, adela is disposable like tissue. indeed, sooner than later, banda, ujeni and maxi abandon her when she is diagnosed with hiv and admitted in a clinic in arizona. banda stops paying her bills, while maxi makes it clear that she has nothing to do with her welfare. as for ujeni, the “twinge of guilt” she once experienced “at allowing the idea of pots of money to override the sisterly concern and protection that she was to be providing for adela” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 43) has long dissipated; what she cares about is the money rolling in from adela‟s “winnings in other international beauty contests, from advertising contracts, from special appearances at important charity functions, from guest appearances in films [and] from promotions” (kimenye, 1997a, pp. 111-112), as well as “putting a great deal of energy into netting joe banda whom she had marked out as her next husband” (119). in other words, ujeni, banda and maxi do not look at adela‟s young adulthood using the “language of responsibility and justice” but from the perspective of “the scandalous philosophy of money—that is, a logic in which everything, including the worth of young people, is measured through the potentially barbaric calculations of finance, exchange value, and profitability” (giroux, 2009, p. 115). it is this philosophy that makes it easy for banda and his protégés to come up with a false biography of adela‟s “which described her as the only daughter of a roving diplomat from a family with aristocratic connections, gave her age as 18, claimed fictional academic successes, and stated that she was a serious student whose sole ambition was to work for the society‟s underprivileged” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 88). suffice it to mention that banda‟s calling of adela as his investment constitutes what judith butler calls “linguistic vulnerability”, one clear dimension of which www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 33 published by scholink inc. has to do with our exposure to name-calling and discursive categories in infancy and childhood—indeed, throughout the course of life. all of us are called names, and this kind of name-calling demonstrates an important dimension of the speech act. we do not only act through the speech act; speech acts also act on us. there is a distinct performative effect of having been named as this gender or another gender, as part of one nationality or a minority, or to find out that how you are regarded in any of these respects is summed up by a name that you yourself did not know and never chose (butler, 2016, p. 16). there is no doubt that indeed, the way adela is treated is “summed up” by the name she has been given—investment—for she is perceived as a commodity with a market value, as i have explained above. if she had been given a different name that underlined her humanity, it is likely that she would not have ended the way she does. indeed, when the “commodity” she is loses value and is hospitalized at a clinic in the us, banda stops paying the medical bills altogether. the point we get from the novel is that the kind of name one is given matters; for this reason, we should beware what names we are given or we give other people (there is a saying in runyankole (a language used in western uganda) that sums up this same “linguistic vulnerability” that “eiziina ribi riroga nyinaryo” translated to mean that “a bad name bewitches the owner”. it connotes the vulnerability of the named, almost always a child, who has no say as to what their names are and what they connote. it is significant that it is adela‟s non-blood relations—sam, her brother-in-law, and keti, her childhood friend—who care for her the moment she loses value as a commodity, that is, when she is diagnosed with hiv/aids. banda, maxi and ujeni, who only looked at her as a commodity and an investment are nowhere to help with caring for her in her hour of need. in fact, it is only sam and keti who are present at the catholic nun‟s hospice when she dies, penniless, despite the so much money she had made in her short stint as a beauty queen. in the novel, financial exploitation is symbolized by the gleaming limousine that joe banda drives. with the knowledge given to the reader that banda is “a complete opportunist, and an exceptionally efficient one at that” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 118), it is clear that the expensive, elite machine that he owns has not come from honest hard work, but sheer craftiness. to point to this fact, kimenye makes the representative of the moral consciousness of her novel, sam, sell off the mercedes benz that his wife, ujeni, had given to him as a gift, and mortgage the clinic, that ujeni had refurbished, because he is aware that the money that paid for the car and for the refurbishing of the clinic had come from adela‟s work and sweat. besides economic exploitation of adela, there is also emotional exploitation which arises from the fact that banda, ujeni and maxi hurt her feelings. at the pan africa oil competition, adela is horrified to learn that banda and several other people are placing bets on her winning or not winning first place. this fact—that “to many people she was now in the same impersonal category as a horse race; that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 34 published by scholink inc. their sole interest in her and the other contestants was their potential to win or lose bets” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 68)—disturbs her, for she becomes aware that she has been reduced to a commodity. while the novel is quite silent on her reaction upon not seeing her sister ujeni during her fatal illness, it is clear that this is yet another hurting moment for her, for it is people who are not her blood relations (sam and keti) who care for her and in whose caring and loving presence she dies. 3.4 economic and sexual exploitation in prettyboy, beware in prettyboy beware (kimenye, 1997b), financial exploitation is clearly portrayed in the dealings of the european, spencer, who runs a pimping business in form of weekly parties. the young boy, daniel, tells matthew that spencer charges 40% of the young children‟s earnings. but when matthew gets his first customer, olaf, at one of the said parties, spencer pockets “more than half the money” (kimenye, 1997b, p. 92). no wonder that on at least two occasions, he calls matthew “a goldmine” (ibid, p. 66, p. 92) on account of him being “prettier than most girls” (p. 91), hence his nickname, prettyboy, which gives the novel its title. yet it is matthew, not spencer, who suffers the consequences of the sexual encounter he has with the much, much older man, olaf, who leaves him with “bruises on his arms and shoulders, and a sharp pain [which] made him explore the outer surface of his back passage” (kimenye, 1997b, pp. 91-92). it is clear that these bruises, and the bleeding from the back passage, are not worth the paltry 50 us dollars that spencer leaves him, having taken 150 of the 200 usd as his introduction fee (p. 94). this is not to imply that there is an amount worth the suffering the young adults, daniel and matthew and the others they represent go through; the point i am making is that spencer and his likes profit off these little ones, whom they have turned into sexual commodities. through the device of characterisation, kimenye makes it clear that spencer is a monstrous, greedy man, who considers matthew, daniel and the other young adults he pimps for as mere commodities. the european men who photograph daniel and matthew nude and in “posing obscenely together or with one or other of the men” upon paying them 150usd (99) are also exploiters, since they do not explain to the two boys how they will benefit from the photographs they are taking, implying that what they pay the two boys is much less than what they stand to get. worse still, the two boys are certainly not the only ones who are photographed in nude and in obscene poses; the novel implies that there are bound to be several others whom the european tourists have met and photographed already, or those that they are bound to meet sooner or later. this tourist business goes on with the tacit knowledge of the authorities who advertise the country‟s coastal strip to foreign tourists “as a place of sun, sand and sex” meant to appeal “to those interested in youthful activities, particularly in connection with the very young!” (p.110). in other words, the very young members of the population are dangled to european tourists as commodities to use, and by implication to dispose of, thereby bringing to mind fanon‟s prescient words: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 35 published by scholink inc. the national bourgeoisie organizes centres of rest and relaxation and pleasure resorts to meet the wishes of the western bourgeoisie. such activity is given the name of tourism, and for the occasion will be built up as a national industry. if proof is needed of the eventual transformation of certain elements of the ex-native bourgeoisie into the organizers of parties for their western opposite numbers, it is worthwhile having a look at what has happened in latin america. the casinos of havana and of mexico, the beaches of rio, the little brazilian and mexican girls, the half-breed thirteen-year-olds, the ports of acapulco and copacabana—all these are the stigma of this depravation of the national middle class. because it is bereft of ideas, because it lives to itself and cuts itself off from the people, undermined by its hereditary incapacity to think in terms of all the problems of the nation as seen from the point of view of the whole of that nation, the national middle class will have nothing better to do than to take on the role of manager for western enterprise, and it will in practice set up its country as the brothel of europe (frantz, pp. 153-154). fanon is writing in 1963 (with the translation of his book into english coming out in 1968), but it is as if he has the east african coast, where prettyboy, beware is set, in his mind, for what the authorities have done, in the name of promoting tourism, is to make their country the brothel of europe indeed, what with their availing of the very young children to tourists, for their (the tourists‟) use as they see fit. for the political leaders in the east african coastal country where the novel is set, [l]ong-term commitments along with values related to durability are now sacrificed to a mode of temporality in which quick turnovers and short attention spans become the measure of how our everyday lives are experienced and futures anticipated” as zygmunt bauman (cited in giroux “youth” 709) would put it, with an unfortunate development: “[a]s authority is colonised by the market, politics loses its moral force to the appeal and status of the latest trend” (ibid). consequently, we live in a world where “children are no longer viewed as an important social investment or as a central marker for the moral life of the nation” but rather as commodities, thanks to a market-driven politics “in which young people are prepared for a life of objectification while simultaneously drained of any viable sense of moral and political agency” (giroux, 2009, p. 715). this is a world where the independence of african nations has been compromised, for by turning the countries into the brothels of europe, national dignity is eroded, yet sovereignty and dignity are exact equivalents since “a free people living in dignity is a sovereign people” (fanon 198). if the government‟s mission is to give back “dignity to all citizens, fill their minds and feast their eyes with human things, and create a prospect that is human because conscious and sovereign men dwell therein” as fanon (205) argues, then it is clear that the leaders in the coastal country where prettyboy, beware is set have failed the people who voted them into office. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 36 published by scholink inc. in the novel, kimenye presents a politician, pila shotto, who is critical of the practice of advertising the country‟s coastal strip as “as a place of sun, sand and sex” meant to appeal “to those interested in youthful activities, particularly in connection with the very young”—an advertisement that he uses to inflame the crowd that is against paedophilia and pederasty into ridding the town of these vices, so that the town may regain its lost glory and honour of being “the jewel of the coastal strip” (kimenye, 1997b, p. 110). while there is no doubt that mr shotto is not genuine in his call; it is also clear that he uses the crowd that the reverend abel has organized to do his own politicking, without much commitment to actually mobilizing the community and his fellow leaders into solving the problem of child molestation that the novel names as child prostitution. in other words, he wants to win political capital out of the plight of child prostitutes like matthew, without explaining how he hopes to address the major causes of child prostitution—poverty and the material impoverishment that results from it. in the same vein, the reverend abel himself exploits matthew‟s vulnerability upon being attacked by an anti-paedophilia mob to appeal “for funds to establish a street children‟s village to provide a stable home for the deprived young” (p. 111). again, it is not that the reverend abel is not genuine in his mission of ridding the coastal town of the practice of child prostitution and paedophilia; the point to underline is that he uses matthew, whom he has just saved from a menacing mob, to help him raise money for his church. he allows the boy to exaggerate the molestation he has suffered, for this increases the number of people coming to his church as shown by the fact that as matthew‟s descriptions become “increasingly lurid” every time he is on the pulpit, “sunday evenings soon saw folk fighting for seats in the corrugated chapel” (p. 109). in other words, the reverend abel prefers some untruths from matthew in his church for the sole reason of attracting worshippers, who are likely to improve the collection at the offering and the tithe. unfortunately, the sordidness of the story he tells at the church gathering comes with a fatal consequence: when his mother, who has learnt about the arson that killed matthew‟s guardian jamani and has come to look for her son hears what he is telling the congregation, she commits suicide for she cannot stand to witness the extent to which her son has been abused and dehumanized. the final aspect of exploitation i would like to identify in prettyboy, beware is the same i pointed out when discussing this theme in beauty queen: disposability. all the foreign tourists who use matthew—mark baker, jax and olaf—dispose of him as soon as they have got the sexual gratification that they want from him. when baker‟s holiday is over, he gives matthew a brief farewell, which stuns the young man for he had expected something warmer, since baker was “someone who had shown him strong affection and more”, which is why “[u]p to the very last moment he had believed, or rather hoped that mark would at least promise to keep in touch” (p. 80). this does not happen, leaving him bitter and regretful. similarly, after olaf has bruised matthew, leaving him bleeding, he (olaf) appears “to deliberately ignore him” (p. 91). the same thing happens when jax uses him: immediately afterwards, he www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 37 published by scholink inc. excused himself, saying he had an appointment with a friend holidaying nearby. matthew happily expected him to arrange another meeting, but jax did nothing of the sort. he walked up a sand dune and disappeared in the direction of a cluster of cottages, whose roofs could be glimpsed beyond a line of trees, without so much as a backward glance. mathew‟s thoughts were troubled as he made his way alone back to the outdoor bar. jax, after all that talk of friendship, had abandoned him as casually as had mark. matthew was rapidly learning that grown-ups, despite convincing expressions of sincere friendship, could not always be relied upon, once they had taken what they wanted from him. (kimenye, 1997b) (98) it is clear that the men who get involved with matthew do not actually love him; they go to him because he is young, pretty and usable. the passage above shows that he is learning this fact the hard way. one would expect him to resolve to leave the terrible life he has got himself into on account of being homeless, but he does not, as he sets himself the goal of raising 1,000 usd from the men who use him, which he hopes to send to his parents. unfortunately, his dream is not fulfilled, as he soon suffers a mental breakdown when his mother commits suicide. shortly before he dies of aids, he tells his father who is attending to him in hospital: “dad, stay with me. i want you and mother to have a thousand dollars!” (p. 120). it is important to note that rather than see matthew and other young adults like him, for instance, daniel as being at risk of exploitation by european tourists, the local population instead sees them as the risk itself. this is evident when matthew is attacked by teenage boys on his way from buying a bus ticket, in preparation for leaving the coast upon being advised by jojo to quit prostitution: “this is one of them!” he heard somebody shout. “look at his fancy clothes and jewellery!” the cry of “disgusting beast!” was accompanied by a sharp blow to matthew‟s shoulders, and other insults and blows rained upon him when he was knocked to the ground, doing his best to protect the vulnerable parts of his body. a vicious kick to the head from a booted foot put him beyond all pain. (p. 106) this is the point at which he is saved by the reverend abel who commands the mob to stop assaulting him. this passage makes it clear that the characters‟ attitude to child prostitutes like matthew is diverse: while there are people like the reverend abel who see the prostitutes as people at risk, that is as victims, there are also those, like the teenagers who attack matthew, who consider child prostitutes as a problem, that is, as the risk itself, that needs to be got rid of. sharon stephens (cited in giroux “youth”, p. 691) succinctly captures this point thus: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 38 published by scholink inc. there is a growing consciousness of children at risk. but ... there is also a growing sense of children themselves as the risk—and thus of some children as people out of place and excess populations to be eliminated, while others must be controlled, reshaped, and harnessed to changing social ends. hence, the centrality of children, both as symbolic figures and as objects of contested forms of socialization in the contemporary politics of culture. in other words, young adults like matthew and daniel are doubly vulnerable: first, they are vulnerable to being sexually abused by european entrepreneurs like spencer and tourists like olaf; second, they are vulnerable to being attacked by their fellow citizens who consider them a symbol of moral decadence. this problem needs to be addressed. in the real world, organizations like ecpat (end child prostitution in asian tourism), also known as end child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes (o‟grady, 2001, p. 125) are helping to make people aware of the double risk that young prostitutes face. there are some weaknesses in the depiction of child prostitution in prettyboy, beware. the obvious one is that it presents the problem from only the perspective of the male young adult child, leaving the reader to wonder if the plight of the female child is any better. the second problem, perhaps more serious than the first one, is that it presents the sex predator as an outsider—the tourist from europe specifically or the western world generally, thereby giving the impression that sexual abuse is an imported sociological issue, not an indigenous one. maggie black cited in montgomery (2011, p. 151) speaks to this problem when she argues thus, in the context of thailand: no society wants to admit that it practices “child prostitution”. and where the evidence is undeniable, it is more bearable to blame the “unclean other”—decadent foreigners with their incomprehensible tastes and misbehaviours. where there is an overlay of north-south exploitation—the western tourist ruining innocent paradise with his credit card and unleashed libido—this aversion plays easily in certain well-meaning ears. while it is true that “[t]he existence of others is crucial in defining what is „normal‟ and in locating one‟s own place in the world” as ashcroft, griffiths and tiffin (key concepts, p. 169) argue, there is a problem with the view that child prostitution is a north-south issue, viz-a-viz, the child sexual abuses that are committed by the indigenous people against their own people go unreported, which makes it difficult to eradicate child prostitution and related abuses within the country. finally, the novel risks being labelled homophobic, given the fact that it describes the homosexual act in a gruesome way, particularly when olaf injures matthew‟s anus, causing wounds and bleeding. however, kimenye is careful enough to dispel this charge in two ways. first, she makes jamani acknowledge that homosexuality happens in different societies: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 39 published by scholink inc. we‟ve known such things before—men being attracted to each other and even living together. it occurs in every community; arabs. asians, european, and yes, among us africans, although our people don‟t care to admit it. that ain‟t to say that we understand, agree or approve, but neither do we judge or criticize. everybody is entitled to his own way of life and is eventually answerable to god (kimenye, 1997b, p. 42). kimenye also goes to pains to explain, through peter, that homosexuality is different from pederasty, for although “often people automatically assume that all homosexuals are interested in seducing children [this] is in fact very seldom the case” (p. 41). both beauty queen and prettyboy, beware make it clear that the young protagonists‟ vulnerability in these texts is exacerbated by their naivety: they are too naïve to recognize the fact that the attention they are getting from some of the adults in their lives is a result of these adults‟ selfish interests—material enrichment, in the case of adela‟s sister ujeni, joe banda and maxi, and sexual gratification in the case of matthew‟s “friend”, mark baker, olaf and jax. naivety makes them unaware that they are in exploitative and manipulative relationships; by the time they realize this, it is quite too late. adela realizes that she has been taken advantage of when she is flown back to the poorly equipped and staffed hospice run by the nuns; it is perhaps this realization that makes her remove “the oxygen mask away from her face” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 156), so that she passes on quickly. as for matthew, he mistakes baker‟s interest in him for genuine kindness and care. having lost his foster family (jamani, his two sons and his house help ezra) to a fire lit by a family that had a grudge with jamani over his sons‟ attempt to rape their daughter, matthew manages to escape from the burning house and finds himself at the beach: [he] staggered around aimlessly, dazed and exhausted. at some stage he collapsed or threw himself down and cried himself to sleep on the sand. it was daybreak when a cold, wet, inquisitive muzzle, sniffing his ankles, caused him to curl into a tight ball and refuse to open his eyes. he fought against waking and facing reality, even if the snuffling creature currently inspecting him turned out to be a man-eating monster (kimenye, 1997b, p. 54) here, matthew is homeless and has nowhere else to turn—a fact captured by his refusal to open his eyes and face reality, even when a man-eating monster, in this case the dog called tobu, snuffles him. at a symbolic level, however, it is not the dog who is the man-eating monster, but mark baker himself, the man who rescues matthew, feeds him, washes his wounds and bandages them, takes him to the hospital where he is attended to, and offers him accommodation. he pretends to be concerned about matthew‟s welfare to the extent of telling him, “young man, i don‟t want you to worry about anything, or feel any guilt at being alive when your friends are dead. i‟ll look after you” (p. 58)—a wonderful declaration of care for a homeless boy whose parents are more than 500 miles away from the coast www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 40 published by scholink inc. where he is. the omniscient narrator informs the reader of matthew‟s reaction to this wonderful declaration: gratitude robbed matthew of speech. young as he was, life in a series of squatters‟ settlements had taught him that the world was seldom a kind place, yet it seemed that since arriving at the coast he had received more than his fair share of kindness from comparative strangers. for the first time since the fire, he managed a trembling smile, and experienced a surprising flow of affection from this good man who returned his smile and reached out to him and hugged him (p. 54). this passage arouses the reader‟s suspicion that mark baker‟s concern for matthew is not out of altruism but selfish intentions. there are at least three clues. the first one is that mark baker has clothes that fit 12-year old matthew perfectly, yet he is unmarried and without children. secondly, matthew drowsily hears a man mocking mark baker about being a lucky man since he has got himself a “beauty” (p. 57). finally, the mocking man says that matthew is “a great improvement” on mark baker‟s “last little friend” (p. 58), indicating that this is not the first time that he, baker, is having young adults of matthew‟s age in his house. this suspicion serves as a tell-tale sign the narrator gives to the reader about the possibility that baker‟s generosity might be false, since he could be a pederast who is waiting for the right moment to molest matthew. this in fact turns out to be the case, but because of matthew‟s naivety, he does not realize it. the stylistic technique used by kimenye here is suspense, for the reader keeps wondering if matthew is not in danger of being sodomised. the major point to underline here is that mark baker betrays matthew, who thanks him for his generosity thinking it is genuine. but it is not; it is a mere bait that the old man is using to hook the little boy whom he uses for his selfish satisfaction, with no qualms whatsoever on the effect this will have on his (matthew‟s) life. by introducing 12-year old matthew, a minor who has not yet reached the age of consent (which is 18 years in east african countries) to homosexuality, mark baker becomes the man-eating monster that the novel invokes when the dog tobu sniffs at half-conscious matthew lying in the sand at the beach. the power of this symbolism lies in the fact that this introduction to homosexuality sooner or later launches matthew into the world of child prostitution. it is therefore not an exaggeration to argue that mark baker has something to do with the fact that matthew later on contracts hiv and dies of aids. in any case, it is not clear from which man he got the virus; it is possible that it was from mark baker himself. in both beauty queen and prettyboy, beware, both economic and sexual exploitation take place with the aid of substance abuse—drugs or alcohol—given to the young adults by the adults who are keen on exploiting them. the next section delves into this point. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 41 published by scholink inc. 3.5 drug abuse as a precursor to sexual exploitation in kimenye’s beauty queen and prettyboy, beware in both beauty queen and prettyboy, beware, kimenye establishes a direct link between hiv infection and substance abuse, particularly alcohol. this link has been articulated by social scientists, for instance christine cynn (2011, p. 104) who reports that in the hiv education programmes targeting young people in uganda and côte d‟ivoire, the message given is that “alcohol and drug use increase vulnerability to sexual advances”. brooke grundfest schoepf (2003, p. 558) argues that in the context of hiv transmission, “[a]lcohol consumption is a risk factor, both for male patrons and for the young women who serve them [for] men are less likely to use condoms when drunk”. finally, in a study on poor parenting practices in eastern uganda, richard sekiwunga and susan reynolds whyte (2009, p. 118) report that some of their respondents, particularly the school teachers and local leaders saw a correlation between the parents‟ failure to “sufficiently monitor their daughters‟ whereabouts” [to the extent] that adolescent girls had freedom to go to night discos where they learnt bad habits like taking alcohol and engaging in sexual activities” (p. 118), thereby exposing them to early pregnancies and hiv infections. in beauty queen, adela sleeps with byron warlock and contracts hiv from him as a result of two factors. the first one is the over-protection or rather control that the trio (banda, ujeni and maxi) exercise over her, what the narrator calls adela‟s “protective net” (p. 100). when she wins the pan africa oil beauty competition, she is invited for a sumptuous dinner at chief atalifu‟s penthouse, but banda, ujeni and maxi are not allowed to attend, for a different dinner has been organized for the contestants‟ crew. this is more or less the first time she is left alone without the three or at least one of them being with her or hovering around her, ever since she started training to become a beauty queen. she drinks quite a lot of champagne without restraining herself, for the influence of her trainers have distorted “her development as an adult” as the medical doctor, sam, puts it (p. 115). this failure to restrain herself from taking too much champagne brings us to the second factor—drug abuse, a practice she has been thrown into by the trio, with neither her knowledge nor her approval. it is true that she is aware that she is given white tablets by maxi each time she gets nervous, but she does not know what these are, or what their effect on her health is. when she takes a lot of champagne in the penthouse, her head slumps on her chest as she talks to warlock, thereby necessitating him to walk her away from the penthouse to her room, so that she does not embarrass her host, since she is the guest of honour at the dinner, as the newly crowned miss africa oil. it is in her room where she grips him “tightly around the waist” and declares him as her “best friend” whom she has “loved all my life”; and when he attempts to escape from the room, she coils herself around him and holds him “in a vice-like grip which belied her fragile appearance” until he gives in to her, helpless as he was “against the attraction of that beautiful nubile young body” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 95). to show that all these actions were drug-induced, adela does not have a clear recollection of what happened the following morning, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 42 published by scholink inc. but “a cloudy, vague memory connected with byron warlock [which] teased her mind” (p. 101). indeed, when warlock‟s name is mentioned later on, yoweri sees “bewilderment across adela‟s face, swiftly followed by an expression of someone trying hard to recapture details of a dream. it was plain to him that the girl was not at all clear of what might have taken place during the previous night” (p. 102). yoweri wamala, we should remember, is the one person who knows what actually happened between adela and warlock, for he saw the latter leaving the former‟s room on the night the sexual intercourse happened. as for what happens in prettyboy, beware, on the evening when baker rescues matthew from the beach and takes him to his house for a meal and to the hospital for medical care, he persuades him to take some wine. matthew refuses, for “[i]n his family, alcohol was considered the devil‟s most wicked weapon” (kimenye, 1997b, p. 59), but being much younger and naïve, he is no match for the experienced baker who claims that “wine isn‟t listed as strong drink” and that it has certain health benefits like aiding digestion: giving in to mark‟s powers of persuasion, matthew eventually consented. he took a tiny sip and was surprised that it tasted deliciously refreshing; not at all the fire-water he had been brought up to expect. arguing that his parents could not object to such an innocent beverage, he drank the contents of his glass and made no objection to mark refilling it. two glasses of wine later, his head seemed to be floating away from his body, and he suffered a strong urge to throw up. mark assisted his stumbling progress to the bathroom, and held his head over the lavatory bowl. then he washed matthew‟s face, made him rinse out his mouth, and supported him to a bedroom. it was not the room in which matthew had slept earlier in the day. this one was larger and contained a double-bed. matthew was in no condition to question the change. he dropped mindlessly while mark undressed him and put him to bed. nor was he aware of mark slipping in beside him and holding him in a tender embrace throughout the night. (p. 60) this is mark baker‟s careful way of introducing matthew to the world of homosexuality. at this particular moment in the text, however, matthew is still naïve enough to believe that there is nothing wrong with him sharing a bed with mark baker since “he and his brothers had been forced to share a bed until one by one the older ones left home to marry” (p. 61). but the differences between the two contexts is different: mark baker is a stranger who is old enough to be matthew‟s father, while the siblings who shared beds were blood relations, and not as old as mark baker is. it is not only mark baker who drugs matthew before luring him into homosexuality: more or less it seems to be the rule in the world of the novel. for instance, on the day daniel introduces matthew to spencer‟s party, he is given a cigarette which he accepts, well aware that he was being daring because “[h]is father would have thrashed him within an inch of his life” had he known that he was capable of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 43 published by scholink inc. doing this (p. 90). he lounged in a cushioned chair, crossed his legs and inhaled with the ease of a veteran smoker. but it was quickly apparent that this was no ordinary cigarette. he recognized the smell of bhangi, pot, marijuana, or whatever people chose to call the weed which some of the poorest shanty-own dwellers used to take their minds off their miserable existence. one part of him wanted to stub-out the disgusting thing and politely explain that he did not care for it. another more insistent part, was curiously elated, enjoying a growing feeling of carefree optimism. instead of being embarrassed, he grinned broadly as spencer asked olaf and kurt to agree that he, matthew, was something special. and he joined in the general laughter when olaf remarked that matthew was prettier than most girls. (p. 91) what follows is predictable: “matthew, unaccustomed to narcotic, lost track of time, where he was, who he was with, and what he was doing” (p. 91); it is a few hours later that he comes to his sense, “disturbed to be lying naked on a low divan, and to see the man olaf getting dressed” (p. 91). technically, this is a rape, as there is no discussion and consent between him and olaf about what the latter has just done to him—sodomising him and bruising him in the process. the bhangi was given to him to dull his senses so that spencer gives him away to olaf at a price, without him, matthew, being consulted in the matter. in other words, he is commoditized. drugging young adults also exposes them to financial exploitation. in beauty queen, we see this when maxi drugs adela when she is too weak to appear at the launch of the cosmetics promotion for which she is paid 5 million us dollars. when maxi gives her an injection which revives her “sufficiently for her to take a bath”, adela declares that she feels great, to which maxi replies, “you‟ll feel even better after swallowing these [white pills]” (kimenye, 1997a, p. 122). the injection and the pills make it possible for maxi to transform adela‟s “gaunt face into a vision of almost ethereal beauty, and hide her neglected hair under a high, flattering turban” (p. 122). it is significant that the narrator makes it clear that on this particular day it is “the pills [that] succeeded in reducing adela to a more manageable commodity” (p. 122). kimenye‟s diction is apt here: adela is imagined as a commodity as i have already explained, but the pills reduce her to being a more manageable one. in other words, without these drugs, she is capable of questioning the actions and decisions of banda, ujeni and joe, but when she is drugged, this possibility vanishes. this means that the drugs take away her agency, thereby making her vulnerable to all forms of exploitation such as bodily, sexual, emotional, and financial. it is important to note that for a businessman who has no qualms over drugging a sick girl so that she appears at the launch of a beauty product, it is hard to imagine that forging a birth certificate and a false curriculum vitae is a thing to worry about. moreover, there is a link between these two: because adela cannot handle the pressure of an international beauty contest because she is just 16, she has to be drugged to “solve” the problem of anxiety and lack of confidence. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 44 published by scholink inc. in prettyboy, beware, drugging exposes matthew to robbery. while on the bus from the coast to his parents, some strangers claim to know him. when they offer him a sweetmeat, he accepts it out of politeness, but sooner than later, he feels “decidedly ill”: at first, he thought that the stuffiness inside the vehicle was responsible for the dizziness in his head and the dryness of his mouth. suddenly he sensed a blackness descending, and as he fought against it, he heard the man beside him shout, „our young brother is sick! stop the bus—he needs air!‟ despite matthew‟s panic-stricken struggle, the blackness overwhelmed him. when eventually he surfaced to the pain of a blinding headache, he was mystified to be lying on short, prickly grass under a night sky out of stars. nothing stirred in his immediate surroundings, but he caught a faint smell of wood smoke from a cooking fire. he sat up and made an agonizing attempt to rise to his feet, shocked to discover that they were bare: his socks and smart leather shoes were missing. moments later, as soon as his mind began to clear, he found that his watch and the wallet of which he was so proud had also disappeared. of his bags there was no sign either (kimenye, 1997b, pp. 80-81). it is significant that it is this robbery that makes it impossible to reunite with his parents, making it necessary for him to return to the coast, where he meets the young boy, daniel, who introduces him to the life of child prostitution. the point to emphasize here is that had matthew not been drugged and robbed on the bus, it is possible that he would not have ended up as a prostitute, since mark baker had given him some money to help him resume his studies on returning to his parents. the absence from parents is a very big issue in both novels, for it is this that exposes the young adults to exploitation. in the next sub-section, i explain this issue. 3.6 the link between parental “distancing” and/or parental irresponsibility and young adults’ vulnerability in this section, i examine how parental distancing enhances the vulnerability of the young adults depicted in the selected fiction. by parental distancing, i mean a situation where the young adult is evacuated from his or her home by particular circumstances, and placed in the hands of a guardian. in the case of adela, the evacuation arises from her father‟s incestuous inclinations: he attempts to rape her, and when her sister ujeni kampare hears of it, she takes her to live with her, since she herself was a victim of the same vice. the incestuous trait of the father robs him of his authority as a parent; instead, he metamorphoses into a beast that has to be kept at bay so that it does not hurt adela. i have already explained this point. for matthew, the evacuation is a result of the municipal council‟s demolition of the shanty town where his parents were leaving, thereby necessitating them to go to the village where life is bound to be difficult, without a good school where matthew is to study. this makes his father, joseph wangala, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 45 published by scholink inc. send matthew to a friend at the coast (most likely mombasa, although this name is not given in the text), jamani, but when jamani, his house help ezra and his children ibra and mo are killed in a fire, he ends up homeless and penniless, and vulnerable to exploitation as i have explained above. but even before reaching jamani‟s home, matthew is warned by several parent-figures about the dangers that the coastal town poses for young boys like him. an old man, mikki kikumu, tells him: too many youngsters are turning up here from all over the country, thinking there is an easy living for them. be very careful about the company you keep in this town—and steer clear of tourists [who have] come here for the sole purpose of meeting little boys like you. you just take my word for it and have nothing to do with that disgusting business (kimenye, 1997b, pp. 8-9). when matthew arrives at jamani‟s house at the coast, jamani tells him the same thing: “this town can be a dangerous place for youngsters” (p. 12), and soon, when matthew walks with ezra in the coastal town he notices that a certain bar was occupied by a group of young locals, girls and boys. most of them were mere children, and they were giggling and laughing with some white men, while a little man wearing a purple cassock harangued them in a shrill voice. “hell and damnation await all fornicators!” he yelled, as ezra and matthew paused to listen. “i beg you little ones to forsake these evil men who come to our country to degrade you! follow me to a place where you will be housed and fed and trained in a respectable occupation! to those men intent upon evil i say—begone—go back to wherever you came from! we can do without your tourists‟ dollars when you come with the sole purpose of destroying the innocence of our youth!” (kimenye, 1997b, p. 16) when matthew fails to understand what is going on since he is from the hinterland where child prostitution is not public knowledge, ezra candidly explains the matter to him: i suppose you can‟t understand why jamani and i are making such a fuss about keeping you away from the beach hotels? well, matthew, although you‟re only twelve years old, you must know that there are many bad people in the world, and they include people ready to take advantage of youngsters like you. unfortunately, some of the worst types take their holidays at our beach hotels. (p. 32) when matthew asks if ezra is talking about the tourists as he wonders what ezra‟s words have to do with him, jamani adds his voice: to be blunt, our part of the coast attracts the sort of men who prefer ... to go with children rather than grown women. they tempt the children with presents and money until this town and several other places along this coastline now face a serious problem of child prostitution! (kimenye, 1997b) to make the point clearer, ezra adds: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 46 published by scholink inc. you‟re a good-looking boy and a target for men such as the german who i had to see off with a few sharp words in his own tongue. it isn‟t that we don‟t trust you. we simply do not want you to go anywhere near that type of person or the hotels where they stay. (kimenye, 1997b, p. 32) it is significant that it is only when jamani and ezra perish in a fire that matthew is netted by the pederast, mark baker, who soon introduces him to homosexuality. when baker returns to europe and matthew is robbed on his way back to his parents, he returns to the coast, where he ends up with the child prostitute, daniel, who plunges him into the deep world of child prostitution, so much that sooner than later he gets to know “beyond doubt that he had sunk as low as he could go, and later on, he shivered at the recollection of the things he had done and taken part in” for the sake of getting money (p. 99). he also develops “a boldness in bargaining over the price of his services and demanding payment in advance” (p. 101), showing that with time he accepts his status as a child prostitute. jojo, himself once involved in sleeping with european tourists for money but now settled down as a painter and a travel agent, serves as a parent figure to matthew when he advises him thus: get out of it [child prostitution] while there‟s still time for you to lead a proper life. i‟m talking as an older brother. think of the shame you are bringing on our people. go home to your family, no matter how poor they are. if you continue in this vile game, you‟ll end up diseased and unwanted by anybody! […] i‟m sure your parents would much rather have you with them and know you were safe than find out what you are up to in this town. all the money in the world can‟t compare with the pride parents feel in having done their best for their children, and seeing those children grown into respectable, honest people. i‟m taking you to my house, and tomorrow you‟re going home. (p. 103) indeed, matthew listens to jojo and actually buys a bus ticket to return to his home. unfortunately, it is when he is on his way back from buying the ticket that he is attacked by a mob of teenagers who consider him a moral pollution to the coastal city where the novel is set. it is from this mob that the reverend abel rescues him. the point to emphasize here is that because of jojo‟s intervention, matthew had accepted to reform and to return to the village. this shows that had he continued having a parent figure in his life (like jamani and ezra), his life would not have degenerated into the practice of child prostitution. jojo comes on the scene a little too late, despite the fact that he had the chance to impact on the youngster‟s life much earlier—the time he saw him with mark baker. unfortunately, he believed baker‟s word that he did not intend to sleep with matthew, which ended up not being the case. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 47 published by scholink inc. 4. discussion the situations that kimenye imagines in beauty queen and prettyboy, beware remind us that teenagers are a delicate fictional demographic group, and for this reason, they need to be protected from the wild, evil world of wicked adults whose interest is self-gratification and self-enrichment. while kimenye might be accused of being sensational in the sense that she „kills‟ both her protagonists in order to highlight her message—that teenagers need to be careful lest they lose their lives as easily as adela and matthew do—it is clear that her work testifies to the power of literature in communicating health messages, that is to say, highlighting the dangers that come with pre-marital sex (in the case of adela), and homosexuality (in the case of matthew), moreover in situations where the protagonists are drug-induced. in both texts, kimenye weaves her plots around young adult characters who ultimately lose their lives so that her readers may see how dangerous and fatal it is to gamble with life. she hopes that the real life young adults who read her books will be careful about the way they live their lives and the kinds of decisions they make so that they avoid treading those paths that could lead to a fate like adela‟s and matthew‟s. there is also a message for the parents: that they should beware the consequences their actions can have on the lives and the futures of their children. had adela‟s father been a responsible man who does not sexually abuse his children through the repugnant practice of incest, he would have had the moral authority to save adela from the schemes of her selfish, opportunistic elder sister, ujeni, who allows her protégé, joe banda, and herself to treat adela as personal property, disposable after use. as for joseph wangala, matthew‟s father, he is certainly not responsible enough to keep in touch with his friend, jamani, about the welfare of his son, for had he done this, he would have found out about the death of jamani and his family—a tragic event that required him to find new accommodation arrangements for his son. it is true that both beauty queen and prettyboy, beware remind the reader of the dictum that “the serpent hisses where sweet birds sing” as the blurb of the former novel says, but this hissing of the dreaded creature becomes particularly menacing when the child finds herself and himself alone in a wide world full of sexual predators. what this comes to are three inter-related things. first, that parents should be more mindful of their role as the nurturers and protectors of their children over and above paying their school fees. they must take it upon themselves to educate them on how to take charge of their lives, which entails making judgments that are pro-life. second, parents must strive to be good examples so that they win the respect of their children. adela‟s father‟s loss of face and respect before his children because of his incestuous proclivities calls upon all parents to behave themselves, so that they are in a moral position to effectively guide their children. finally, the novels, particularly prettyboy, beware, calls upon the parents, as voters, to change the status quo of their countries, by ensuring that the people they put into office are those who care about the safety and health of the young adults, and not those who advertise the countries to foreign tourists www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 48 published by scholink inc. as nests for paedophiles and pederasts. these voters must ensure that politicians who promise tourists the “[f]ulfilment for those interested in youthful activities, particularly in connection with the very young” (prettyboy 110)—a thinly veiled reference to young adult prostitution—are removed from office, so that the safety and health of young people is not sold off for us dollars. in this sense, kimenye‟s novels serve as tools meant to bring about social change in the east african countries where they are published, and hopefully elsewhere on the continent where they are read. in other words, the novels serve as a tool of critical conscientization, which is the premise upon which the liberation of the people suffering systemic and ideological exploitation and oppression is based, as paulo freire famously argued in his seminal book, pedagogy of the oppressed (1972), since critical consciousness could lead to praxis. in the context of kimenye‟s novels, this praxis would take the form of parents as citizens pushing governments to put in place laws and policies that protect young adults from dubious employment and sexual exploitation and abuse. acknowledgement sponsored by uganda textbook academic and non-fiction authors association (utana). references ahmed-ghosh, h. 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(2014). vulnerability: new essays in ethics and feminist philosophy. oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199316649.001.0001 montgomery, h. (2011). prevailing voices in debates over child prostitution. policing pleasure: sex work, policy, and the state in global perspective, 146-158. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814785089.003.0011 o‟grady, r. (2001). eradicating pedophilia: toward the humanization of society. journal of international affairs, 123-140. sekiwunga, r., & whyte, s. r. (2009). poor parenting: teenagers‟ views on adolescent pregnancies in eastern uganda. african journal of reproductive health, 13(4). turshen, m. (2000). the political economy of violence against women during armed conflict in uganda. social research, 803-824. whittier, n. (2016). where are the children? theorizing the missing piece in gendered sexual violence. gender & society, 30(1), 95-108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243215612412 https://doi.org/10.1080/1071441960180307 https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230100565_2 https://doi.org/10.1080/03 https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199316649.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814785089.003.0011 https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243215612412 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper strategic approaches to soel inquiry within and across disciplines: twenty-year impact of an international faculty development program in diverse university contexts andrea s. webb 1* , harry t. hubball 1 , anthony clarke 1 & simon ellis 2 1 faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada 2 faculty of forestry, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada * andrea s. webb, faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada received: december 18, 2019 accepted: january 15, 2020 online published: february 14, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n1p1 abstract educational leaders on university campuses around the world are increasingly required to account for the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of their undergraduate and graduate degree programs. the s scholarship of educational leadership (soel) in higher education is a distinctive form of strategic inquiry for educational leaders with an explicit transformational agenda of educational practices within and across the disciplines in diverse university contexts. this paper examines complex institutional challenges and strategic approaches to soel inquiry. in an international faculty development context, data suggests that educational leaders from a variety of disciplines face significant challenges when undertaking soel inquiry. strategic institutional supports and customised professional development are key to facilitating soel inquiry in higher education. further, soel is inherently situated, socially mediated, and responsive to the professional learning needs and circumstances of educational leaders within and across the disciplines in diverse university contexts. keywords international faculty development, scholarship of educational leadership, scholarship of teaching, research methods, appreciative inquiry 1. introduction in a global higher education environment of unprecedented competition, rapid technological change, increasingly diminishing resources, increasing student diversity, and demands for local and internationally-responsive undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the quality of higher education www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 2 published by scholink inc. practices is being scrutinized as never before. educational leaders around the world across a variety of university campuses are increasingly required to account for effectiveness and efficiency of their practices. however, ad-hoc faculty development initiatives (often with neither specialist leadership expertise nor track-record of published research in higher education) aimed at enhancing teaching, curriculum practice, and/or educational leadership, have often paid scant attention to educational research, dissemination and implementation (hubball, clarke, chng, & grimmett, 2015; myatt et al., 2018). for example, the scholarship of educational leadership (soel) is a distinctive form of strategic inquiry for educational leaders with an explicit transformational agenda of educational practices within and across the disciplines in diverse higher education contexts (including colleges and research-intensive universities (rius)). thus, soel has unique benefits for universities and educational leaders (e.g., senior administrators, associate deans, program directors, curriculum leaders, program and teaching evaluators, teaching award winners, and tenured instructors and professors) with particular roles and responsibilities for quality assurance, educational reform, and curriculum and pedagogical leadership in such contexts. clearly, the strength of educational leaders lies in their understanding of the complexity of their teaching and learning contexts; their vested interest with practice-based issues under investigation; and their related experience is critical to assess change in these settings (alexander & hjortsø, 2019; hubball, clarke, & pearson, 2016; putman & rock, 2017). more often than not, however, educational leaders from a variety of disciplines, especially those unfamiliar to social science research methodologies and methods, do not have the appropriate methodological expertise or strategic support and thus find it significantly challenging to conduct soel research in complex institutional/curricula/classroom settings (d‟andrea, 2006; hubball & clarke, 2010). this paper examines strategic challenges and approaches for facilitating soel inquiry for educational leaders within and across diverse disciplinary settings. the following insights are grounded in the soel literature and twenty years of experience in facilitating and guiding a specific international faculty leadership development program, focussing on soel (https://international.educ.ubc.ca/soel) with over 550 cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional faculty member graduates. 1.1 theoretical underpinnings of institutional soel inquiry best practice for educational leadership typically refers to non-context-specific educational leadership with general criteria or principles for effectiveness that are largely based upon experience in leadership contexts. while a useful guide and starting point for many novice educational leaders with responsibilities for quality assurance and enhancement, these “what works” tips do not necessarily align well with distinct research cultures, disciplinary complexities, strategic institutional initiatives, or rapid changes in the use of technology that occur in current university settings. in contrast, the educational leadership research literature in higher education is more nuanced and enlightening, and makes useful theoretical and practical distinctions between scholarly approaches to teaching and learning, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the scholarship of educational leadership (boyer, 1990; hutchings, huber, & ciccone, 2011; hubball, clarke, & pearson, 2017). figure 1 illustrates an www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 3 published by scholink inc. institutional model for these unique and overlapping processes with implications for customised faculty development initiatives and strategic supports. figure 1. situating soel to support teaching and learning excellence in diverse university contexts this integrated bidirectional (top-down and bottom-up) model illustrates the strategic role of soel in diverse university contexts. 1.1.1 higher education/institutional context this element at the top of figure 1 represents both internal (e.g., institutional strategic planning documents, collective agreement expectations, criteria for promotion and tenure) and external forces that impact soel. for example, regional, national, and/or professional accreditation agencies in many areas of the world are working more closely than ever with universities to anchor their activities in institutional mandates that better support educational practices, leadership, and scholarship. scholarly organizations in higher education such as the international consortium for educational development (iced) and the international society for the scholarship of teaching and learning (issotl) attest to the increasing receptivity towards soel submissions in such forums as academic conferences, peer-reviewed journals, and granting organizations. scholarly approaches to teaching and learning. the broad horizontal arrow in figure 1 reflects a foundational institutional expectation that high-quality teaching and student learning experiences are grounded in reflective inquiry and/or professional development in order for continual improvements to curriculum and pedagogical practices. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 4 published by scholink inc. scholarship of teaching and learning (sotl). the central stars in figure 1 refer to strategically coordinated sotl initiatives and projects related to curricula and pedagogical approaches. essentially, sotl builds on scholarly approaches to teaching and learning, however, greater attention is placed on grounding best practices in the scholarly literature, methodological rigour, evidence-based monitoring and dissemination in peer reviewed contexts such as disciplinary journals and also extends to funding organizations and conference presentations (hubball & gold, 2007; hutchings, huber, & ciccione, 2011). scholarship of educational leadership (soel). this element in figure 1 reflects professionally prepared educational leaders (e.g., associate deans, program directors, curriculum leaders, teaching evaluators, teaching award winners, and tenured instructors and professors) with soel expertise. soel builds on and extends sotl whereby professionally prepared educational leaders play a critical role in implementation of quality assurance or enhancement, program renewal, scholarship of teaching and learning (sotl) activities, and faculty development across various levels, as well as dissemination of these educational leadership practices in peer reviewed contexts. in diverse faculty development contexts, the term soel is defined as a distinctive form of strategic inquiry for educational leaders with an explicit transformational agenda of educational practices within and across the disciplines in diverse university contexts. essentially, soel 1) is grounded in networked improvement communities; 2) situates educational practice within the research literature and focuses on systematic rigorous inquiry (e.g., clear rationale and objectives/goals for soel inquiry, ethical considerations and aligned data collection methods and analysis methods for leadership, adequate preparation and reflective critique); 3) is symbolic of the normative context that governs educational leadership work; and 4) disseminates theory and practice in this domain in appropriate peer reviewed settings (bryk et al., 2011; cochran-smith & lytle, 2004; glassick, huber, & maefoff, 1997; green, 2008). in sum, diverse perspectives of soel inquiry are shaped by context-specific frameworks, including ontological (e.g., constructivist, post-positivist, pragmatist, critical perspectives), cultural (i.e., global, regional), institutional (i.e., university-specific), disciplinary (i.e., signature practices), epistemological (i.e., how we know what we know), and ethical (i.e., confidentiality, professionalism) considerations. we argue that soel inquiry is based on three underlying assumptions about knowledge: (1) it is inherently situated, (2) it is socially and culturally mediated, and (3) it is responsive to the diverse (local and international) needs and circumstances of learners (hubball, clarke, & pearson, 2017). these principles are interconnected and dependent on the unique context to which they are associated. each assumption provides directions and cautions for facilitating soel inquiry in diverse university contexts. for example, the first assumption cautions that soel inquiry is inherently situated within disciplinary traditions, learning environments, and political landscapes that frame the particular institutional contexts in which pedagogy takes place. for example, strategic institutional supports are key to effectively supporting soel inquiry on university campuses. thus, facilitating institutional www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 5 published by scholink inc. soel inquiry must have regard for the historical, political, and social factors that characterize soel inquiry. in short, soel inquiries and contexts are inter-linked and determine each other in significant ways. honouring the situated nature of knowledge is, therefore, a recognition that soel inquiry exists within broader communities of practice (lave & wenger, 1991; davis & sumara, 2006). the socially and culturally mediated dimension of knowledge construction speaks to the importance of arriving at a shared understanding and values of soel inquiry that are pivotal in fostering a culture of educational scholarship in higher education (houston & lebeau, 2006; hutchings, 2002). coming to a shared understanding of values and beliefs, as part of a networked improvement community that is grounded in inquiry, requires open dialogue and active participation by key stakeholder representatives. the co-constructed knowledge that arises from such engagement is essential to implementing soel that upholds and honours knowledge as being always complex and dynamic. for example, strategic engagement of administrators, faculty members and students in opportunities for discourse and peer-review activities, which critique common teaching and learning issues, goes a long way to enhance issues of validity, reliability, and practicality of soel research. finally, conceptions of „responsiveness‟ of soel inquiry within and across diverse disciplines will always be part of its perceived impact and how it is framed and supported within university contexts. in sum, these three interconnected characteristics of knowledge construction are essential to facilitate soel inquiry for educational leaders in their specific contexts. in complex university contexts with diverse stakeholders, and varying levels of support, soel is aimed at sustaining high quality, strategically-aligned, research-informed, and evidence-based educational practices. specifically, soel provides a strategic foundation for both quality assurance and quality enhancement activities; soel is strategically aligned with university mandates for sustained and productive scholarly activity; soel fosters an institutional culture of educational scholarship aimed at enhancing undergraduate and graduate level degree programs; and soel provides an avenue for universities to become better known for valuing educational excellence and its strategic contribution to such markers as regional, national, or international rankings. thus, the importance of soel in diverse university settings is compelling, especially when one considers that educational leaders are expected to respond to strategic priorities with evidence-based curricula and pedagogical practices within and beyond the communities they serve. very little research has examined the strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry in diverse university settings. the following research question was designed to guide this investigation in a specific international faculty development program which has been implemented annually since 1998 at the university of british columbia, canada. within the context of an international faculty development program: (1) what is the strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry in ubcs diverse research-intensive university context? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 6 published by scholink inc. 2. methodology 2.1 appreciative inquiry in order to gather evidence for the above research questions, our investigation employed appreciative inquiry (ai) research methodology over a ten-month period to gather relevant program impact assessment data which included a review of historical program data (1998-2019), as well as current soel cohort data (may 2018-august 2019). ai is a systematic form of practice-based research methodology with an explicit transformational agenda (breslow, crowell, francis, & stephen, 2015). traditionally ai has been used to identify good practice and we are using it to begin with good practice, then evaluate a program and suggest ways forward (shuayb, sharp, judkins, & hetherington, 2009), for example, ai research methodology places emphases on the strategic engagement of key stakeholder representatives (administrators, curriculum and pedagogical leaders, educational developers, faculty members, instructors) within and across the disciplines related to specific educational issues under investigation and change. in this context, appreciating and valuing one‟s practice include appreciating the context which allows this investigation to take place. ai begins with the identification of current best practices and then connects those attributes with the community‟s vision and action for change (cockell & macarthur-blair, 2012). thus, ai research methodology is highly generative in nature and consists of four phases (commonly known as the 4d-cycle): discovery, dream, design and destiny or delivery.  discovery: appreciating, valuing the best of soel inquiry in the organization; strengths, best practices, and peak experiences.  dream: envisioning what the ideal future might be for soel inquiry, and what the organization may look like in its fullest level of potential.  design: dialoguing about what processes and pedagogical experiences would enhance soel inquiry and deciding about the desired changes moving forward.  destiny or delivery: innovative pedagogies and how soel inquiry can be taught, assessed and implemented. 2.2 data collection a purposeful sample of contextually-bound program data sources (including current program cohort data 2018-2019, and historical program data 1998-2019) were gathered from key program stakeholder representatives in order to address each specific research question:  relevant documentation from ubc strategic planning documentation (place & promise, 2010; strategic plan 2018-2028);  samples of blended program (online and face-to-face) materials including syllabi, podcasts, video recordings, guest speaker sessions, worksheets;  reflective field notes from the program instructional team;  review of samples of cohort soel eportfolio materials including educational leadership dossiers, thematic literature reviews, pilot study reports, manuscripts and presentation slides which www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 7 published by scholink inc. were published in local contexts;  historical program data including a review of program graduate numbers, disciplines, foci for soel inquiries; focus group interviews with educational leaders cohorts, ubc soel program advisory board, and external reviewers. qualitative data sources were analyzed using the constant comparative method through categorization, and finally to thematization (coe, waring, & hedges, 2017; friedman, 2008). next, member checking was utilized to establish major themes, data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions with respect to soel inquiry practices. the use of iterative and multiple data sources established the trustworthiness of the research findings through triangulation. 3. results the focus of this study was examining the strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry in ubc‟s diverse research-intensive context over the last twenty years. therefore, the results are divided into two sections. the first section explains the evolution of institutionally supported scholarly teaching/scholarship of teaching and learning/educational leadership (discovery, dream, and design), while the second section focuses on the delivery of an international faculty development program with strategic impact in diverse institutional contexts. 3.1 discovering, envisioning, and designing the strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry in ubc’s diverse research-intensive university context initially, ubc did not have a twenty-year plan to support the development of educational leadership. as a research-intensive university in the early 1990s, ubc focused almost exclusively on research, often at the expense of priorities toward excellence on teaching or international/community engagement. a change in leadership in 1997 and the launch of trek 2000 sought to build on this position but be more strategic in its vision as a world class university; including contributions to research, teaching and service. in 2006, president stephen toope built on president piper‟s legacy and recognized that more needed to be done to incentivise faculty through the promotion and tenure process. in a bold statement, president toope declared that no faculty members would be promoted or tenured without evidence of effective teaching. as a result, significant resources were allocated toward the institute for the scholarship of teaching and learning (launched by professor gary poole) and strategic visioning documents included explicit language around research-informed teaching and learning practices. like many research-intensive universities, the institutional focus was to build and support a cutting-edge integrated research and program development agenda including high quality teaching. funding for the program was on a one to two-year cycle of limited renewal until proven efficacy lead to more secure funding from the provost, in collaboration with the faculty of education. additionally, the university created and supported the rank of professor of teaching. this promotion and tenure stream explicitly requires excellence in research-informed teaching and learning, in addition to educational leadership and service. these strategic, institutional decisions are the backdrop for the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 8 published by scholink inc. scholarly approaches to teaching, sotl, sotl leadership and now soel program over 20 years. located in ubc‟s faculty of education, the international program for the scholarship of educational leadership (soel) is a customized faculty development program for nominated multidisciplinary educational leaders at ubc and in partner universities around the world. this cutting-edge inquiry-based faculty development program (1998-present), offered annually, focuses on the scholarship of teaching, learning, and educational leadership within and across the disciplines, as well as customized program offerings in international university contexts (including locations in australasia, china, europe, middle east, north america, south africa, uk, the west indies) (http://international.educ.ubc.ca/soel). 3.1.1 program design to support soel inquiry based on program research and developments in the field since 1998, the ubc soel program has evolved from a focus within and across the disciplines on scholarly approaches to teaching (1998-2000), to the scholarship of teaching and learning (2001-2005), to the scholarship of teaching and learning leadership (2006-2010), to the scholarship of educational leadership (2011-current) (hubball, clarke, webb, & johnson, 2015). over the past two decades, significant research has been conducted that has influenced the design of the program (burt & hubball, 2014; hubball & clarke, 2010; hubball, clarke, & pearson, 2017; hubball & gold, 2007; hubball, pearson, & clarke, 2013; hubball & poole, 2003; webb, 2019), which focused on a learning-centred approach to developing educational leadership through diverse inquiries. 3.2 delivering strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry in ubc’s diverse research-intensive university context the strategic impact of the international faculty development program is delivered through the creation of an institutional culture that recognises and supports this work; key internal supports, including dean‟s nominations and a critical mass of program graduates who have moved into administrative positions, and a program designed to align with and support current institutional initiatives. 3.2.1 contextual factors influencing the strategic impact of institutional soel inquiry multiple institutional factors have influenced the foci for soel inquiry in the international faculty development program at the university of british columbia (ubc). for example, ubc is routinely ranked among the top 20-30 universities in the world and is among the top 3 universities in canada (times higher education, 2018). the university‟s place and promise 2018-2028 strategic visioning document professes a commitment to strengthen ubc‟s presence as a globally influential university: ubc is locally integrated and globally connected. indeed, global perspective is embedded in the histories and communities that have shaped the local context in british columbia and at ubc. the balance of canadian perspective and geographic diversity across our student population is critically important. ubcs global networks open new vistas for research and education, and they enable ubc to help mobilize positive change across the world. strengthened engagement requires an outward www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 9 published by scholink inc. orientation and enhanced accessibility for partners, as well as structures and processes to support reciprocity and co-ordination. it also demands the capacity to listen and adapt to the evolving needs and dynamics of the world beyond the university. ubc educates a student population of more than 50,000 and offers over 250 graduate degree programs through 12 faculties, 1 college, and multiple schools (see http://www.ubc.ca/). institutional level learning outcomes, for example, include local, international, and global objectives: “through collaboration, at home and abroad, we will help students, faculty and staff broaden their perspectives, learn from peers and colleagues around the globe, and contribute to a shared positive impact” (ubc strategic plan, 2018). 3.2.2 key supports to enhance the impact of institutional soel inquiry for educational leaders in an international faculty development program data suggest that regional, national and/or professional accreditation agencies in many regions of the world are working more closely than ever with universities to anchor their activities in the needs of institutional priorities to better support and enhance educational practices, leadership and their related scholarship. at the institutional level, data suggest that universities around the world are busily engaged in significant educational reform activities with mixed success regarding implementation (e.g., budget allocations reflecting institutional priorities, leadership expertise for research informed and evidence-based educational practices). for example, many universities, fueled by strategic recruitment and the rapid growth of international student enrollment have developed strategic mission statements with explicit commitments to high quality and cutting-edge (local and international engagement) educational experiences for their ethnically diverse and international student body. in conjunction, some universities are reconsidering strategically-aligned criteria for merit, tenure, and promotion, for example educational leadership tracks that are rooted in the scholarship of teaching and learning. at our own university, under article 4.03 of ubc‟s collective agreement and the definition of “scholarly activity”, the scholarship of teaching and professional contributions rank equally with traditional scholarly research. criteria for the scholarship of teaching, for example, are evidenced by factors such as originality or innovation, demonstrable impact in a particular field or discipline, peer reviews of scholarly contributions to teaching, dissemination in the public domain, or substantial and sustained use by others. similarly, criteria for professional contributions can include evidence that might be viewed as demonstrating leadership, rare expertise, or outstanding stature expected in a professional contribution. furthermore, in parallel to the professorial research stream, examples of criteria for educational leadership in the professor of teaching rank can be evidenced by leadership taken at ubc and elsewhere to: advance innovation and excellence in teaching; contributions to curriculum development and renewal within the unit/faculty; scholarly teaching with impact within and outside the unit; and, applications of and contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning (the university of british columbia, 2018, sections 3.1.6 to 3.2.6, 3.4.1, and 4.4). however, although www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 10 published by scholink inc. contested, the criteria for promotion to professor of teaching does not include an explicit requirement for scholarship. nonetheless, aspiring candidates in the educational leadership stream for the rank are often nominated and supported by their dean to undertake soel at ubc, which explicitly has as part of it curriculum, research into educational leadership. key to strategic institutional support structures, and aligned with strategic visioning documents and collective agreement contracts, are customized and adequately resourced professional development programs (including leadership expertise, budget allocation) in order to meet the diverse educational needs and circumstances of the institutional context. customised professional development is therefore a key enabling factor for institutional soel inquiry. at our own university, the soel program has been developed and implemented to meet the diverse educational needs and circumstances of multidisciplinary educational leaders at ubc and faculty members in partner universities around the world. this program is administered through the faculty of education, and is led by senior professors, scholars, and national teaching fellows with a track record of higher education scholarship, in local and international settings. therefore, soel programs focused on the scholarship of teaching, learning, and educational leadership (including strategic development, implementation and impact assessment of undergraduate and graduate degree programs) within and across diverse disciplines, is enacted within the ubc context. it is interesting to note that professional experience with partner universities and multinational soel cohorts revealed, however, that most research institutions do not have senior academics within faculties or colleges of education who provide active leadership and educational inquiry contributions regarding the scholarship of teaching, learning and educational leadership on their campuses. 3.2.2.1 impact of institutional educational leaders for soel inquiry since 1998, over 550 educational leaders at ubc and institutional nominees at universities in 20 different countries (including australia, bahrain, china, england, iceland, iran, japan, new zealand, qatar, scotland, singapore, south africa, spain, thailand, uae, usa, and the west indies) have graduated from this program with significant sotl/soel experience. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 11 published by scholink inc. table 1. program graduates within and across disciplines at ubc and international university settings ubc faculty/discipline number of faculty graduates applied sciences 48 arts 43 commerce 14 dentistry 24 education 40 forestry 12 graduate & postdoctoral studies 6 instructional development / student services 11 land & food systems 4 law 5 medicine 71 pharmaceutical sciences 30 science 21 external (canadian / international) faculty members 189 program graduates include senior administrators, associate deans, department heads, program directors, curriculum leaders, teaching award winners, tenured faculty members/professors of teaching, and p&t committee personnel. consistent with the theoretical rationale for institutional soel inquiry, program graduates have made significant leadership and scholarship contributions to educational practice in a wide range of university contexts around the world. for example, more than 50 peer reviewed articles have been published and an equal number of invited international presentations have been given on soel program processes and impacts at universities around the world (https://international.educ.ubc.ca/soel/research-activity/). twenty-one years of full enrolment and sustained program implementation (including changes in university presidents, provosts, senior advisors for teaching and learning, deans, directors of centres for teaching, and department heads, and multiple funding models) at a world ranked university is testimony to the leadership, quality, and impact of the program, as well as on-going program research and development. indeed, it is the scale and combination of high levels of multinational and multidisciplinary collaborations, networked improvement communities, creativity, professionalism, and sustained impact and program-level scholarship that are the hallmarks of the international program for the scholarship of educational leadership. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 12 published by scholink inc. 3.2.3 common practices for soel inquiry in ubc‟s diverse research-intensive university context data revealed a wide range of best practices, centred on alignment of soel inquiry questions with appropriate research methodology, data collection and dissemination processes in ubcs international soel program. 3.2.3.1 foci for institutional soel inquiry coupled with ongoing institutional support for educational leadership, there has developed at culture of institutional soel inquiry (place & promise, 2010; strategic plan 2018-2028). for example, currently, although educational leaders tend to engage in soel inquiry to examine issues pertaining to strategic development, implementation, and impact of educational initiatives, they engage in such inquiry from diverse ontological (i.e., world view) and epistemological (i.e., theoretical framework for knowledge construction) perspectives (creswell, 2013; pratt, 2016). for many faculty members from multiple disciplines, undertaking soel inquiry to enhance practice was both epistemologically challenging and empowering. soel inquiry, for example, very often required educational leaders to move beyond disciplinary research boundaries, embrace broader social science methodologies, and collaborate with students, colleagues and stakeholders (webb, 2019). various types of soel inquiry questions have been investigated in diverse institutional/curricula/classroom contexts over the past 20-years, using varied methodologies and methods commensurate with the scholarly and institutional contexts. based largely on institutional or disciplinary leadership roles and programmatic priorities, soel inquiries, developed within the ubc soel program, focused on organizational (e.g., fostering an institutional culture for educational scholarship within and across multidisciplinary contexts), programmatic (e.g., innovative graduate program development, program-level outcomes assessment, and curricula integration) or pedagogical leadership (effective faculty development, flexible learning, and evaluation of teaching) practices. a starting point for formulating preliminary soel questions emerged from participants problematizing their institutional/ curricula/ classroom practice. thus preliminary soel inquiry questions typically focused around “what is going on here?”, “what is the effectiveness or impact of „x‟?”, “what are the strengths and further developments of „x‟?”, “what improvements can be made to „x‟ and can these improvements be made?”, “why is „x‟ happening?”. thus, preliminary questions point to the central intent of the soel inquiry and the sorts of insights sought to enhance specific practices. further to important preliminary questions, educational leaders were challenged to consider broader and inter-connected factors (e.g., theory-practice integration, process-outcome relationships) about their practice in order to formalize their soel inquiry questions for investigation. thus, strategic soel inquiries were situated in particular context, process, impact, or outcome phase of an educational initiative. the following framework (figure 2) was employed to document and assist educational leaders to prioritize and formulate their soel inquiry question(s) in diverse higher education settings. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 13 published by scholink inc. figure 2. a heuristic model for investigating potential soel inquiry questions in diverse higher education settings this framework takes into account complex higher education contexts and reflects a wide range of potential time-phased soel inquiry questions. soel context questions. these questions focused on critical structures that shape educational initiatives. for example, soel context questions included: to what extent do institutional strategic planning documents and promotion and tenure (p&t) criteria enhance faculty engagement in educational scholarship at a singapore and canadian research-intensive university? (hubball, clarke, chng huang hoon, & grimmett, 2015); what are strategic approaches for entrenching a culture of innovation in teaching and learning at a uae research-intensive university? (selim, & hubball, 2017). what needs further development, why, how? soel process questions. these questions focused on periodic assessments of issues of importance that arise throughout the educational initiative (formative). for example, what are strategic approaches to enhance undergraduate program reform within and across the disciplines at a south african research-intensive university? (van der merwe, schoonwinkel, & hubball, 2017); what are strategic approaches to enhance student engagement and retention in a 4-year languages program in a canadian and s.e. asian research-intensive university context? what needs to be further developed, why, how? soel impact questions. these questions focused on issues of importance that occur as a result of the educational initiative (summative). for example, how do students effectively demonstrate learning outcomes on completion of a four-year undergraduate pharmaceutical sciences program at a canadian research-intensive university? (burt & hubball, 2016); to what extent are undergraduate programs informed by and shaped by research-informed and evidence-based curriculum renewal practices in a swiss university context? what needs further development, why, how? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 14 published by scholink inc. soel follow-up questions. these focused on issues of importance which arise as a result of the longer term (e.g., months, year) impact of educational initiatives. for example, what is the impact of a sotl-based faculty development program on institutional peer review of teaching practices/educational scholarship practices at a canadian and gulf state university context? (hubball, clarke, webb, & johnson, 2015; hubball, clarke, & pratt, 2013); to what extent did institutional program leaders apply learning to enhance research-informed and evidence-based curriculum practices within and across the disciplines in a uk university context? generally speaking, to whom and to what extent, if at all, did the educational initiative make any difference? if at all, how did the educational initiative contribute to further development? soel inquiry questions, therefore, were contextualised within each unique institutional/disciplinary practice setting, and grounded in the scholarly literature and best practice for dissemination of educational initiatives in a wide range of peer-reviewed fora. 3.2.3.2 methodological approaches to soel inquiry consistent with common educational research methods texts (arthur et al., 2012; cresswell, 2013), a wide range of methodological approaches that were rooted in particular ontological, epistemological assumptions and situational practicalities (e.g., numbers of people involved, duration and types of data collection, and under what conditions), were employed to investigate soel inquiry questions in diverse higher education settings. action research, appreciative inquiry, phenomenological inquiry, self-study, and case study research methodologies, for example, were particularly prevalent across diverse soel inquiry projects. further emerging technology-enabled inquiry methods such as curriculum analytics were increasingly being used to mine data and support effective decision-making for quality enhancement and curriculum renewal (dawson & hubball, 2014). however, educational leaders were initially more likely to select familiar inquiry questions and methodological approaches (i.e., ontological and epistemological assumptions) that were common to their disciplinary field. supervision and mentoring opportunities by program leaders assisted education leaders to think critically about the formulation and alignment of their soel inquiry questions, research design and data collection methods. the following table reflects alignment examples of methodological approaches with particular practice-based soel inquiries in multidisciplinary settings (table 1). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 15 published by scholink inc. table 2. alignment examples of methodological approaches with particular practice-based soel inquiry in multidisciplinary settings soel inquiry research question methodological approach data collection methods strategic approaches for entrenching a culture of innovation in teaching and learning in an arabian gulf research-intensive university context: impact of the scholarship of educational leadership (selim & hubball, 2017). appreciative inquiry. intervention orientation (e.g., strategic development, program impact assessment) and examination of context-specific best practices and structural supports. qualitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation analysis, examination of program materials, student assessment methods, students‟ academic work, teaching practices, field notes, historical program data, external review reports). the scholarship of educational leadership in a south african research-intensive university context: strategic approaches to undergraduate and graduate degree programme renewal (van der merwe, schoonwinkel & hubball, 2017); the scholarship of curriculum leadership: the art, science and politics of faculty engagement (burt & hubball, 2014; putman & rock, 2017). action research. intervention orientation (e.g., implementation analysis) and examination of context-specific program effectiveness, barriers, improvements, ongoing monitoring. qualitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., video analysis, focus group interviews, examination of program materials, student assessment methods, students‟ academic work, teaching practices, field notes and observations, external review reports). case study methodology: flexibility, rigour, and ethical considerations for the scholarship of teaching and learning (pearson, albon, & hubball, 2015) case study inquiry. in-depth baseline data (e.g., current practices) regarding rich understanding of context-specific norms, barriers, actions. qualitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation analysis, examination of program materials, student assessment methods, students‟ academic work, teaching practices, field notes, historical program data, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 16 published by scholink inc. external review reports). internal departmental/program review (bullough & pinnegar, 2001; clarke & erickson, 2004; drevdahl, 2002). self-study inquiry. preliminary baseline data (e.g., current practices) regarding context-specific norms, barriers, actions and rationale, as well as perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (swot analysis). qualitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., focus group interviews, strategic planning documentation analysis, examination of program materials, student assessment methods, students‟ academic work, teaching practices, field notes, historical program data, external review reports). phenomenology as a methodology for sotl research (webb & welsh, 2019). phenomenological inquiry. to understand lived experience from participants/group perspective of specific group and exploration of students‟ perceptions of life-long learning in multidisciplinary settings. qualitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., focus group interviews, individual interviews, student journals, and student self-assessments). curriculum analytics: application of social network analysis for improving strategic curriculum decision-making in a research-intensive university (dawson & hubball, 2014). impact of assignment submission practices on the quality of students‟ work (steele & hubball, 2014). experimental design (e.g., quasi-experimental design to assess student grades, quality of students‟ work and assignment submission practices). quantitative and mixed methods approaches (e.g., curriculum analytics, numeric evaluations of teaching, student grades, learning management system analytics). data collection strategies for soel inquiries tended to be qualitative in nature (i.e., iterative and seeking to explore, describe or explain complex phenomena in educational settings), or a combination of both qualitative and quantitative (i.e., numeric instrumentation designed to confirm hypotheses about phenomena in educational settings), methods (i.e., a mixed-method approach). quantitative data sources for soel inquiries, for example, tended to include a variety of survey instruments (e.g., numeric performance and participation records, check-lists, use of on-line learning tools, rating and rank-order preference scales). on the other hand, qualitative data sources for soel inquiries tended to include a variety of open-ended sources (e.g., teaching and learning observations, semi-structured and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 17 published by scholink inc. structured focus group interviews, internet searches, student response feedback forms, audio-video recordings, examination of course syllabi, curriculum documentation and teaching journals, participant narratives, etc.). appropriate mixed methods and combinations of qualitative and quantitative data sources provided reliable and critical information to enhance soel inquiries in diverse practice settings. in summary, multidisciplinary cohort members tended to adopt the following sequential strategies for dissemination of their soel inquiries (including collaborative contributions): 1. strategic situational analysis: identify rationale, purpose and/or incentive for soel inquiry. for example: a. level of institutional practice contribution: university-wide, program-level, curriculum-pedagogical level? b. level of scholarly contribution: international, regional/national, professional, discipline-specific? i. which journal(s) and type of submission (e.g., higher education/discipline specific education journal, research-based articles, instructional articles, essays, reviews)? ii. which invited presentation(s) (e.g., departmental, institutional, national organization)? iii. which conference presentation(s) (e.g., international consortium for educational development, international society for the scholarship of teaching and learning)? iv. which funding source(s) (e.g., national funding, institutional funding, discipline-specific funding, individual professional development funding)? v. other? 2. prioritize, formulate and refine soel inquiry question(s)/objectives. 3. develop strategic alignment of soel inquiry, research methodology, research design, data collection and analysis in order to achieve goals. 4. targeted writing (fora-specific) and progressive writing goals with timelines, consider appropriate co-authorship team. 5. purchase useful higher education research methods text/online resource and seek guidance of expert for advice and review opportunities. therefore, in order to maximize the institutional impact of soel, these data suggest that attention must be given to the art, science, and politics of soel program implementation. for example, there are clear implications in terms of the need for:  strategic institutional vision for soel that includes customized supervision and professional development for educational leaders, as well as related workload expectations and p&t criteria, and that is consistent with institutional priorities and resources; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 18 published by scholink inc.  strategic engagement and mobilization of educational leaders and key stakeholder representation in order to foster networked improvement communities within and across the disciplines around rigorous educational inquiry; and  strategic visible communications (e.g., noticeboards, unit meetings, publications, data analytics, newsletters, and/or websites) and dissemination of soel progress, challenges, and goals in peer reviewed contexts. 4. key challenges and cautionary lessons for facilitating soel inquiry in diverse university contexts while there are encouraging signs of progress toward support for enhancing the impact of soel inquiry for educational leaders in this international faculty development program context (e.g., the development of an educational leadership track at the university), data suggest that a myriad of related challenges exists on university campuses that can result in a “management” (versus scholarship) orientation to educational leadership (geertsema, chng, lindberg-sand, & larsson, 2017; grimmett, 2015). even under supportive institutional conditions in this context, it was far from easy for many educational leaders to engage in independent or collaborative soel inquiry. nonetheless, longitudinal data and practical experience on university campuses suggest soel or other dimensions of scholarship for academic leadership practice within the academy are more likely to be taken up in substantial ways if senior administrators are similarly engaged in the scholarship of institutional practices such as implementation of strategic planning goals, strategic hiring practices, strategic program budgeting, or effective faculty supervision for tenure and promotion (hubball, clarke, chng, & grimmett, 2015). specific examples of strategically supported soel initiatives from the authors‟ experiences include programme renewal at the university of stellenbosch, south africa involving the vice-president teaching & learning, senior advisor for teaching & learning, and selected vice-deans from across six faculties; institutional capacity building for educational scholarship at the national university of singapore; and involvement of senior professors, curriculum leaders, program directors, and institutional quality assurance faculty in sotl efforts related to innovations at the united arab emirates university (uaeu) supported by the uae national innovation strategy. key challenges in diverse university contexts included a lack of resources (e.g., financial, supporting literature, expertise and role models to lead institutional and discipline-specific supports for soel), and misaligned institutional visioning documentation and p&t criteria that hinder educational leaders from engaging in soel. several respondents commented that frequent and significant changes in senior administration on their campuses created continual uncertainty about the importance given toward strategic institutional initiatives (e.g., curriculum renewal, strategic development of new undergraduate courses and programs, impact assessment of educational innovations). others raised concerns about the extent to which institutional budget allocations reflected strategic educational priorities. on our own campus, for example, changes in senior administration, including significant growth of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 19 published by scholink inc. middle-management, and funding priorities in recent years have revealed competing institutional priorities (e.g., technology, curriculum renewal, peer review (formative and summative) of teaching practices, service units, and optional scholarship expectations for educational leadership) and budget allocations, which often constrained efforts to adequately support soel. in addition, and exacerbated by already-heavy workloads, notable challenges for many educational leaders to fully engage in soel within and across disciplines included the time and effort to develop a new form of inquiry in higher education. these challenges often involved overcoming disciplinary biases for particular research methodologies, and related scholarship issues such as quality, quantity, authorship contributions, and sustained dissemination (webb, 2019). further, while there is no shortage of scholarly literature and criteria to describe educational scholarship, currently there is a lack of agreed standards (e.g., does not meet expectations, meets expectations, exceeds expectations) that define expected levels for soel contributions for particular academic ranks in specific university settings (e.g., required evidence of impact for instructor, associate professor, professor, etc.) (rawn & fox, 2017). as with other forms of scholarship in university contexts, for example, at the professor level in a particular discipline, an expectation to demonstrate “outstanding” impact within and beyond the host university might include dissemination of soel in local (e.g., program-level leadership, evaluation of teaching reports, campus-wide faculty development), national, and international peer reviewed contexts. these findings reinforce that soel inquiry is shaped by many factors and is impacted by people at various institutional levels (e.g., administrators, curriculum and pedagogical leaders, instructors, and learners) in complex university settings. despite significant challenges and barriers to soel inquiry on university campuses around the world, increasing institutional support is testimony to the growing value placed on soel at these campuses. 5. conclusion on a global scale, educational leaders from a variety of disciplines face significant challenges when undertaking soel inquiry in diverse university contexts. this paper provides critical insight to strategic institutional supports and customised professional development for facilitating soel inquiry within and across the disciplines. no one size fits all. for example, we have provided a theoretical framework for enhancing institutional soel inquiry, as well as practical examples for its strategic use and support drawn from our professional learning experiences with academics in canada and multi-national settings. although programmatic examples are ongoing works-in-progress, significant developments and commitments to enhance institutional soel inquiry practices have been made. preliminary findings from this study in the international soel program at ubc indicate that strategic institutional supports (e.g., visioning documents, criteria for tenure, promotion and re-appointment, customized professional development) are key to enhance institutional soel inquiry practices. further, soel inquiry is inherently situated; socially and culturally mediated; and, is responsive to the professional learning needs and circumstances of educational leaders in diverse institutional contexts. essentially, soel www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 20 published by scholink inc. inquiry questions and methodologies should be tailored to the needs and circumstances of the institutional/curricula/classroom research context. it is important to note, however, that soel inquiry is not value-free. further, it reflects approximations of the truth (acknowledging that there are multiple truths about soel inquiry from multiple perspectives). thus, similar to all forms of research, interpretations of soel outcomes requires a healthy skepticism, analysis of methodological rigour, and an openness to alternative critique and analysis. while there are still many challenges and areas for improvement in the international soel program at ubc, an institutional commitment can be the basis for facilitating the art, science, and politics of soel inquiry within and across the disciplines in diverse university contexts. acknowledgements the authors would like to express their sincere thanks to institution-level educational leaders and colleagues from universities around the world who have provided key insights for this paper. references alexander, i. k., & hjortsø, c. n. 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(2017). case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.2.8173 https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.1.11 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 74 original paper under the perspective of the integration of industry and education, improving college students’ career maturity: the mediating effect of career decision-making self-efficacy yuege lai 1 , jun cheng 1 , qinya weng 1 , jingcheng wang 1 & baiyan du 1 1 college of teacher education, quzhou university, quzhou 324003, zhejiang, china received: october 25, 2024 accepted: november 6, 2024 online published: november 8, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p74 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p74 abstract this study explores the impact of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support on college students’ career maturity, verifies the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy therein, and finally proposes strategies for improving college students’ career maturity from the perspective of the integration of industry and education. to this end, a total of 300 college students’ questionnaire survey results were analyzed. the results show that both career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support have significant positive effects on career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity. among them, the direct influence of teacher support on career maturity is better than that of career activity participation satisfaction. in addition, career decision-making self-efficacy mediates the relationships between career activity participation satisfaction and career maturity, and between teacher support and career maturity, having a partial mediating effect. this indicates that in the process of improving college students’ career maturity, it is necessary to focus on increasing college students’ career practice opportunities, establishing a sound integration mechanism of industry and education, and paying attention to teachers’ career guidance and support to enhance students’ career decision-making self-efficacy, thereby ultimately promoting students’ mature career awareness. keywords integration of industry and education, satisfaction of career activity participation, teacher support, career decision-making self-efficacy, career maturity www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 75 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction career maturity refers to an individual’s degree of preparedness for career-development tasks corresponding to their age. if an individual has high abilities in career planning, implementation, decision-making, etc., they can make career choices suitable for themselves and thus achieve good career development. in recent years, phenomena such as graduates deferring employment and being unemployed immediately after graduation have been occurring. the employment survey of china by mycos (2023) shows that among the 2018-graduated undergraduates from undergraduate institutions, 73.6% were employed, and among vocational college graduates, 82.0% were employed; 2.7% of undergraduate graduates were waiting for employment, and 7.5% of vocational college graduates were waiting for employment. however, among the 2022-graduated undergraduates, the proportion of employed undergraduates decreased to 62.2%, and that of employed vocational college graduates decreased to 60.0%; the proportion of undergraduate graduates waiting for employment increased to 6.9%, and that of vocational college graduates waiting for employment increased to 12.3%. more seriously, some graduates will leave their jobs in a short time even if they are successfully employed because they have difficulty adapting to the work. from 2018 to 2022, the turnover rate of graduates within half a year has long remained at 42%. among the 2022-graduated students, 43% left because they were dissatisfied with salary and benefits, 31% because they were dissatisfied with personal development space, and 19% because they were not adapted to the management system and culture. the survey of 2,650 college students by jiang, feng (2021) shows that 41.62% of newly-graduated college students are dissatisfied with salary income; 46.24% of college students are dissatisfied with career development prospects. correspondingly, most college students get employed when their career plans are not yet mature. among them, 25% of the 2021-graduated students were forced by reality to take a job first and then choose a career in their career development; among the 2022-graduated students, the number of students forced by reality to take a job first and then choose a career continued to rise to 28% (mycos, 2023). wang’s (2018) survey of career planning during school among 586 college students in shanxi province, china, showed that only 9.56% of college students had clear career plans for themselves, 41.13% of college students chose to “take one step at a time”, and 13.38% of students had not thought about career planning. in qin’s (2022) survey of college students in hohhot, inner mongolia, only 9% of students clearly knew the career they wanted to pursue in the future during school, and 41% of college students did not have a specific career they clearly wanted to work in the future. modern educational theories emphasize that the combination of knowledge and practice is the key to promoting learning outcomes, and the importance of practical experience in the learning process has been mentioned by most researchers (dewey, 1938; kolb, 1984; schunk, 2012). for college students, the current highly competitive job market has put forward higher requirements for the accumulation of pre-employment experience of college students. therefore, students need to constantly look for www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 76 published by scholink inc. internship and part-time opportunities related to their majors, understand industry trends, accumulate work experience, and at the same time master the latest technologies and working methods in the current industry (lei & zhang, 2023). chen, qi, and li (2022) proposed that college students need to adapt and evaluate their own abilities and work platforms in advance, reduce the trial and error costs of knowledge and vocational skills, and make effective career preparations for their clear career plans. it can be seen that the career development of college students requires the joint efforts of industry and education to form an ecological system of career support, helping students to provide necessary career guidance in the case of establishing practical experience, so that students can form a good sense of career maturity (monteiro, almeida & garcía, 2020; peeters, nelissen, cuyper, forrier, verbruggen & witte, 2019). fang, leixin, and zhenyi (2024) believe that college students with ideal career development can better understand how to show high efficiency and creativity in work, thus promoting the innovation and development of the industry. ying and hua (2024) indicated that college students with a good career consciousness are more likely to flexibly apply their abilities in the workplace, bring more benefits to relevant industrial sectors, and solve practical problems. career maturity is the basic guarantee for college students’ employment, industrial talent demand, and educational talent cultivation. in order for college students to get employed smoothly and achieve high-quality employment development, it is necessary to promote the career maturity of college students from the perspective of the integration of industry and education. some researchers have proposed that improving students’ career maturity requires the joint efforts of the external and the internal, that is, providing them with more practical guidance and opportunities and attaching importance to their experience in participating in career activities (kanjana & surachai, 2023). on this basis, career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support can be used as paths to improve students’ career maturity. as an internal factor, career activity participation satisfaction mainly focuses on an individual’s recognition of the work itself, environment, salary, colleague relationships, career development opportunities, etc. in career activities (jiang, 2023). for college students, career activity participation satisfaction refers to their recognition of activities related to their careers, such as internships, part-time jobs, campus job fairs, career planning lectures, and vocational skills training (kim, 2019). studies by kim (2019) and jiang (2023) both indicate that career activity participation satisfaction can have an impact on career maturity. because career activities with high satisfaction can enhance college students’ self-awareness, improve vocational skills, cultivate career decision-making ability, and increase career confidence (kyungok & junghee, 2021; baiyan, yuege, yuzhe & jun, 2024). through active participation and obtaining satisfactory career activity experiences, students can clearly understand their own interests and abilities and enhance their sense of identity with the chosen career (baek, park & kwon, 2017). this active participation attitude and experience can not only improve their vocational skills but also help them better cope with challenges in future careers and make wise career decisions (baiyan, xiaojing, qun & yuege, 2024). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 77 published by scholink inc. as for teacher support, an external factor, its main role is to help students clarify career goals through guidance and encouragement. because when students receive support and feedback from teachers during the career planning and development process, they will feel more confident and have a sense of direction (baiyan, xu, siyu & yuege, 2024). when this kind of support not only helps students acquire necessary vocational skills and knowledge but also cultivates their career consciousness, and the contribution of teacher support to career maturity has also been confirmed by relevant studies (dongsim & joo, 2017; joo, kang & choi, 2013). in addition, during an individual’s career development process, after receiving joint assistance from both internal and external sources, a positive psychological resource will be generated, namely career decision-making self-efficacy (lee & park, 2019; youn & hyun, 2019). career decision-making self-efficacy often also plays an important mediating role, involving an individual’s confidence in effectively choosing, setting goals, solving problems, and achieving career goals during the career decision-making process (xinqiao, xinyuan, yiming & wenjuan, 2023; baiyan, xiaojing, qun & yuege, 2024). for example, the research by lee and park (2019) shows that career decision-making self-efficacy is enhanced through parents’ career behaviors, thereby promoting students’ career maturity. youn and hyun’s (2019) research shows that students learn from entrepreneurs’ abilities to help themselves make favorable career decisions, thus promoting entrepreneurial intentions. it can be said that career decision-making self-efficacy not only reflects how an individual utilizes and transforms externally provided resources but also reveals how these external factors promote an individual’s career development path and outcomes by influencing the individual’s internal psychological state. the understanding of this mediating role has certain significance for designing and implementing effective integration of industry and education strategies and promoting students’ career development. therefore, in the current context of difficult employment, various situations such as taking a job first and then choosing a career, unclear career planning, and early turnover after employment have significantly restricted the career development of college students. it is necessary to attach importance to cultivating career consciousness among college students during their school years. currently, however, there is still a lack of empirical research in this field. the improvement mechanisms of career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy on career adaptation remain to be proposed. this study examines the positive effects of college students’ career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support on career maturity, and analyzes whether career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support will enable students to form career decision-making self-efficacy and thus improve career maturity under this path. this in-depth analysis helps relevant research to more comprehensively understand the relationships and functions among various factors and provides inspiration for college students’ employment guidance. to this end, this study has proposed the following four research questions: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 78 published by scholink inc. research question 1: what are the situations of college students’ career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity? research question 2: what are the impacts of college students’ career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy on career maturity? research question 3: do career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support indirectly affect career maturity through career decision-making self-efficacy? research question 4: based on the research analysis, how to effectively promote college students’ career maturity in the context of the integration of industry and education? 2. research foundation 2.1 integration of industry and education the integration of industry and education refers to the in-depth cooperation between industry and education. it is the in-depth cooperation carried out by colleges and universities with industrial enterprises in order to improve the quality of talent cultivation (zhu, 2024). in the mode of the integration of industry and education, students’ practical activities in industrial departments are the core manifestation form of cooperation between colleges and universities and industries. these practical projects can be divided into college students’ internship and training projects, innovation and entrepreneurship education, industry-university-research projects, etc. the purpose is to help students accumulate vocational practical experience in the actual working environment (lu, 2022). students can deepen their understanding and certainty of their own career planning based on the experience of vocational practical activities provided by the school. therefore, students’ satisfaction with participation in vocational activities can reflect students’ vocational practice situation. at the same time, schools can also flexibly adjust the ways, plans, and objects of cooperation with off-campus industries according to students’ satisfaction with participation in vocational activities, and understand the matching situation between the educational content within the school and the external industrial requirements, as an indicator for realizing the actual docking of educational content and the industry. the high-quality career development of college students is inseparable from the support of teachers. teachers are the guides of students’ practical experience and also the participants in students’ vocational education. it can be said that teachers’ support has a direct driving force for industrial demand and talent cultivation. according to the views of dongsim and joo (2017), teachers’ support for students in the vocational field is mainly reflected in information, emotional, and strategic support. information support refers to the information related to learning content, career development, and industry trends provided by teachers. emotional support refers to the care and help provided for students when they are dealing with crises. strategic support is the clear planning of task goals and plans for students by teachers. based on these research viewpoints, in this study, the “industry” in the integration of industry and education refers to college students’ satisfaction with participation in career www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 79 published by scholink inc. activities. the “education” refers to teacher support. under the combined action of college students’ satisfaction with participation in career activities and teacher support, the benign development of students' personal career consciousness is formed. 2.2 satisfaction of career activity participation satisfaction of career activity participation not only covers an individual’s feelings about specific work tasks but also includes a comprehensive evaluation of multiple aspects such as the overall work environment, colleague relationships, and career development opportunities (hyun, 2018). it can reflect the internal and external satisfaction obtained during one’s career and directly affects subsequent work performance, career commitment, and well-being. for students, although their status is different from that of formal employees, they will also experience satisfaction of career activity participation in internships, part-time jobs, volunteer services, and other career-related activities. this concept has varying degrees of impact on students’ career development and learning outcomes (jinhee, 2019). dongsim and joo (2017) believe that when the tasks undertaken by students in career activities such as internships or part-time jobs are challenging and diverse, they can stimulate students’ interests and enable them to improve their knowledge and skills in practice. although the career activities in which students participate may be short-term, this learning process can still effectively enhance students’ professional abilities and also boost their self-confidence and sense of achievement. most studies have revealed that career activity participation satisfaction has a positive effect on career decision-making self-efficacy. for example, royle, fox, and gonzalez (2016) believe that when college students obtain satisfactory and positive experiences in career activities, such experiences will promote them to establish a sense of identity and belonging in the industry they are engaged in, and increase students’ confidence in career decision-making. sun’s (2012) research found that when participating in career activities with high participation satisfaction, individuals will trigger the motivation to independently cope with and solve challenges in the work, improving the ability to solve career decision-making problems. at the same time, it also promotes students’ ability to adapt to new environments and career roles. xinqiao, xinyuan, yiming, and wenjuan (2019) believe that positive feedback and recognition obtained by students in career activities can significantly enhance students’ self-evaluation and make them believe that they have the ability to make correct decisions. career activity participation satisfaction also has a positive impact on career maturity. as jeong’s (2023) research points out, career activity participation satisfaction can directly strengthen college students’ cognition and attitude towards careers, and also has a positive impact on career consciousness and attitude, enabling students to have clear goals and plans for their future self-planning and clarify their own positioning. zhang (2022) verified that when interns have high internship satisfaction, their career attitude maturity is significantly improved. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 80 published by scholink inc. 2.3 teacher support teacher support is a constituent element within the social support system. originally, the three elements of social support were family support, friend support, and teacher support (baiyan, yuege, yuzhe & jun, 2024). originally, teacher support aimed to provide students with help and encouragement in various ways to promote their academic, emotional, and social development, meet their multiple needs, and assist them in achieving personal goals (oh, 2015). in the field of student vocational education, teacher support means providing systematic help through resources such as information and emotion to promote the development of students’ vocational cognition, the improvement of skills, and the achievement of vocational goals (baiyan, yuege, yuzhe & jun, 2024). moreover, the scope of students’ social activities on campus is relatively limited, and their cognition is still in the development stage. school is the second social environment for students. therefore, teachers have an important influence on students’ career development in this environment (lee, 2016). in oh’s (2015) research, it is suggested that teachers actively help students understand the characteristics and requirements of different careers by sharing career information and employment market trends, which can enable students to save the cost of career exploration and make wise career choices. joo, kang, and choi (2013) indicated that teachers have always been the basic external resource for students’ career development. during the career planning process, teachers help students prepare for career activities by guiding them and providing practical operation suggestions in many aspects, such as resume writing, interview preparation, and internship opportunity selection. through good experience support, students can not only obtain specific operation suggestions but also have clear goals and plans to cope with career challenges and confusion. in the examination of the impact of teacher support on students’ career exploration, hou (2013) verified that teachers’ emotional and information support for students, along with guidance to enhance the ability to solve career challenges, significantly improved students’ career decision-making self-efficacy. zhang and zhao (2018) believed that teachers’ professional guidance and career counseling can help students better understand the career world and enhance their ability to solve career problems, thereby increasing career decision-making self-efficacy. zhang (2021) discussed that the direct impact of teacher support on career decision-making self-efficacy is reflected in the feedback, encouragement, and guidance of students’ career preparation behaviors. wong, yuen, and chen (2021) pointed out that school teachers have a significant influence during students’ career planning and decision-making processes. teachers’ positive encouragement and support not only help improve students’ self-confidence but also assist them in dealing with confusion and challenges in career development, thereby promoting students’ career maturity. meanwhile, kathryn, ashlie, robyn, nelson, and clarke’s (2023) research also emphasized that educators should promote students’ personal and professional growth by organizing various practical activities. therefore, it can be seen that teacher support has a positive effect on college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 81 published by scholink inc. career maturity. 2.4 career decision—making self-efficacy career decision-making self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief and ability to successfully complete vocational tasks. it was initially developed after hackett and betz (1981) applied bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory to the vocational field. self-efficacy often serves as an intermediary factor for an individual to continuously perform specific behaviors or tasks, and career decision-making self-efficacy has inherited this role and become an intermediary factor affecting the process of career-related decision-making behaviors. in the research of hackett and betz (1981), the role of career self-efficacy in women’s career decision-making is particularly important. women’s perceived career self-efficacy can increase the range of career choices and career outcomes. taylor and betz (1983) defined career decision-making self-efficacy as an individual’s confidence in successfully completing tasks related to career decision-making. if career decision-making self-efficacy is low, it means that there is a higher likelihood of lacking the executive ability of one’s own decisions. in recent years, career decision-making self-efficacy has received more attention among college students. jiang and feng’s (2021) research shows that college students will experience compromise and decision-making during the career decision-making process, specifically formulate career goals, and make detailed future plans to achieve these goals. however, due to rapid economic development and the lack of employment positions, career decision-making self-efficacy is particularly important in helping college students cope with employment difficulties. good career decision-making self-efficacy is an evaluation and driving factor of career behavior. among the constituent factors of career decision-making self-efficacy, there are four factors including goal selection, career information, problem-solving, and future planning (oh, 2020; taylor & betz, 1983). goal selection refers to an individual’s ability to determine and select specific career goals during their career. efficient goal selection means that an individual can clearly identify and pursue a career direction suitable for themselves (baiyan, xiaojing, qun & yuege, 2024). career information involves an individual’s ability to obtain and utilize career-related information. this includes understanding the requirements, working environment, salary level, and development prospects of different occupations. mastering sufficient career information can help an individual make wiser and more suitable career decisions. problem-solving is when an individual can effectively analyze and identify obstacles in career decision-making, formulate solutions, and implement these solutions when facing problems during the career decision-making process (lee, 2017). future planning is when an individual formulates long-term and short-term plans to achieve career goals. effective future planning can help an individual move forward in an orderly manner during their career, ensuring that their career development path is clear and feasible (byunghwa, 2020; oh, 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 82 published by scholink inc. in previous studies, the contribution of career decision-making self-efficacy to the maturity of students’ career consciousness has been confirmed. for example, in oh’s (2015) research, students with higher career decision-making self-efficacy are also more active in career exploration and other behaviors, are more planned, and have an optimistic attitude towards challenges. kyungok and junghee’s (2021) research indicates that career decision-making self-efficacy positively affects students’ career maturity. that is to say, the prerequisite for students’ career maturity is to have confidence in themselves and not be afraid of difficulties and challenges. shin and park (2017) believe that students with strong career decision-making self-efficacy can more actively obtain and utilize career-related information and fully understand the requirements, prospects, and development paths of different careers, enabling them to make wiser and more mature decisions when making career choices. 2.5 career maturity the concept of career maturity was put forward by super (1955). in the early stage, career maturity research explored the development of adolescents’ career interests. later, it was found that career behaviors change systematically with age (savickas, 1984). subsequently, researchers began to conduct extensive research on the concept of career maturity. marasaoli, hadi, aryani, and nurbaiti (2024) define career maturity as the degree of preparedness in career choice or career planning. creed and patton (2003) claim that career maturity is a developmental concept, which is a cognitive process of understanding, planning, and choosing between the self and work of an individual. crites and savickas (2011) hold that career maturity is an individual’s ability to improve their adaptability so as to make the right degree of preparation for self-understanding of the career. based on the arguments of these researchers, career maturity is a developmental concept, which is related to the ability to choose a career and the degree of knowledge acquisition. moreover, an individual’s career-related preparation for the future cannot be completed in a short time. it requires a continuous development process such as human cognitive characteristics to mature. for students, career maturity is not only related to students’ career attitudes but also an important indicator for evaluating career planning education in colleges and universities, which can reflect the talent-cultivation ability of colleges and universities (xie, 2023). shen (2024) believes that good career planning ability of college students means that schools design curriculum content by following the demands of the talent market and adopt practical and innovative educational models. this includes strengthening project-based learning with off-campus enterprises, providing internship and training opportunities, etc., to make education closer to actual demands. ren, li, and zhu (2023) think that career maturity is the specific manifestation of the organic combination of students’ knowledge and skills, theory and practice in schools, and it also means the in-depth integration of school education and the industry. therefore, career maturity can meet the actual needs of the cooperation between industrial departments and educational institutions. it has practical fundamental benefits for college students. at the same time, it means that the integration of industry and education is not only the result of the joint www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 83 published by scholink inc. efforts of education and industry but also a necessary path to promote college students’ career maturity and enhance their employment competitiveness. 3. results since online questionnaires can sample at a relatively low cost and are not limited to a single location, and have the characteristics of fast collection speed (tan & teo, 2000). therefore, this study used the online questionnaire collection method for data collection. the questionnaire measurement all used the likert 5-point scale, and the research purpose and objects to be confirmed in this study were explained before answering the questionnaire. after collecting the data, the spss 25.0 program was used for analysis. first, a reliability test was conducted, and 300 samples were analyzed. among them, the career activity participation satisfaction used the scale in jinhee’s (2019) research as the tool of this study, with a total of 12 items, and the cronbach α was 0.814. it was divided into 3 sub-factors, among which there were 4 items with a cronbach α of 0.943. there were 4 items for activity instructors with a cronbach α of 0.897. there were 4 items for facilities and environment with a cronbach α of 0.877. teacher support used the scale in oh’s (2015) research, with a total of 8 items. the cronbach α was 0.930. career decision-making self-efficacy used the scale developed by taylor and betz (1983) and revised by oh (2020). it consisted of 4 factors: goal selection, career information, problem-solving, and future planning, with 12 items. among them, there were 3 items for goal selection with a cronbach α of 0.914. there were 3 items for career information with a cronbach α of 0.973. there were 3 items for problem-solving with a cronbach α of 0.941. there were 3 items for future planning with a cronbach α of 0.989. career maturity used the tool in jinhee’s (2019) research, consisting of 14 items in total. it was composed of 5 factors, namely, decision-making with 3 items and a cronbach α of 0.987. purpose had 3 items with a cronbach α of 0.992. confirmation had 3 items with a cronbach α of 0.976. preparedness had 2 items with a cronbach α of 0.955. independence had 3 items with a cronbach α of 0.957. according to the description of hair, black, babin, and anderson (2009), a cronbach α of 0.7 or above indicates good reliability of the scale. among the demographic characteristics, in terms of gender, there were 89 male students, accounting for 29.7%, and 211 female students, accounting for 70.3%. among the grades, there were 131 lower-grade students, accounting for 43.7%, and 169 upper-grade students, accounting for 56.3%. among the professional categories, there were 166 students majoring in humanities and social sciences, accounting for 55.3%. there were 134 students majoring in natural sciences, accounting for 44.7%. in this study, since the questionnaire used in this study was the scale used in previous research and there were many factors and items involved, this study followed the practice of mathieu and farr (1991) to avoid excessive complexity in research measurement and analysis caused by too many factors under examination. the sub-factors of career activity participation satisfaction, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity were combined and packaged, that is, the levels of these factors and the differences in various population www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 84 published by scholink inc. variables were comprehensively examined. subsequently, the path influence relationships and mediation effects among various variables were tested. 3.1 correlation and comprehensive statistical analysis table 1. correlation of each variable and comprehensive situation level constituent career activity participation satisfaction teacher support career decision-making self-efficacy career maturity career activity participation satisfaction 1 teacher support .595** 1 career decision making self efficacy .547** .612** 1 career maturity .502** .599** .531** 1 average value 3.05 3.09 2.95 3.23 standard deviation 0.59 0.77 0.64 0.60 skewness .923 .518 .725 .347 kurtosis .914 -.161 -.111 .111 descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to understand the level of the main variables in this study. the compared mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis are shown in table 1. the mean value of career activity participation satisfaction is m=3.05, and the standard deviation is 0.59. the mean value of teacher support is m=3.09, and the standard deviation is 0.77. the career decision-making self-efficacy is m=2.95, and the standard deviation is 0.64. the mean value of career maturity is m=3.2, and the standard deviation is 0.60. both the skewness and kurtosis tests show values less than 2 and -2, indicating that the data is approximately normally distributed. career activity participation satisfaction is positively correlated with teacher support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity. teacher support has a positive correlation with career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity. finally, career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity also have a positive correlation. 3.2 difference analysis in order to understand the differences of demographic variables among various factors, a t-test analysis was conducted for gender and professional category, and an anova variance analysis was conducted for grade. see table 2 for details. first, among genders, career activity participation satisfaction, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity are significant, while teacher support is not significant. the career activity participation satisfaction (m=3.1) and career decision-making www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 85 published by scholink inc. self-efficacy (m=3) of females are higher than those of males (career activity participation satisfaction m=2.91 and career decision-making self-efficacy m=2.85). however, the career maturity of males (m=3.35) is better than that of females (m=3.18). in terms of grade differences, career activity participation satisfaction and career decision-making self-efficacy are statistically significant, while teacher support and career maturity are not significant. the career activity participation satisfaction of lower-grade students is m=2.97, and the career decision-making self-efficacy is m=2.86. the career activity participation satisfaction of upper grade students is m=3.11, and the career decision-making self-efficacy is m=3.03. it can be seen that career activity participation satisfaction and career decision-making self-efficacy tend to increase with the rise of grade. among professional categories, no statistical significance was found for each variable. table 2. difference analysis constituent career activity participation satisfaction teacher support career decision-making self-efficacy career maturity gender (m±sd) male(n=89) 2.91±0.42 3.01±0.53 2.85±0.39 3.35±0.53 female(n=211) 3.1±0.64 3.13±0.84 3±0.72 3.18±0.63 t -3.061** -1.425 -2.190* 2.311* grade (m±sd) senior grade(n=169) 3.11±0.66 3.16±0.88 3.03±0.73 3.24±0.72 junior grade(n=131) 2.97±0.47 3±0.58 2.86±0.48 3.22±0.42 t -2.205* 1.910 2.423* 0.385 category of specialty( m±sd) humanities and social sciences category (n=166) 3.1±0.61 3.06±0.74 2.9±0.62 3.2±0.6 natural sciences category(n=134 ) 2.98±0.56 3.13±0.8 3.02±0.67 3.27±0.61 t 1.785 -.865 -1.634 -.946 note. **p＜0.01，*p＜0.05. 3.3 direct impact analysis regression analysis was conducted to test the path impact of variables, and the results are shown in table 3. in the path where career activity participation satisfaction affects career decision-making self-efficacy, the overall regression is significant with f=126.943, β=0.547, and t=11.267, indicating a significant positive (+) impact. the descriptive power of the regression model is approximately 29.9%. in the impact on career maturity, f=100.228, β=0.502, t=10.011, and r² is 25.2%, showing a significant positive (+) impact. in the path analysis of teacher support affecting www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 86 published by scholink inc. career decision-making self-efficacy, the overall regression is also significant with f=178.315 (p<<0.001), β=0.612, t=13.353, and r² is 37.4%. teacher support has a significant positive (+) impact on career decision-making self-efficacy. in the impact of goal-orientation on employment preparation behavior, f=167.037, β=0.599, t=12.924, and r² is 35.9%, showing a significant positive (+) impact. the results of the impact of career decision-making self-efficacy on career maturity show that f=116.901, β=0.531, t=10.812, and the descriptive power of the regression model is approximately 28.2%. therefore, career decision-making self-efficacy can also positively (+) enhance career maturity. table 3. direct impact path b β t f r2 career activity participation satisfaction → career decision-making self-efficacy. .598 .547*** 11.267 126.943 .299 career activity participation satisfaction. → career maturity .517 .502*** 10.011 100.228 .252 teacher support → career decision-making self-efficacy. .513 .612*** 13.353 178.315 .374 teacher support → career maturity .473 .599*** 12.924 167.037 .359 career decision making self efficacy. → career maturity .500 .531*** 10.812 116.901 .282 note. ***p＜0.001. 3.4 indirect impact analysis table 4. mediation effect analysis path b s.e β r² f career activity participation satisfaction. → career decision-making self-efficacy. .598 .053 .547*** .299 126.943 career activity participation satisfaction. → career maturity .517 .052 .502*** .252 100.228 career activity participation satisfaction. → career maturity .311 .058 .302*** .346 78.419 career decision-making self-efficacy. .345 .053 .366*** teacher support → career decision-making self-efficacy. .513 .038 .612*** .374 178.315 teacher support → career maturity .473 .037 .599*** .359 167.037 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 87 published by scholink inc. teacher support → career maturity .347 .045 .439*** .402 99.927 career decision-making self-efficacy. .247 .053 .262*** note. ***p＜0.001. when career decision-making self-efficacy is incorporated into the relationship between career activity participation satisfaction and career maturity, as shown in table 4, the β value in the impact of career activity participation satisfaction on career maturity is 0.502, with an explanatory power of 25.2% for prediction. when career activity participation satisfaction and career decision-making self-efficacy simultaneously predict career maturity, the β value of the effect of career activity participation satisfaction decreases and is significant. secondly, when career decision-making self-efficacy is incorporated into the relationship between teacher support and employment preparation behavior, the β value of the impact of teacher support on career maturity is 0.612, and r²=37.4. when teacher support and career decision-making self-efficacy simultaneously predict employment preparation behavior, the β value also decreases and is significant. therefore, it can be confirmed that career decision-making self-efficacy has a partial mediating effect in the impact of career activity participation satisfaction on career maturity and in the relationship between teacher support and career maturity respectively. 4. discussion this study, within the context of the integration of industry and education, explores the impact of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support on college students’ career maturity and further analyzes the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in this process. firstly, to address research question 1, “what are the situations of college students’ career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity?” in the overall situation level, the four factors of career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career maturity are all at a medium-level situation. this indicates that the surveyed college students have certain positive experiences in participating in career activities and receiving teacher support, but there is still room for improvement as a whole. these results reflect the actual situation of students in terms of career development support and career maturity in the current higher education environment. further combined with the difference analysis, female students’ career activity participation satisfaction (m=3.1) and career decision-making self-efficacy (m=3) are higher than those of male students (career activity participation satisfaction m=2.91 and career decision-making self-efficacy m=2.85), while male students’ career maturity (m=3.35) is better than that of female students (m=3.18). this result suggests that female students are more inclined to seek career-development opportunity resources and obtain more social support. male students may be more clear and firm in setting and achieving career goals, thus performing better in career maturity. in terms www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 88 published by scholink inc. of grade differences, senior-grade students are better in career activity participation satisfaction (m=3.11) and career decision-making self-efficacy (m=3.03) compared with lower-grade students (m=2.97 and m=2.86 respectively). this finding indicates that as the grade increases, students’ participation in career activities and career decision-making self-efficacy gradually increase. from this situation, it can be seen that with the accumulation of study and life experience, students’ career resources and support gradually increase, enabling them to have a steady improvement in career decision-making ability and confidence. secondly, in the direct-impact analysis, it can be seen that career activity participation satisfaction has a significant positive correlation with career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity, and can effectively influence these two factors. this finding is consistent with jinhee’s (2019) research. high-satisfaction career activities can increase students’ career skills, enhance their self-awareness and career confidence, and can also promote their sense of identity and belonging to the career, enabling them to be more actively involved in career planning and development (jeong, 2023; kyungok & junghee, 2021; baiyan, xiaojing, qun & yuege, 2024; baek, park & kwon, 2017). the role of teacher support in enhancing college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity has also been verified, which is consistent with the research results of oh (2015) and wong et al. (2021), emphasizing the guiding role of teachers in students’ career development. moreover, this support is particularly significant in improving students’ career decision-making self-efficacy (zhang & zhao, 2018). by comparing the influence of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support on career decision-making self-efficacy, it can also be seen that the influence of teacher support (β=0.612) is higher than that of career activity participation satisfaction (β=0.547). based on these results, research question 2 of this study, “what are the impacts of college students’ career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy on career maturity?” is answered. in terms of the impact on career maturity, teacher support (β=0.599) is better than career decision-making self-efficacy (β=0.531) and career activity participation satisfaction (β=0.502). therefore, the importance of teacher support can be shown in these results, because its contribution is relatively excellent whether in career decision-making or career maturity. continuing to verify research question 3 of this study: “do career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support indirectly affect career maturity through career decision-making self-efficacy?” in the results of the indirect impact analysis, career decision-making self-efficacy can mediate the relationships between career activity participation satisfaction and career maturity, and between teacher support and career maturity respectively. that is, in the process of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support enhancing career maturity, part of it is achieved indirectly by enhancing students’ self-confidence and decision-making ability. just as described in the studies by lee and park (2019), youn and hyun (2019), oh (2020), and shin & park (2017), career decision-making self-efficacy has an indispensable position in career development and is an important positive www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 89 published by scholink inc. psychological resource linking career-related outcomes. combined with the previous direct impact results, although the impact of career decision-making self-efficacy on career maturity is not as great as that of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support, it is a factor that enables the two factors to achieve indirect influence. especially for teacher support with a relatively high contribution, this mechanism is more needed. finally, based on the results of this study, it can be seen that teacher support and career decision-making self-efficacy are two factors that need to be focused on. therefore, research question 4 is addressed: “how to effectively promote college students’ career maturity in the context of the integration of industry and education?” in terms of strengthening teacher support, colleges and universities should focus on the training of teachers in career guidance so that teachers can provide students with comprehensive career information and advice and strengthen teachers’ career-activity services for students. for improving students’ career decision-making self-efficacy, under the condition of ensuring that students have plenty of career practice opportunities, relevant educational institutions can set up activities related to the cultivation of career decision-making ability when necessary, focusing on career decision-making skills, problem-solving, future planning, etc. in addition, colleges and universities still need to promote the improvement of the school-enterprise cooperation mechanism and establish a close cooperative relationship with enterprises because the impact of career activity participation satisfaction is still significant and effective. therefore, it is necessary to construct a student-centered career support ecosystem with the joint participation of schools, enterprises, teachers, and all sectors of society to provide students with comprehensive career support and resources, ensure that what students learn matches market demands, and help them achieve success in career development. 5. conclusion this study explores the impact of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support on college students’ career maturity. by introducing career decision-making self-efficacy as a mediating variable, it reveals the important role it plays in the career maturity process. finally, from the perspective of the integration of industry and education, corresponding strategies are proposed. on the one hand, this provides a new perspective and verification for the existing career maturity theory and also offers a new framework and method for the theories in the fields of vocational education and higher education. in previous studies, although the importance of career activity participation satisfaction and teacher support for career development has been gradually verified by different researchers, there has been no combination and comparison of them. this study, while clarifying the specific impact paths and degrees of these variables, provides relevant empirical support, offering new solutions to solve the current problems such as the difficulty of graduates in finding jobs and the high early turnover rate, and helping to improve the employment quality and career development stability of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 90 published by scholink inc. college students. however, this study also has certain limitations. for example, the sample size of the study is relatively limited and may not fully represent the situation of college students in other regions and schools. educational resources, student backgrounds, and career development opportunities in different regions and schools may vary greatly. moreover, the research data rely on students’ self-reports, and there may be social desirability bias and recall bias. all these situations may have affected the universal results of the study. in this study, although female students’ career activity participation satisfaction, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy are all higher than those of male students, male students’ career maturity is still higher than that of female students, indicating that the factors that play an important role in male students’ career maturity have not been captured in this study. therefore, future research can introduce other relevant factors for improving career maturity to further explore their structural relationships, and expand the sample size to improve the representativeness and robustness of the results. it can also consider combining interviews, observations, and experiments to improve the diversity and accuracy of the data. project funding this project is a research achievement of the quzhou philosophy and social sciences planning project “research on the 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(2024). exploration on the training of financial talents in the new era from the perspective of integration of industry and education. vocational technology, 23(04), 81-86. https://doi.org/10.29214/damis.2019.38.3.011 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper college students’ well-being during the covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review of the literature michaela q. iglesia 1* & ming-tsan lu 2 1 university of texas rio grande valley, school of medicine, edinburg, tx 78539, usa 2 university of texas rio grande valley, department of teaching and learning, edinburg, tx 78539, usa * michaela q. iglesia, e-mail: michaela.iglesia01@utrgv.edu received: june 10, 2021 accepted: august 9, 2021 online published: november 29, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p1 abstract studies have shown increased levels of distress during the coronavirus disease-19 (covid-19) pandemic, and college students are becoming more recognized as a vulnerable population. this narrative systematic review aims to synthesize the current understanding of mental health, lifestyle, and socioeconomic impacts that the pandemic had on college students in the united states. a search was conducted on pubmed, psycinfo, and web of science. a total of 34 observational studies were included which examined aspects of college students’ health and experiences during the covid-19 pandemic in the united states. a great deal of students was shown to experience a moderate level of stress and subsyndromal depression and anxiety in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic. several risk and protective factors have been characterized. students experienced various academic, financial, and housing disruptions. studies have highlighted the need for institutional support to reduce the adverse psychological impact of the pandemic. there is a need for further large-scale research to assess the scope of covid-19-related biopsychosocial impact, especially in vulnerable populations such as racial/ethnic and sexual/gender minorities. keywords mental health, covid-19, college students, psychological, depression, anxiety www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the coronavirus disease-2019 (covid-19) pandemic abruptly changed people’s daily routines and continues to affect how people live across the globe. self-care includes various behaviors, such as healthy eating, exercise, relaxation, social connection, spirituality. many of these aspects have been affected by restrictions and changes instated during the covid-19 pandemic that may have prevented people from practicing their usual health-related behaviors or added a substantial amount of uncertainty. several studies have been conducted across the globe to study mental health in young adults (18-29 years old) and college students. the current understanding is that young adults are suffering from relatively high rates of perceived stress and that symptoms of depression and anxiety are common psychological reactions to the pandemic (rajkumar, 2020; xiong et al., 2020). at baseline, the college student population is particularly vulnerable to stress due to concerns related to academic performance, finances, interpersonal relationships, and post-graduation plans (beiter et al., 2015). psychosocial challenges are therefore compounded when faced with public health emergencies. there is a growing volume of literature available on this topic. it is important to evaluate the current evidence and determine trends in results to inform future research and interventions. the purpose of the study is to identify manifestations of psychological distress among college students, common coping behaviors, and challenges to managing self-care. the current review was designed to summarize the existing literature addressing health concerns among college students during the covid-19 pandemic. limitations to the existing literature should be addressed in future research. to our knowledge, this is the first review of the literature on this topic in this population to date. 2. method this article is a narrative review of the existing literature on mental health symptoms and behaviors during the covid-19 pandemic. 2.1 information sources & eligibility criteria three online databases (pubmed, american psychological association psychinfo, and web of sciences) were searched for relevant articles. studies were included if they were observational in nature (cross-sectional, cohort, ecological), examined college students older than 18 years of age in the united states, and available in english language. they had to include information on aspects of well-being, such as stress, anxiety, depression, or health-related behaviors. 2.2 search methodology a literature search was conducted with the search terms: ―college students‖ or ―university students‖ and ―mental health‖ or ―health‖ or ―stress‖ or ―depression‖ and ―pandemic‖ or ―covid-19‖ or ―coronavirus‖. the search was filtered such that only results available in english from 2020 to 2021 were included. if possible, a location filter for the united states was applied. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 3 published by scholink inc. 2.3 study selection & data collection after initial review, studies were screened by title and abstract to determine potential relevance. the full-text articles determined to be relevant were assessed for inclusion in the review. data were taken directly from articles. no contact was made with authors of the publications to obtain raw data or confirm results. 3. result well-being is multifactorial and can be approached from various disciplines. therefore, there is a wide variety of study designs, analytical processes, and assessed outcomes. it is important to summarize this information from the breadth of sources available. due to the heterogeneity of study designs, including assessment scales used, it was decided not to conduct a formal meta-analysis at this time. a narrative review was conducted to analyze the various methods used, categorize salient themes, and summarize the current literature. 3.1 study selection results from study selection are shown in the study flow diagram in figure 1. on the initial search, 134 studies were identified. duplicates (n=32) were removed. titles and abstracts of 101 articles were screened to confirm the location of study. international studies and studies taking place outside the united states were excluded, resulting in exclusion of 40 articles. full-text articles were then retrieved and assessed for eligibility. only original research papers were included; letters to the editor (n=3), editorials or commentary related to mental health (n=11), and reviews (n=3) were excluded. 12 articles were also excluded based on sample characteristics (n=4; e.g., sample not limited to college students) and subject matter (n=8; e.g., therapeutic interventions). the remaining 34 publications are included in this review. characteristics of each study, including design, location, sample, and findings are shown in appendix a. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 4 published by scholink inc. records identified from: pubmed (n = 43) apa psychinfo (n = 19) web of science (n = 72) records removed before screening: duplicate records removed (n = 32) records screened (n = 101) records manually excluded due to location outside of united states (n = 40) reports sought for retrieval (n = 64) reports not retrieved (n = 1) reports assessed for eligibility (n = 63) reports excluded: incorrect article type (n = 17) lack of relevance (n = 8) sample not limited to college students (n = 4) studies included in review (n = 34) identification of studies via databases figure 1. study prisma flow diagram 3.2 study characteristics 3.2.1 sample characteristics the number of subjects in the studies included ranged from 49 to 5,547, with an average of 766. 25 studies took place at one institution alone. many of these institutions are located in the south (n=11) and northeast (n=9) regions of the country. two studies were conducted across more than one institution (browning et al., 2021; eden et al., 2020). six studies recruited nationwide samples via social media, such as facebook and instagram (cohen et al., 2020; conrad et al., 2021; firkey et al., 2021; gonzales et al., 2020; hoyt et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021). all studies recruited full-time students and were typically open to all programs of study and both undergraduate and graduate levels. one study included examined only social work students (lawrence et al., 2021). articles on students in other health professions, such as medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, were typically commentaries or took place outside of the united states and were therefore excluded. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 5 published by scholink inc. percentage of female participants ranged from 42.4% (eden et al., 2020) to 93% (kibbey et al., 2021) with an average of 67.96%. 3.2.2 study designs all 34 studies were observational in design. the majority of studies (n=24) were cross-sectional, with data collection between the months of march and august 2020. 11 studies were longitudinal in design (copeland et al., 2021; fruehwirth et al., 2021; haft & zhou, 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; huckins et al., 2020; kleiman et al., 2020; krendl, 2021; maher et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021; rettew et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020). of these, eight studies included baseline data from before the covid-19 outbreak was classified as a pandemic by the world health organization in march 2020 (copeland et al., 2020; fruehwirth et al., 2021; haft & zhou, 2021; huckins et al., 2020; krendl, 2021; maher et al., 2021; zhang et al., 2020). of the longitudinal studies, six utilized surveys alone (fruehwirth et al., 2021; haft & zhou, 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; krendl, 2021; maher et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020) and five utilized ecological momentary assessments (ema) (copeland et al., 2021; huckins et al., 2020, kleiman et al., 2020; melcher et al., 2021; rettew et al., 2021). emas involved repeated sampling of behaviors and experiences in real time. these required access to a mobile application on a smartphone through which participants could answer daily questions and researchers could collect anonymized data. response rates of longitudinal studies ranged from 30.6% to 100%, with an average of 73.53% follow-up. overall, two surveys included an interview component that was conducted virtually (melcher et al., 2021; son et al., 2020). most survey questionnaires (n=29) included at least one standard validated scale to assess for symptoms of depression or anxiety or experiences of stress. other survey questions addressed other aspects of student experiences such as stress-reducing behaviors, socioeconomic and academic disruptions, and covid-19-related concerns. likert scales were used more often than open-ended free response answer formats. 3.2.3 commonly used measures commonly used measures included in surveys were analyzed and are summarized below. patient health questionnaire. depressive symptoms were assessed by eight studies using long forms of the patient health questionnaire (phq) (conrad et al., 2021; fruehwirth et al., 2021; krendl, 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; lechner et al., 2020; melcher et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020; zhang et al., 2020). the 9-item phq (phq-9) is widely used in primary care settings to screen for depression and has demonstrated very good internal consistency with a cronbach alpha of 0.89 (kroenke et al., 2001). participants were asked to rate on a 4-point likert scale how often they experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks. of these studies, five utilized the full 9-item questionnaire, while three used the 8-item version, which omits the item regarding suicidal ideation. possible scores range from 0 to 27. scores from 5 to 9, 10 to 14, 15 to 19, and 20 to 27 indicate mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, respectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 6 published by scholink inc. generalized anxiety disorder scale. anxiety symptoms were assessed by ten studies using the 7-item generalized anxiety disorder scale (gad-7) (biber et al., 2020; conrad et al., 2021; fruehwirth et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; krendl, 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; lechner et al., 2020; melcher et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020; zhang et al., 2020). this questionnaire is used in primary care settings to screen for generalized anxiety disorder and has demonstrated excellent internal consistency with a cronbach alpha of 0.92 (son et al., 2020). participants were asked to rate on a 4-point likert scale how often they experienced anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks. possible scores range from 0 to 21. scores from 6 to 10, 11 to 15, and 16 to 21 indicate mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively. the phq-4 is a shorter 4-item screening tool that comprises of two screening questions from each of the previous scales. the phq-4 was used by three studies (eden et al., 2020; haliwa et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021). perceived stress scale. levels of stress were assessed by nine studies using the perceived stress scale (pss) (eden et al., 2020; hathaway et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; kecojevic et al., 2020; krendl, 2021; melcher et al., 2021; son et al., 2020; trammell et al., 2021; zhen et al., 2021). the 10-item pss (pss-10) has demonstrated good internal consistency with a cronbach alpha of 0.84-0.85 in college student samples as well as good validity with a positive correlation with scores on life event scales (cohen et al., 1983). participants were asked to rate on a 5-point likert scale how often they felt or thought a certain way in the past month. items numbered 4, 5, 7, and 8 were reverse scored. possible scores range from 0 to 40. pss does not have official score cutoffs for classification of severity, but higher scores indicate a higher level of perceived stress. other scales were administered relatively frequently. the multidimensional scale of perceived social support was used by four studies to assess for perceived support from family, friends, and significant others (fruehwirth et al., 2021; haliwa et al., 2021; hathaway et al., 2021). the depression anxiety and stress scale is a widely used screening tool that was administered in three studies, only one of which supplemented it with phq and gad (haliwa et al., 2021; kibbey et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021). the brief resilience scale was used by three studies to measure resiliency (eden et al., 2020; fruehwirth et al., 2021; hunt et al., 2021). the university of california, los angeles loneliness scale was used by three studies that characterizes how much a person feels socially disconnected from others (conrad et al., 2021; krendl, 2021; melcher et al., 2021). 3.3 thematic analysis four broad themes were identified across the 34 publications and were used to organize the review: (a) mental health in the general student population, (b) mental health in specific subgroups, (c) health-related behaviors, and (d) socioeconomic implications. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 7 published by scholink inc. 3.3.1 mental health in the general student population review of titles, abstracts, and methods revealed that 14 studies investigated mental health as the primary research topic, with the objective to determine the severity of psychological distress and its manifestations as symptoms of depression or anxiety. almost all 14 publications showed that students overall were experiencing high levels of distress in the early stages of the pandemic. the frequency of students expressing increased levels of stress ranged from 14.6% (browning et al., 2021) to as high as 71% (son et al., 2020; wang et al., 2020). average pss10 scores ranged from 18.8(4.9) (son et al., 2020) to 30.26(6.41) (krendl, 2021), indicating at least a moderate level of perceived stress. two longitudinal studies taking place from january to may 2020 showed that stress levels were the same (copeland et al., 2021) or lower (rettew et al., 2021) during the start of the pandemic as compared to the months prior. another longitudinal study showed that overall stress levels were particularly high in april 2020 and slightly declined in july 2020 (hoyt et al., 2021). six studies collected qualitative descriptions of stressors (browning et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; molock & parchem, 2021; son et al., 2020). common stressors that students experienced included fear and worry about their own or family members’ risks of being infected with covid-19, difficulty concentrating, decreased social interactions, concerns regarding academic plans or performance, and concerns about obtaining basic needs (browning et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; son et al., 2020). students have described changes to their daily life pertaining to their general behaviors and financial and living situations during school closures. anecdotal samples included in articles highlighted the complexity of cumulative stressors such as loss of employment, lack of assistance for tuition, housing insecurity, caretaking responsibilities, class workload, and changes to or loss of access to mental health services and peer support (hoyt et al., 2021). risk factors for stress were investigated in several studies through exploratory analysis. females were found to be associated with greater perceived stress (browning et al., 2021; hathaway et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; kecojevic et al., 2020; kibbey et al., 2021). students from lower socioeconomic status reported higher perceived stress and anxiety in the first months of the national public health emergency (browning et al., 2021; haliwa et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021). however, one longitudinal study continuing into the summer of 2020 found no statistically significant changes in perceived stress or anxiety by race/ethnicity or income level (hoyt et al., 2021). high risk of distress was also associated with knowing someone infected with covid-19, personally experiencing respiratory viral symptoms or a greater perceived risk of contracting covid-19 ((browning et al., 2021; haliwa et al., 2021; kibbey et al., 2021; trammell et al., 2021). a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis was significantly associated with experiencing more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (cohen et al., 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 8 published by scholink inc. protective factors for psychological health were investigated as well. higher levels of mindfulness and social support were identified as protective factors for mental health in terms of reporting less perceived stress, greater happiness, and greater life satisfaction (haliwa et al., 2021; szkody et al., 2020; zhen et al., 2021). personality traits were also found to contribute to the ability to cope with major stressful events. for example, extraversion was negatively associated with mood indices but positively associated with engagement in healthy activities (rettew et al., 2021). stress was associated with worse mental health outcomes during the pandemic. symptoms of depression and anxiety were universally reported at high rates. among all publications, phq scores ranged from 6.22 (fruehwirth et al., 2021) to 9.44 (lechner et al., 2020), and gad scores ranged from 5.41 (fruehwirth et al., 2021) to 10.49 (hoyt et al., 2021) in the early stages of the pandemic. four longitudinal studies demonstrated an increase in these scores as the pandemic initially progressed (fruehwirth et al., 2021; krendl, 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; zhang et al., 2020). the frequency of anxiety symptoms was positively correlated with the daily number of new cases and deaths due to covid-19 in april and may 2020 (huckins et al., 2020; kleiman et al., 2020). 3.3.2 mental health in specific subgroups five publications focused on specific subgroups regarding demographics such as race/ethnicity and sexual/gender identity as the primary research topic (gonzales et al., 2020; haft & zhou, 2021; hunt et al., 2021; molock & parchem, 2021; trammell et al., 2021). three studies examined racial or ethnic minorities (haft & zhou, 2021; molock & parchem, 2021; trammell et al., 2021). a cross-sectional survey of undergraduate students of color enrolled in a diversity mentorship program highlighted that these students endured disruptive changes in finances, living situation, academic performance, education plans, and career goals (molock & parchem, 2021). one study found no statistically significant ethnic/racial differences in perceived stress, perceived covid-19-related depression, health-related behaviors, or overall covid-19 mental health impacts (trammell et al., 2021). in this study, however, hispanic/latinx and asian students perceived higher covid-19-related threat and held more negative health beliefs than white students; latinx students reported higher financial and resource impact scores than white students; and asian students were significantly more likely than white students to report witnessing or experiencing discrimination. one study found that relatively few participants, most of which identified as asian, reported experiencing racial discrimination in april 2020 (cohen et al., 2020). when surveying ethnically diverse students, the majority of these individuals personally experienced or witnessed discrimination against individuals of asian descent followed by black descent (molock & parchem, 2021). a longitudinal study of chinese students in california revealed higher perceived discrimination and anxiety during the pandemic when compared to prior to the pandemic (haft & zhou, 2021). after controlling for overall media exposure, the relationship between the pandemic and perceived discrimination was partially mediated by exposure to media that negatively portrayed chinese www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 9 published by scholink inc. individuals. these are notable findings, as one study found that asian students experienced higher levels of psychological impact compared to white students (browning et al., 2021). on the contrary, another study found that asian students reported fewer anxiety symptoms than white students (hoyt et al., 2021). female and sexual/gender minority individuals were shown to be at highest risk for increases in depression and anxiety across longitudinal studies (fruehwirth et al., 2021). two studies focused on members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or questioning (lgbtq) community (gonzales et al., 2020; hunt et al., 2021). both studies found that nonbinary individuals reported higher psychological distress than binary individuals. almost half of lgbtq college students (45.7%) reported having families that do not support or know of their lgbtq identity, and these students were more likely to experience frequent distress when compared with students who reported having supportive families (gonzales et al., 2020). the majority of these respondents (58.5%) indicated that they would be able to receive mental health care if needed. however, 12.8% of respondents indicated that stay-at-home orders prevented their ability to receive mental health care services. 3.3.3 health-related behaviors behavior changes in response to the pandemic were found to be pervasive throughout the studies. students almost universally adopted public health recommendations of physical distancing, regular hand hygiene, and face protection (cohen et al., 2020; kecojevic et al., 2020; szkody et al., 2020). in qualitative sections of cross-sectional surveys, students mentioned several coping strategies such as ignoring the news, using other media, turning to social support, drinking alcohol, meditating, and engaging in physical exercise (browning et al., 2021; son et al., 2020). physical activity was positively associated with positive affect during covid-19 stay-at-home orders (maher et al., 2021). two longitudinal studies found that students were more sedentary as the outbreak progressed during the spring 2020 semester (huckins et al., 2020; maher et al., 2021). though, one cross-sectional study found that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity did not significantly decrease among social work students during the pandemic (lawrence et al., 2021). four studies revealed students had poorer sleep quality during the pandemic (firkey et al., 2021; maher et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021; tasso et al., 2021). two studies reported that students were getting fewer hours of sleep (copeland et al., 2021; son et al., 2020), and one study found no difference in hours of sleep across the spring 2020 semester (huckins et al., 2020). although college students have recently shown higher rates of disordered eating behaviors as compared to the general population (rodgers et al., 2020), change in eating patterns during the pandemic was not studied extensively in the included articles. few studies highlighted examples such as inconsistent eating, increased or decreased appetite, and emotional eating (son et al., 2020; wang et al., 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 10 published by scholink inc. four studies examined screen time and use of media as a coping tool (browning et al., 2021; eden et al., 2020, kecojevic et al., 2020; zhen et al., 2021). the intensity of anxiety was associated with spending more than one hour per day searching for information on covid-19 in april 2020 (kecojevic et al., 2020). depression and anxiety were positively correlated with screen time (browning et al., 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020) and use of media (eden et al., 2020). results from one study suggested that spending two or more hours outdoors daily was associated with lower levels of psychological impact and eight or more hours of screen time daily was associated with higher levels of psychological impact (browning et al., 2021). however, one study suggested that some media coping strategies were associated with positive affect, positive mental health, and flourishing (eden et al., 2020). both anxiety and depression were significantly associated with covid-19-related news. increased phone use and decreased physical activity were associated with fluctuations in covid-19 news reporting (huckins et al., 2020). the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption was found to increase during the first month of the pandemic in four studies (eden et al., 2020; firkey et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; lechner et al., 2020). the number of reported depressive and anxiety symptoms was positively correlated with alcohol consumption, whereas the level of perceived social support was negatively correlated with alcohol consumption (lechner et al., 2020). one study found that feelings of covid-19-related anxiety were associated with a greater desire to drink alcohol and use drugs (kleiman et al., 2020), and two found that students reported increases in use of recreational drugs such as cannabis (firkey et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021). yet, one study reported that alcohol consumption did not significantly increase among social work students (lawrence et al., 2021). 3.3.4 socioeconomic implications several studies focused on the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on areas such as disruptions in income, housing, food security, and academic experiences. a considerable portion of students reported a reduction in household income (cohen et al., 2020; firkey et al., 2021; hoyt et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; owens et al., 2020; son et al., 2020). open-ended responses further revealed concerns about expenses for food, rent, tuition, and medical expenses (hoyt et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; son et al., 2020). many students relocated in response to campus closures. a substantial number of students changed their living situation, with many moving in with parents (conrad et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; tasso et al., 2021). the majority of students reported living with parents during initial stay-at-home orders (cohen et al., 2020; conrad et al., 2021; lawrence et al., 2021; son et al., 2020; szkody et al., 2020; tasso et al., 2021; zhen et al., 2021). three studies screened for food insecurity (jones et al., 2021; maher et al., 2021; owens et al., 2020). two cross-sectional surveys highlighted that one-third to one-half of students experiencing food insecurity (jones et al., 2021; owens et al., 2020). one longitudinal study revealed no significant change in food security during the first two months of pandemic when compared to food security over www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 11 published by scholink inc. the preceding year (maher et al., 2021). identification as a racial/ethnic minority or single parent, change in living situation, or loss of employment during the global outbreak were strongly associated with food insecurity (owens et al., 2020). moreover, strong predictors of anxiety or depression included high levels of food and housing insecurity (jones et al., 2021). lastly, organizational changes during the pandemic had consequences on academic progress and added uncertainty about career prospects. no objective measures of academic performance or enrollment have been used; however, students have consistently reported increased concerns about difficulty concentrating on course work and dissatisfaction with changes to the learning environment (kecojevic et al., 2020; son et al., 2020; wang et al., 2020). college students indicated some level of fear and worry about their academic progress and future career plans (cohen et al., 2020; lawrence et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021; rettew et al., 2021). for example, summer internships and other opportunities to gain work experience were cancelled, thereby limiting professional development during these times (molock & parchem, 2021; son et al., 2020). it is currently unclear to what extent these consequences will affect young adults entering the workforce. 4. discussion 4.1 summary of the evidence the purpose of this review is to summarize the current understanding of well-being in college students during the covid-19 pandemic. with school closures and stay-at-home orders, students have had to adapt to new environments, such as virtual classes and meetings and different living situations. national and regional studies across the united states have examined the mental health burden among students in higher education. thematic analysis revealed several emerging themes from challenges that students face and their attempts to cope with hardships. students endured employment losses, housing changes, and difficulty meeting basic needs on top of the transition to online learning. generally, a great deal of students was shown to experience a moderate level of stress as soon as american institutions started addressing the outbreak. common stressors included social isolation, fear of becoming infected with covid-19, financial strain, and uncertainty about the future. only two longitudinal studies showed a decline or no change in perceived distress across the spring 2020 semester, the academic term disrupted by abrupt changes to course delivery, campus services, and lockdowns (copeland et al., 2021; rettew et al., 2021). one study showed a marginal decline in stress levels into the summer months (hoyt et al., 2021). as of yet, no other trends have been reported in later months. the average severity of depression or anxiety experienced in samples that measured phq or gad scales were classified as mild. while this may be interpreted as subclinical depression or anxiety, these average scores indicate poor psychological health at the community level that may be addressed with institutional support and interventions. of course, recommendations should be tailored to each www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 12 published by scholink inc. individual, and those with clinically severe psychiatric conditions may benefit from seeking professional treatment. the increased need for mental health services suggests that universities should seek ways to increase access to these services for their students. several studies found increased severity of stress and psychiatric symptoms in females and lgtbq individuals. however, females were overrepresented in several samples, and this imbalance may skew analyses. there is mixed evidence on racial/ethnic disparities in mental health burden, and researchers sought to examine these nuances in different ways. while some aspects of psychological responses to the pandemic may have been universal (trammell et al., 2021), racial discrimination and financial impact was more likely to be reported among certain racial/ethnic groups. in particular, asian, black, and latinx groups were emotionally affected by current events regarding anti-asian and anti-black violence (cohen et al., 2020; molock & parchem, 2021). behavior changes varied across studies. variations in mental health and behaviors, including screen time and use of media, fluctuated with the dynamic situation of the pandemic (browning et al., 2021; eden et al., 2020; huckins et al., 2020; kecojevic et al., 2020; lawrence et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020). changes in physical activity were mixed across studies and may be owed to the fact that these activities largely depend on the home environment, available facilities, personal preferences, and concerns for health safety. given that many students changed their living situation while schools and businesses were not physically operating, students were driven to seek safe, alternate avenues for physical activity. lack of motivation, a common symptom of depression, may contribute to reduced physical activity as well. students reported poor quality of sleep (firkey et al., 2021; maher et al., 2021; melcher et al., 2021; tasso et al., 2021) and altered eating habits (son et al., 2020; wang et al., 2020) during the pandemic. disturbances in sleep and eating patterns are also common symptoms of depression, but these may also be affected by external factors such as housing and food insecurity. use of alcohol and recreational drugs was shown to increase in five of six studies (eden et al., 2020; firkey et al., 2021; jones et al., 2021; kleiman et al., 2020; lawrence et al., 2021; lechner et al., 2020). one disadvantage is that these results were typically collected in cross-sectional studies, which lack an objective baseline, but one study was able to record self-reports of substance use in real time via emas (kleiman et al., 2020). under-reporting is a concern for self-reporting of drug use (bone et al., 2016). there is not enough evidence to conclude long-term implications of these behavior changes, however the current literature captures an intricate account of the student experience at the beginning of the public health emergency. most studies were launched at 4-year universities, so community college students may not have been represented heavily. study design varied greatly as well, particularly in terms of survey measures of demographics, psychological health, and behaviors. scales are useful in quantifying attitudes, maximizing response rate, and ensuring consistency in data reporting. quantification allows for rigorous statistical analysis to test several hypotheses. open questions may be more time-consuming www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 13 published by scholink inc. and reduce rates of survey completion. however, free responses have provided a more complex and human narrative of student experiences. all studies relied on self-reported data and could be susceptible to recall bias. emas have the advantage of frequent sampling over time, which can minimize recall bias and maximize validity by capturing data in real time (shiffman et al., 2008). emas require smartphone compatibility, and caution must be taken to ensure data privacy. 4.2 limitations limitations apply to this review. inclusion criteria were relatively liberal to capture the wide perspective of available literature in the united states; specifically, a quality assessment tool was not used. preliminary articles were not included, and the current study may not have captured latest research on data from the later stages of the outbreak. substantial heterogeneity of methods (i.e., assessment tools, primary outcomes measured, data analysis) and data reporting was noted across the included studies. authors of publications were not contacted for raw data or confirmation of results. all articles relied on self-reported data, thereby increasing the risk of recall bias, particularly in cross-sectional studies and assessments using large retrospective timeframes. owing to the breadth of the chosen research topic, many factors were not assessed in depth in this review, including somatic manifestations of stress (i.e., headaches, change in bowel habits), caretaking responsibilities, first-generation college student status, and domestic violence. these are important physiologic and socioeconomic characteristics to consider in future research. other demographic features, such as city of residence and year in program of study, were not analyzed in the review. in the current review, quantitative synthesis was not conducted, and study findings were summarized in a narrative fashion. as with observational studies generally, causality cannot be concluded from studies included in this review. lastly, overrepresentation of female and white students was noted in several studies, introducing concern for sampling bias and indicating that presented findings may not be representative of the real collegiate population. large population-based studies may suffer from ecological fallacy, and inferences about individuals cannot be made based on aggregate data. 5. conclusions college students in the united states have experienced a great deal of biopsychosocial stress during the era of covid-19. there is concern for a ―dual pandemic‖ pertaining to mental health and social isolation. the volume of literature on well-being in young adults during these times is expanding globally from various disciplines. university students are becoming increasingly recognized as a vulnerable subpopulation suffering from high rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use. these conditions are all risk factors for suicide and should be taken seriously. the mental health burden of american collegiate is extensive, certain subgroups are vulnerable to greater impact, students have changed their behaviors in many ways, and the pandemic has impacted student’s financial and living situations. some demographic subgroups (e.g., sexual/gender and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 14 published by scholink inc. racial/ethnic minorities, and low socioeconomic status) experienced greater hardships than others. for some, the university setting provides access to various resources, including food, stable housing, access to online learning technology, work experience, and peer support. changes brought about by the covid-19 pandemic affected all aspects of social determinants of health: economic stability, community and social context, neighborhood and built environment, health care, and education. studies have enumerated factors such as loneliness, distress tolerance, and family support as potential risk and protective factors for psychological health outcomes. studies have highlighted the need for tangible institutional support, including tuition relief and greater access and affordability of mental health services, particularly for vulnerable populations, to reduce the adverse psychological impact of the covid-19 pandemic. universities may consider offering more targeted services or utilizing mobile health technology in order to promote healthy stress coping techniques. studies included in the review took place in the spring and summer of 2020, with the latest data collection ending in august 2020. as covid-19 vaccinations become more widely available, it will be helpful to assess how vaccination status affects mental health and behaviors as well. as the pandemic continues to evolve, ongoing psychological and economic effects of the pandemic should continue to be monitored. there is a need for more high-quality large-scale longitudinal studies that examine differences in mental health outcomes based on risk factors such as racial/ethnic and sexual/gender identity as well as socioeconomic status. more consistent survey measures, particularly highly validated quantitative assessments of psychosocial profiles, should be utilized. the long-term impact of covid-19-related stress on physical health may take months to years to become fully apparent. chronic distress has been associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. early detection of these problems at the population level is essential to optimizing management, identifying disparities, and informing health promotion and 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(2021). college students coping with covid-19: stress-buffering effects of self-disclosure on social media and parental support. communication research reports, 38(1), 23-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1870445 https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23318 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415 https://doi.org/10.2196/21279 https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092 https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12618 https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000996 https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1890606 https://doi.org/10.2196/22817 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.001 https://doi.org/10.2196/24012 https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1870445 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 19 published by scholink inc. appendix appendix a. study characteristics study summary of findings design (dates of data collection) location measures demographics biber et al., 2020* there was a negative correlation between anxiety and optimism (r=-0.36), gratitude (r=-0.12), and perceived effectiveness of academic instruction (r=0.11). average gad7 score of all respondents was 6.96(6.27). students with higher gad7 scores perceived lower effectiveness of institutional response to covid-19 when compared to mildly or moderately anxious respondents [f(2,1516)=10.60, p<0.001]. cross-sectional, survey (april 2020) ga gad7, revised life orientation test, gratitude questionnaire 6. questions about perceived instructional response n=1640. 60.3% female. 61.4% white, 24.7% black brownin g et al., 2021 in open-ended responses, respondents reported symptoms of depression (27.3%) and anxiety (17.4%) and perceptions of stress (14.6%). bivariate associations showed students who were female, were asian, in fair/poor health, of below-average relative family income, or who knew someone infected with covid-19 experienced higher levels of psychological impact. students who were white, higher socioeconomic status, spent at least two hours outside, or less than eight hours on electronic screens were likely to experience lower levels of psychological impact. multivariate modeling showed that being a female, having fair/poor general health status, spending 8 or more hours on screens daily, and knowing someone infected predicted higher levels of psychological impact when risk factors were considered simultaneously. cross-sectional, survey (march may 2020) various (7 universities) positive and negative affect schedule, penn state worry questionnaire. questions about behaviors n=2534. 61% female. 79% white. 20% graduate cohen et al., 2020 personal experiences and attitudes regarding covid-19 during february through april 2020 were surveyed. 35% of respondents had experienced any covid-19-related symptoms, less than 5% had gotten tested. participants were more stressed about the disease's health implications for their family and american society than for themselves. cross-sectional, survey (april 2020) various (nationwide) questions about covid-19 symptoms, socioeconomic impacts n=725. 60.7% female. 63.2% white, 8% black, 13.9% hispanic, 24.3% api www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 20 published by scholink inc. conrad et al., 2021 33.38% of respondents reported being mandated to relocate. 86.4% reported living with parents/guardians. total average phq8 score was 9.28(5.65). total average of gad7 score was 9.47(5.63). after controlling for the severity level of local covid-19 outbreaks, respondents who relocated reported greater covid-19-related grief, loneliness, and anxiety symptoms, compared to respondents who did not relocate. gender diverse individuals were more likely to report depressive, anxiety, and ptsd symptoms compared to men (p<0.05). a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis was significantly associated with depressive, anxiety, and ptsd symptoms (p<0.001). cross-sectional, survey (april august 2020) various (nationwide) covid-related worry, covid related grief, ucla loneliness scale, phq8, gad7, ptsd checklist—civilian version, distress tolerance scale, connor-davidson resilience scale. questions about relocation and socioeconomic impacts n=791. 82.2% female, mean age 23.07(3.18). 59.7% white, 4.8% black, 5.8% hispanic, 21.0% asian. 61.9% undergraduate copeland et al., 2021 daily mood (β=-0.1, p=0.003) and health-related behaviors (β=-0.06, p=0.036) were negatively affected by the pandemic, but stress (β=0.02, p=0.58) was not. the overall magnitude of these changes were modest but persistent across the spring 2020 semester and differed from patterns observed in a prior year. externalizing and attention problems increased during the pandemic, but not internalizing symptoms. students enrolled in a wellness program reported less internalizing and attention problems compared to those not enrolled in a wellness program. the majority of respondents (68.4%) reported they were not confident in the government’s response to the pandemic. longitudinal, survey, ema (january-may 2020) vt brief problem monitor, questions about covid-19 perceptions, mood, stress levels, wellness index based on exercise, nutrition, sleep, hydration, screen time n=675, 576. 74.1% female. 89.5% white, 0.7% black, 3% hispanic, 4.2% asian eden et al., 2020 anxiety was associated with increased use of media (p<0.05). stress was associated with more hedonic (p<0.05) and less eudemonic (p<0.05) media use. avoidant coping was associated with poorer mental health, whereas humor coping was associated with better mental health. resilience positively moderated the effect of stress on problem-focused, avoidant, reframing, and humor coping. cross-sectional, survey (march april 2020) various (mi, fl) pss14, brief cope, basic psychological need satisfaction, life orientation scale, hope scale, brief resilience scale, scale of positive and negative experience, flourishing scale, mental health subscale of sf36 n=425. 68.5% female, mean age 20.19(2.18). 78.1% white, 8.5% black, 11.5% hispanic, 12.7% asian firkey et al., 2021* most students reported a decrease in quality of life (71.7%), an increase in levels of anxiety (63.7%), concerns with meeting basic resource needs (53.8%), and a decrease in sexual activity (57.5%). 26.9% and 15.1% of students reported increases in alcohol and cannabis use, respectively. cross-sectional, survey (may july 2020) various (nationwide) pandemic stress index, audit-c. questions about covid-19 beliefs, behaviors n=212. 50.5% female, mean age 22, 70.8% white www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 21 published by scholink inc. fruehwir th et al., 2021 prevalence of moderate to severe depression increased from 21.5% in fall 2019 to 31.7% in spring-summer 2020 (p<0.001). prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety increased from 18.1% to 25.3% (p<0.05). white, female, and sexual/gender minority students were at highest risk for increases in anxiety symptoms. black, female and sexual/gender minority students were at highest risk of increases in depression. loss of work and covid-19 diagnosis or hospitalization of oneself, family members, or friends were not associated with increases in depression or anxiety symptoms. longitudinal, survey (october 2019-july 2020) nc phq8, gad7, brief resilience scale, mspss. questions about covid-19 stressors, socioeconomic impacts n=966, 419. mean age 18.9(0.1), 61.6% white, 6.7% black, 18.1% api, 8.4% hispanic gonzales et al., 2020 the majority of respondents reported experiencing depressive symptoms (60.4%) anxiety symptoms (65%) and frequent distress (61%). compared to cisgender men, transgender students were much more likely to report frequent distress (aor=3.41, ci 1.31, 8.86). 45.7% of lgbt college students have immediate families that do not support or know of their lgbt identity. lgbt students with unsupportive families were more likely to experience frequent distress (aor=1.83, ci 1.13, 2.95). cross-sectional, survey (april june 2020) various (nationwide) phq4. questions about lgbt experiences, socioeconomic impacts, barriers to mental health care n=477. 25.2% nonbinary, 42.4% female, mean age 20.7, 61.2% white, 9.2% black, 13.2% hispanic, 13.8% api haft & zhou, 2021* chinese students were surveyed in fall 2019 with a 47.76% follow-up response rate in spring 2020. respondents reported higher perceived discrimination and anxiety during the pandemic when compared to prior to the pandemic. mediation analyses suggested that negative chinese media exposure partly accounted for the group difference in perceived discrimination. longitudinal, survey (september 2019-march 2020) ca everyday discrimination scale, beck anxiety inventory n=134, 64. 55.6% female, mean age 20.01(1.31), 100% asian haliwa et al., 2021* greater perceived risk of contracting covid-19 was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. greater mindfulness and social support were identified as protective factors for psychological health. cross-sectional, survey (march-may 2020) wv dass, mspss, cognitive and affective mindfulness scale revised, subjective happiness scale, satisfaction with life scale, questions about covid-19 awareness and worries n=251. 82.22% female, mean age 19.62(1.55), 89.69% white hathawa y et al., 2021* undergraduate student respondents reported an average pss10 score of 21.31(7.54). females reported higher pss10 scores compared to males (z=4.89, p<0.01). cross-sectional, survey (july august 2020) tn pss10 retrospectively ―at the end of spring 2020‖ n=312. 74.7% female. 88% white, 3.2% black, 2.9% asian www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 22 published by scholink inc. hoyt et al., 2021 levels of anxiety and perceived stress were higher in april than in july 2020. average gad7 scores decreased from 10.49(5.95) to 9.85(6.04). average pss10 scores decreased from 22.72(9.00) to 20.36(8.06). black and mixed race/ethnicity individuals were the only groups to show increased anxiety from april to july. women reported worse well-being compared with men. gender diverse and sexual minority youths reported worse outcomes than their cisgender heterosexual peers at both time points. qualitative data illustrates educational, economic, and environmental stressors. longitudinal, survey (apriljuly 2020) various (nationwide) pss10, gad7. questions about socioeconomic impacts n=707. 61% female, mean age 20.0(1.3). 54.3% white, 5.2% black, 8.9% hispanic, 20.4% asian, 10.1% mixed huckins et al., 2020 both anxiety (p<0.001) and depression (p=0.03) were significantly associated with covid-19–related news. compared with prior academic terms, students were more sedentary, anxious, and depressed when the pandemic started. increased phone usage, decreased physical activity, and fewer locations visited, were associated with fluctuations in covid-19 news reporting. longitudinal, ema (january-march 2020) nh phq4. smartphone sensing data on sedentary time, sleep, location, and phone usage n=217, 178. 68% female. race/ethnicity not collected hunt et al., 2021* gender diverse individuals reported higher psychological distress (m=12.33, sd=6.04, p<0.0001) and lower psychological resilience (m=2.88, sd=0.93, p<0.001) than nonbinary individuals. cohen’s d comparing gender diverse individuals to male and female individuals was 0.66 and 0.70 for resilience and distress, respectively. 48.2% of gender diverse individuals were above the cutoff for severe psychological distress. cross-sectional, survey (march april 2020) oh brief resilience scale, kessler psychological distress scale. perceived covid19 risk n=5547 14.96% nonbinary (n=83, comparisons matched with 83 male and female) jones et al., 2021* 54.5% of respondents reported experiencing anxiety and/or depression, with 43.2% reporting anxiety and 42.2% reporting depression in april 2020. 49.0% reported an increased need for mental health services. 81.1% reported loss of household income and 49.8% reported worries about losing housing. high levels of food (apr=1.4, ci 1.2, 1.6) and housing (apr=1.3, ci 1.2, 1.4) insecurity were the strongest predictors of anxiety or depression. cross-sectional, survey (april 2020) ny cdc health-related quality of life healthy days core module, phq4, usda food security survey. questions about covid-19 symptoms, socioeconomic impacts n=2282. 57.9% female. 23% white, 24.9%, black, 29.4% hispanic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 23 published by scholink inc. kecojevi c et al., 2020 students reported several difficulties and high levels of perceived distress with a total average pss10 score of 20.6(7.3). high levels of depression were associated with difficulties in focusing on academic work and employment losses. high levels of anxiety were more likely to be reported by upperclassmen and those who spent more than one hour per day searching for information on covid-19. difficulty focusing on academic work was associated with higher levels of somatization. respondents with higher perceived stress were more likely to be female, unable to focus on academic work, and report difficulties obtaining medications and cleaning supplies. cross-sectional, survey (april 2020) nj pss10, brief symptom inventory. questions about knowledge of covid-19, behaviors, socioeconomic impacts n=162. 71% female, mean age 20.4(2.9). 37% white, 25.3% black, 26.5% hispanic, 7.4% asian kibbey et al., 2021 46.0% of respondents reported experiencing elevated psychological distress, with reports of anxiety (30.3%) and depression (25.4%). high risk of distress was associated with female sex, a covid-19 case in the immediate social network, underlying medical conditions, and recent experience of 3 or more viral symptoms. cross-sectional, survey (april-may 2020) nj dass, short health anxiety inventory. questions about covid-19 stressors, medical history checklist n=641. 72.7% female, mean age 20.1(2.11). 49% white, 6.6% black, 15.1% hispanic, 31.9% asian kleiman et al., 2020 78.5% of respondents indicated at least some level of anxiety about covid-19. structural change analyses indicated a downward trend in covid-19-related anxiety after the first week of june 2020, with more than 15% of participants reporting high levels of anxiety at the lowest points. anxiety was correlated with daily number of new cases and death due to covid-19. reportings of anxiety were associated with a greater desire to drink and use drugs. optimism about covid-19 was associated with receiving support from others and from their university. longitudinal, ema (april-may 2020) nj questions about affect, knowledge/ awareness about covid-19 n=140. 77.6% female, mean age 19.98(1.61). 48.59% white, 7.04% black, 36.62% api krendl ac, 2021* prior to the pandemic, stress mediated the positive relationships between loneliness and depression (β=0.45). 44% of respondents indicated that they had previously sought mental health treatment. during the pandemic, mental health outcomes, stress, and loneliness increased. phq8 scores increased from 5.85(5.09) to 8.91(5.42) (p=0.009), and gad7 scores increased from 6.41(5.14) to 8.91(6.23) (p=0.034). pss10 scores increased from 26.62(6.49) to 30.26(6.41) (p=0.02). stress (b>0.38, p<0.05), but not loneliness, was associated with worse mental health outcomes during the pandemic. longitudinal, survey (october 2019-march 2020) in phq8, gad7, pss10, ucla loneliness scale n=111, 34. 54.96% female, mean age 19.09(1.38). 100% white www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 24 published by scholink inc. lawrenc e et al., 2021* there was a statistically significant increase in depression and anxiety scores in may through july 2020 when compared to retrospective self-reporting of scores for february 2020. average phq9 increased from 3.63 to 9.10 (p<0.0001). average gad7 increased from 4.03 to 9.11 (p<0.0001). there was a significant increase in screen time during the pandemic (p<0.0001). alcohol consumption did not significantly increase during the pandemic (p=0.06) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity did not significantly decrease during the pandemic (p=0.21). bivariate analyses showed a positive association between depression and anxiety with screen time and the transition to virtual classes. cross-sectional, survey (may-july 2020) fl phq9, gad7, godin leisure time exercise, audit-c n=88. 93% female, mean age 29(10.01), 61% white, 20% hispanic. 100% social work students lechner et al., 2020 amount and frequency of alcohol consumption increased during the first month of the pandemic. greater number of depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with increases in alcohol consumption compared to students with fewer symptoms. students with greater perceived social support reported less alcohol consumption. cross-sectional, survey (march 2020) oh timeline followback interview, phq9, gad7, mspss n=1958. 79.97% female, mean age 24.94(7.65). 86.41% white maher et al., 2021 students exhibited significant reduction in physical activity, positive affect, and sleep quality, as well as an increase in negative affect during stay-at-home orders. physical activity was positively associated with positive affect during covid-19 stay-at-home orders (β=0.01, p=0.01). longitudinal, survey (january-may 2020) nc social readjustment rating scale, positive and negative affect schedule, international physical activity questionnaire, psqi, us household food security survey module, social readjustment rating scale n=107. 66% female, mean age 21.7(2.6). 54% white, 35.5% black, 12.1%, hispanic, 4.7% asian melcher et al., 2021* in-app daily mood assessments were strongly correlated with their corresponding gold standard clinical assessments. total average phq9 was 8.58(5.33). total average gad7 was 6.50(5.03). total pss10 was 21.00(3.48). sleep variance among students was correlated to depression scores (p=0.28) and stress scores (p=0.27) longitudinal, ema, interview (may-august 2020) various (nationwide) dass, phq9, gad7, pss10, ucla loneliness scale, psqi, hamilton depression rating scale, flourishing scale, social interaction anxiety scale, social functioning scale, health survey, questions about covid-19 symptoms, clinical global impression. smartphone sensing data about screen time, location n=100. 75% female, mean age 20.3. 63% white, 4% black, 3% hispanic, 20% asian www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 25 published by scholink inc. molock & parchem, 2021* ethnically diverse students were surveyed. respondents reported disruptive changes in finances (54%), living situation (35%), academic performance (46%), educational plans (49%), and career goals (36%). psychological challenges included stress (41%), anxiety (33%), and depression (18%). cross-sectional, survey (june 2020) dc questions about socioeconomic impacts, behaviors n=193. 49% female, mean age 20.52. 46% black, 18% hispanic, 21% asian owens et al., 2020 34.5% of respondents were classified as food insecure within the last 30 days. strong predictors of food insecurity include change in living situation (or=2.70, ci 2.47, 2.96), being furloughed (or=3.22, ci 2.86, 3.64), being laid off (or=4.07, ci 3.55, 4.66), or losing part-time work (or=5.73, ci 5.09, 6.46) during the pandemic. cross-sectional, survey (mayjune 2020) tx food sufficiency screener, usda food security survey. questions about financial and housing situation n=651. 88% female. 40% white, 18% black, 27% hispanic, 11% asian. 62% undergraduate rettew et al., 2021 indices of mood (β=-0.09, p<0.001) and health-related behaviors (β=-0.07, p<0.001) declined during the study period and stress levels decreased (β=-.04, p=.006). higher levels of extraversion were associated with decreases in mood indices (β=-0.07, p<0.001), whereas lower levels of extraversion were associated with slight increases in mood indices. personality traits can contribute to ability to cope with major stressful events. longitudinal, survey, ema (january-may 2020) vt big five inventory. questions about mood and behaviors (daily ratings) n=484. 76% female, mean age 18.08(0.3). >90% white son et al., 2020 71% of respondents reported increased stress and anxiety during the pandemic. total average pss10 score was 18.8(4.9). common stressors include fear and worry about their health and of loved ones (91%), difficulty concentrating (89%), decreased social interaction due to physical distancing (86%), and increased concerns on academic performance (82%). participants have adopted a variety of coping strategies. a vast majority of participants who indicated an increase in stress and anxiety (93%) reported that they had not used school counseling services during the pandemic. cross-sectional, interview (april 2020) tx pss10. questions about coping mechanisms, health related concerns, academic and socioeconomic impacts, barriers to mental health care n=195. 57% female, mean age 20.7(1.7). race/ethnicity not collected szkody et al., 2021* respondents reported social distancing or isolating for an average of 17.59(13.93) days. when accounting for length of time in self-isolation, perceived social support buffered the connection between covid-19-related worries and psychological health. cross-sectional, survey ms mspss, inventory of socially supportive behaviors, who quality of life instrument n=405.65% female. 46.3% white, 11.1% black, 0.5% asian www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 26 published by scholink inc. tasso et al., 2021 there was a positive relationship between academic frustrations and mental health symptoms. worries about becoming infected with covid-19 were positively correlated with mental health symptoms and negatively correlated with trust in the government. cross-sectional, survey nj questions about covid-19 stressors, perceived academic frustration, perceived mental health symptoms n=257. 75% female trammel l et al., 2021* 15.2% of respondents reported either being diagnosed with covid-19 or experiencing viral symptoms, and there were no racial/ethnic disparities in this health outcome. hispanic and asian students experienced higher covid-19-related threat and negative beliefs than white students. total average pss10 score was 28.59(8.45). 35% of respondents reported experiencing depressive symptoms, but there were no racial/ethnic differences in mental health symptoms or health-related behaviors. cross-sectional, survey (may 2020) ca pss14, brief illness perception questionnaire, social psychological measurements of covid-19, epidemic-pandemic impacts inventory n=403. 74% female, mean age 20.4(1.5). 65% white, 6% black, 10% hispanic, 19% asian. 100% undergraduate wang et al., 2020 48.14% of respondents reported moderate-to-severe depression, 38.48% reported moderate-to-severe anxiety, and 18.04% reported suicidal ideation. 71.26% of respondents indicated their stress levels increased during the pandemic. 43.25% reported being able to cope adequately. cross-sectional, survey tx phq9, gad7. questions about covid-19 stressors, behaviors, barriers to mental health care n=2031. 61.64% female, mean age 22.8(5.52), 30.53% graduate. race/ethnicity not collected zhang et al., 2020 49% and 53%of respondents reported an increase in phq9 and gad7, respectively, over the course of the study. greater latenight online activity volumes were positively correlated with increasing depression (r ranging between 0.32 and 0.75, p<0.04) and anxiety levels (r ranging between 0.39 and 0.74, p<0.006). longitudinal, survey (january-may 2020) ny phq9, gad7, google/youtube search activities n=49. 61% female zhen et al., 2021 77.8% of respondents reported currently living with parents. self-disclosure on social media (β=-0.13, p<0.05) and support from parents (β=-0.15, p<0.05) moderated levels of stress experienced by students. cross-sectional, survey (april 2020) ca pss adapted to covid-19, medical outcomes study social support survey. questions about socioeconomic impacts, behaviors with media n=215. 79% female, mean age 20.5 *denotes pre-print, non-peer-reviewed article. cdc=centers for disease control and prevention; ucla=university of california, los angeles; usda=united states department of agriculture; who=world health organization. audit-c=alcohol use disorders identification test-concise; dass=depression anxiety and stress scale; gad=generalized anxiety disorder; mspss=multidimensional scale of perceived social support; phq=patient health questionnaire; pss=perceived stress scale; psqi=pittsburgh sleep quality index. ci=confidence interval. microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p45 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 45 original paper english language university teachers’ research activity: untold stories in vietnam huong h. le1* 1 hong duc university, thanh hoa, vietnam * huong h. le, hong duc university, thanh hoa, vietnam received: april 17, 2018 accepted: may 2, 2018 online published: may 9, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p45 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p45 abstract this qualitative case study explores english language university teachers’ engagement in research including their interests, publications and co-operation, from which the obligation of research activity at universities in vietnam is revealed. twenty-one english language university teachers at hong duc university were invited to participate in the research. survey questionnaire and skype semi-structured interview were employed to collect necessary data to identify teacher participants’ involvement in research. being seen from socio-cultural perspectives, the findings of the study indicate that how english language university teachers engage in research is inter-twined with the current context where research is done. keywords university teachers, research, research engagement, socio-cultural framework 1. introduction the vital role of research to education in general and to english language teaching in particular is acknowledged in policies, institutional regulations and operational plans in vietnam, especially since the implementation of the higher education reform agenda (hera) 2006-2000 (pham, 2010; sheridan, 2010). hera has directly influenced how university teachers react to the reinforced research activity (le, 2017), which is investigated in this current study. this study identifies the engagement in research of twenty-one english language university teachers at hong duc university. specifically, the teachers’ research interests, publications, and co-operation are thoroughly examined in order for an insight into english language university teachers’ research activity. moreover, framed within the socio-cultural viewpoint, the study analyzes how english language university teachers’ engagement in research is shaped through the higher education context. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 46 published by scholink inc. it is assumed that teachers have to play two roles, one is as a practitioner and the other is as a theorist. in this regard, teacher research helps mediate these two roles (loughran, 2002; robinson & lai, 2006). in language teaching, language teacher research has rapidly drawn educational researchers’ attention for its research potential (allwright & bailey, 1991; nunan, 1989a, 1989b; freeman, 1998; o’brien & beaumont, 2000; burns, 2010). in terms of english language university teachers doing research, allison and carey (2007) and borg (2009) successfully investigated these teachers’ perceptions, aptitudes and challenges of their research engagement. in vietnam, hiep (2006) findings reveal a formal position of research in tertiary institutions incorporated with numerous challenges. more recently, le (2017) explained english language university teachers’ perceived difficulties of research from socio-cultural perspectives. however, both hiep (2006) and le (2017) focus on obstacles that english language university teachers have to overcome rather than on their research interests, publications and co-authorship. these unaddressed issues are expected to leave the space for my current study, in which such questions like what english language university teachers have done as research, how they have published their work and how they have co-operated in research are examined. 2. method 2.1 socio-cultural framework according to socio-cultural theory, human cognition is seen as a dynamic social activity formed through interactions, thus is physically and socially contextualized (rogoff, 2003; vygotsky, 1978). in this sense, socio-cultural framework is used to identify elements that constitute english language university teachers’ research activity. teachers’ research involvement is, in turn, reflects the context where research is performed. in other words, what and how teachers do as research is inter-related. such knowledge acquisition is seen as a mutually constituting process among individuals and cultural processes (rogoff, 2003), which occurs at three levels: personal, interpersonal and institutional levels (rogoff, 1995). personal level refers to teachers’ prior and existing knowledge, experiences and attitudes. inter-personal level involves different personalities which may be teachers’ colleagues, researchers, policy makers, and students. institutional level accounts for the community covering the government, ministry of education and training (moet), tertiary context, and curriculum. all these factors forming the whole settings of vietnamese higher education are inter-related with teachers’ research activity. 2.2 participants the participants of this study were twenty-one english language university teachers working in the faculty of foreign languages at hong duc university in vietnam. twenty-one teacher participants agreed to take part in the survey whereas only four of them consented to participate in both the survey and the skype interview. the survey participants were referred to as from p1 to p21 while the interview participants were ip1, ip2, ip3, and ip4. the participants included 5 males and 16 females whose age ranged from 27 to 50 years old. three participants were currently pursuing phd while 19 others had ma degree. their majors were either english teaching methodologies or applied linguistics. the duration of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 47 published by scholink inc. teaching experience of these participants ranged from 2 to 20 years. their monthly salary varied from 150 usd to 350 usd. 2.3 context of the study vietnam’s research performance is poor with low research intensity and modest research quality (hien, 2010). universities have been much more teaching-based than research-oriented (sheridan, 2010). however, the position of research has come at the forefront of educational policies, which has raised an urgent need to enhance research activity at universities, leading to the enforcement of research activity within the workload of all academics working there (harman & le, 2010). this current study was carried out within the context of hong duc university, located in thanh hoa province. hong duc university, along with other tertiary institutions, is centralized under the ministry of education and training (moet) (nguyen, oliver, & priddy, 2009). recently when moet started to foster university research capability development (sheridan, 2010). hong duc university has adapted its operational plans towards a research-oriented institution. the university involves research activity with research projects, publishing research articles in journals and attending conferences. each of these activities is converted into 50-minute periods. one of the compulsory annual tasks of each university teacher is to fulfill at least 180 periods for research activity. if he/she cannot complete this task, he/she will bear a termination of monthly extra-money for poor work performance (personal communication with the head of the department of scientific research). 2.4 data collection and analysis 2.4.1 instruments of data collection in this study the instruments of data collection are a survey questionnaire and skype semi-structured interview. open-ended questions, enclosed in the questionnaire and interview, are expected to bring about “truly objective” responses from participants (boden, kenway, & epstein, 2005, p. 44). the survey questionnaire consists of six demographic questions and other eight questions of research content. copies of the questionnaire were sent to the 21 teacher participants through email. the survey questionnaire would take participants 15 to 20 minutes to finish. all 21 participants returned their completed questionnaire after one week. the survey questionnaire proved itself to be an effective tool when “inspiring a strong feeling among participants” (boden, kenway, & epstein, 2005, p. 45). the participants provided thorough responses, which were seen as their eager when raising their own voice about their research experiences, needs and expectations, allowing meaningful amounts of data to be obtained. skype semi-structured interview was used to support the survey questionnaire when collecting data in this current study. the interview helped “clarify, expand and explore participants’ responses in their own words and to express their own personal perspectives” (patton, 2002, p. 348; o’toole & beckett, 2010, p. 132). moreover, semi-structured interview “involves a general set of questions and format which can be modified or varied if the situation demands” (lichtman, 2010, p. 141) and “is prepared to ensure that the same basic lines of inquiry are pursued with each person interviewed” (patton, 2002, p. 343). skype www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 48 published by scholink inc. interview is the same as telephone interview which “helps avoid the safety problems of personal interviews and are much cheaper than these interviews since no travelling cost is involved” (de vaus, 2002, p. 123). the skype semi-structured interview was performed among four participants at the convenient time and date. the interviews, lasting for 20 to 30 minutes, were performed and recorded in vietnamese and then were transcribed verbatim, translated into english and returned to participants for double-checking and modification before approval. 2.4.2 data analysis procedure firstly, the data collected from the survey questionnaire was processed following the steps suggested by creswell (2009). the initial steps were to transcribe, summarize, and arrange participants’ responses into common themes. the same colors were used to mark the identical themes. after scanning all the data for its general sense of information, outstanding or significant patterns of meanings were coded. finally a brief description of research issues was generated and some recurring categories were indicated. secondly, the data collected from the skype semi-structured interviews was thoroughly analyzed. initially, the audio records of all four interviews were transcribed and translated into english. similar or contrasting information was highlighted with the same color before grouping as categories. after collecting categories from the survey questionnaire and the interview, some comparison and contrast were performed to come up with new themes, which would be interpreted through a reflection with my personal understandings of literature review and socio-cultural perspectives. 3. result and discussion 3.1 research interests 3.1.1 research approaches the most popular research approach adopted by teacher participants was mixed methods. some participants once did qualitative research whereas only one participant had ever experienced with quantitative research. mixed methods “combine qualitative and quantitative methods” (harwell, 2011, p. 151) to “allows for the opportunity to compensate for inherent method weaknesses, capitalize on inherent method strengths, and offset inevitable methods biases” (greene, 2007, p. xiii). teacher participants used mixed methods in their research to collect both qualitative and quantitative data which resulted in both qualitative and quantitative analysis and integrated inferences. for example, the participant ip1 was carrying on her research on using hot potatoes software to teach english vocabulary to english non-majored students at the university. ip1: at the beginning of the semester, we organized a diagnostic vocabulary test to examine our students’ level of english. we then identified their difficulties with english vocabulary and applied hot potatoes software in teaching them new words. at the end of the semester, we gave our students an achievement test on vocabulary and compared their current score with the very first score in the diagnostic test to see the effectiveness of the software. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 49 published by scholink inc. the participant ip1 mentioned qualitative data of students’ difficulties with english vocabulary. in addition, the comparison between students’ score in the achievement test and those in the diagnostic test embedded quantitative data. in this sense, the research data analysis and data interpretation needed the combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. the popularity of mixed methods was, on the one hand, the result of the common assumption among scholars in vietnam that research illustrated with tables, charts and graphs looked more scientific and convincing (hiep, 2006). on the other hand, for a lack of time, funding, and skills of solving complex calculations, english language university teachers could not cover a large scope of research and a huge number of participants (if any) which were required by quantitative research. consequently, those teachers chose something in the middle of quantitative and qualitative research or the combination of these two types. with the use of mixed method, they could present their research proposals with some numerical data as well as combine both quantitative and qualitative data for integrated interpretations. 3.1.2 types of research action research and case study were reported to be the most common types of research because these types were believed to be able to contribute to teachers’ teaching and students’ learning process. the participants tended to frame their experiences and understandings of research within applied research in general or action research in particular because they had to face a variety of research problems arising from their own teaching practice (ip1-2-3-4). action research was conducted for “solving a specific problem or for providing information for decision making at the local level” (wiersma & jurs, 2009, p. 13); hence, by doing action research, those teachers hoped to find solutions to their problems in order for improving their teaching job. moreover, the participants usually selected their research subjects from students in classes where they were teaching to act as a case study. in this sense, their case study was mostly applicable to particular groups of students, as ip2 once experienced. ip2: whether a research initiative being effective or not depends on contexts. for example, a teaching technique can bring positive result to this group of students but it cannot be applicable to other groups. however, we cannot say the study on that teaching technique is not valid. what the participant ip2 said about values of research was supported by lincoln and guba (1985). according to these authors, judgments of the quality of teacher research did not include reliability and generalizability because these criteria were rarely feasible in studies teachers conduct in their classrooms (lincoln & guba, 1985 as cited in roberts; bove & van zee, 2007). by doing action research and case study research, english language university teachers prioritized their teaching practice and their students over anything else. every teacher participants looked forwards to practical values presented by the improvement in their students’ learning results. 3.1.3 research topics it was reported that english language university teachers’ research topics mostly covered english teaching methodologies. the selection of research topics could be divided into forced-choice topics and free-choice topics. forced-choice topics were determined by the university’s authority represented by the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 50 published by scholink inc. department of scientific research whereas free-choice topics were selected by university teachers (personal communication with the head of the department of scientific research). also according to the head of the department of scientific research, forced-choice topics accounted for about three to five percent of all research projects. the topics were mainly assigned to english language university teachers in preparation for thematic conferences in which they presented their research proposals about particular themes. ip2: research topics can be assigned by my university. ip3: in my university research topics are periodically assigned to teachers by the authorities of the faculty or the university. to some extent, forced-choice topics helped orient relevant issues discussed in such conferences (personal communication with the head of the department of scientific research). to the other extent, it was impossible for those topics to always satisfy all english language university teachers’ personal interests or suit their background knowledge. ip3: sometimes teachers do not have insightful understanding of some topics. for instance, i was once assigned a research topic of management in teaching and learning of which i had no experience. in this case, the quality of my research was not good enough. i felt stressed with it. at this institutional level, the participant ip3 asserted that forced-choice topics did not always produce the so-called good quality research. they even depressed english language university teachers whose research was not up to their expectations. also according to the participant ip3, less experienced english language university teachers have a heavier bulk of forced-choice topics than more experienced ones. such novice teachers publish fewer research articles in specialist journals which were assumed to provide more freedom in terms of research topics. hence, they had to conduct research on forced-choice topics required by the university to fulfill their assigned research activity. however, as stated above, forced-choice topics only occupied the minority of all research topics, the majority was for free-choice ones. theoretically, free choice implied english language university teachers’ freedom in their research. nevertheless, the question that whether the teachers completely felt comfortable with their free-choice topics needed more thorough consideration. free-choice topics were generated by english language university teachers themselves. almost all of the topics were provoked from teaching practice. some was inspired by literature that the teachers read. ip2: i select topics depending on its practicality. i mean … from teaching practice some problems are raised, i consider such problems and adapt them into research topics. ip4: in order to find effective teaching techniques or methods, i spend some time on doing research. it was clearly seen that the conception of free-choice topics were limited or narrowed by english language university teachers. personally, they only researched what was necessary to their own teaching practice. moreover, they took the fulfillment of their assigned research activity into consideration when deciding what and how to do as research. ip3: doing research individually helps them (teachers) to quickly fulfill such 180 periods as they do www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 51 published by scholink inc. not have to share with any others. ip4: according to the university’s requirements, each teacher needs to perform research activity converted into 180 periods. no teacher participant mentioned the total number of hours spent on research activity, including reading materials, investigating research setting, attending workshops, conferences and publishing final research product. instead, they repeated the minimum standard workload of research activity or the required “180 periods” in their interviews. the obsession of the assigned “180 periods” was interpreted as pressure of task fulfillment in that number itself. as a result, teacher participants took such “180 periods” into serious consideration when selecting research topics. easily-approached and relevant topics were favorable because they took less time on studying and the teachers could speed up their workload completion. institutionally, the university’s rules in general and the required “180 periods” of research activity in particular somehow influenced english language university teachers’ choice of what to research. 3.2 research publications 3.2.1 volume of research activity as previously discussed, research activity assigned to english language university teachers included conducting research projects, publishing research articles in specialist journals, attending conferences and workshops. each sort of research activity was converted into different number of periods. teachers were free to choose any sort of research activity provided that they could fulfill 180 periods. that was the reason why the number of research initiatives each english language university teacher did every academic year varied from one to four depending on if they had already finished 180 periods or not. for example, in the last academic year by writing and publishing one research article in the university’s journal, the participant ip1 could complete her 180 periods of research activity. equally, the participant ip3 had to perform one divisional-level presentation, three departmental-level presentations on particular research issues and attended other conferences or workshops to fulfill her assigned research activity. it seemed that english language university teachers were struggling to meet the required workload of research. moreover, when they already finished their workload, they had no intention of doing more research. such teachers’ reluctance to do research indicated that research was mainly related to satisfy employment criteria. in this sense, teachers’ research engagement seemed to be a burden rather than an inspiration. 3.2.2 publishing research what the participants ip1 and ip3 said revealed the two most popular channels of publishing research as agreed by all 21 participants: submitting to the university internal circulation, and presenting in domestic workshops, seminars and conferences. the third channel mostly taken by experienced teacher researchers was sending to domestic specialist journals. two other much less popular ways were presenting in international conferences and sending to foreign specialist journals. only three participants experienced presenting in international conferences whereas only one participant once sent his research www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 52 published by scholink inc. article to a foreign specialist journal. this closure to international environment was interpreted as english language university teachers’ lack of confidence in their research quality on personal plane: ip4: some (research initiatives) have not been applied in reality, so i do not know about their effectiveness. as well as a lack of opportunity for international exposure on interpersonal plane: ip1: i once attended an international conference. and also a result of the university’s obligations on institutional plane: ip1: … according to our university’s requirements, it is not obligatory for teachers to publish articles in foreign journals. publishing research articles in domestic specialist journals is enough for fulfilling duties. this shortage of international research output explained vietnamese low position of research capacity when such capacity was assessed basing on the number of peer-reviewed international publications and citation statistics (hien, 2010). this measurement of research capacity of a country ignored domestic research output. therefore, no matter how enormous domestic research output was, it could not help improve the position of a country’s research capacity in international environment. moreover, this measurement of research capacity of a country did not take into account the fact that many of the peer-reviewed international publications (prips) in asian countries were co-authored by foreigners. in so saying, such measurement seemed to be unfair to some extent; however, it was time for vietnamese researchers to seriously consider their international research output. 3.2.3 choosing languages one more legacy of such above closure to international environment was the dominance of vietnamese used in research initiatives. although all participants were university teachers of english, they conducted their pieces of research in vietnamese. it did not mean that those teachers’ competence of english was insufficient. instead, they needed to publish research in vietnamese if they wanted to have their work published in local journals and meet the research target. first of all, because the teacher participants tended to send their research articles to domestic journals printed in vietnamese (ip2), they had to write their work in vietnamese. also according the participant ip2, he adapted his m.a thesis to a research article and sent to a domestic linguistic journal. in doing so, he had to translate his original version written in english into vietnamese to match the journal format. the situation was somehow the same to the participant ip3 when she sent her research article to the university’s department of scientific research for verification. she submitted her research proposal written in english but the department asked her to translate it into vietnamese because they hardly understood its content. in this sense, those teachers had to do more job without any support. additionally, the similar situation happened to domestic conferences. ip1: attendees in such (domestic) conferences are vietnamese majored in different field and their english competence is of low level (so i used vietnamese). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 53 published by scholink inc. “the lack of proficiency of foreign languages is a particular hindrance to the improvement of quality in vietnamese higher education” (pham, 2010, p. 56). in this case, english as a foreign language was proved to be challenging to the enforcement of research activity. this problem demanded comprehensive measurements for improvement in foreign proficiency. it was not only teacher researchers but also those who were in charge of editing research as well as public readers needed to be master on foreign languages. 3.3 co-operation in research 3.3.1 discussion of research with colleagues nineteen out of twenty-one teacher participants confirmed that they did discuss research topics or research directions with their colleagues. two interview participants explained their discussion in more details as followed: ip2: when i do research and encounter difficulties, i talk to my colleagues to see if they have any suggestions or recommendations. it is really of great help. ip3: i usually ask for advice from experienced colleagues. discussion with experienced colleagues for advice and recommendation seemed to be favorable. on personal plane, this matched vygotsky’s emphasis on the necessity of “interaction with more skilled partners” (rogoff, 1990, p. 148) because such interaction provided inexperienced people with a means for learning about the world. teacher participants had different levels of qualifications and experiences. through discussion, they learned much from each other. gradually a personal habit of sharing knowledge was created. more and more discussion, in turn, was done. at the institutional level, the physical environment of the university encouraged conversation among their teaching staff. in fact, that environment fostered both personal talk of research and formal meetings for discussion of research. on the one hand, each english language university teacher had no private office; instead all of them used a common room. it was where those teachers met and talked in intervals between teaching periods. such shared space gave english language university teachers opportunities for more contact and discussion than any private offices could do. on the other hand, every month a formal meeting was held. all the issues related to teaching job and research activity covering problems arose from teaching practice, recommendations for solutions, and schedule of the coming month were discussed there. in addition, academic conferences specialized in research projects were organized periodically. positioned in such environment, english language university teachers’ interest in discussion of research with their colleagues was a matter of certainty. 3.3.2 co-authorship the favor of discussion of research with colleagues did not entail a bigger number of co-authored works than individual works. in fact, all english language university teachers had more research initiatives done individually. the choice of working alone on research work was for three main reasons. on personal plane, it was independence on time management. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 54 published by scholink inc. ip2: when doing research individually … they (teachers) can manage time flexibly and independently. ip3: i tend to do research individually. time management is the first reason. some teachers and i possibly want to co-author but we cannot arrange convenient time for all of us. on interpersonal plane, it was avoidance of conflicts with co-authors in terms of research ideas or directions (ip3 & ip4). the participant ip3 also provided the last reason on institutional plane, which was to accelerate task fulfillment: ip3: doing research individually help them (teachers) to quickly fulfill such 180 periods allotted for research activity as they do not have to share with any others. although individual works out-numbered co-authored works, teacher participants appreciated advantages of co-authorship. according to those participants, co-authorship provided teachers with great cooperation and support from their partners. the workload shared by all partners became less heavy (ip2 & ip4). in fact, english language university teachers did co-author with their partners, especially in high-level research projects such as national-level projects, provincial-level projects, and organizational-level projects (ip2). the participant ip1 added: ip1: at the moment i am co-authoring with 2 other colleagues in an organizational-level research project. it’s the project about using hot potatoes software to teach vocabulary to english non-majored students. english language university teachers’ experience of co-authorship was mostly reported to be domestic authorship. only one teacher once co-authored with a foreign researcher. the others had not ever worked on research with a foreign partner before; however, they all welcomed an opportunity to do so (ip2, ip3 & ip4). such teachers’ willingness of having foreign authorship was interpreted as a desire for integration. working with foreign researchers promised to be a chance for english language university teachers to communicate with other cultures (p3) as well as learn effective research skills from more advanced countries (p4). 4. conclusion in conclusion, the study explored english language university teachers’ research activity specified in three categories including their research interests, publications and co-operation. seen from socio-cultural perspective, such research involvement is mutually constituted within vietnamese higher education settings. from what teacher participants have voiced, the research-related policies and operational plans seem to force, instead of encouraging, university teachers to do research. a sense of obligation and an obsession of task fulfilment among teachers appear to outweigh their desire, interests and dedication to research. in this regard, the enforcement of research activity at universities has only helped to increase the number of research publications, but could do almost nothing to raise their research quality. furthermore, peer-reviewed international publications are likely to be out of these teachers’ reach, leading to the general poor research performance in vietnam because research intensity is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 55 published by scholink inc. measured by the total number of peer-refereed international publications (prip) per one million persons. all things considered, it is high time more practical and supportive research-related plans were implemented if the authorities would like to improve vietnam’s research 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(2017). english language university teachers’ difficulties in research engagement: a case study in vietnam. journal of english educators society, 2(2), 91-100. https://doi.org/10.21070/jees.v2i2.979 litchtman, m. (2010). qualitative research in education: a user’s guide (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, calif: sage publications. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 56 published by scholink inc. loughran, j. (2002). teachers as researcher. in j. mitchell, j. loughran, & i. j. mitchell (eds.), learning from teacher research (pp. 3-18). new york: teacher college press. nguyen, d. k., oliver, e. d., & priddy, e. l. (2009). criteria for accreditation in vietnam’s higher education: focus on input or outcome? quality in higher education, 15(2), 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538320902995766 nunan, d. 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(2006). practitioner research for educators: a guide to improving classrooms and schools. usa: corwin press. rogoff, b. (1990). apprenticeship in thinking: development in social context. new york: oup. rogoff, b. (1995). observing sociocultural activity on three planes: participatory appropriation, guided participation, and apprenticeship. in j. v. wertsch, p. d. rio, & a. alvarez (eds.), sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 139-163). new york: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139174299.008 rogoff, b. (2003). the cultural nature of human development. oxford: oxford university press. sheridan, g. (2010). vietnam: preparing higher education sector development project (hesdp). adb. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. wiersma, w., & jurs, s. g. (2009). research methods in education: an introduction (9th ed.). boston: pearson. microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p1 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper drama based social emotional learning hakan usakli1* 1 department of elementary and early childhood education, sinop university, sinop, turkey * hakan usakli, department of elementary and early childhood education, sinop university, sinop, turkey received: april 8, 2018 accepted: april 16, 2018 online published: april 19, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p1 abstract this experimental study evaluates effectiveness of drama on social emotional learning. social-emotional skills perception scale was applied to 255 elementary fourth grades. the students who got average and below average social emotional score were selected for experimental and control group. those groups are equal in participant (42 each) and have approximately similar means in the study. ten weeks interventions that are drama sessions about social emotional learning were presented to experimental group students. it is apparently seen that there is significant difference between experimental and control groups in terms of social emotional learning on behalf of experimental group. social emotional learning is very important issue for a child not only in school life but also family and social life. drama seems to be very effective tool teaching social emotional learning to the kids. schools can add their curriculum drama based social emotional learning hours. future studies recommend upon different socio-economic backgrounds and age groups. keywords social emotional learning, drama, elementary school student 1. introduction drama is highly related with human interaction. drama consists of all communication process. definition of drama accepted by the children’s theatre association of america in 1977 is “… an improvisational non-exhibitional, process centered form of drama in which participants are guided by a leader to imagine, enact, and reflect upon human experiences” (heinig, 1993, p. 5). although drama traditionally has been thought of in relation to children and young people, the process is appropriate to all ages. it has been stated that dramatic play helps the child development from a purely egocentric being into a person capable of sharing and of give and take. in dramatic play children create a world of their own in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 2 published by scholink inc. which to master reality. they try in this imaginative world to solve real life problems that they have until now, been unable to solve. they repeat, reenact, and relive these experiences (mccaslin, 2000, p. 5). drama is grounded in experiential, in-context learning and emphasizes the importance of observing the give and take of interpersonal, nonverbal cues (o’neill, 1995). the essence of drama is social interaction, which involves contact, communication, and the negotiation of meaning within a group context. creative drama can provide the opportunity to develop imagination, encourage independent thinking and cooperation, build social awareness, take others’ perspectives, promote a healthy release of emotion, and improve habits of speech. it is always an improvised performance: lines are not written and not memorized. each member of the group gets an opportunity to play various parts. participants are guided by a teacher and not by a director. no decorations, costumes, or special equipment is needed, just time, space, and an enthusiastic (arieli, 2007, p. 24). the beauty of improvisational drama in education is that participants can make ill-advised choices and see what happens without real life consequences. there is safety in drama. drama allows students to hide behind a symbolic mask and so venture into situations that could be dangerous in another class setting. improvisational drama can be a heady experience for students who are denied a wide range of social experience. the aim of drama teaching is to help students understand themselves and the world in which they live. drama provides pressure for physical, emotional, and intellectual identification with a factious situation (smagorinsky, 1999, pp. 11-12). 1.1 drama techniques 1.1.1 forum theater the impact of jacob moreno’s seminal ideas often remains half noticed or even unrecognized, and sometimes, as in boal’s forum theatre, the influence is clear and straightforward. when schechner asked him in an interview whether he feels any affinity to people like jacob moreno, the founder of psychodrama, boal seemed reluctant to admit the influence and he said that it was curious because he never thought of moreno. he recognized that once he read theatre of spontaneity which he supposedly did not like because he felt it was too superficial (taussing & schechner, 1994). moreno invented his own form of improvisational theatre around 1920, and saw it as a kind of therapy for the society in the broadest sense of healing and promoting consciousness. arising independently, many others discovered a similar idea. one of the most notable of these has been augusto boal (1995) who developed a “theatre of the oppressed” in brazil. more recently, boal has come to address the problems of the bourgeoisie whose milder neurotic issues might be reframed as inner oppression (feldhendler, 1994). there are a growing number of theatre artists pursuing this new form, and a subtype of this approach called “forum theatre” (blatner, 2000, p. 221). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 3 published by scholink inc. 1.1.2 hot seating the student or teacher answers questions in role about the background, behaviour and motivation of a character. hot seating may be used for exploring the motivations of any real or fictitious character. the method can easily be used across the curriculum, ranging from history and geography through to personal and social development. this strategy helps to develop questioning skills within the rest of the group. hot seating can also be used to help actors develop confidence in their character roles during rehearsals farmer (2011, p. 28). 1.1.3 role-playing the substratum of psychodrama. search for alternatives, experimentation with new situations, decision-making, training in social skills (djuric et al., 2006, p. 74). role play is the basis of all dramatic activity. the ability to suspend disbelief by stepping into another character’s shoes comes quite naturally to most children. through the structure of the drama lesson, this can be used to great effect, challenging children to develop a more sensitive understanding of a variety of viewpoints whilst sharpening their language and movement skills. by adopting a role, children can step into the past or future and travel to any location, dealing with issues on moral and intellectual levels. thus role play can be easily utilised to illuminate themes across the curriculum. 1.1.4 conscience alley a useful technique for exploring any kind of dilemma faced by a character, providing an opportunity to analyse a decisive moment in greater detail. the class forms two lines facing each other. one person (the teacher or a participant) walks between the lines as each member of the group speaks their advice. it can be organised so that those on one side give opposing advice to those on the other. when the character reaches the end of the alley, she makes her decision. sometimes known as decision alley or thought tunnel (farme, 2014). drama provides a rich experience that engages body, emotions, and senses in dynamic learning. by acting out the material, students who have difficulty with reading and writing can avoid struggling with pen and paper, and may expose a previously unnoticed intelligence or ability. the following groups typically struggle academically, but often shine and demonstrate their knowledge and creativity in drama. they can gain much needed self-esteem and improve literacy skills by playing drama games (clark, 2013, pp. 2-3). after mentioning drama and its some techniques above, social emotional learning which was the base of the study was investigated below. 1.2 social emotional learning after goleman (1985) influential book emotional intelligence (eq) publication, a new trend separated from u.s. to europe and australia through the educational environment. social emotional learning (sel) is mainly being aware of feelings inner-personal and intra-persons. casel that is foundation of eq presents five core competences; self-awareness, social awareness, self-managements, social management and responsible decision making. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 4 published by scholink inc. foundation of learning intervention improved teachers’ ability to address children’s behavior problems and to provide a positive emotional climate in their classrooms, the intervention also improved the number of minutes of instructional time and benefited children’s observed behavior in classrooms, with lower levels of conflictual interactions and, at the trend level, higher levels of engagement in classrooms activities, relative to similar students randomly assigned to control classrooms (morris et al., 2013). unique personal characteristics of an averagely twenty four pupil of class consist of different family culture, personal competence and behavioral tendencies. these diverse climates of classes sometimes cause troubles to the teachers especially inexperienced. burnout, health problems especially trouble in vocal card disorder, stress, insomnia common (bermúdez de alvear et al., 2010; kokkinos, 2007; kyriacoua, 2006; motgomery & rupp, 2005). there are some research about classroom climate causes this undesired troubles to teachers (kokkinos et al., 2004; grayson & alvarez, 2008). it is commonly accepted by researchers that goleman’s profound study “emotional intelligence” is the starting point for social emotional learning action (elias & moceri, 2012; vadeboncoeur & collie, 2013; poulou, 2007). sel that is short written of social emotional learning depends on philosophically daniel goleman popular book emotional intelligence in 1995. the sel is define as the series process of gaining knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities and beliefs to identify and manage emotions; caring about others; making good decisions; behaving ethically and responsibly (moral aspects of behaving); developing favorable inter relations and set up interaction with others, and to avoid undesired behaviors. sel is directly related to academic achievement, that is why skills required classroom success is supplying, in social situations such as school, family, work life or any place that human being takes part (elieas & moceri, 2012, p. 424). collaborative for academic, social, and emotional learning (casel) is working organization of social emotional learning in scholarly life which’ philosophical foundations depends on goleman works (goleman, 1995; goleman, 1998). casel spreads five core skills that is also known as casel five these are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision making-problem solving skills (casel, 2018). experimental explications found out effectiveness of sel teaching programs from kindergarten to collage level ages results such as improved attitudes about the self and others, increased prosocial behavior, lower levels of problem behaviors and emotional distress, and improved academic performance (catalano et al., 2002; durlak et al., 2011; greenberg et al., 2003; zins et al., 2004). worldwide studies point out that sel is positively affected school climate, student behavior and learning and countries such as canada, new zeeland, some african countries and mainly uk devote school programs (haxby brady, 2010; schonert-reichl & hymel, 2007). goleman (1995, 2006) studies conducted in u.s. caused extensive research conducted in this country. the organization casel for diffuse theory and application of sel in educational settings also in u.s. (elias & moceri, 2012). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 5 published by scholink inc. research conducted in european countries mainly focused on pre-education and elementary education involve projects and their usability (dracinschi, 2012). 1.3 drama literature in sel context participation in drama, group process, involves students in special experiences that required social interaction and cooperation in order to succeed. drama provides an excellent forum for encouraging social growth and development: 1) each student will respond to motivational stimuli; 2) students engaged in drama will recognize and show tolerance and appreciation for each person’s contribution; 3) they will demonstrate an understanding of drama as process rather than product-oriented; 4) students will demonstrate self-esteem through willingness to share ideas and feelings; 5) students will progress in their abilities to accept both criticism and praise and be able to offer both with generosity and sensitivity; 6) students will demonstrate an acceptance of their own bodies by their willingness to communicate ideas and feelings; 7) students will be willing to suspend their disbelief and engage in drama situations; 8) students will show increased abilities to decanter, to look at several variables and possibilities; 9) by choices they make, the players will demonstrate increased abilities to recognize that which has intrinsic value and is aesthetically rewarding. the content of drama as well as the participation can materially assist preand early adolescents in coping with the anxieties and pressures that confront them on all sides (cottrell, 1987, pp. 14-17). drama is vital in oral curriculum that deals with listening and speaking, including the nonverbal components of speech. listening in order to follow directions is required in order to do any side-coached activity. drama sessions include also empathic listening activities (cottrell, 1987). every classroom is composed of a group, including the teacher, organizer for the express purpose of education. to accomplish this most effectively, a high degree of cohesive interaction is required (heinig, 1993, p. 44). the emotional climate in the classroom is determined by the overall feelings experience by the group members. in a positive climate the students and the teacher have a mutual trust and respect for each other, an essential ingredient in facilitating the development of self-esteem and optimal learning. this attitude develops in a climate of self acceptance, psychological freedom, and open communication. acceptance is the belief that all people are worthy individuals. psychological freedom allows a person to be secure enough in the social, physical, and emotional environment to operate with relative ease. creative drama is a natural medium for the free expression of ideas, feelings, and attitudes (heinig, 1993). drama is valuable tool for self-awareness, social awareness, emotion handling, self-acceptance, coping with emotions, interaction with others, communication, conflict resolution. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 6 published by scholink inc. 2. method in this experimental study, the test apparatus which has four factors and twenty one items was developed by baydan (2010) was used. the relations between factors is .81, similar scales validity is .47, .51 and .01 that is significant, criteria correlation coefficient is .78 and reliability for all of the scale, the cronbach alpha value is .92. these values point out that the social-emotional skills perception scale is highly valid and reliable test apparatus (baydan, 2010, pp. 61-62). here are some samples for items: when i have problems with someone, they think about their reasons and take precautions. i can control myself when i’m angry. when i have a problem, i know how to solve it. independent t-test is suitable for this study’s data analyze. the independent samples t-test compares the means of two independent groups in order to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated population means are significantly different. the independent samples t-test is a parametric test (kent, 2018). 2.1 problem statement in our sample dataset, students’ social emotional learning points, and whether or not they were get intervention was searched. suppose that we want to know if the mean scores of social emotional learning point is different for examination versus control group. this involves testing whether the sample means for examination group and control group in this sample are statistically different (and by extension, inferring whether the means for social emotional learning points in the population are significantly different between these two groups). it can use an independent samples t-test to compare the mean social emotional learning points for experiment and control group. the hypotheses for this example can be expressed as: h0: µ experiment group-µcontrol group = 0 (“the difference of the means is equal to zero”). there is no significant difference in terms of social emotional learning scores between experimental and control groups. h1: µ experiment group-µ control group ≠ 0 (“the difference of the means is not equal to zero”). where µ experiment group and µcontrol group are the population means for experiment and control groups, respectively. there is significant difference in terms of social emotional learning scores between experimental and control groups. 3. the intervention the intervention program developed by the author who have more than twenty years experience counseling and guidance practicing and twenty years experience as drama leader. this program developed for experimental group consisting of ten weeks drama sessions two hours each. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 7 published by scholink inc. 3.1 week 1 hello and welcome! these are activities for a new group and are designed to make the first meeting amusing and memorable, but the actual participating activities are required for most of them is quite low and manageable. they are also designed to help adolescents who feel a little nervous or apprehensive at the start of a new meeting. the activities emphasize the social bonding of the group, rather than assertiveness development. warm up: walking around the room silently. play: the group is circle. by one by everybody in the center say name and things that she/he love to act starting first capital of name. the balloons aim-learn participant names material needed—as many balloons as participants, markers, music time 15 minutes or more. how to do it—each participant gets a balloon, blows the balloon up, writes his/her own name on the balloon. music starts. the balloons should be in the air while the music is playing. everybody helps with this. when music stops, everyone catches a balloon. they then find the person whose name is on the balloon. divide group as a and b. a is very reach and have a ferrari b is very poor have fiat 124. a is parked the car when b is parking crash the a. trust building activities: in pairs, one person is blindfolded. holding hands, the blindfolded person is lead gradually from a slow walk up to fast running. swap. in pairs of similar size, one becomes a faller and one the catcher. teach methods for spotting, falling and catching. start small and build to bigger falls, then swap. debrief—what made you feel more or less trusting? sharing: what did you feel? 3.2 week 2 classroom interaction and improvisation this week contains group activities which are designed to encourage participants the experimental group to interact with each other and to improvise. the activities are short and manageable enough to be done without causing too much disruption. the level of creativity and imagination which is involved is actually very easy to achieve. aim—learn names of participants. material needed—something with which you can point (around 50 cm long). time 15 minutes. how to do it—participants form a circle, one person stands in the middle with pointer. this person points at one of the participants in the circle and asks him/her “zip” or “zap”? when asked zip, the participant names the person on his/her left, when asked zap, the participant names the person on his/her right (participants can be asked to name other things, like country or organization or favorite food, etc.). if the participant cannot answer correctly he/she goes to the middle. if the participants do www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 8 published by scholink inc. not make any mistakes, the person in the middle can say “zip-zap”! then all participants have to go to a different place in the circle. sharing: what did you feel? 3.3 week 3 i like here so i am here fun and games for activities in this session are all fun activities and most involve some kind of movement. they are perfect to break up a session where group would otherwise sit at their chair for an hour or longer. they are quite short and will definitely improve the overall atmosphere of the group. greetings. aim—get to know each other. time 20 minutes. how to do it with the facilitation done by the trainers, the participants are asked to greet each other in the form of presented types of people (see greetings models), greeting models, and share one specific topic during the greeting moment. the models and points to share are listed below. the greeting gestures done accordingly to the character, imply a closer physical contact while the game goes on! sharing: what did you feel? 3.4 week 4 working with scripts “scripts” refers to any long dialogue, sketch, or short play that you might want to use with your participants or drama group. this meeting contains a set of eight original sketches and eight suggestions about how to use them. each of the sketches is used to illustrate a different activity, but in fact the activities are interchangeable, and most of them will work with any short forum theater piece that researcher want to use. essence machines this activity provides a useful technique for generating physical and aural ideas around a theme. explain that the group is going to create a “machine” out of themselves. name a topic and give the participants a few moments to think of a repeating sound and action linked to that theme. for example, if the theme was “shopping” a participant could mime taking money out of a purse to give to a shopkeeper, whilst saying “i’ll have two of those, please”. as soon as someone has an idea, ask them to step into the centre of a circle to begin their repeating sound and movement. ask if somebody else can think of a suitable way to add in their own idea. gradually, more and more people join in the activity. some may be linked to existing parts of the “machine”, whilst others may be separate. to continue the example above, someone could join the action by becoming the shopkeeper and saying “shall i wrap them for you?”, whilst somebody else could be a cleaner in the shopping mall. you may find that everybody wants to join in the activity, although be careful not to let it go on for too long or get too unwieldy. once it is set up, the machine can be frozen, then played back at twice or half the “normal” speed. themes could include: a football match, a meal in a restaurant, folk tales, halloween. you could have a machine that actually makes something, like chocolate biscuits, school www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 9 published by scholink inc. dinners or weather conditions. if using this for language teaching, encourage the use of single words or short phrases instead of a sound. build a story aims: to create s story in response to questions; to develop imagination; collaboration with others. procedure use this activity as preparation and lead-in to children writing a story (read, 2007). sharing: what did you feel? 3.5 week 5 shy and quiet students there are drama experts who will tell you that drama activities especially the forum theater are the best way to make shy adolescents throw off their cloak of shyness and take centre stage, and to make quiet participants suddenly become the star of the show. group leaders educated volunteer university students help to shy and quiet participants to express themselves. collecting expectations: hopes & fears aim—discover the expectations of the participants, formulate some common rules and highlight the knowledge in the group. material needed post-it, markers, big pieces of papers. time 30 minutes how to do it ask every one to write down, on different post-its: • what do you want to learn? • what do you want to avoid? • what can you contribute? ask them to hang the post it on different flipcharts. read them through. take away expectations that cannot be realized. ask if there are some comments. use this at the end of the training and see if everything was fulfilled (there must be only one idea per post-it so that the expectations can be put together). sound collage aims: to listen and create a dramatic atmosphere related to a story through sounds; to collaborate as a group; to practice self-discipline and self-control. procedure use this activity either to introduce a story or as a transition between telling a story and acting it out. for example, if you are using a story which takes place in the rainforest, e.g., mokey puzzle, you can get the children to create a sound collage of the rainforest in the following way (read, 2007). sharing: what did you feel? 3.6 week 6 feeling more confident walk together a great exercise for encouraging group sensitivity. everybody finds a space in the room. on a given signal, everyone starts walking, using all the space in the room. on a second signal, everybody stops. now, that was easy. do this a couple of times, then without talking, everybody must decide to start walking at the same time—and then to stop as a group at the same time. this obviously will require some practice! with sensitivity, it can be done. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 10 published by scholink inc. sharing: what did you feel? 3.7 week 7 the more share the more live alphabet conversation have a conversation where each sentence begins with the next letter of the alphabet. this may seem difficult at first, but improves with practice. if you get stuck, you can also use sounds to start a sentence, for example “mmmm” or “tut-tut”. here is an example: a: anyone seen my cat? b: black one, with funny eyes? a: can’t say i remember. b: don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what it looks like? a: every cat looks the same to me. b: fortunately, i found one yesterday. a: gee, that’s great! you could also try beginning somewhere in the middle of the alphabet. then when you reach “z”, return to “a” until you arrive back where you started. try setting the scene or location before you start. it’s great for car journeys too! (farmer, 2014). lets say one funny anecdote (joke). sharing: what did you feel? 3.8 week 8 i am comfortable as at home two truths, one lie highly recommended for getting to know each other in a new group. tell your partner three things about yourself—two of which are true and one of which is a lie. now introduce your partner to the rest of the group and see if they can guess which was the lie. alternatively, tell your partner three true things about yourself and then swap over. now the whole group makes a circle. each partner introduces their friend to the group—they tell the group two of the true things and make up one lie about their partner (farmer, 2014). sharing: what did you feel? 3.9 week 9 i know who am i and who you are budge time: 10-15 minutes skills: concentration, energiser an exciting chase game where you can sit on a chair for a quick escape. you need the same number of chairs as there are players—minus two. spread the chairs out around the space, facing in all different directions. select one person to be the chaser (“it”) and another to be the runner. everyone else sits down on a chair. start of with the two players a good distance apart. the two players race between the chairs. when the runner wants to escape, he can touch the back of any chair and say “budge!” the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 11 published by scholink inc. person on that chair has to get up and run while the previous runner sits down. once the chaser catches their prey (by tapping them on the shoulder) then they swop roles—or two new players can be chosen (farmer, 2012). lets play one keloglan tale (keloglan tales are very popular turkish literature). one day keloglan wants to marry with king’ daughter. divide group in to four every group play the tale’ one part. sharing: what did you feel? 3.10 week 10 termination farewell this is the end of the all sessions meetings. all participants expressed them how they feel about the whole meetings. they talk about what they will do after these meetings when day face new peoples. hot seating: the student or teacher answers questions in role about the background, behavior and motivation of a character. hot seating may be used for exploring the motivations of any real or fictitious character. the method can easily be used across the curriculum, ranging from history and geography through to personal and social development. this strategy helps to develop questioning skills within the rest of the group. hot seating can also be used to help actors develop confidence in their character roles during rehearsals (farmer, 2011). 4. foundlings comparison of two groups before intervention (pre-test scores). table 1. experimental group and control group social emotional learning scores t pro-test founding group n 　 sd df t p experimental 42 32.69 9.27 82 .08 .93 control 42 32.86 8.59 the sig. value is .93. this is not less than our alpha level of .05, so we conclude that the main effect for group is not significant. there was no significant difference in the social emotional learning of statistics scores for the two groups (those who the experimental group consists of 42 participants and control group consist of 42 participants). table 2. experimental group and control group social emotional learning scores t re-test founding group n 　 sd df t p experimental 42 53.21 9.36 82 10.66 .000 control 42 32.76 8.17 p<.05. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 12 published by scholink inc. there is statistically significant difference in the social emotional learning scores of between experimental group re-test and control group re-test. those who participated sessions consist of the social emotional learning model drama technique have high social emotional learning scores than those who didn’t participate the sessions. table 3. experimental group pro-test and re-test, t-test founding measure n 　 sd df t p pre-test 42 32.69 9.27 82 22.15 .000 re-test 42 53.21 9.36 p<.05. there is statistically significant difference in the social emotional learning scores of experimental group between pro-test and re-test. ten weeks social emotional learning model technique highly has effective in social emotional learning scores. table 4. control group pro-test and re-test, t-test founding measure n 　 sd df t p pre-test 42 32.86 8.59 32 36.14 .90 re-test 42 32.76 233 there is no statistically significant difference in the social emotional learning scores of control group between pro test and retest. the sig. value is .90. this is not less than our alpha level of .05, so we conclude that the main effect for group is not significant. there was no significant difference in the social emotional learning of statistics scores for the same group pro-test and re-test scores (the control group consist of 42 participants). since p < .05 is less than our chosen significance level α = 0.05, we can reject the null hypothesis, and conclude that the mean social emotional learning point for experiment group and control group is significantly different. based on the results, we can state the following: there was a significant difference in mean social emotional learning point between experimental group and control group (t.08 = 82, p < .05). the social emotional learning point for experiment group was 20.45 higher than the social emotional learning point for control group. we can reject the null hypothesis. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 13 published by scholink inc. 5. discussion and conclusion as research studies state that drama is highly effective human communication and interaction, these different models were joined in this study. drama is an improvisational non-exhibitional, process centered form of human experiences (heining, 1993). participants are guided by a teacher and not by a director. no decorations, costumes, or special equipment is needed, just time, space, and an enthusiastic (arieli, 2007). lecturers introduce the use of an experiential theatrical technique, forum theatre, affective to support students for develop their communication skills (middlewick et al., 2012). the forum theater creates safe environment for its participants (boal, 2008). the forum theater methodology provides a dialogic structure for deconstructing these deep-seated, bitterly divisive issues with sensitivity and respect (sullivan & parras, 2008). social and emotional learning (sel) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (casel, 2018). sel is very important that is why it is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, establish and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions (casel, 2017). drama gives children opportunities to explore, discuss and deal with difficult issues and to express their emotions in a supportive environment. it enables them to explore their own cultural values and those of others, past and present. it encourages them to think and act creatively, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be applied in all areas of learning. through drama children are encouraged to take responsible roles and make choices—to participate in and guide their own learning. teachers can take a more open-ended approach, concentrating on the process of learning at least as much as—if not more than—the product. following a group improvisation about a bullying incident the bully, the witnesses and the bully’s friends can be hot seated (together or separately) to explore their feelings about what they did and whether they can learn to behave differently (farmer, 2011). in short, drama seems to be excellent tool for personal and social development of children. social emotional learning that is crucial for all kids could be taught via drama easily. 6. suggestions drama based social emotional learning can be given to all age groups of students. it is especially vital for pre-education and primary education class. it also should be compulsory and elective in all levels of education. so this can help youths for expressing themselves and set up effective communication skills. newly participant students in the schools should be oriented with the small groups in which the students have drama lectures. youths should be encouraged to express their problems such as lack of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 14 published by scholink inc. communication, bulling, relations with teachers and administrations with the help of drama based social emotional learning in their courses. orientation programs based on drama practice shouldn’t be not only in the beginning of the new education and teaching year but also should be in the whole year systematically. drama based social emotional learning lectures should be taught both as a teaching method and an individualized educational program. social emotional learning should be with in all schools wisdom and aims. there should be well decorated room in all schools for practicing drama. drama based social emotional learning sessions should be applied for every students who have different socio-economic background and age distributions. references arieli, b. b. 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(2004). building academic success on social and emotional learning: what does the research say? new york: teachers college press. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 52 original paper research on teaching reform and innovation in the project management course based on “case+” wang chunxiao 1 , bu chengguang 1 & zhang kefei 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong, china received: january 10, 2025 accepted: january 20, 2025 online published: january 21, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p52 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p52 abstract engineering project management is a course that intricately integrates theoretical knowledge with engineering practice, technology, and management. this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of the engineering project management course as well as the current state of traditional teaching methods. it systematically constructs a “case+” teaching model for this course, encompassing key components such as precise case selection, engaging class interpretation, structured implementation processes, and dynamic case compilation. the proposed model aims to render the engineering project management course not only useful but also interesting, organized, and effective. practical applications have demonstrated that the “case+” teaching mode can significantly enhance students’ knowledge levels, skill sets, and learning attitudes. furthermore, it offers robust support for innovative curriculum development while fostering new approaches to training engineering talents that align with societal needs. keywords engineering project management, case+, curriculum reform, practical teaching 1. introduction as a highly practical course, the teaching objective of engineering project management extends beyond enabling students to master comprehensive and systematic scientific management and effective coordination. it also aims to cultivate their ability to apply management knowledge in addressing real-world problems. traditional teaching methods often emphasize theoretical instruction, which can lead to the neglect of active student participation and the development of practical skills. this study focuses on a “case+” teaching model for the engineering project management course, highlighting the integration of actual engineering cases throughout the entire instructional process. this approach allows students to deepen their understanding and application of knowledge through case analysis, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 53 published by scholink inc. discussion, and practice. on one hand, this model enhances teaching quality by stimulating students’ interest in learning and encouraging initiative while fostering critical thinking and innovative capabilities. on the other hand, it injects new vitality into the development of the engineering management discipline by promoting a closer alignment between curriculum instruction and industry practice. ultimately, this approach aims to produce more high-quality engineering management professionals for society. 2. characteristics and teaching status of engineering project management courses 2.1 characteristics of engineering project management courses the engineering project management course encompasses a wide range of multidisciplinary knowledge, including engineering technology, economics, and management, making it significantly comprehensive. throughout the entire life cycle of an engineering project—spanning from project planning and design to construction and operation—each phase necessitates the cross-application of knowledge across various fields. this integration demands that students possess strong abilities in knowledge synthesis and application, enabling them to analyze and address complex problems in engineering projects from multiple perspectives. engineering projects are inherently unique and one-off; each project encounters distinct environments, requirements, and challenges. consequently, it is challenging for students to fully grasp the essence of engineering project management solely through theoretical instruction in the classroom. to bridge this gap, students must engage with actual engineering projects—from initial planning and bidding to contract signing as well as on-site management during construction processes up until completion acceptance—to gain a comprehensive understanding of the project’s operational continuum while mastering practical skills necessary for real-world problem-solving. the engineering industry is characterized by continuous development and transformation; new technologies, innovative ideas, and emerging models proliferate ceaselessly. in recent years, the adoption of building information modeling (bim) has facilitated digital integration within building information systems. this advancement provides a collaborative platform for all stakeholders involved in a project while significantly enhancing overall efficiency in project management practices. furthermore, with the increasing emphasis on green building concepts, contemporary engineering projects prioritize resource conservation and environmental protection throughout all stages—including planning, design, construction—and operation. these emerging trends in the industry necessitate the timely integration of relevant content into engineering project management courses. this approach enables students to grasp cutting-edge developments, master new technologies and concepts, and adequately prepare for their future career trajectories. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 54 published by scholink inc. 2.2 teaching status of engineering project management courses currently, traditional lecture-based teaching methods continue to dominate the instruction of engineering project management. in these classes, educators primarily rely on textbooks and course materials, systematically delivering knowledge through powerpoint presentations that outline basic concepts and principles related to engineering projects as well as various processes and methodologies in project management. however, without incorporating real-world engineering case studies, students often struggle to connect theoretical knowledge with practical applications. furthermore, this method neglects the development and enhancement of students’ practical application skills within the realm of engineering project management. this pedagogical approach diverges from a student-centered educational philosophy prevalent in engineering education; consequently, students find themselves passively receiving information rather than actively engaging in critical thinking or exploration. educators frequently concentrate on imparting knowledge while failing to stimulate student participation effectively; thus, classroom engagement tends to diminish over time. as a result, feedback from students is often unenthusiastic or negative—making it challenging for instructors to accurately gauge their learning progress promptly. in this prolonged state of passive learning, students’ comprehension remains superficial; they are unable to cultivate essential problem-solving abilities or innovative thinking skills necessary for addressing real-world challenges. the disconnect between theoretical understanding and practical application hinders effective achievement of training objectives within the curriculum. 3. construction of the “case+” teaching model for engineering project management course this study proposes a comprehensive teaching model termed “case+”, grounded in the case teaching method, aimed at developing an engaging, structured, and effective engineering project management course. as illustrated in figure 1, this model encompasses all stages from case preparation and classroom implementation to post-class summary feedback, thereby forming a complete closed loop. during the case preparation phase, emphasis is placed not only on the authenticity and representativeness of cases but also on ensuring that core knowledge points are accurately aligned with these cases. this alignment guarantees that the selected cases effectively convey the intended teaching content. in the classroom implementation stage, diverse instructional methods are employed—such as role-playing by project participants and group discussions—to stimulate student engagement and facilitate experiential learning. in the subsequent feedback phase, summarization efforts assist students in constructing a cohesive knowledge system while enhancing their awareness of management principles. additionally, timely collection of student feedback allows for ongoing optimization and enhancement of case materials, resulting in a dynamically updated repository that continuously improves educational outcomes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 55 published by scholink inc. figure 1. “case+” comprehensive teaching model 3.1 extracting useful content and screening cases in the “case+” teaching model for the engineering project management course, case selection is the initial and crucial step, directly impacting the effectiveness of the teaching. selecting cases that align with the core content of the course ensures that the cases are closely integrated with the teaching objectives. the engineering project management course is part of the content for numerous registered vocational qualification examinations in china’s construction industry, such as those for construction engineers, cost engineers, supervisory engineers, and more. by following the selection and integration of teaching content based on standard vocational qualification examinations, the entire course can be broadly summarized as “three controls, three managements, and one coordination”, as depicted in figure 2. on one hand, utilizing vocational qualification examination content for extraction and case screening can deepen theoretical understanding, enhance management depth, better fit engineering practice, and achieve curriculum standardization. on the other hand, it can boost students’ interest and enthusiasm for learning, laying a solid foundation for their future careers and acquisition of relevant vocational qualifications. rich and high-quality case resources are the cornerstone of the “case+” teaching model, continuously invigorating the course through the mining of cases from multiple channels such as enterprise projects, industry reports, academic literature, and news media. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 56 published by scholink inc. figure 2. core content of the engineering project management course 3.2 creating engaging classes and implementing cases to better immerse students in case scenarios, multimedia can be fully utilized to play documentary footage of the construction process of building projects. through the striking visual and auditory effects, students’ attention can be instantly captured, making them feel as if they are on an actual construction site. role-playing is also an effective method for creating scenarios. within the context of real project cases, students are organized to play different project participants, such as construction units, building units, design units, consulting units, supervisory units, suppliers, etc., allowing them to deeply understand the responsibilities, tasks, and goals of each participant. for instance, students playing the role of a construction unit will focus on practical aspects like construction schedules, quality control, and cost management. during role-playing, students gain a deep understanding of the responsibilities and concerns of different roles in a project, significantly enhancing the fun and participation in learning, successfully stimulating students’ interest in learning, and laying a good foundation for subsequent case analysis. moreover, in role-playing activities, students need to communicate and collaborate with other participants, just as they would in a real project environment. through this interaction, students learn how to express their views clearly, understand the needs of others, and effectively resolve disagreements that arise in communication. at the same time, various problems will inevitably arise in projects, such as schedule delays, quality defects, cost overruns, and so on. during role-playing, students can experience these problems and attempt to solve them from the perspective of their role, thereby cultivating students’ problem-solving thinking and abilities. in this process, students experience different professional roles in engineering projects and understand their positions and requirements, which helps students develop a sense of professional responsibility and professionalism. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 57 published by scholink inc. 3.3 planning orderly processes and summarizing cases during the case analysis phase, a three-dimensional classroom process is realized, and knowledge understanding is deepened through communication and collision. firstly, student discussion groups are established, and each group is arranged to report and present, which is a concentrated display of students’ learning outcomes and an important opportunity to exercise their expression and communication skills. after the presentation, a q&a and interaction session is set up, allowing other team members to ask questions, express different opinions, or provide supplements on the content of the report. this process encourages students to further contemplate the details of the case, expand the boundaries of their thinking, cultivate critical thinking, and achieve the transfer and expansion of knowledge. finally, after the students’ presentation, the teacher provides a comprehensive and in-depth summary of the case. starting from the specific details of the case, the teacher extracts the core points, connects scattered knowledge points into a complete knowledge system, helps students build a systematic cognitive framework, and enables them to deeply understand the flexible application of theoretical knowledge in practical projects. 3.4 accumulating effective feedback and compiling cases as direct participants in teaching activities, students’ feedback is crucial for the optimization of the “case+” teaching model. after each round of case teaching, a questionnaire survey is designed to collect students’ opinions. the contents of the questionnaire cover multiple dimensions, such as the perception of the difficulty of the case, asking students whether they thought the case was too complicated to understand or too simple to be challenging; the degree of interest stimulation, to understand whether the case theme and the setting successfully attracted students to study; and the auxiliary effect on knowledge mastery, exploring whether students’ grasp of the core knowledge and skills of engineering project management has been significantly improved through case analysis, with questions set for students to answer from options like “very effective”, “relatively effective”, “average”, “not very effective”, “completely ineffective”, and so on. as the organizer and guide of teaching activities, self-reflection is the inner motivation to promote the continuous improvement of the “case+” teaching model. reflect on whether the selected cases accurately correspond to the course teaching objectives and students' knowledge level, and consider whether the group discussion and case analysis guide successfully stimulated students’ thinking vitality and prompted them to deeply explore the management logic behind the cases. as the core resource support of the “case+” teaching model, the case base should be dynamically updated to adapt to teaching demands and industry development. based on student feedback and teacher reflection, the case base is reviewed and optimized on a regular basis. at the same time, teachers are encouraged to transform the engineering projects and scientific research projects they participate in into teaching cases, integrating the latest technology applications and management innovation experiences, so that the case base remains vibrant, providing a steady stream of high-quality www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 58 published by scholink inc. materials for the “case+” teaching model, and ensuring that the teaching content keeps pace with the times and conforms to the development trend of the industry. 4. evaluation of the “case+” teaching model’s effectiveness after implementing the innovative “case+” teaching model for the engineering project management course over one academic year, from the perspective of knowledge mastery, the pass rate of most students in core knowledge areas such as project schedule management and cost management has significantly improved in the final assessment compared to the traditional teaching model, with an increase in the average score. in terms of ability enhancement, based on the analysis of real projects, students exhibit clear division of labor and tacit cooperation, efficiently completing tasks with a notable improvement in problem-solving abilities. regarding learning attitudes, class participation has greatly increased, with the majority of students actively engaging in case discussions and sharing their insights, significantly boosting their learning initiative—a stark contrast to the dull atmosphere in traditional classrooms. moreover, students’ satisfaction with the “case+” teaching model is quite high; 85% of students believe that the cases are rich and closely aligned with reality, effectively aiding in knowledge comprehension. compared to the traditional, monotonous theoretical teaching, the new model skillfully integrates knowledge into real engineering cases, making it more engaging and practical. students also prefer the multiple integration methods such as case study, project-driven learning, group cooperation, and role-playing. they have a strong sense of class participation, high learning enthusiasm, and the teaching atmosphere is well-recognized by students. overall, the “case+” teaching model for the engineering project management course has significantly enhanced students’ interest and initiative in learning, making them more willing to deeply explore the knowledge and skills in the field of engineering management, injecting a strong impetus for them to join the engineering industry in the future. 5. concluding remarks the “case+” teaching model strongly promotes the construction of the engineering project management curriculum and injects new vitality into the training of engineering management talents. through the continuous optimization of case selection, classroom implementation, summary feedback processes, and the constant updating of the case base, it is expected to further improve the quality of teaching, providing society with more high-quality engineering management talents who possess solid theory, strong practical abilities, and an innovative spirit, thereby aiding the prosperity of the engineering industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 59 published by scholink inc. with the rapid development of information technology, technologies such as virtual reality (vr) can be utilized in the future, allowing students to experience the project process in a comprehensive and immersive way, as if they could visit the project site in person. at the same time, deepening school-enterprise cooperation is a key path to the continuous optimization of teaching. through the deep integration of enterprise project case resources with engineering project management courses, innovative practical cases can be realized to ensure that teaching is more in line with the actual needs of the industry. references han, z. m. (2021). exploration on school-enterprise integration teaching of software project management for engineering education accreditation. advances in educational technology and psychology, (10). kris, m. l. (2019). teaching project management using project-action learning (pal) games: a case involving engineering management students in hong kong. international journal of engineering business management, 184797901982857-184797901982857. li, j. y. (2024). teaching practice of “engineering project management theory and application” based on obe concept. industrial engineering and innovation management, (4). luo, j. (2019). study on teaching methods for engineering project management based on professional accreditation of engineering programs. international journal of innovation education and research, (4), 72-78. https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol7.iss4.1388 xavier, p., nima, i., & zora, v. (2025). integrating building information modelling into construction project management education in australia: a comprehensive review of industry needs and academic gaps. buildings, (1), 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15010130 yang, q. m. (2024). “project-based learning” in practical teaching within the field of engineering management. proceedings series, (1). https://doi.org/10.31058/j.ps.2024.20007 zhang, k. f., miao, q. x., wang, c. x., & zhang, q. h. (2024). study on case-based bilingual teaching model of international engineering contracting course—take qingdao city university as an example. global research in higher education, (3). https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p62 https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol7.iss4.1388 https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15010130 https://doi.org/10.31058/j.ps.2024.20007 https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p62 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 83 original paper using linkedin to teach students how to build their professional network and enhance their personal brand katryna m. johnson 1 1 department of marketing, supply chain operations management and international business, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, u.s.a received: may 15, 2021 accepted: may 26, 2021 online published: june 3, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n2p83 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n2p83 abstract the majority of hiring managers use social media to find, screen, and eliminate job applicants. students need to understand the shortand long-term effects of what they post on line. instructors need to teach students to actively promote and curate a positive image in an online environment. personal branding focuses on portraying oneself, one’s competencies and experiences in a positive light. since linkedin is the most used professional networking platform, it is essential that students not only create a profile but learn to include the essential information that employers are seeking. the author performed a literature review on personal branding, social networking and factors needed to have a successful linkedin profile. based on these findings, a linkedin assignment was developed for students to help them build their personal brands and increase their visibility on the web. the author conducted a content analysis of over 150 student reflections on the linkedin assignment and found the top three benefits of the linkedin assignment to be: building a network, designing a great profile, and finding/receiving job and internship offers. this paper contributes to research by providing a specific assignment that any faculty can use to teach students how to brand themselves on linkedin. keywords personal branding, linkedin, social network, professional network 1. introduction the act of presenting oneself in a positive manner to obtain a job interview and to impress a potential employer during said interview has long been established. today, students have many opportunities to shape their presence on the internet even before a potential employer may encounter the applicant. professional social networking sites such as linkedin provide students with the opportunity to present their skills, accomplishments and resume before ever approaching an employer. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 84 published by scholink inc. employers are increasingly using social media to screen employees (curtin, 2021). students can stand out by presenting themselves in a professional manner and by promoting their accomplishments and skills. students must keep in mind that employers notice the negative content on a potential employee’s postings on the web. teaching students how to effectively portray themselves on the web is a critical skill in today’s hiring environment. according to a survey by careerbuilder, a full 70 percent of employers “use social media to screen candidates before hiring” (curtin, 2021, p. 5). even more striking is the following statistic: “54 percent of employers surveyed said they chose not to hire a candidate based on content found on their social media profile(s)” (curtin, 2021, p. 6). one study found that up to 90% of employers use social media to review job applicants (rathore, 2020). another study indicated that the dominant sites used to screen applicants were facebook and linkedin (hood et al., 2014). linkedin was used more to search for viable candidates while facebook was more likely to be used “later during the search process to exclude candidates if profiles contained content that detracted from the candidate’s character or ability to discern what is appropriate for public consumption” (hood et al., 2014, p. 38). students, therefore, need to understand what they should and shouldn’t do on social media. posting inappropriate photos/videos or information, posting information on drinking/drugs, and making discriminatory comments made-up the top three reasons employers didn’t hire an applicant based on social media postings (curtin, 2021; hood et al., 2014). if an individual chooses not to have a social media presence, this can also cause negative perceptions. “nearly half of employers (47 percent) say that if they can’t find a job candidate online, they are less likely to call that person in for an interview” (nikravan hayes, 2018, p. 4). conversely, employers were more likely to hire applicants when the individual’s social media profile portrayed information “that supported professional qualifications, demonstrated great communication skills and portrayed a professional image” (curtin, 2021, p. 12). hood, robles and hopkins (2014) interviewed hiring managers who indicated that the most sought-after skills included problem solving, time management, teamwork, computer, interpersonal, showing initiative, decision making, creativity, and oral communication. hood, robles and hopkins (2014) also determined the most important criteria that recruiters look at when viewing a linkedin profile. these criteria included having individuals provide a complete job history, list of relevant skills, complete education information, a summary bio, list of skills (and endorsements for the skills), a career objective, relevant coursework listed, and a professional picture. as the relevance of personal branding online has increased, educators must educate their students about personal branding in an online environment. additionally, students need to understand the importance of having their personal brand communicated in a positive manner through professional social networking sites. this paper will discuss the significance of personal branding, developing a professional network and using linkedin to accomplish these objectives. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 85 published by scholink inc. 2. literature review 2.1 personal branding personal branding involves a conscious effort to maintain an image in person and online. students need to be aware of what they are communicating with others through non-verbal and verbal communication. maintaining a strong positive personal brand involves a consistent effort to market oneself to others (edmiston, 2014; gehl, 2011; hearn, 2008; johnson, 2017; mckorkle & mckorkle, 2012; peters, 1997; rampersad, 2011; shepherd, 2005; vitelar, 2019). personal branding encompasses communicating one’s strengths, skills, abilities and career goals to others in an ongoing process (peters, 1997). to develop a personal brand, students need to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses, how others perceive them, their life and work experiences, their communication abilities and their sense of style (hood et al., 2014). furthermore, students’ need to consider industry norms and expectations in deciding how to present themselves online and in person (hood et al., 2014). due to the ever-increasing usage of social media and social networking, students need to be taught the strategic importance of managing their own brand on a continual basis (curtin, 2021; edmiston, 2014; hood et al., 2014; peters, 1997; mckorkle & mccorkle, 2012; rampersad, 2009). as individuals go through life, their experiences and skills will change. when individuals develop new competencies, they need to update their personal brand especially in an online environment (rampersad, 2009). having a personal brand that stands out from the competition when trying to find a job is essential (harris & rae, 2011; mckeon, 2020; vitelar, 2019; welsh, 2020). since today much of an employment search is conducted on the internet, it is important that a person’s web profiles be professional and polished (mckeon, 2020). as educators, it is essential that we teach students the about the significance of establishing and maintaining their personal brand. part of the development of the personal brand involves an understanding of social networking. 2.2 social networking social networking involves interactions with personal and business relations to build a network of contacts. social networks allow communication to be interchanged and information shared. in today’s world of technology, transmission of ideas can easily be shared through the plethora of social media platforms such as facebook, instagram, twitter and linkedin (edmiston, 2014; lakshminarasimha & vijayan, 2008; lucero-romero & arias‐bolzmann, 2020). social networks and communities are formed based on similarities of interest, professions, and hobbies. in the realm of social networks on the internet, individuals build profiles of themselves, and connect to individuals they know and with whom they want to be connected. people can then use these connections to build additional connections in the process of seeking relationships, advice or jobs. 2.3 linkedin while many platforms exist for social media, linkedin is the top professional social networking site. “with nearly 740 million users, linkedin has changed the way professionals network. the platform www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 86 published by scholink inc. allows you to apply for jobs and connect with former co-workers and like-minded professionals” (balkhi, 2021, p. 2). linked is beneficial because it allows individuals to create profiles that contains their expertise, skills, work experiences and career goals (balkhi, 2021; curtin, 2021; doyle, 2021; mckorkle & mckorkle, 2012; stoller, 2021). additionally, linkedin allows users to seek recommendations from others in order to build credibility (bautista, 2021; chan, 2021; doyle, 2021; rycraft, 2018). furthermore, linkedin allows individuals to make connections with individuals they have never met in order to build their network. 93% of recruiters use linkedin to research and recruit candidates. linkedin allows you to have an online personal brand which makes you visible to key decision makers and recruiters. this means when your name is put into a search engine such as google, you have an online personal brand and you are appearing in search results (rycraft, 2018, p. 3). 2.3.1 linkedin guidelines for a successful profile past studies have enumerated key factors for building a linkedin profile (arruda, 2013; balkhi, 2021; bremner & phung, 2015; curtin, 2021; doyle, 2021; heath, 2017; hood et al., 2014; “how to make, 2021; johnson, 2017; kellogg, 2020; labreque et al., 2010; mckorkle & mckorkle, 2012; moran, 2021; rampersad, 2001). these factors include: ● having a professional profile picture ● defining who you are and what you want in profile summary ● developing storytelling skills ● showcasing accomplishments/skills/work ● using keywords throughout profile ● being authentic and consistent ● posting meaningful and engaging content ● keeping profile updated and active ● asking others for recommendations ● performing spell check and grammar check on profile ● building a network ● commenting and sharing information posted by contacts within network 2.3.1.1 having a professional profile photo i have been using a class assignment on linkedin for five years. during this time, i have realized that many students do not understand what it means to have a professional looking photo. i tell students that they do not need to pay money for a photographer, but that they need to keep the photo professional. still, some students choose to post a profile picture with their pet or significant other, wear clothes that appear like they are on vacation, and wear hats/glasses that obscure the view of their face. to decrease the likelihood of this occurring, i have links and comments on the assignment to assist students with developing an appropriate and professional looking profile page, but still have found it necessary to elucidate what is meant by a professional looking photo. i have provided students with a summary of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 87 published by scholink inc. requirements found in an article by kellogg (2020, p. 20) that nicely summarizes expectations. students should keep these things in mind when selecting a profile photo: ● profile should include face and/or shoulders. no extreme closeup of face or full-length picture. ● photo should be crystal clear and unpixellated. ● person should not wear hats, sunglasses or any other obscuring accessories. ● smile. ● have great lighting. ● do not use a selfie (or at least something that you can tell is a selfie). ● don’t have anyone else in your picture. ● dress professionally. 2.3.1.2 profile summaries typically, 10-20% of students in my classes forget to include a summary statement. i instruct students to create a statement that highlights their skills, work experience and goals. recently, i started providing examples of how to write a summary statement that will entice employers. a recent article suggests “people don’t want to know about your accomplishments. instead, they want to know how your experience can help them. so, rewrite your linkedin about section to present your expertise to show how you can help your customer or others” (moran, 2021, p. 12). 2.3.1.3 developing storytelling skills moran (2021, p. 15) suggests that students develop their storytelling skills to transmit ideas. people listen to and become engaged in stories. so, transform your fact-based pitch or presentation into a story. if you provide some relatable context to help your audience “get it” more efficiently, you will increase your brand’s positioning by appealing to a broader audience (moran, 2021, p. 15). 2.3.1.4 showcasing work vitelar (2019) found that social media profiles can be used to showcase students’ skills, personalities and passions. by highlighting their accomplishments, students are able to demonstrate how they are distinctive from other potential applicants of a job. all of the marketing majors at my university will have course projects on real companies that they can display to promote their abilities. i always encourage students to publish the projects they are proud of on linkedin. 2.3.1.5 using keywords throughout profile employers use keywords in their search to find qualified applicants. students need to spend time searching through job descriptions and job advertisements to determine what key skills are needed for desired jobs. if the student possesses these skills, it is important that they highlight these skills using appropriate terminology on their profiles (balkhi, 2021; heath, 2017; hood et al., 2017). 2.3.1.6 be authentic and consistent students should post information that is accurate and true (rampersad, 2001). if a person posts that they have skill such as good oral and written communication, but then has trouble answering questions, seems www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 88 published by scholink inc. flustered in an interview, or has grammar problems throughout a cover letter, the employer will question other aspects of that person’s profile. 2.3.1.7 posting meaningful and engaging content bautista (2021, p. 11) identifies seven forms of content that can be shared: “free e-books, checklists or worksheets, live webinars, linkedin live events, on-demand webinars, free consultations, virtual linkedin local events and free live coaching sessions”. bautista (2021, p. 11) recommends that not only should individuals share significant content with others, but that they should create their own content that is engaging. balkhi (2021, p. 14) suggests that individuals post “interesting and educational content that they own” to demonstrate knowledge or expertise in a field. 2.3.1.8 keeping profile updated and active it is important for students to not to let their profile become outdated (arruda, 2013). if some has changed jobs, the individual needs to make sure to update the profile to reflect the new position. if a person has been promoted, then they should make sure to list the new position and the new responsibilities. 2.3.1.9 asking others for recommendations written recommendations on linkedin help build a student’s credibility. students can ask for recommendations from professors or from their job experiences (balkhi, 2021; doyle, 2021; moran, 2021). when making a request for a recommendation, it is important to include a summary of accomplishments to make it easier for a person to give a recommendation (doyle, 2021). 2.3.1.10 performing spell check and grammar check on profile many job postings list oral and written communication as a required skill for a position. a profile that demonstrates organization and clear communication, makes a good first impression (moran, 2021; peterson, 2019). “when a worker writes well, she demonstrates courtesy, attention to detail and intelligence. in addition, employees who have good written communication skills benefit their company by ensuring quality communications with clients, prospects and other outside interests” (peterson, 2019, p. 2). conversely, poor communication has many negative connotations. on the other hand, misspellings, poorly organized thoughts and grammatical errors make the writer appear unintelligent and unprofessional. at the application or interview stage, this could cost a worker a job offer or result in a salary offer that is lower than what it might have been otherwise (peterson, 2019, p. 3). 2.3.1.11 building a network when requesting a connection on linkedin, it is a good idea to include a personal note of introduction rather than just sending an invite (balkhi, 2021; kellogg, 2020; li, 2018; moran, 2021; proctor, 2021). “invite past and current coworkers, classmates, friends and family to connect. be sure to add these 3 things to your customized invitations: the person’s name, a personal message, and thank you” (linkedin for networking, 2021, p. 2). searching for alumni from one’s university is also a good way to find connections. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 89 published by scholink inc. another suggestion is for students to request an informational interview with a connection (linkedin for networking, 2021). informational interviews allow a student to learn about a company and different positions. students can also join groups that are related to their field of interest (balkhi, 2021; kellogg, 2020). balkhi (2021) points out that just joining isn’t enough, students must interact with other individuals in the group. 2.3.1.12 commenting and sharing information posted within network by sharing content, students are helping others build their networks. commenting allows people outside an individual’s network to become aware of the individual and potentially invite that person into their network (balkhi, 2021). 2.4 linkedin assignment students are asked to develop a linkedin profile with the following criteria: a professional photo, a summary statement on career goals, skills, work experience and a resume. students are required to connect to the instructor, to 5 students from class, to join/follow at least 2 marketing groups and to connect with the university career center. the linked assignment is presented in table 1. table 1. linkedin assignment this week you will apply concepts in the text. join linkedin and start a basic profile. please view video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg4nf-2tt4c you should have a professional looking photo in your profile. in your photo you should smile, not have anyone else in the picture, not wear sunglasses or a hat, show only your face & shoulders, have good lighting, and dress professionally. please review this link on https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/linkedin-personal-brand/#close in additional to your professional looking photo (you don’t need to pay for this just look professional and not casual as this is a business site), you should have your name, summary statement on career goals (the “about” section), information on your skills, education, work experience including job description and education. in the accomplishment section, make sure to list relevant courses to your major as this will help when employers search for potential candidates for a job. do not list the course number as this won’t mean anything to an employer, just list course titles such as buyer behavior or integrated marketing communications. if you have a resume, please post it on linkedin as we want to get you started on building your professional profile. post your profile url to this discussion area by 7:00 p.m. 2/17. if you have a profile, but do not post the url to this discussion area, you will not earn points. connect with me by 7:00 p.m. 2/17 at https://www.linkedin.com/in/xxx. post that you have connected with me. connect with at least 5 people in the class to start building your network by 7:00 p.m. 2/11. list the 5 people from class in this forum in your thread by 7:00 p.m. 2/19. please do not edit your original post www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 90 published by scholink inc. as it won't show up as new. reply to your first post with your url and then list the names. connect with career center https://www.linkedin.com/groups/xxx/ by 2/11. find at least 2 marketing groups to follow such as “social media marketing” or “emarketing association” by 7:00 p.m. 2/11. you can also search for groups. post (list) the groups to the weekly discussion area to make it easy for everyone to find good groups to follow by 7:00 2/11. you can find some example groups for marketing on my page by going to “interests” then click “see all” then click “groups”. typically, about 20-30% of students already have a basic linkedin profile. the profiles vary in how much information is provided. the students who already have a profile edit their profiles to include required information while those without profiles, build new ones. early feedback is given if students have forgotten to include any component of the profile and students have time to edit their profiles before the final due date. 3. method at the end of the semester, students were asked to reflect upon using linkedin for the class. the reflection paper asks students to discuss if they found the linkedin assignment helpful and if they currently use or plan to use linkedin in the future. a content analysis was performed on over 150 student reflection papers. qualitative research allows for in-depth analysis on a topic and does not limit what students can say in their feedback. qualitative analysis was deemed most appropriate to allow for a breadth of responses from students since they are from a very diverse background. the university population has 59% female students, 50% students of color, 3% international students and an average age of 30. the content analysis of students’ feedback on the assignment revealed three major categories of benefits linkedin usage: building a network, designing a great profile, and finding/receiving internship and job offers. an excerpt of quotations from student papers is provided for each category. 3.1 results 3.1.1 student feedback on the linkedin assignment—building a network i believe the linkedin assignment serves as a major stepping stone for students who have not yet ventured the world of networking, professional self-branding, and career exploration. personally, i was already on linkedin, however, the assignment enabled me to connect to peers in the same field of study which has the potential of fruition in the form of professional relationships and ventures. i did find the linkedin assignment to be helpful because it taught me how to make a profile first and foremost and then how to connect and network with others. it is something that i will continue to use especially since it is a great workspace to find open positions at companies, network with people already within companies and join groups and can aid in career opportunities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 91 published by scholink inc. i enjoyed connecting with my fellow classmates as it gave me a better sense of where others are compared to me in their schooling and professional life. utilizing this network can only help each student toward finding a job in the future. creating the linkedin profile was extremely helpful. i have already made several connections and am looking forward to the opportunities that will come from it. this is probably the best thing i have gotten from this class. i never knew just how helpful it could be to have one. hopefully this will open many doors for me as i move on in the business world. 3.1.2 student feedback on the linkedin assignment—designing a great profile we were instructed on what the different sections on your profile are for and where recruiters tended to look first. this class assignment of filling out our profiles was helpful to me. it forced me to update everything and i made more connections out of the assignment which was great. i found the linkedin project we did early in the semester to be quite helpful. i had not set up a linkedin account prior to this assignment, and i was actually having a bit of anxiety about it. being a 39-year-old who has worked serving tables for the last decade and a half, i am a little nervous about my lack of professional work experience. not having a linkedin profile was almost a symbol of my anxiety to my late entrance into the business world. not only did the assignment force me to finally create a profile, it allowed me to explore the platform and helped me get over my silly apprehension. i do think the linkedin activity was beneficial. this way when looking for jobs in the future we already have a base profile, and until then we can add to it. i do this with my resume as well, so then i will never forget any information or jobs/experiences. 3.1.3 student feedback on linkedin assignment—finding/receiving internship and job offers i found the linkedin assignment super helpful on a personal scale because making connections is important in the business realm. it also gave me the opportunity to research internships for the summer that i would not have found anywhere else. linkedin is a great platform and i never realized until this assignment. social media and technology are the future, so having your resume online is practical and useful to many. linkedin was something i never took seriously until i took this class and it was a required assignment. i am thankful that i got a chance to do this assignment because after starting to check it and update my portfolio, i have gotten 2 job offers, that i had to decline due to being out of state but i did get an internship offer that i have applied to and hopefully get. overall, i think it’s a good networking website that can open doors for people and help your network grow. one of the best assignments i have had in my college career was to create a linkedin profile. had i known what a great tool it is, i would have gotten one years ago. i now use it consistently as i try to make up for lost time and build my network. i was unaware of the job search abilities linkedin provides as well. i have already applied for a few internships with the simple click of a button. i have been encouraging friends who don’t have a linkedin to get connected. this is an incredible networking site that all working professionals should be connected with and take advantage of. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 92 published by scholink inc. i like that other employers can get in contact with you via direct messaging and reach out to apply at their company. i really enjoyed the fact that we had to make a linkedin account as one of our assignment because not only is it getting us ready for when we are looking to seal the career of our dreams but it also gave me time to get to know some of my peers and what their interests and experiences involved. the number of jobs and job descriptions that are listed on linkedin application is incredible it really shows that there is a whole sea of opportunity when one is just going through the pages. in conclusion i felt that i learned the most from the discussions and enjoyed looking at what my peers had to say. 4. discussion every semester i have used the linkedin assignment, i have found that some students have created superior profiles. when this happens, i ask students if i can use their profile as an example for the class. the profiles i choose have an excellent summary statement, clear career goals, job experience with bullets that highlight responsibilities, examples of work and or school experience, multiple groups that they follow related to their field, a personalized cover photo and a professional looking photo of themself. i do find that not all students follow the instructions for the linkedin assignment. the most common oversights students make are not using a professional picture, not listing responsibilities for a job and not providing a summary statement. students are given the opportunity to fix the omissions so that the profile can be improved before the final due date. i provide students with examples of how to write job descriptions and also provide links such as https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/server-job-description. i have found that some students have no job experience. in table 2, i have provided some helpful links for these students. additionally, due to covid, more students than usual were out of work so i provided some direction for them with a helpful link. table 2. helpful links for students with no job experience or who are out of work just in case you don't have job experience, take a look at these links on what you might do on your linkedin profile https://people.acciona.com/professional-development/no-work-experience-heres-optimize-linkedinprofile/ https://yr.media/tech/you-should-have-a-linkedin-account-even-if-you-have-no-work-experience/ https://davidjpfisher.com/2014/04/07/linkedin-profile-advice-millenials/ some general tips on creating a good linkedin profile can be found at https://www.thebalancecareers.com/tips-to-make-a-better-linkedin-profile-2062332 https://www.inc.com/amy-george/recruiters-will-ignore-your-linkedin-profile-if-its-missing-these-2https://yr.media/tech/you-should-have-a-linkedin-account-even-if-you-have-no-work-experience/ https://davidjpfisher.com/2014/04/07/linkedin-profile-advice-millenials/ https://www.thebalancecareers.com/tips-to-make-a-better-linkedin-profile-2062332 https://www.inc.com/amy-george/recruiters-will-ignore-your-linkedin-profile-if-its-missing-these-2-things.html www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 93 published by scholink inc. things.html https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-tips-students-new-grads-linkedin-omar-garriott/ https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/10-ways-to-create-a-winning-linkedin-profile what if you are currently unemployed? https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-to-put-on-linkedin-when-you-re-unemployed-2062318 for any instructor planning to create a linkedin assignment, i have several recommendations. 1. provide students with examples of good linkedin profiles 2. discuss what type of information should go into each section of a profile 3. provide resources on how to develop a good profile 4. provide students with resources on professionalism 5. encourage students to connect to alumni 6. require students to connect with their school’s career center 5. conclusion, limitations and recommendations for future research this paper has discussed the importance of personal branding and professional social networking. further, the paper provided a specific example of how to assist students in building their professional personal brand. a limitation to this research is that it was conducted in a marketing class. while there were students from communications and other business majors, future research should include assisting students from other disciplines in building their personal brand and professional networks. references arruda, w. (2013). 9 reasons you must update your linkedin profile today. forbes. retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2013/11/25/9-reasons-whyyou-must-update-your-linke din-profile-today/ balkhi, s. (2021, april 22). using linked in to build a professional network. in business.com. retrieved from https://www.business.com/articles/linkedin-networking-tips/ bautista, v. (2021, march 21). 7 posting tips to help boost your personal brand on linkedin. in social media today. retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/7-posting-tips-to-help-boost-your-personal-brand-on-lin kedin/597084/ bremner, s., & phung, b. (2015, december). learning from the experts: an analysis of resume writers self-presentation on linkedin. ieee transactions on professional communication, 58(4), 367-380. chan, t. h. (2021). linkedin for networking, career building & job search. harvard. retrieved from https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2017/08/published-linkedin-guide-sw5-2-17.pdf https://www.inc.com/amy-george/recruiters-will-ignore-your-linkedin-profile-if-its-missing-these-2-things.html https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-tips-students-new-grads-linkedin-omar-garriott/ https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/10-ways-to-create-a-winning-linkedin-profile https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-to-put-on-linkedin-when-you-re-unemployed-2062318 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 94 published by scholink inc. curtin, m. (2020, january 9). 54 percent of employers have eliminated a candidate based on social media. time to clean up your feed (and tags). do your profiles tell the right story? in inc. retrieved from https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/54-percent-of-employers-have-eliminated-a-candidate-basedon-social-media-time-to-clean-up-your-feed-and-tags.html doyle, a. (2021, january 13). how to ask for a recommendation on linkedin. the balance careers. retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-get-linkedin-recommendations-2062316 edmiston, d. (2014). creating a personal competitive advantage by developing a professional online presence. marketing education review, 4(1), 21-24. harris, l., & rae, a. (2011). building a personal brand through social networking. journal of business strategy, 32(5), 14-21. hearn, a. (2008, july). meat, masks, burden: probing the contours of the branded self. journal of consumer culture, 8(2), 197-217. heath, t. (2017, april 3). how to rock your linkedin profile and build your personal brand. in linkedin. retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-rock-your-linkedin-profile-build-personal-brand-tyrona-ty-h eath/ hood, k. m., robles, m., & hopkins, c. d. (2014). personal branding and social media for students in today’s competitive job market. journal of research in business education, 56(2), 33-47. how to make the best use of linkedin and virtual networking opportunities. (2021, february 19). in forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/02/19/how-to-make-the-best-use-of-linkedin-and-virtua l-networking-opportunities/?sh=3a9f652b5629 johnson, k. (2017). the importance of personal branding in social media: educating students to create and manage their personal brand. international journal of education and social science, 4(1), 21-27. kellogg, k. (2020, feb 5). 15 ways to boost your personal brand on linkedin. search engine journal. retrieved from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/linkedin-personal-brand/#close labreque, l. i., markos, e., & milne, g. r. (2011, february). online personal branding: processes, challenges and implications. journal of interactive marketing, 25(1), 37-50. lakshminarasimha, a., & vijayan, a. (2008, august). value chain analysis: social networking communities. icfai journal of marketing management, 7(3), 34-42. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 95 published by scholink inc. li, l. (2018, november 23). how to build (and maintain) an effective linkedin network. in fast company. retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90265127/how-to-build-and-maintain-an-effective-linkedin-networ k lucero‐romero, g., & arias‐bolzmann, l. g. (2020, march). millennials’ use of online social networks for job search: the ecuadorian case. psychology & marketing, 37(3), 359-368. mccorkle, d. e., & mccorkle, y. l. (2012, summer). using linkedin in the marketing classroom: exploratory insights and recommendations for teaching social networking. marketing education review, 22(2), 157-166. mckeon, k. (2020, april 28). 5 personal branding tips for your job search. in the manifest. https://themanifest.com/digital-marketing/5-personal-branding-tips-job-search moran, g. (2021, january 11). 10 tips to fix your personal branding on social media in 2021. in business 2 community. retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/social-media/10-tips-to-fix-your-personal-branding-on-soc ial-media-in-2021-02375762 nikravan hayes, l. (2018). more than half of employers have found content on social media that caused them not to hire a candidate. in career builder. retrieved from http://press.careerbuilder.com/2018-08-09-more-than-half-of-employers-have-found-content-o n-social-media-that-caused-them-not-to-hire-a-candidate-according-to-recent-careerbuilde r-survey peters, t. (1997). the brand called you. fast company, 10, 83-89. peterson, l. (2019, february 12). the importance of good writing skills in the workplace. small business chronicle. retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-good-writing-skills-workplace-10931.html rampersad, h.k. (2001). authentic personal branding. brand channel. retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=1360 rathore, s. (2020, july 22). 90% of employers consider an applicant’s social media activity during hiring process. small business trends. https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/05/social-media-screening.html rycraft, s. (2018, may 24). 7 benefits of using linkedin. linkedin. retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-benefits-using-linkedin-sarah-rycraft/ shepherd, i. d. h. (2005, july). from cattle and coke to charlie: meeting the challenge of self-marketing and personal branding. journal of marketing management, 21(5/6), 589-606. stoller, k. (2021, march 30). job seekers, linkedin will guarantee your next interview—if you can pass a test. forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinstoller/2021/03/30/this-new-linkedin-feature-guarantees-candi dates-a-job-interview-after-this-one-task/?sh=3f33bee927a3 https://www.business2community.com/social-media/10-tips-to-fix-your-personal-branding-on-social-media-in-2021-02375762 https://www.business2community.com/social-media/10-tips-to-fix-your-personal-branding-on-social-media-in-2021-02375762 http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=1360 https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/05/social-media-screening.html www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 96 published by scholink inc. vitelar, a. (2019, june). like me: generation z and the use of social media for personal branding. management dynamics in the knowledge economy, 7(2), 257-268. welsh, j. (2020, january 1). personal branding in 2020: a guide to personal branding in 2020. retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/guide-linkedin-personal-branding-2020-justin-welsh/ global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 26 original paper exploring the pathways for digital transformation of the ―building equipment‖ course in the context of applied university development liu miaomiao 1 & yu haihe 1* 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong, china * yu haihe, e-mail: haihe_yu@139.com received: may 10, 2025 accepted: may 20, 2025 online published: may 22, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p26 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p26 abstract under the national strategy of building an education power, application-oriented universities face the urgent task of aligning curriculum systems with industrial upgrading needs. this study presents a systematic reform of building equipment, a core civil engineering course, through a “five new” smart education ecosystem. by integrating vr/ar virtual simulation, ai-bim collaboration platforms, and a three-dimensional evaluation system, the reform addresses critical challenges in traditional education, such as technological obsolescence, practice-education gaps, and simplistic assessment. empirical results show significant improvements in teaching efficiency and student competence, offering a scalable model for vocational education innovation in emerging technical fields. keywords curriculum reform, building equipment, industry-education integration, smart education 1. introduction 1.1 strategic context and industrial demand guided by china education modernization 2035 and the ―digital china‖ initiative, applied universities must bridge the gap between academic curricula and industry demands in intelligent construction. the ministry of housing and urban-rural development (2023) reports that 85% of construction enterprises have adopted bim technology, yet only 12% of graduates possess proficient bim application skills. this mismatch creates an annual talent gap of 673,000 in intelligent construction sectors, including digital twin management and ai-driven facility maintenance. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 27 published by scholink inc. 1.2 core challenges in traditional curriculum (1) technological lag: textbooks still dominate teaching, with 63% of content failing to reflect recent advancements like aiot-based smart building systems (moe, 2022). (2) practice-education gap: a survey of 200 construction firms reveals that 75% of graduates require 6-12 months of on-the-job training to master basic bim operations, incurring an average cost of ¥12,000 per employee annually. (3) assessment limitations: traditional exams assess only 35% of required competencies, neglecting practical skills like system integration and fault diagnosis (china academy of building research, 2023). 1.3 research objective this study aims to develop a technology-embedded, industry-aligned curriculum model that enhances student employability through: dynamic integration of emerging technologies (e.g., vr, ai); collaborative design with industry partners; holistic competency evaluation beyond traditional testing. 2. literature review 2.1 domestic innovations in curriculum reform yu pengtao proposed that ―four-chain integration‖ is a key model for the industry-education integration mechanism, emphasizing the deep integration of the education chain and industry chain. ai xinying et al. established a bim+ curriculum cluster for civil engineering majors, constructing a progressive curriculum system including ―bim technology introduction, bim modeling application technology, bim application and project management, bim technology comprehensive training‖ to form a ―design-modeling-management application-practical training‖ progressive curriculum cluster system, which significantly improved talent cultivation quality and students’ employment competitiveness, with remarkable educational outcomes. wang yue et al. aiming at the unclear professional standards for intelligent construction and ambiguous curriculum systems, proposed a construction path for vocational competency standards and curriculum systems based on the practice of the intelligent construction technology major at chongqing technology and business vocational college. the team led by wu jiajun at stanford university used natural language processing technology to generate 3d teaching scenarios, increasing knowledge absorption rate by 38%. 2.2 international research trends the abet (accreditation board for engineering and technology) engineering accreditation system in the united states requires precise mapping of curriculum objectives to industry competency matrices, promoting deep integration of engineering education with industry needs. singapore polytechnic developed the pipesim system, which significantly improved the efficiency and quality of pipeline fault diagnosis training through constructing immersive virtual training environments. germany’s dual www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 28 published by scholink inc. education system promotes ―modular curriculum packages‖, organically integrating classroom teaching with enterprise practice to achieve interdisciplinary knowledge integration and deep enterprise participation. currently, existing research literature mostly focuses on single-dimensional curriculum teaching reforms, lacking systematic design for ―technology application-teaching models-evaluation systems‖. this study introduces complex adaptive systems (cas) theory to construct a smart education ecosystem with self-organizing characteristics. 3. reform framework: the “five new” smart education ecosystem 3.1 strategic alignment with national initiatives new urban construction integration: the curriculum incorporates 7 key tasks from the 14th five-year plan for construction, such as urban waterlogging prevention and prefabricated building technology. for example, a ―smart drainage system design‖ module uses real data from qingdao’s urban flood control projects, requiring students to simulate iot-based monitoring systems. competency upgrading: 12 new skills are added, including ai algorithm deployment (e.g., using python for energy consumption prediction) and digital twin modeling (via unity 3d), aligning with the intelligent construction talent standards (2023). 3.2 three-dimensional industry-education coordination (1) resource integration: ai-bim case library: contains 500+ real projects (e.g., qingdao metro line 8), structured by 12 dimensions (e.g., project scale, technology type) and 79 metadata tags for efficient retrieval. (2) cloud workshop platform: enterprise engineers (e.g., from china construction science & technology group) teach 32% of class period, guiding students through 8 phases of project lifecycle management. (3) process innovation: credit bank system: students can earn 8-12 credits by completing corporate projects (e.g., bim modeling for a residential complex), with industry evaluations accounting for 40% of course grades. (4) outcome evaluation: industry certifications (e.g., autodesk bim certified professional) are integrated into curriculum objectives, with pass rates used to adjust teaching modules bi-annually. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 29 published by scholink inc. 4. practice paths for curriculum reform 4.1 construction of the “five new” smart education ecosystem integration: case, in the ―smart building energy management‖ module, students use bim to model a campus building and apply ai algorithms (e.g., reinforcement learning) to optimize hvac systems, reducing simulated energy consumption by 23%. breakthrough: vr training, a ―fire emergency simulation‖ module uses htc vive to immerse students in 1:1 scale virtual buildings, allowing them to practice pipeline troubleshooting with a 92% reduction in physical equipment costs. interconnection: real-time data lab, connected to smart city infrastructure, students analyze real-time water quality data to design adaptive irrigation systems, with project outcomes shared with municipal engineers. innovation: ar instruction, hololens 2 is used to overlay 3d models onto physical equipment (e.g., pumps), enabling students to visualize internal workflows and improve maintenance skill acquisition by 38%. community: student-led case development: a team of students created a bim-based maintenance manual for old residential buildings, adopted by 15 property management companies, enhancing course relevance. figure 1. the “five new” smart education ecosystem 4.2 innovation of the “three-stage, six-step” teaching model a ―three-stage teaching‖ model is innovated: pre-class: ai intelligent systems push stratified tasks based on learning diagnostics. in-class: constructing virtual-real integrated teaching scenarios. post-class: data-driven dual improvement pathways. a closed-loop model of ―ai-guided learning-virtual-real training-practical innovation‖ is established, integrating technology deeply into the entire teaching process. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 30 published by scholink inc. table 1. case study: smart water system design project 4.3 innovative teaching evaluation system a three-in-one teaching evaluation system is constructed, assessing knowledge acquisition, capability development, and industry alignment: (1) knowledge acquisition (30%): formative: weekly online quizzes (ai-graded, 15%), classroom simulations (15%). summative: final project (bim-based system design, 50%), written exam (35%). (2) capability development (50%): practical: vr troubleshooting (20%), hardware integration (30%). project: team-based smart building design (50%), with peer review (20%). (3) industry alignment (20%): enterprise evaluation: project presentation to industry panel (60%). stage steps technology case: smart water system design pre-class ai student situation diagnosis learning analytics platform identified of students struggled with hydraulic calculations hierarchical task push lms with adaptive learning delivered personalized pre-class materials (e.g., python scripting for pipe network analysis) in-class integration of virtual and real teaching bim+ar designed a water supply network in virtual campus, tested with physical mockups dynamic feedback adjustment real-time polling system adjusted teaching pace based on student understanding rate post-class data-driven improvement knowledge graph recommended 2–3 targeted exercises per student (e.g., pump selection simulations) practical project validation tencent cloud iot deployed a real-world water quality monitoring system for a campus lake www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 31 published by scholink inc. certification: bim skill test pass rate (40%). figure 2. three-in-one teaching evaluation system evaluation results are used to continuously improve teaching, forming a virtuous cycle of ―evaluation-feedback-improvement.‖ this comprehensive and objective evaluation method accurately assesses student learning outcomes and provides a basis for personalized guidance. 4.4 technological empowerment and scenario innovation practices in curriculum reform in the digital transformation of the ―building equipment‖ course, technology empowerment is not only reflected in the innovation of teaching tools but more importantly, it achieves a deep integration of knowledge transmission and skill development through scenario reconstruction. taking the core module—hvac system in building equipment systems as an example, traditional teaching methods struggle to provide students with a clear understanding of the dynamic operation logic of the system due to its large size and abstract operating principles. by introducing digital twin technology, a 1:1 scale virtual hvac system is built based on real construction project data. students can interactively operate virtual valves and adjust temperature and humidity parameters using gestures, observing changes in airflow organization and energy consumption curve fluctuations under different conditions. actual measurement data shows that students who use digital twin training have significantly improved their grasp of system regulation principles. in the application of bim technology, develop an ai-bim collaborative design platform that integrates python parametric design and building energy consumption simulation. when students design water supply and drainage systems for buildings, the platform can automatically check pipeline collision rates, calculate fluid dynamics (cfd) simulations of water flow resistance, and recommend optimal pipe diameter combinations based on machine learning algorithms. taking a commercial complex project as an example, the average time students spend using this platform to complete their designs has been significantly reduced, and both the economic efficiency and safety of the design solutions meet the standards of grade a design institute in the industry. additionally, the platform’s built-in ―engineering knowledge base‖ compiles over 200 real-world engineering cases, using natural language processing technology to achieve intelligent matching of design issues, providing students with real-time decision support and significantly enhancing their ability to solve complex engineering problems. knowledge acquisition capability development industry alignment educational assessment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 32 published by scholink inc. 5. reform outcomes and innovative value 5.1 reform outcomes enhanced teaching effectiveness: mixed teaching mode of ―digital + smart teaching‖ via multimedia resources and vr. optimized evaluation: smart teaching systems track process data (preview duration, assignment completion, test scores, classroom interaction) and generate assessment reports using ―knowledge graphs + ai diagnosis.‖ personalized development: platforms provide targeted learning suggestions based on student data, enabling teachers to tailor instruction. strengthened teacher-student interaction: real-time in-class interaction tools and online q&a foster ―interconnection, interaction, and integration.‖ practical innovation capability: hands-on projects and research support cultivate problem-solving and creative thinking. 5.2 theoretical innovation value the competency radar covers 21 indicators, including technical application (bim, iot), engineering thinking (system optimization), and professional literacy (safety standards). using the entropy weight method to determine indicator weights, a dynamic evaluation of educational technology maturity matrix (etmm) is established: table 2. dynamic evaluation of the benchmark education technology maturity matrix research shows the course has reached etmm-l2, with an average 41% improvement in teaching efficiency across 12 partner institutions. level technology integration teaching innovation industry adaptation l1 tool substitution method replication job matching l2 process reengineering model innovation need anticipation l3 ecological reconstruction paradigm revolution value co-creation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 33 published by scholink inc. 6. challenges and future directions 6.1 implementation challenges technology divide: 23% of students lacked access to high-end hardware (e.g., vr headsets) initially, mitigated by campus-wide equipment loan programs. faculty training: 45% of instructors required 3-6 months of ai/bim training, supported by industry-led workshops. 6.2 future research agenda ai-driven personalization: develop a gpt-4 powered tutor to provide 24/7 technical support, with a pilot testing phase scheduled for 2024. metaverse teaching ecosystem: build a virtual campus integrating unity 3d and blockchain, enabling cross-institutional project collaboration. hybrid training bases: explore public-private partnerships (e.g., with design institute and china state construction) to create shared practical training facilities, addressing equipment cost barriers. 7. conclusion this study demonstrates that digital transformation of vocational courses requires more than technological adoption; it demands a systemic rethinking of curriculum design, industry collaboration, and assessment. by embedding cas theory, the ―five new‖ ecosystem fosters adaptive, industry-responsive education, positioning applied universities as key drivers of china’s intelligent construction strategy. the model’s success highlights the potential for similar reforms in other stem fields, offering a blueprint for education-industry 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(2025). the scene language: representing scenes with programs, words, and embeddings. computer vision and pattern recognition. microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p46 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 46 original paper retaining international faculty: meeting the challenge lois spitzer1 & jiangyuan zhou2* 1 school of education, stockton university, galloway, new jersey, usa 2 office of the provost, stockton university, galloway, new jersey, usa * jiangyuan zhou, office of the provost, stockton university, galloway, new jersey, usa received: november 11, 2018 accepted: november 27, 2018 online published: december 21, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p46 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p46 abstract the benefits of the presence of international faculty on university campuses are widely acknowledged. their integration into campus life creates a global atmosphere and provides rich resources to encourage globalization efforts on campus. we set out to explore the perceptions of the challenges faced by our international faculty, with the further goal of meeting these challenges and increasing their retention. to probe these perceptions and address the challenges they identified, we created and disseminated a survey and interviewed our international faculty. the results of the study will be used to increase the retention of international faculty at our institution. the actions we propose will be to create more opportunities to socialize, provide more legal support, recruit more international students, offer mentorship based on cultural affinity, and make english language support and speech modification services available to international faculty and encourage them to take advantage of these services. keywords faculty development, international faculty, international faculty retention, internationalization of higher education, internationalizing the campus, campus globalization initiatives 1. introduction the benefits of the presence of international individuals on university campuses are acknowledged by everyone in higher education. their presence and integration not only create a global atmosphere, but also provide rich resources to encourage globalization efforts on campus. how can universities increase the presence and retention of international faculty on our college campus? what steps can be taken to meet their social, cultural, academic, and linguistic needs? in this study, the authors have set out to explore the perceptions of the challenges faced by the international faculty at our university to be able to meet these identified needs thereby resulting in increased retention rates. we believe that if these www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 47 published by scholink inc. challenges are met, we will see an increase in the retention rates of international faculty at our university. the results and recommendations of this study can also be considered to increase retention rates of international faculty at other ihes. attracting and retaining quality faculty is very important to educational institutions as low faculty retention rate can potentially create both monetary and academic consequences (rensselaer polytechnic institute, 2012, as cited in soomro, 2013). international faculty have become an essential part of higher education institutions (altbach, 2003; mamiseishvili & rosser, 2010; manrique & manrique, 1999). they are active in doing research, integrating global perspectives to teaching and learning, and overall enhancing students’ global learning (de wit, 2002; mamiseishvili & rosser, 2010). for most colleges, attracting and retaining a diversified faculty is a high priority in their strategic planning (phillips, dennison, & davenport, 2016). however, criteria for retaining a highly qualified faculty in higher education in many cases are vague and unclear (soomro, 2013). it is a wonder why so little research has looked at the issues facing international faculty, especially considering that in 1998, finkelstein, seal, and shuster (as cited in phillips, dennison, & davenport, 2016) reported that 26.6% of all new faculty in this country are foreign born, as are 17% of senior faculty. according to a 2006 report from the national center for education statistics, between 1993 and 2003, there was a 96.6% increase in non-resident faculty and in fall 2015, the same organization reported that 19.4% of post-secondary faculty were non-resident aliens (national center for education statistics, 2016). the institute of international education reported that the number of international scholars in the united states increased from 115,098 in the 2009-2010 academic year to 124,861 in the 2014-2015 academic year (herget, 2016). international individuals bring various benefits to their institutions, including promoting international exchange programs, enhancing domestic students’ and scholars’ global perspectives, contributing economically to the institutions and local communities, and boosting the national and global rankings of the institutions. it is vital for schools to remain competitive and attract more internationals to develop global learning on campus and promote universities nationally and globally (restoring u.s. competitiveness for international students and scholars, 2006). herget (2016) asserts that a big predictor of the success of international faculty is not where they are from but whether they are at an institution that provides adequate support and resources for these faculties. in order to identify these areas of needed support, previous research investigated the challenges faced by international faculty. international faculty at various institutions identified their most salient and often overlapping challenges as being logistical, social, cultural, academic, and linguistic. logistical difficulties are often the result of visa restrictions and residency issues (foote, li, monk, & theobald, 2008). kastberg (2014) examined the social challenges that face all working-class faculty, international and domestic. in interviews with faculty, kastberg documented that some of the social challenges faced may be difficulty in finding housing, schools for children, and jobs for their partners. members of other cultural and linguistic groups (regardless of their citizenship status) face www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 48 published by scholink inc. social and cultural challenges, such as the absence of a social and professional network of friends and difficulty in socializing and interacting with colleagues (redden, 2008). according to thomas and johnson (2004), international faculty reported the lack of collegiality in u.s. colleges leading to “a sense of isolation and loneliness” (thomas & johnson, 2004, as cited in phillips, dennison, & davenport, 2016, p. 6). academic and cultural challenges include not fully understanding the higher education system of the u.s., and specifically the culture of the school at which they are working (gahungu, 2011; redden, 2008). some also report that majority students are culturally insensitive, disrespectful, and question their expertise (phillips, dennison, & davenport, 2016). linguistic challenges may include international faculty encountering prejudice when it comes to language capacity (lee & janda, 2006). the goal of our project was twofold: 1) to identify the specific challenges reported by international faculty at our institution, a medium-sized state university in a rural community on the east coast, and 2) to make suggestions as to how our institution can address these challenges. we begin with a discussion of the methodology, move on to a discussion of the results, and finally offer recommendations based on the results. 2. method wells (2007) defined international faculty as “all faculty members other than american born u.s. citizens” (p. 77), sarkisian (2006) referred to “foreign nationals teaching in american college classrooms” (p. 113). mamiseishvili and rosser (2010) loosely defined it as “some who are drawn from outside the united states” (p. 51). without a clear definition, it is difficult to apply the data, and its reliability is compromised (yudevich, altbach, & rumble, 2017). for the purpose of this study, we decided to create an intentionally specific definition of international faculty: international faculty are all members of other cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds who primarily identify with those backgrounds and have global perspectives, attitudes and values. this group includes those on visas, visiting scholars, short-term and long-term faculty, u.s.-born citizens, naturalized u.s. citizens, and permanent residents. it may include american-born faculty members who have spent significant time abroad and who self-identify as international. a survey was created in which international faculty at our university were asked to rate their perceived challenges in three areas: communication, university support and professional/academic support. this survey was distributed by email to the faculty with a request that anyone who considered themselves to be an international individual complete the survey. as stated above, since there is no set definition of international and we could not ascertain an exact number of international faculty on campus, we decided to leave it up to individuals to self-select. as a follow-up, we decided to select two representatives from each school at our university to probe their perceptions more deeply. we asked two specific questions: 1) what is the biggest challenge you have encountered since you came to [our university] as an international faculty? and 2) do you have www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 49 published by scholink inc. any suggestions about how [our university] can better recruit or retain international faculty? we held interviews with the purpose of collecting personal reflections on this topic. responses are summarized in the themes recorded below. the results of the both the survey and the interview were collected and analyzed. the challenges that became evident were then brought forth to the administration and suggestions as to how to address these challenges were made. we also sought to identify those practices that are appreciated by the international faculty and affirm these positive practices already employed by the university. 3. results our results shed light on the varied perceptions of our international faculty. our survey yielded the following results: we received 82 responses between september 27, 2016 and march 23, 2017 (approximately six months). 3.1 survey results as shown in figure 1, 47% of the participants are not u.s. citizens. as for participants’ education history, 64% received the k-12 education outside of the u.s., 51% received undergraduate education outside the u.s., and 15% received graduate education outside of the u.s. figure 1. citizenship and education history of the participants figure 2 reveals that participants reported that 67% had lived in the u.s. more than 15 years, 23% had lived in the u.s. between seven and 15 years, and 11% had stayed in the u.s. less than seven years. as for teaching or working at a u.s. institution, 41% of the participants reported that they had more than 15 years of experience, 36% reported between seven and 15 years of experience, and 23% had less than www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 50 published by scholink inc. seven years of experience. as for this specific institution, 20% of the participants reported that they had taught or worked here for more than 15 years, 26% had seven to 15 years of experience, and 54% has less than seven years here. figure 2. amount of time in the u.s., years working in a u.s. institution and years at current institution the citizenship of the participants is shown in figure 3. survey participants reported being citizens of 21 countries, including china (15 citizens), canada (four citizens), malaysia (four citizens), turkey (four citizens), germany (three citizens), india (three citizens), russia (three citizens). there were two citizens of each of the following five countries: denmark, puerto rico, romania, spain, st. kitts and nevis, and one citizen for the following nine countries: austria, brazil, bulgaria, honduras, iran, israel, jamaica, south korea, and u.k. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 51 published by scholink inc. figure 3. citizenship of the participants as for participants’ self-identified cultural affiliations, figure 4 notes that participants reported feeling affiliated with 20 cultures, with eight participants with u.s. culture, four with italian culture, three with puerto rican culture, two with jewish culture. there was one participant with each of the following 16 cultures: caribbean, dominican republican, eastern european, english, euro-american, french, india, israel, jamaican, japan, polish, romania, russian, south african, spanish, and ukrainian. figure 4. self-identified cultural affiliation of the participants www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 52 published by scholink inc. in figure 5, 11 languages are reported as dominant, including english (34 participants), chinese (nine participants), spanish (four participants), korean (two participants), russian (two participants), turkish (two participants), and one participant for each of the following five languages: bulgarian, farsi, german, malayalam, and portuguese. figure 5. dominant languages of the participants figure 6 notes that participants reported having communication difficulties with the following target groups: administration, colleagues, students, students’ parents, and community members. participants reported having the most communication difficulties (e.g., being misunderstood) with students (mean=1.97), and the fewest difficulties with students’ parents (mean=1.46). they reported the need to repeat themselves the most with students (mean=1.91) and the least with students’ parents (mean=1.25). participants reported wanting to limit interactions as much as possible the most with administration (mean=1.51) and the least with students (mean=1.11). they reported being ignored while giving input or being asked a question the most with administration (mean=1.68) and the least with students (mean=1.17). they further reported more culturally inappropriate gestures from community members (mean=1.47) and fewer from students’ parents (mean=1.22). participants did not further specify these gestures in the survey. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 53 published by scholink inc. figure 6. means of communication difficulties of the participants participants’ satisfaction with university support as reported in figure 7, showed that they were most satisfied with the community service (mean=3.77) and least satisfied with language support (mean=2.58). figure 7. means of participants’ satisfaction with university support www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 54 published by scholink inc. as for the participants’ satisfaction of professional/academic support figure 8, participants showed they were most satisfied with library services (mean=4.09) and least satisfied with travel funds (mean=3.28). figure 8. means of participants’ satisfaction with professional/academic support 3.2 interview responses a sample of the verbatim responses from our interview questions regarding suggestions on alleviating the challenges faced by international faculty were categorized into the following themes: theme 1: lack of social support. “maybe consider creating some clubs or groups for international faculty, so that they can have the opportunity to meet/know each other”. theme 2: lack of legal support. “if stockton wants to better retain international faculty, stockton may consider paying the application fees for permanent residency application as it does for h1-b working visa. many universities pay for the faculty members’ permanent residency applications. if stockton does the same, i think it will help stockton to retain the international faculty”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 55 published by scholink inc. “as someone who lived under this uncertainty until just a few months ago, i certainly appreciate calling attention to this important issue and offering resources. but i also think in addition to such individual efforts, stockton as an institution needs to make a more consistent effort to support all employees through the visa/green card and other immigration paper work/processes. these have always been complex and involve a great deal of financial and other stress; navigating it requires a supportive employer. i can only imagine that the process has become even more fraught now. but in my experience, there is no uniform or consistent support for this at stockton, it is often left to the individual going through the process to negotiate with the deans or supervisors adding yet another layer of stress”. theme 3: too few international students. “what the university can do is to recruit more international students, which would truly make the campus global. the presence of more international students would in turn facilitate the integration of the international faculty into the larger community”. theme 4: need for mentors. “assigning a [additional] mentor from the same [similar] culture who can help the person be familiar with local communities”. theme 5: language barrier. “cultural differences make me feel sometimes it is difficult to join conversations. maybe a little language barrier as well”. 4. discussion our survey and interview data indicated that international faculty had experienced various communication difficulties on campus. their biggest challenges were with students and administrators. the two main problems that were identified were the need to repeat themselves and being misunderstood, which both result in poor satisfaction ratings with the language services on campus. international faculty also felt ignored; this leads to low satisfaction ratings with the professional and academic support for sabbatical and travel funds. suggestions were also made to improve the experience of international faculty and the following suggestions were gleaned from the data collected from the personal interviews: suggestion 1: increase social support. creating social clubs/groups would support the social needs of international faculty. suggestion 2: offer additional legal support. offering more legal support in the form of immigration legal specialists and financial assistance to cover the cost of permanent residency applications would be helpful. suggestion 3: recruit international students. recruiting more international students to create a more internationalized campus and community would help with the integration of international faculty. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 56 published by scholink inc. suggestion 4: provide mentors. initiating a mentorship program that pairs international faculty with members from the similar cultural/linguistic background would provide professional development. suggestion 5: offer language support. making esl and speech modification services available to international faculty and encouraging them to take advantage of these services would increase their confidence and engagement with the campus community. 4.1 limitations of study unfortunately, we could not get an exact number of international faculty at our institution from our human resources office because international status is not identified or collected by our university. so, while we acknowledge the limitations of this study, namely that we have an admittedly limited sample (n=82), we decided to pursue this study because of the useful information it can provide our institution to grow and retain international faculty on our campus. undoubtedly, there are other campuses with a number of international faculty with the same goals that are experiencing similar challenges. we believe the results of our study will also be of use to other institutions who are working towards comprehensive internationalization. while acknowledging these limitations, we understand that all college communities must start somewhere and we are optimistic that we are poised to grow and to facilitate that growth; therefore, we need to explore the challenges that face us so we can address them. 5. conclusion our study has shown that the majority of our international faculties have positive perceptions of the practices of our university. the international faculty who participated in the survey and interviews made specific suggestions, and we plan to integrate these ideas into future steps to be proposed to the institution. the actions we propose will be to create more opportunities to socialize, provide more legal support, recruit more international students, offer mentorship based on cultural affinity, and make english language support and speech modification services available to international faculty and encourage them to take advantage of these services. we hope that this study will inform our university about the perceptions of international faculty, encourage other institutions to carry out studies to improve the experience of international faculty, and add to the growing body of literature that seeks to increase the retention of international faculty on our campuses. acknowledgements this research was funded by a diversity grant from the provost’s office at stockton university. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 57 published by scholink inc. references altbach, p. g. (2003). centers and peripheries in the academic profession: the special challenges of developing countries. in p. g. altbach (ed.), the decline of the guru: the academic profession in the third world (pp. 1-23). new york: palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403982568_1 de wit, h. (2002). internationalization of higher education in the united states of america and europe: a historical, comparative, and conceptual analysis. westport, ct: greenwood publishers. foote, k. e., li, w., monk, j., & theobald, r. (2008). foreign-born scholars in u.s. universities: issues, concerns and strategies. journal of geography in higher education, 32(2), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098260701731322 gahungu, a. (2011). integration of foreign-born faculty in academia: foreignness as an asset. international journal of educational leadership preparation, 6(1). herget, a. (2016, august). foreign-born faculty face challenges. retrieved december 5, 2018, from https://www.higheredjobs.com/articles/articledisplay.cfm?id=1012 kastberg, s. m. (2014). the im/mobility of working-class academics. in n. maadan, & m. tight (eds.), academic mobility (pp. 136-177). bingley, uk: emerald group. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-362820140000011018 lee, g., & janda, l. (fall, 2006). successful multicultural campus: free from prejudice toward minority professors. in multicultural education. retrieved july 11, 2017, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej759643.pdf mamiseishvili, k., & rosser, v. j. (2010). international and citizen faculty in the united states: an examination of their productivity at research universities. research in higher education, 51(1), 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9145-8 manrique, c. g., & manrique, g. g. (1999). the multicultural or immigrant faculty in american society. lewiston, ny: the edwin mellen press. national center for educational statistics. (2016). retrieved december 5, 2018, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d16/tables/dt16_315.20.asp phillips, s. l., dennison, s. t., & davenport, m. a. (2016). high retention of minority and international faculty through a formal mentoring program. to improve the academy, 35(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/tia2.20034 redden, e. (january 24, 2008). integrating international faculty. in inside higher education. retrieved july 11, 2018, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/24/international restoring u.s. competitiveness for international students and scholars. (2006). nafsa: association of international educators. retrieved december 5, 2018, from http://www.nafsa.org/policy_and_advocacy/policy_resources/policy_reports/restoring_u_s__ competitiveness_for_international_students_and_scholars/ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 58 published by scholink inc. sarkisian, e. (2006). teaching american students: a guide for international faculty and teaching assistants in colleges and universities. cambridge, ma: derek bok center for teaching and learning. soomro, t. r. (2013, may). faculty retention in higher education. international journal of higher education, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v2n2p147 wells, r. (2007). international faculty in u.s. community colleges. new directions for community colleges, 138, 77-82. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.284 yudkevich, m., altbach, p., & rumbley, l. (eds.). (2017). international faculty in higher education. new york: routledge. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 9 original paper research on teaching reform of civil engineering construction course kong zhe 1 , guo yuanxin 2* , qiu ziming 1 , yang chuanli 1 & liu yang 1 1 college of civil engineering, qingdao city university, qingdao, china 2 college of civil engineering and architecture, qingdao agricultural university, qingdao, china * guo yuanxin, e-mail: guoyuanxin@qau.edu.cn received: november 20, 2024 accepted: december 10, 2024 online published: december 16, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p9 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p9 abstract in light of the long-standing and prominent issues in the teaching of the civil engineering construction course, such as the simplistic teaching method, the severe disconnection between theoretical teaching and practical teaching, the lack of learning initiative and participation among students, the insufficiency of online teaching resources, and the insufficient manifestation of curriculum characteristics, based on the student-centered concept, through innovative teaching design, the restructuring of course content, and integrated teaching approaches, a new teaching model of “three rings and six integration” is constructed. that is, through the teaching design of “before class, during class, and after class”, the integration of teaching materials and subject frontiers, theory and virtual reality, offline and online resources, evaluation and teaching activities, teaching and scientific research, and ideology and politics and knowledge transfer is achieved. in combination with the teaching content of the course, inquiry-based teaching is carried out, and the teaching evaluation method of the course is innovated. keywords civil engineering construction, reform in education, curriculum construction 1. introduction “civil engineering construction” is a compulsory professional course available for junior students majoring in civil engineering and intelligent construction. after analyzing the teaching content and knowledge structure of this course, the following characteristics are identified: (1) the knowledge structure of this course encompasses building materials, civil engineering survey, structural mechanics, and another related knowledge, making it comprehensive. (2) this course is closely associated with www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 10 published by scholink inc. civil engineering production, and most of the knowledge points are derived from the summary of construction experience, thus having strong practicality. (3) with the advancement and progress of science and technology, new materials and new processes keep emerging constantly, so it demonstrates relatively obvious timeliness. 2. teaching pain points 2.1 textbook content lags behind with the rapid development and progress of science and technology, although the textbooks have been revised for many times, some contents of the textbooks have failed to keep pace with the development of the industry in time, resulting in outdated teaching contents and lack of cutting-edge and practical. 2.2 outdated teaching methods most of the traditional teaching methods are based on teachers teaching theoretical knowledge, supplemented by blackboard writing and multimedia, abstractly teaching complex civil engineering construction technology and methods. students’ learning initiative and participation are not enough, which is not conducive to the cultivation of students’ ability to actively explore problems and innovation 2.3 lack of online teaching resources many engineering practice cases are needed in the teaching process of civil engineering construction. at present, the development of construction technology is accelerating, and new engineering cases are emerging in an endless stream. however, the construction of curriculum resources is not systematic, which cannot meet the needs of teaching, especially the needs of online and offline mixed teaching. 2.4 insufficient practical aspects theory teaching is not closely connected with practice, and course design is often superficial. the interval between production practice and course in construction site is long, and the process of production practice is shallow, which is difficult to achieve the established effect of combining theory and practice. 3. measures and methods of teaching reform with teaching pain points as the logical starting point, cause analysis as the important basis, moral education as the value of the guidance, from the teaching content, methods, resources, assessment and evaluation, ideological and political elements and other aspects of innovative reform, explore the formation of the “three rings and six integration” teaching innovation path. 3.1 the “three rings” design highlights the advanced nature of the course 3.1.1 before class: students find problems and ask questions in the process of self-study teachers publish guide task lists and tests on the online learning platform, and students learn by themselves. the teacher grasps the students’ learning situation and accurately locates the teaching plan. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 11 published by scholink inc. 3.1.2 during class: teachers and students analyze and solve problems together cbl (case-based learning) teaching method is adopted in the teaching process. it is a group discussion teaching method that is based on construction cases, student-centered, and problem oriented. its core is to guide students to actively learn and solve problems through real cases, so as to deepen understanding and master knowledge. the teaching method aims to increase students’ interest in learning, help students internalize knowledge, and stimulate students’ interest and motivation in learning through real cases and problems. enabling students to transform theoretical knowledge into practical skills is conducive to cultivating talents with innovative spirit and practical ability. 3.1.3 after class: expansion and improvement, in-depth exploration, induction and summary after class, teachers track students’ learning progress at any time, supervise and help them consolidate knowledge, deepen teaching content, and obtain teaching feedback. specifically, it includes one-on-one discussions in offline office hours, online learning platforms publishing voting and q&a sessions to understand students’ mastery, and common and typical problems reflected in them will be used as generative resources for feedback in the next class. 3.2 the “six integration” teaching method breaks the limitation of time and space 3.2.1 the integration of teaching materials and academic foreland reconfigures the hierarchical content system according to the target of talent training and graduation requirements, the logical relationship between knowledge is deeply explored. the teaching team adopts the network analysis system to build the core knowledge graph of the course. in combination with the core knowledge map, the teaching team breaks the original knowledge system of the textbook, organically integrates ideological and political elements, disciplinary frontiers, and practical cases, and reconstructs the stepped content system to form three knowledge modules-course introduction, construction technology, and construction organization, which solve the problems of the course being difficult, the teaching content being not logical, and lack of frontier and innovation. 3.2.2 the integration of theory and virtual reality establishes an integrated teaching model due to the large number of students in university classes, it is difficult for teachers to fully ensure the safety of students by taking students to the actual construction site for practical teaching of civil engineering construction. bim (building information modeling) and vr (virtual reality) technologies, as the development direction of building informatization, integrate big data, internet and cloud computing into the design, construction and operation and maintenance of buildings. it can effectively combine theory with practice and improve students' innovative ability. in the teaching process, the bim model produced in advance is imported into the vr platform to form a simulation teaching system, leading the innovation of teaching methods. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 12 published by scholink inc. with the help of immersive vr helmets, students can enter virtual construction sites anytime and anywhere, and have in-depth experiences and learning of site management, safety management, construction techniques. this innovative teaching method effectively compensates for the regret that students cannot frequently visit the construction site in traditional teaching, making the learning process more practical and enhancing students’ practical and problem-solving abilities. 3.2.3 the integration of offline and online resources emphasizes innovative course resources after years of collection and collation, a wealth of online and offline resources have been built, including construction case database, ideological and political elements database, auxiliary teaching materials. students can study selectively according to their own characteristics. at the same time, a large number of case-based learning (cbl) is introduced into the course teaching to highlight the novelty and effectiveness of the teaching content. the specific characteristics are shown in the following six characteristics, which are objectives, focusing on a specific type of construction tasks; timeliness, keeping pace with rapidly evolving construction technology; authenticity, to develop students’ ability to solve complex problems; typicality, closely related to the knowledge points taught in class; systematic, covering important knowledge points in teaching; ideological and political elements, cultivate students’ spirit of responsibility and professionalism. in the course of teaching, online teaching and offline teaching are combined. in offline teaching, teachers first introduce knowledge points by sharing cases, then carry out theoretical knowledge learning, guide students to solve practical problems with theoretical knowledge, and improve students’ ability to analyze and solve problems. online teaching is the use of construction cases to assist learning, including three links, which are pre-class preparation, analysis and discussion in class, and extension after class. 3.2.4 the integration of evaluation and teaching activities forms a process evaluation mechanism in view of the single and one-sided teaching evaluation method, the teaching team of civil engineering construction introduced the teaching evaluation mechanism of obe (outcomes based education). according to national development needs, industrial development needs, employer needs, school development positioning and teachers’ and parents’ expectations, the learning outcome needs are determined, and then the learning outcome is decomposed into the determination of training programs, and then the learning process is implemented. in this process, the teacher team, curriculum system and related support conditions need to be implemented. conversely, these factors will also affect the implementation of the learning process, to evaluate the training program, to evaluate the learning results, and to require the learning results to meet various needs. in the teaching process, formative evaluation is adopted to collect students’ learning progress and feedback in time so as to adjust teaching strategies. formative evaluation can be carried out through various forms such as classroom observation, homework analysis, group discussion report, mid-term www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 13 published by scholink inc. inspection, etc. based on the evaluation results, provide timely feedback to students, point out their strengths and weaknesses in the learning process, and give suggestions for improvement. at the same time, the teaching team will also reflect on and improve the teaching methods and strategies according to the evaluation results, in order to continuously improve the teaching quality. 3.2.5 the integration of teaching and scientific research reflects the high quality of the course content during the process of teaching implementation, teaching is taken as the lead to propose research topics for scientific research as scientific research support. meanwhile, scientific research can indicate the direction for industrial upgrading and provide technical support. industry can offer industry guidance and resources for personnel training, which will have a reciprocal effect on teaching. conversely, teaching can supply industry with specialized talents. industry can provide a research platform and achievement transformation for scientific research, and scientific research can offer technical support for teaching. in the teaching process, we always adhere to the guidance of scientific research and utilize relevant scientific research projects to promote students’ thinking, stimulate their exploration ability and cultivate the scientific spirit. based on a number of research projects of the teacher team, including “a reusable sleeve grouting fullness monitoring tool”, “numerical simulation study on the bending performance of prefabricated reinforced concrete composite beams” and other university-level projects, the advantages of research resource platform are fully utilized, and students are encouraged to participate in scientific research innovation practice through the full tutor system of undergraduates and the multi-channel scientific research projects. with scientific research projects as the carrier, undergraduate students are fully guaranteed to participate in scientific research innovation practice and cultivate scientific research innovation ability. adhere to the guidance of scientific research, and use the relevant scientific research projects to promote students’ thinking, stimulate students’ exploration ability and cultivate scientific spirit. 3.2.6 the integration of ideology and politics with knowledge teaching achieves all-round education in addition to focusing on subject knowledge and skills, process and teaching methods, this course gives full play to the collective wisdom of the teaching team, forms a joint force for educating people, and fully taps into four ideological and political elements: engineering consciousness and professional skills, engineering ethics, artisans of great powers, and feelings of family and country. five basic knowledge links of “engineering material cognition (engineering object), construction machinery familiarity (engineering machinery), construction technology and method mastery (engineering means), construction quality standard understanding (engineering specifications), defect problem disposal (engineering innovation)” are proposed. the “salt” of ideology and politics dissolves in the “soup” of curriculum, and moistens things silently into the whole process of teaching and learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 14 published by scholink inc. 4. conclusion through this course reform and innovation, students’ learning interest and participation have been heightened, making the learning process more vivid and engaging, and stimulating students’ learning appetite and enthusiasm. meanwhile, by means of practical operation and roaming learning in the virtual environment, students can consolidate and deepen their theoretical knowledge in practice and enhance their practical skills. the construction and sharing of online digital resources offer students a convenient approach to learning and achieve the improvement of teaching quality. references alok. v. (2017). exploration on teaching reform of civil engineering construction organization course based on bim technology. indian journal of public health research & development, 3(5). cui, w. j., zhao, c. k., hou, d. s., & qu, c. p. (n.d.). civil engineering construction teaching innovation facing requirements of emerging engineering and intelligent construction. in china metallurgical education (pp. 19-24). li, x. l., wang, e. m., bo, y., & he, d. d. (n.d.). discussion on teaching reform of “civil engineering construction” course under the background of new engineering. anhui architecture, 128-130. pan, c. g., chen, k. y., & shen, x. y. (n.d.). research on teaching reform of civil engineering construction course under the background of new engineering. iop conference series: earth and environmental science, 062011. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/510/6/062011 qiao, c. x., yu, y., ma, x. h., & huang, y. h. (2023). research on the teaching reform of the course “civil engineering construction organization and management” under the background of new engineering. international journal of mathematics and systems science, 6(4). zhao, w., liu, l. g., & zhang, w. (2022). the teaching practice reform based on virtual simulation technology take the course of “civil engineering construction technology” as an example. 2022 5th international conference on humanities education and social sciences. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-89-3_153 https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/510/6/062011 https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-89-3_153 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 15 original paper integrating service-learning through practice and exploration in the second classroom of medical school students, huzhou university, china dong jianxin 1* , gao yuhang 1 & cheng yiyuan 1 1 school of medicine , huzhou university, huzhou, china * dong jianxin, medical college, huzhou university, wuxing district, huzhou city, zhejiang province, china received: october 28, 2023 accepted: november 7, 2023 online published: november 30, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n4p15 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n4p15 abstract “service-learning” is a practical teaching method based on experience, and the “second classroom” of medical students also has strong practicality, and the two have a strong convergence. it is of great application value to explore the fusion mode of service-learning and the second classroom of medical students. this paper expounds the concept and connotation of service-learning and the second classroom, analyzes the necessity of their integration, and takes huzhou university as an example to explore the application of service-learning in the second classroom of medical students in local universities in china from the aspects of motivation, ideas, practices and effects. the results show that the deep integration of service-learning with the second classroom of medical students is of great significance for improving the quality of talent training, expanding teaching resources and enhancing the effect of social welfare. keywords service-learning, second classroom, medical student, local university www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 16 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction at present, the functional orientation of the second classroom for medical students in many chinese universities is limited to the general educational functions such as moral education and social training, and the integration of the second classroom for medical students with professional courses is not deep enough. service-learning applies theoretical knowledge to real situations to obtain practical experience (mahasneh & tawalbeh, 2012, pp. 415-425), so as to promote a deep understanding of theoretical knowledge and finally achieve the integration of knowledge, skills, emotions, attitudes and values (lu & he, 2016, pp. 117-119). integrating the concept of service-oriented learning can overcome problems such as one-sided education function, weak learning function and weak professionalism in the second classroom of medical students, effectively promote the deep integration of the first and second classrooms, and achieve a win-win situation between school teaching and education and social public welfare services. taking the medical school of huzhou university as an example, this study has carried out many years of reform and exploration on the integration of service-learning into the second classroom system of medical students, and condensed relevant experiences and practices for the reference of similar colleges and universities. 2. core concept and connotation analysis 2.1 connotation of service-learning service-learning advocates the combination of school curriculum and social service, which is an educational model with multiple characteristics such as diversity, synergy, reciprocity and reflection (du, 2018, pp. 116-121). service-learning advocates the combination of teachers’ teaching, students’ learning and social problems, so that students can acquire professional knowledge, exercise social skills and improve moral level at the same time, and promote social development. it integrates one-way egoistic course learning with one-way altruistic social service, which is a two-way win-win model. service-learning is different from simple social service, its original starting point is “learning”, learning effect is the core goal, social effect is the “by-product” of learning practice process. schools are required to focus on curriculum plans and social needs, carefully design projects, and comprehensively consider teachers’ teaching, students’ learning, and social needs, so as to achieve the integration of professional learning and social services. there is no consensus on its definition. robert sigmon (1979) believes that service-learning is an effective experiential teaching method. the american association for higher education defines it as a way for students to learn and develop through planned social services (liu, wang & ma, 2005). the national youth leadership council defines it as: an instructional strategy that meets student learning goals and content standards, and a new model of philosophical, pedagogical, and community development. barbara jacoby (1996) defines it as: an experiential learning in which students engage in solving human and social problems. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 17 published by scholink inc. 2.2 the connotation of the second classroom the second classroom is an important carrier for colleges and universities to cultivate the comprehensive literacy of college students and promote the all-round development of college students (liu & gao, 2022, pp. 106-111). the second classroom has five elements: from the time point of view, the second class uses the extracurricular time, does not occupy the first classroom time; from the content point of view, the second classroom is different from the first classroom, is the extension of the first classroom; from the perspective of requirements, the second classroom comes from but is not limited to the teaching material, generally does not need to test, but is an indispensable part of the complete education; from the form point of view, the second classroom is more vivid than the first classroom, the carrier is more abundant; from the perspective of learning space, its scope is very wide, both on campus and off-campus. the second class can not only strengthen the understanding of the theoretical knowledge of the first class, but also broaden students’ horizons, improve their practical level, cultivate their independent thinking ability, and enhance their social adaptability. in short, the second classroom is a kind of educational learning way to acquire knowledge and skills from extra-curricular carriers and comprehensively improve students’ comprehensive quality(hu & li, 2018, pp. 758-761). 3. the necessity of integrating service-learning into the second classroom of medical students 3.1 social service is an indispensable part of higher education teaching, scientific research and social service are recognized as the three functions of universities, which not only promote each other, but also complement each other. the purpose of “teaching” is to cultivate excellent talents, and the purpose of “research” is to help better production. in fact, whether it is training talents or assisting production, its ultimate goal is to better serve the society. from this point of view, serving the society is the ultimate goal and the most fundamental task of colleges and universities. on the contrary, knowledge comes from society, and the inspiration of research also comes from society. only when knowledge and research are deeply integrated with society, can knowledge be deeply understood and reflected, and research propositions of more applied value be explored. therefore, social services can better promote “teaching” and “learning”. from this point of view, social service is the initial link and original power of university work. in summary, from the beginning to the end, social service runs through every link of colleges and universities, and is an indispensable and important content in higher education (jiang, 2023, pp. 96-98). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 18 published by scholink inc. 3.2 the traditional college second classroom is not effective at present, the effect of the second classroom is not good at both the university level and the student level (xiao, dong & liu, 2022, pp. 56-61). the main manifestations at the university level are as follows: first, the university lacks systematic planning for the second classroom, mainly focusing on voluntary service and social practice, lacking unified norms and one-sided content; second, the coverage of the second class is not extensive enough, the carrier capacity is limited, the lack of rigid requirements, and the full participation has not been realized. third, the second classroom is relatively disconnected from the first classroom, and the two are not effectively integrated. the second classroom is strong in practice and service, but weak in learning. at the student level, the main manifestations are as follows: first, some students lack attention to social problems, have low enthusiasm to participate in the second class, and lack the ability to combine theory with practice; second, the quantitative assessment and effect evaluation system of the second classroom is not perfect, and students are easy to breed negative psychology such as perfunctory coping; third, students have blindness in the second classroom activities, and the acquisition of knowledge is not systematic. 3.3 the second classroom for medical students is complementary to service-learning the outline for the reform and development of medical education in china emphasizes that both “teacher teaching” and “student learning” should be integrated into service. in the “several opinions on further strengthening the practice of educating people in colleges and universities”, it is also emphasized that higher education must be combined with productive labor and social practice, and theoretical education, innovative thinking and social practice must be unified. medicine is a practical discipline that attaches great importance to service, and the second classroom in colleges and universities has obvious characteristics of practicality, service and sociality, etc. the second classroom in colleges and universities needs medical service as the carrier, and medical education also needs the second classroom to make up for the lack of practicality in the first classroom. therefore, for medical students, service-learning and the second classroom have a very obvious complementary and promoting effect. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 19 published by scholink inc. 4. the basis and motivation of the reform 4.1 the basic conditions the medical school of huzhou university is the only medical college in huzhou city, zhejiang province, with 8 affiliated hospitals, 1 affiliated community health service center, 4 community practice bases and 56 internship hospitals. the medical school of huzhou university has two master’s degree authorization points in nursing and clinical medicine, and offers three undergraduate majors in clinical medicine, nursing and stomatology, and the clinical medicine discipline entered the top 1% of esi in the world in november 2020, with more than 2,500 full-time students. the school attaches great importance to the cultivation of practical medical talents at the grassroots level. the medical school of huzhou university attaches great importance to the training of practical medical talents at the grass-roots level. as early as 2007, it took the lead in training rural community general practitioners in zhejiang province, and has been established as one of the three community general practitioners training bases in zhejiang province. in 2012, it was selected as the first batch of national pilot universities for excellent doctor education and training program. focusing on the training needs of practical medical talents at grassroots level, the college attaches special importance to the construction of the second classroom for medical students. at the same time, the college has in-depth cooperation with local governments and social organizations, with abundant resources and carriers, and good basic conditions for carrying out the second classroom (yao, fang & xu, 2021, pp. 113-116). 4.2 the reform motivation although the resources of the second class of medical students in the college are rich, they have not been effectively integrated with the main teaching work of the college. firstly, the management system is not standard, which is manifested as incomplete system, non-integration of resources, unsystematic planning and lack of evaluation mechanism. it is urgent to establish a mature and perfect management system for the second classroom of medical students from the aspects of training programs, management institutions, rules and regulations, credit recognition and platform construction. second, the education effect is not ideal, manifested as: the integration with the first classroom is not close, the participation of teachers is not active, the engagement of students is not wide; emphasizes practicality and service, not learning. it is urgent to transform the relatively single education function of the traditional second classroom, making it closely connected with the medical courses, and effectively promoting the in-depth integration of the first classroom and the second classroom. based on the above problems, the college began to explore the integration of service-learning into the second classroom of medical students, in order to achieve the integration of learning and service, as well as the win-win situation between the school and the society. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 20 published by scholink inc. 5. the overall framework and ideas the overall framework and ideas of the medical school of huzhou university to promote the integration of service learning into the second classroom reform of medical students can be summarized as follows: a platform, two main lines, three functions, four in one, five communities and n carriers. a platform: closely combine professional background, fully integrate the second classroom resources, to build an integrated service-learning platform; two main lines: take teaching and public service as the two main lines to achieve a win-win situation between school talent training and social public welfare needs; three functions: focusing on the three functions of talent training, scientific research and social service, vigorously carry out practical teaching, medical ethics education, student research and public welfare services; four in one: integrating university student work, teaching work, local service work and scientific research competition work, forming a multi-functional complex with full cooperation of multiple departments. five major associations: the establishment of new medical association, nursing association, dental association, qhuang association and youth health peer association five college student associations, combined with departments, majors and courses to carry out targeted second classroom activities based on service-oriented learning, forming an effective supplement to the first classroom teaching. n carriers: further integrate social resources, build a group of activity carriers based on projects, maximize the coverage of students, and formalize, normalize, scale and systematize the second classroom education. 6. practice methods and paths in order to further promote the in-depth integration of service-learning and the second classroom of medical students, since 2017, the school has carried out a series of reforms in terms of management mechanism, credit system, departmental linkage and teaching methods, and the specific methods and paths are as follows: 6.1 mechanism reform organize the student affairs office, teaching affairs office and the departments to set up the second classroom management steering committee and the service-learning expert guidance team of the medical school, hold thematic meetings and academic seminars regularly, and establish and improve the management mechanism of the second classroom for medical students and the service-learning teaching system. 6.2 credit system reform systematically sort out the content system of the second class for medical students, modify the training plan, formulate and introduce credit management measures for the second class for medical students, incorporate the activities of the second class into the credit system management system, take the credit system as the starting point and professional-oriented, carry out assessment and evaluation regularly, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of medical students to participate in the second class, and improve the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 21 published by scholink inc. quality of service-learning. 6.3 linkage reform the departments of learning, teaching, scientific research and external liaison work together to promote the participation of professional teachers in the second classroom, the embedding of professional courses into service projects, and the integration of professional practice into social practice, so as to open up the way for the deep integration of the first classroom and the second classroom, further enhance the professionalism and learnability of the second classroom, and effectively build the second classroom into an effective extension and supplement of the first classroom. 6.4 reform of teaching methods in the traditional practice activities of “service as the core”, curriculum, service and reflection are combined into the pbl teaching concept to fully mobilize students’ learning initiative and put what they have learned into practical use. the specific mode is as follows: 1) select and train a group of service-learning tutors to provide teacher’s guarantee; 2) carry out service-oriented learning youth leadership training to train a group of student backbone; 3) the backbone of students will lead ordinary students to carry out learning practice activities in accordance with the steps of “raising questions—searching materials—group discussion—consulting teachers—application practice—reflection and improvement”. 7. main achievements of the reform since the implementation of the reform, the school has greatly improved the quality of talent training, the expansion of teaching resources and the effectiveness of social welfare services, and the pilot effect of integrating service learning into the second classroom of medical students is very obvious. the key results are as follows: 7.1 the quality of personnel training has been significantly improved first, students’ academic performance has steadily improved. in the service-learning program, students’ ability to discover, think and solve problems was significantly improved. in the past three years, 62% of students participating in service-oriented learning programs have won professional scholarships. the pass rate of cet-6 reached 83%; the entry rate of postgraduate entrance examination reached 78%; the passing rate of nurse practitioners is 100%; the passing rate of licensed doctors reached 96.85 percent, and the employment rate of fresh graduates remained above 97 percent. second, students’ ability to innovation has been significantly improved. students who participate in service-learning projects have significantly better indicators of innovation and entrepreneurship than ordinary students. in the past 5 years, 18 national college student innovation and entrepreneurship projects have been approved, 37 provincial projects, 113 school-level projects, more than 300 papers have been published, and 67 prizes have been awarded in provincial and above discipline competitions. third, students’ sense of social responsibility has been significantly enhanced. students deeply feel the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 22 published by scholink inc. society in the service, deeply understand the sacred mission of saving the dead and helping the wounded, and the sense of social responsibility is significantly enhanced. students have actively participated in the fight against the covid-19 epidemic and voluntary blood donation and other public welfare services, and a large number of advanced models have emerged. in the past three years, they have won more than 210 outstanding honors or advanced titles. 7.2 teaching resources have been greatly expanded first, the project funding is more abundant. the college has established long-term cooperative relations with more than 20 government departments or institutions, developed more than 20 service-learning projects such as youth and health peer education project, emergency rescue popularization training project, and obtained a total of more than 2 million rmb of external support funds, providing financial support for the sustainable development of service-learning. second, project mentors have been expanded. in the school, more than 40 service-learning tutors have been trained from the professional faculty group. off-campus, more than 50 off-campus part-time tutors have been trained from cooperative agency. it basically meets the teacher demand of service-learning. third, the venue resources are more abundant. the college has established more than 30 service-learning project venues and bases, such as the nightingale education hall, the red cross life education base, and the emergency rescue modular teaching, research and training center, providing a rich carrier for service-learning. 7.3 fruitful social welfare services in recent years, it has provided more than 600 rounds of rural and community health services, carried out red cross emergency rescue training for more than 60,000 people, provided health services for more than 10,000 people for the elderly, offered medical guidance services to more than 500,000 people in medical institutions, assisted voluntary blood donation with a cumulative blood collection of 1.652 million milliliter, and benefited more than 600,000 people, which was highly praised by society. 8. conclusion the local universities in china, represented by huzhou university, have always attached great importance to the practical education function of the second classroom, but lack the effective connection with the first classroom. in order to make up for the shortcomings, in recent years, more and more medical colleges and universities have begun to promote the integration of service-learning into the practical inquiry of medical students in the second classroom, which has achieved good results. through systematic top-level design, the school of medicine of huzhou university has coordinated and promoted the mechanism reform, credit reform, joint reform and teaching method reform. the traditional second classroom activities have been upgraded, the service-learning project has been promoted rapidly, and good results have been achieved in the quality of talent training, the expansion of teaching resources and social welfare services. its related experience has certain reference and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 23 published by scholink inc. promotion value in similar universities. funding 2023 humanities and social science research project of the ministry of education: research on the construction of local medical students’ practical education community under the background of new medical science (23jdsz3018); 2022 “four new” education and teaching reform research and construction project of huzhou university: construction of “multiple integration” practice education system for medical students in local universities under the background of new medicine (jg202242). references barbara, j. (1996). service-learning in higher education: concepts and practices. san francisco, calif.: jossey-bass publishers, 1996. du, z. (2018). the moral function and enlightenment of service learning in america. journal of pingdingshan university, 33(04), 116-121. hu, b. w., & li, s. m. (2018). problems and countermeasures in the construction of the second classroom in colleges and universities. journal of shenyang university (social sciences), 20(06), 758-761. jiang, t. (2023). research on youth social service in the new era based on counselor’s perspective. modern commerce and industry, 44(22), 96-98. liu, b. c., wang, w., & ma, c. g. (2005). service learning in american colleges and universities. comparative education research, 26(11), 5. liu, j., & gao, x. d. (2022). research on students’ comprehensive quality evaluation based on the credit system of the second class in universities. ideological and theoretical education, 2022(09), 106-111. lu, d., & he, p. (2016). a survey of chinese students participating in service learning programs in the united states: based on the empirical survey of the university of southern california. journal of honghe university, 14(06), 117-119. mahasneh, r., & tawalbeh, a. (2012). integrating service learning in jordanian higher education. innovations in education and teaching international, 2012, 415-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728874 national youth leadership council. [eb/ol]. (n.d.). retrieved from https:/www.nylc.org/page/whatisservice-learning sigmon, r. l. (1979). service-learning: three principles. synergist. national center for service-learning, action, 1979(8), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728874 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 24 published by scholink inc. the ministry of education of the people’s republic of china. (2012). the ministry of education, and other departments on further strengthening the educational work of university practice several opinions [eb/ol]. retrieved from http://old.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/s6870/201209/142870.html xiao, t., dong, y., & liu, r. (2022). construction of the curriculum system of the second class of graduate students from the perspective of “double first-class” construction. graduate education research, 2022(05), 56-61. yao, j. l., fang, j., & xu, l. f. (2021). construction of “trinity” practice teaching system for nursing master’s degree postgraduates?—a case study of huzhou university. journal of huzhou teachers college, 43(10), 113-116. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 36 original paper the application of smart course construction based on the cost model in the teaching of “civil engineering materials” wenting hua 1* , hui wang 1 , aihong qin 1 & fuli wang 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china * corresponding author: wenting hua, e-mail: wenting.hua@qdc.edu.cn received: september 5, 2025 accepted: september 26, 2025 online published: october 8, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p36 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p36 abstract the course “civil engineering materials” adheres to a student-centered approach, aiming to cultivate “new engineering” applied talents with “practical ability engineering thinking, and craftsmanship spirit”. through smart course construction, the cost model is used to realize the theoretical and practical path of integrating artificial intelligence into education and teaching, to build a comprehensive teaching system that includes knowledge imparting, ability training, ideological and political integration, and quality improvement. keywords civil engineering materials, smart course, teaching reform 1. introduction artificial intelligence technology is reshaping the global education landscape, and its applications have evolved from auxiliary teaching tools to core drivers of educational change. to cope with this educational revolution, extensive research has been conducted on the deep integration of artificial intelligence into education and teaching. among them, smart education is the advanced stage of digital education development, and smart curriculum construction is an important means to improve teaching quality and efficiency. it can achieve the sharing of teaching resources, optimization of teaching processes, and improvement of student learning outcomes through information technology. in recent years, many scholars have been committed to developing teaching models based on smart curriculum platforms, by introducing virtual simulation experiments, online testing, multimedia courseware, and other means to enhance students’ learning interests and practical abilities. for example, li nianqiang (2025) proposed using artificial intelligence technology combined with the application of knowledge graphs to optimize teaching content, improve students’ learning efficiency, and explore the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 37 published by scholink inc. construction of intelligent courses for professional basic courses. zhao zhiqiang (2025) proposed a method for constructing innovative classroom teaching models in the context of smart classrooms, and after practical testing, pointed out that this method has the advantages of high student participation and high teaching efficiency compared to traditional knowledge-based teaching models. in terms of combining traditional teaching methods with the construction of smart courses, hu hui’e (2023) proposed that the teaching system of professional basic courses should start from teaching effectiveness, decompose teaching content according to teaching objectives, reconstruct the teaching system, and adopt blended online and offline teaching to achieve the integration of content, technology, and teaching, so that students can transform from passive learning to active learning. duan enen (2024) proposed the teaching model of “flipped classroom+smart curriculum”, which significantly improves teaching effectiveness through the full process design of pre class preview, classroom interaction, and post class review. domestic scholars have also conducted extensive research on the optimization and integration of teaching resources, particularly in areas such as virtual simulation experiments, 3d modeling, and animation demonstrations, achieving significant results. for example, li jiefeng (2024) developed a civil engineering experimental teaching system based on virtual simulation technology, which effectively compensates for the shortcomings of traditional experimental teaching by combining virtual experiments with actual experiments. the construction of smart courses has become a hot research area at present. significant achievements have been made in the construction of smart course platforms, innovation of teaching modes, and optimization of teaching resources. however, further research is still needed in areas such as teaching evaluation and feedback mechanisms, personalized learning support, etc. this article is based on the cost model for instructional design, focusing on the construction of the “civil engineering materials” smart course with “associative thinking, precise analysis, and cross integration”, which has important theoretical and practical significance. 2. teaching ideas for the course of civil engineering materials the cost instructional design model integrates the four core contents of content, others, self, and tasks into the design of students’ learning experience, environment, and methods, helping students effectively establish internal connections between knowledge (chen, 2025). students can deepen their understanding of knowledge and develop advanced thinking abilities through interaction and dialogue with others. by engaging in self dialogue, students can enhance their ability to reflect and learn independently. with the assistance of information technology, students achieve the learning goal of solving problems or completing complex tasks, in order to develop higher-order thinking and problem-solving abilities. based on the cost teaching design model, the smart course construction plan for civil engineering materials is implemented from the following aspects, as shown in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 38 published by scholink inc. table 1. implementation of cost teaching design model 3. innovative methods and approaches for the smart course of civil engineering materials 3.1 enrich the construction of digital teaching resources on course platforms in the self built course of “civil engineering materials” on the fan ya learning platform, there are diverse digital teaching resources, including courseware for various knowledge points, teaching design, self-made micro lesson videos, experimental operation videos, engineering case libraries, course ideological and political libraries, journal libraries, textbook libraries, expanded material libraries, including online question banks for various question types, etc. 3.2 constructing a “quality ability knowledge” system structure based on multivariate graph by combining knowledge graphs with problem graphs, ability graphs, and ideological and political graphs, the construction of multiple graphs can help students better understand the hierarchical structure and correlation of knowledge. the course will use knowledge graph technology to structure cost teaching design implementation design objectives interactive learning with learning content（c） construction of diversified online resources construction of multivariate graph effectively display multimedia learning materials reduce students’ cognitive load establish knowledge connections and construct a logical framework for learning content interactive learning with others（o） application of artificial intelligence technology application of virtual digital human technology collaborative learning among students externalizing knowledge structure to promote team collaboration skills development timely feedback and personalized coaching provided self-talk learning （s） application of artificial intelligence technology knowledge visualization assisted personalized learning personalized resource push to achieve precise teaching task-based or practical learning （t） virtual simulation experimental platform design of complex tasks based on problem graph developing teamwork and problem enhance practical skills in engineering projects www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 39 published by scholink inc. and visualize the core knowledge of civil engineering materials courses, helping students comprehensively understand the connections between various knowledge points. through visualized knowledge graphs, students can quickly access relevant content and advanced knowledge, enhancing the systematicity and coherence of learning. the problem map helps students clarify the key and difficult points of knowledge, identify and solve problems by sorting out the core issues in the course of civil engineering materials. building a competency map closely integrates knowledge points with ability points, enabling students to clearly identify corresponding ability requirements in the process of learning knowledge, which helps students transform knowledge into practical abilities. by combining knowledge and ideological and political elements to construct an ideological and political map, we guide students to understand the social value, ethical responsibility, and engineering mission of the course content, and promote their comprehensive development. 3.3 introducing virtual digital human technology we plan to introduce iflytek’s virtual digital human technology, utilizing various artificial intelligence technologies such as speech synthesis, video synthesis, and virtual human image synthesis, to transform the original boring engineering case text materials or technical specifications of related building materials into teaching videos hosted and explained by virtual digital humans. while linking engineering cases with knowledge points, digital humans can also promptly answer students’ practical questions, making teaching interaction more vivid and effective. efficient interaction can significantly improve students’ learning interest and learning outcomes. 3.4 introducing a virtual simulation experimental platform based on the virtual simulation training platform, we plan to introduce a trial version of the virtual experiment platform, which covers the main experimental content of civil engineering materials as well as laboratory experiments that are not offered, such as asphalt material related experiments, so that students can conduct material performance testing in a virtual environment. virtual experiments not only break the limitations of experimental resources, but also provide students with rich opportunities for practical operation, further enhancing their hands-on ability and innovative thinking. 3.5 utilizing artificial intelligence technology to support innovative curriculum teaching the course will provide personalized learning services through ai technology driven intelligent agent systems. intelligent agents will conduct real-time analysis based on students’ learning data and push the most suitable learning resources, helping students obtain customized content according to their learning situation, thereby improving learning efficiency and ensuring that every student can master course knowledge at an appropriate learning pace. at the same time, the course will guide students to engage in self-directed learning and knowledge application through a task driven teaching approach. by designing targeted learning tasks, students can solve practical problems in practice and cultivate innovative abilities. the task guided mode not only enhances students’ sense of participation, but also improves their learning motivation and practical ability. each task will track learning progress through www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 40 published by scholink inc. the platform and adjust teaching content in real-time to meet the personalized needs of students. 3.6 innovation of teaching evaluation and feedback mechanism the course will adopt an intelligent evaluation mechanism, using big data and ai technology to collect students’ learning data in real time, analyze learning progress, test scores, etc., and generate learning reports. based on students’ performance, generate feedback information, provide personalized learning suggestions, help students make up for their shortcomings, and improve learning outcomes. in addition, teachers can adjust teaching strategies based on the results of intelligent assessments to ensure that each student’s learning receives precise support. 4. course innovation effect under the background of “new engineering” and “internet plus” education, the course of civil engineering materials closely adheres to “student development as the center”, combines the vision of the school and talent training goals, proposes a “practice and inquiry” hybrid teaching mode, and adopts multi-dimensional interaction, independent learning and other methods to improve the learning effect of the course. 4.1 personalized learning support and intelligent resource provision in response to the diverse learning foundations and differentiated needs of student groups, the course will provide personalized learning support through a smart platform. using artificial intelligence technology, course content will be dynamically adjusted based on students’ learning progress and weak areas. ai teaching assistants will accurately analyze students’ learning behavior and grades, generate personalized learning suggestions and recommended resources, ensuring that each student can master the course content at an appropriate learning pace. 4.2 knowledge graph driven teaching system the course combines the knowledge graph of “civil engineering materials” to integrate the course content into a structured and visual knowledge network, helping students better understand the inherent connections between knowledge points and achieve associative thinking. by constructing a three-dimensional structure of “quality ability knowledge”, the knowledge graph clearly displays the relationship and application scenarios of each knowledge module, helping students build a complete knowledge framework. in addition, knowledge graphs can be combined with artificial intelligence technology to dynamically adjust learning paths and recommend relevant learning resources, enabling students to more efficiently grasp course content and gradually achieve cross disciplinary integration. 4.3 practice oriented teaching mode combining blended learning and virtual experiments by combining online and offline blended learning modes, the course provides flexible learning methods. the online section includes micro lesson videos, online tests, interactive discussions, etc., to enhance students’ self-learning ability; the offline part enhances students’ practical operation ability and problem-solving skills through classroom interaction, virtual digital human interaction, q&a and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 41 published by scholink inc. discussion. the course will also utilize virtual experiments and simulation platforms to make up for the lack of experimental projects. students will be able to conduct material experiments and application simulations in a virtual environment, enhancing their practical skills and engineering experience. 4.4 intelligent teaching management and precise teaching through an integrated intelligent teaching platform, the course can not only track students’ learning progress and status in real time, but also automatically adjust teaching content and methods based on students’ learning data, implementing precise teaching. this management model not only improves the teaching efficiency of teachers, but also ensures that each student can receive timely and effective learning support according to their individual needs, thereby optimizing teaching resources and enhancing overall learning outcomes. 5. conclusion civil engineering materials, as a core foundational course in civil engineering and related majors, aims to cultivate innovative talents in the course construction. it aligns with the national “golden course” inspection standard of “one degree for both sexes” and continuously optimizes the course construction through various teaching reform methods such as comprehensive application of practical exploration mixed teaching, engineering case teaching, and information technology teaching. currently, this course has initially formed a course feature with the goal of cultivating innovative applied talents. in subsequent teaching, teachers should teach according to their aptitude, innovate and innovate at the same time, and cultivate more innovative applied talents for the region and industry. funding this paper sponsored by teaching research project of qingdao city university. research on the construction of smart courses based on the cost model using “associative thinking, precise analysis, and cross fusion”-taking the course “civil engineering materials” as an example. project number: 2025015b. references chen, j. j. (2025). model of domain learning-based integration of artificial intelligence into instruction—a case study of a course by a national distinguished teacher on the “zju-great master”. research in higher education of engineering, 04, 27-35. duan, e. e. (2024). research on the integration strategy of flipped classroom and smart classroom under the poa theory system: taking the “management information system” course as an example. china internet week, 14, 61-63. hu, h. e. (2023). reconstruction of professional basic course teaching system based on smart education: taking engineering materials course as an example. university education, 06, 11-14. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 42 published by scholink inc. li, j. f. (2024). construction of experimental teaching system for civil engineering major based on virtual simulation technology. new curriculum research, 24, 29-32. li, n. q. (2025). exploration of intelligent innovation curriculum combining artificial intelligence and knowledge graph: taking electromagnetic field and electromagnetic wave course as an example. journal of higher education, 11, 76-79. zhao, z. q. (2025). construction of innovative teaching mode in vocational colleges under the background of smart classroom: taking “measurement and pricing of construction engineering” as an example. stone, 05, 103-105. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 54 original paper artificial intelligence and the sales process: how to help sales students develop an analytics skill set michael rodriguez 1 * & stefanie l. boyer 2 1 campbell university, buies creek, nc, usa 2 bryant university, smithfield, ri, usa * michael rodriguez, campbell university, buies creek, nc, usa received: january 18, 2020 accepted: february 4, 2020 online published: february 27, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n1p54 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n1p54 abstract the following learning protocol provides an opportunity for professors to help students apply artificial intelligence and analytics in a pipeline management exercise. the activity allows advanced sales students to build a predictive sales model in salesforce.com’s einstein analytics platform. the following innovation walks the educator through the process of accessing the platform, building a model and analyzing outcomes. the exercise provides the opportunity to improve outcomes and act on sales opportunities, simulating the work environment. the article provides teaching tips for success to help professors stay current in the digital age and prepare students for early career success. keywords artificial intelligence, analytics, sales, sales process, teaching innovation 1. introduction the traditional selling landscape continues to evolve now with the integration of technology tools such as crm, analytics and data visualization. as analytics technology increasingly play a key role in today’s selling process, sales educators need to incorporate topics such as analytics and artificial intelligence (ai) into the curriculum. with so much information available on these complex subjects and so little time to absorb it all, how do sales educators help tomorrow’s sales leaders understand and connect with these ever-changing tools? at the national conference of sales management (2019), a teaching innovation was introduced which focused on the fundamentals of ai by integrating salesforce’s trailhead in the sales classroom. the session provided an overview of ai and salesforce einstein analytics. given that students have a foundation of ai, this article provides a hands-on exercise to better understand how ai improves sales www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 55 published by scholink inc. professionals’ ability to manage opportunities and predict win rates for potential customers. the module consists of hands-on use of salesforce.com einstein analytics platform. the exercise can be conducted in one class period (recommended for advanced selling course). the module helps students understand the impact of analytics on the sales process and helps sales faculty implement a straightforward exercise to reinforce the importance of technology in today’s selling environment. the need, usefulness and uniqueness of sales analytics analytics and artificial intelligence (ai) are among the top trends in data and analytics that have significant disruptive potential over the next three to five years, according to gartner, inc (2019). the sales literature adds, “the influence of sales digitalization technologies, which include digitization and artificial intelligence, is likely to be more significant and more far reaching than previous sales technologies” (singh et al., 2018, p. 2). analytics provides future sales professionals the ability to work smarter and more efficiently by discovering sales insights and predicting outcomes with the use of ai. use of analytics and ai can help sales professionals better understand opportunities, generate qualified leads, and more efficiently convert sales. today’s students are no strangers to technology. the question is whether they are equipped to leverage these powerful tools in today’s complex selling environment. teaching objectives the following teaching innovation illustrates how to implement an online resource that helps students develop their analytics skill set at no cost to the user or university. the teaching objectives for this advanced selling topic are: a) build a machine learning/ai model in minutes b) interpret ai modeling results c) understand how ai impacts sales this teaching innovation provides an easy, hands-on exercise for advanced selling students to better understand analytics, ai, and its impact on the sales process. 2. method how to use this exercise in an advanced selling course salesforce.com analytics platform, einstein, is a set of ai technologies that provides sales professionals the ability to analyze data inside salesforce. einstein is used to automate reports, pinpoint workflow needs, and help end users predict sales outcomes. the module not only provides hands on use to salesforce but also enables students to build a machine-learning module and to understand how ai impacts the sales process. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 56 published by scholink inc. figure 1. analytics and ai for the sales classroom flowchart instructions: how to implement the innovation step 1: learn salesforce fundamentals through trailhead. trailhead is a learning management system that is free of charge. students can earn badges, points and status by reading and scoring well on tests to go from scout (novice) to ranger status (expert). salesforce is easy to use. below are instructions to use ai trailhead basic tools with assignments to get started: to use salesforce trails: 1. go to https://trailhead.salesforce.com/home 2. create account 3. use links to go directly to trails or search and create your own plan 4. ask students to screen shot progress (completed modules/linkedin badges) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 57 published by scholink inc. table 1. customized ai tools on trailhead topic module link goal of module the fourth industrial revolutions https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/learnabout-the-fourth-industrial-revolution?trail_id=learn-about-t he-fourth-industrial-revolution learn about industrial revolutions and the basics of the fourth industrial revolution ai basics https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ai_bas ics?trail_id=get_smart_einstein learn what ai is and how it will transform crm and the customer experience salesforce einstein basics https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/get_s mart_einstein_feat?trail_id=get_smart_einstein discover insights and predict outcomes with this powerful set of ai-enhanced features. sales cloud einstein https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ai_sal es?trail_id=get_smart_einstein log your activities, target the right leads, and close more deals with ai for sales. step 2: sign up for a developer org. this will give you access to salesforce in a test environment. it is important to use this type of environment because it allows all of the functionality of salesforce within a playground where nothing will break while students test all of the functionality. sign up here: https://developer.salesforce.com/promotions/orgs/analytics-de step 3: review powerpoint instructions and import data file this practice data file has over 32,000 lines of data. table 1 is a small snapshot of the data file. full data file here: https://amrsalescoach.com/teaching-resources www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 58 published by scholink inc. table 2. snapshot of practice data file decision maker role product region close date month competitor contract type win cio services adoption argentina north 1/1/2018 january codey company renewal won vp of operations cc performance management new zealand/australia 4/1/2018 april astro associates new won cio cc performance management colombia bogota 7/1/2018 july astro associates renewal lost ceo services design & integration argentina north 1/1/2018 january einstein labs renewal lost ceo services design & integration argentina north 4/1/2018 april einstein labs renewal lost regional vp cpaas us southwest 7/1/2018 july einstein labs renewal lost regional vp multimedia devices canada west 10/1/2018 october einstein labs renewal lost regional vp multimedia devices canada west 1/1/2018 january einstein labs renewal lost regional vp cc mobile argentina buenos aires 10/1/2018 october astro associates renewal lost cio cc mobile argentina buenos aires 1/1/2018 january astro associates renewal lost regional vp cpaas us southeast 4/1/2018 april einstein labs renewal won step 4: create model—in this step, the student will determine the outcome to predict by choosing the variables in the “story goal” module. for instance the user can select the story goal and choose the variable (i.e., win rate). the user then selects the insights and predictions to complete the analysis. a) create story b) determine what outcome to predict: variable=win/won c) choose insights and predictions and automated d) confirm and build story e) discuss mode: what happened? f) go deeper: why it happened? g) how can i improve the outcomes? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 59 published by scholink inc. 3. conclusion and implications the modern-day selling organizations has adopted technologies such as crm and analytics platforms and integrated these tools into their sales process. these powerful tools are improving sales productivity, increasing customer insights, and enhancing the experience for customers. with the evolution of today’s buyer and the impact of “big data”, tomorrow’s sales professionals, students must develop their analytical skill set. this activity complements the traditional selling process and enhances our students’ skills for todays’ big data marketplace. resources for instructors help main link: https://help.salesforce.com/articleview?id=bi.htm&type=0 ai trailhead for students: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/users/mrodriguez10/trailmixes/smarter-sales-with-ai academy videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucxuodpty50aush4wp-rqyvg learning map: http://www.einsteinanalyticslearningmap.com success with ea: http://pages.mail.salesforce.com/getting-started/analytics-cloud/ references boyer, s., & michael, r. (2019). mix it up: teaching sales students about ai with the help of salesforce.com. jacksonville, fl march. einstein. (2020). einstein analytics learning map. retrieved january 17, 2020, from http://www.einsteinanalyticslearningmap.com gartner. (2019). gartner identifies top 10 data and analytics technology trends for 2019. news room press release. retrieved january 15, 2020, from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-02-18-gartner-identifies-top-10-data-a nd-analytics-technolo salesforce, t. (2020). skill up for the future. retrieved january 17, 2020, from https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/home singh, j., flaherty, k., sohi, r. s., deeter-schmelz, d., habel, j., le meunier-fitzhugh, k., & onyemah, v. (2019). sales profession and professionals in the age of digitization and artificial intelligence technologies: concepts, priorities, and questions. journal of personal selling & sales management, 39(1), 2-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2018.1557525 https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucxuodpty50aush4wp-rqyvg https://www.einsteinanalyticslearningmap.com/ http://pages.mail.salesforce.com/getting-started/analytics-cloud/ global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 17 original paper study on the path of cultivating “new abilities” of contemporary college students’ employment chuanli yang 1 , qiaohui zhang 1 & mingdong li 1* 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china * mingdong li, qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: february 1, 2024 accepted: february 28, 2024 online published: march 8, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p17 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p17 abstract with the development of the society and the increasing enrolment rate of higher education, the requirements for the employment ability of college students have been gradually improved, especially the college students with the “new ability” consistent with the needs of the society have obvious employment advantages, this paper analyses the “new ability” of college students from the three dimensions of professional ability, humanistic ability and basic ability. this paper analyses the “new ability” in three dimensions: professional ability, humanistic ability and basic ability, and combines the current cultivation mode and cultivation path of colleges and universities to analyze the matching degree of the ability demand of the society for college students, the “new ability” of college students and the cultivation path of colleges and universities to propose that colleges and universities cultivate the “new ability” that is agreed by the society for college students. then, it proposes effective methods for colleges and universities to cultivate socially acceptable “new competences” necessary for college students. keywords university students’ employment, “new” competences, paths and methods of cultivation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 18 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction in recent years, the number of college graduates in china has been in a state of growth, and statistics for 2023 show that the scale of college graduates nationwide reached 11.58 million. the increase in the number of graduates reflects the fact that higher education in the country has become more accessible, while the increasing scale of college graduates, the impact of the domestic and international environment, and the increasingly stringent recruitment by enterprises have made the competition in the job market more intense. with the rapid progress of science and technology and the development of globalisation, the development of today’s society presents an unprecedented scene. cutting-edge technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing are gradually changing our lifestyles and work patterns. economic and cultural exchanges between countries around the world are closer than ever, diversity and inclusiveness have become the mainstream values, and the application of automation and intelligent technology has greatly improved the production efficiency and product quality, and at the same time brought many new industries and employment opportunities, opportunities and challenges co-exist, and college students must have the ability to match with the society in order to adapt to the industry’s development requirements, and have an employment advantage in the fierce competition, in order to adapt to the requirements of the development of the industry and to have an employment advantage in the fierce competition. 2. definition of “new competences” for contemporary university students china’s current employment market in a more severe form, in the context of the new social development, how to enhance the employability of college students is an important issue that needs to be urgently resolved. at present, china is in an important stage of economic restructuring and upgrading, the adjustment of the industrial structure will inevitably have an impact on the development of traditional industries, the ability of enterprises for talent requirements are also changing, college students as the future backbone of social construction, need to have a “new ability” to match the requirements of social development. 2.1 “new” professional competencies the professional knowledge of college students is the cornerstone of their future development, and today’s society has new requirements for the professional knowledge of college students. college students are required to have the core knowledge of the profession, which is an important part of the professional foundation, and is the basic theory and practical skills necessary for engaging in the work of the profession (shen, 2023, pp. 39-41). in addition to the basic knowledge of the profession, college students need to have interdisciplinary knowledge and skills on the basis of mastering the profession. in today’s society, the cross-fertilisation between various fields is becoming more and more common, and simply mastering the knowledge of the major can no longer meet the requirements, and many industries www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 19 published by scholink inc. and occupations need to have interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. therefore, in addition to mastering the core knowledge of their own majors, college students should also understand the knowledge and skills of related fields, as well as be able to comprehensively apply the knowledge and methods of different disciplines to solve problems. this helps to improve the overall quality and employment competitiveness of university students. 2.2 “new” humanistic competences humanistic quality ability has been paid more and more attention in today’s social development. for college students, a high level of humanistic ability is a necessary condition for adapting to the needs of society and realising personal values, and the requirements of today’s social development for college students' humanistic ability are diversified and comprehensive. correct worldview, outlook on life and values are the basic quality ability, which is the foundation of personal behaviour. at the same time, college students need to have a high level of cultural literacy and aesthetic ability, cultural literacy is an important foundation of humanistic qualities, including the understanding of literature, art, history, philosophy and other aspects of the ability to appreciate. college students should broadly explore all kinds of cultural knowledge, improve their cultural literacy and aesthetic ability, be able to appreciate and create beautiful things, and cultivate their independent thinking and critical thinking ability. with the increase of exchanges among countries all over the world, college students need to have international career and cross-cultural communication ability. they need to understand the values and behaviours of different cultures, respect cultural diversity, and communicate effectively with people of different cultural backgrounds. 2.3 “new” basic competencies the basic ability of today’s society has been a new requirement, especially with the development of artificial intelligence, the basic general skills of college students are gradually increasing, and at this stage, college students should fully master the basic ability of artificial intelligence, and use artificial intelligence to improve their work efficiency and work quality. in the era of digital economy, digital technology has been popularised in many industries and has become one of the requirements for occupational positions. with the rapid development of information technology, students in colleges and universities must have the ability to analyse and process basic data, and be able to use digital tools and technologies for management, decision-making, etc. (chen & xiong, 2023, pp. 3-9). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 20 published by scholink inc. 3. current situation and problems of university students’ competence training in higher education 3.1 insufficient professional skills the new economic development background puts forward new requirements for the optimisation and adjustment of industrial structure, and the adjustment and optimisation of industrial structure will certainly promote the integration and transformation and upgrading of part of the traditional industries, therefore, the requirements of enterprises for the professional ability of the talents will become more diversified and intelligent (cao, 2023, pp. 84-88). for the employment of college students need to have practical professional skills. however, there are still some problems and challenges in the cultivation of students’ professional ability in colleges and universities. on the one hand, the curriculum is out of touch with the actual demand, the training of talents in colleges and universities should be in line with the needs of industry development, and many colleges and universities are too traditional in their curriculum. at present, china’s economy is gradually transforming into a digital economy, the curriculum of some colleges and universities failed to combine the current industrial structure adjustment and optimisation of the background, which led to a large gap between the knowledge students learn in school and the practical application. single teaching method is not conducive to students’ mastery and application of professional knowledge. although multimedia and network technologies have been widely used in teaching, some teachers still use traditional teaching methods, lacking interaction and inspiration, which limits students’ initiative and creativity and is not conducive to the cultivation of competence. on the other hand, students’ learning of professional knowledge often remains superficial. the imperfection of the evaluation system of colleges and universities makes many students learn professional knowledge only to cope with the examination, and they do not carry out in-depth exploration of the relationship between different courses, fail to master professional knowledge systematically, and are unable to apply professional knowledge in practical work. students know less about other knowledge extended from their professional knowledge and cannot adapt to the requirements of career development. 3.2 lack of awareness of vocational quality training and career planning the curricula of colleges and universities focus on the training of theoretical knowledge and skills, failing to take into account the cultivation of students’ vocational qualities, which can lead to the inability of students to adapt to the challenges of the workplace and the changes in their surroundings in the course of their employment. in the process of work, responsibility, teamwork, etc. are necessary professional qualities, many college students in the workplace will be faced with insufficient psychological preparation, unable to adapt to the employment environment and changes in the work environment. at the same time, college students for professional choice is mainly in the college entrance examination volunteering completed, after entering the university, students for their own www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 21 published by scholink inc. interests and hobbies do not have a clear position, for the job market situation lacks a certain understanding of what they want to be engaged in what position in the future is in a relatively confused state. in the process of cultivating students’ employment ability, career planning can play an important role in guiding students’ choice of employment. at present, some colleges and universities in the development of career planning courses, in the form, relying only on employment courses can not help students to form a correct view of career choice, students do not form a clear understanding of their career planning (xu, 2023). 3.3 inadequate basic capacity the background of digital economic and social development has brought many new work opportunities to college students, but it also puts forward higher requirements for competence. the speed of development of information technology is relatively fast, and colleges and universities do not have perfect measures to help students improve their digital capabilities; students generally lack digital skills, are unskilled in mastering common digital tools, such as office software, and have less knowledge of big data, artificial intelligence and other aspects of knowledge, and insufficient knowledge of cutting-edge information in the industry, which can easily put them in a disadvantageous position in their employment. 4. pathways and methods for developing “new competencies” 4.1 enhancing the updating of emerging expertise professional knowledge is a key element in the employability of college students. for the learning of professional knowledge, it is necessary for students to master a solid theoretical foundation as well as to improve their practical application ability through practice. in terms of curriculum, the talent cultivation programme is set up reasonably and the teaching content is optimized. colleges and universities should pay attention to the scientific and systematic nature of the curriculum, schools should strengthen cooperation with enterprises, from the perspective of employing demand, to understand the needs of enterprises, optimize the talent training programme, adjust the professional curriculum, and provide richer and more in-depth professional courses for students to choose. under the background of digital economy, we should pay attention to the updating and upgrading of the course content to keep up with the development of the times and the needs of the society, and offer some interdisciplinary courses to help students understand the links and intersections between different disciplines, so as to better expand their knowledge (li, 2021). in addition, it should also pay attention to the setting of practical courses and introduce diversified practical courses, which can be carried out through school-enterprise co-operation and other ways, so that students can really apply the theoretical knowledge in practice. at the same time, more academic exchanges and scientific research opportunities can be provided by organising academic lectures and establishing academic exchange platforms to help students understand the academic frontiers and dynamics, and improve their academic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 22 published by scholink inc. literacy and research ability. 4.2 focusing on the cultivation of students’ humanistic literacy skills schools should pay attention to the cultivation of students’ humanistic abilities. in terms of curriculum, they should increase the proportion of humanities and social sciences courses and provide a diversity of courses for students to choose from, including literature, history, philosophy, sociology, psychology and so on. meanwhile, campus culture construction should be strengthened to create a strong humanistic atmosphere, and communication and interaction among students should be promoted through the organisation of various academic lectures, seminars and salons on humanities and social sciences. at the same time, colleges and universities can also encourage and support students to set up humanities and social sciences clubs and organisations to carry out relevant activities on their own, so as to improve their self-management and organisational abilities. while focusing on the cultivation of students’ humanistic ability, attention should also be paid to helping students form correct employment values, attaching importance to employment guidance courses, deepening communication and cooperation with enterprises, inviting relevant personnel of enterprises, such as enterprise hr, etc. into the classroom, so that students can have a certain understanding and awareness of the knowledge required by the industry and the skills necessary for the work. 4.3 focus on the development of students’ basic abilities for the cultivation of students’ basic abilities, firstly, students need to be skilled in basic office software tools, and students are encouraged to study digital technology courses to keep up with the background of information technology development. secondly, the school can appropriately increase the emerging technology courses according to the development of information technology, combined with the professional needs, and open the basic courses about artificial intelligence for students to learn, these courses should cover the basic principles of artificial intelligence, algorithms, machine learning, deep learning and other fields, so that students can understand the core ideas and implementation methods of ai technology, and at the same time, they should pay attention to the practicability and applicability of the courses, so that the students to deepen their understanding and mastery of ai through practical operation and project practice, so that students can have a certain knowledge and understanding of ai, big data and so on. interdisciplinary integration courses should also be strengthened to form a diversified curriculum system to help students understand the industry prospects and market demand. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 23 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusion enhancing the employability of college graduates is inseparable from the government’s policy support, the school’s talent training design, and the students’ own efforts. from the school level, strengthen school-enterprise cooperation, develop training programmes from the perspective of the needs of enterprises, set up courses in a reasonable manner, strengthen the practical courses, help students to master the professional courses on the basis of the core qualities of students, combined with the background of the development of information technology of big data, pay attention to the cultivation of students’ general knowledge and general ability, so as to help students to improve their own employability, and better adapt to the requirements of the workplace. students in colleges and universities should also establish correct employment values, and make long-term planning during their school years, so as to prepare themselves for entering the workplace in the future. funding this paper sponsored by qingdao city university excalibur project. references cao, c. (2023). study on improvement of employability of college graduates under the perspective of industrial demand--taking l school as an example. journal of tongling polytechnic, 22(03), 84-88. chen, w., & xiong, y. l. (2023). cultivating students’ digital literacy and competence for the digital economy: chasm, path and countermeasures. china education informatisation, 29(07), 3-9. li, j. (2021). research on interdisciplinary curriculum under the perspective of innovative talent cultivation. changjiang university. shen, f. e. (2023). research on the problems and countermeasures of cultivating employability of undergraduates in colleges and universities. china employment, 2023(10), 39-41. xu, j. j. (2023). research on the construction of career development and employment guidance help system for college students in colleges and universities. yan’an education society. in proceedings of the fourth academic conference on innovative education and development (i) (vol. 6). guangzhou kangda vocational technical college. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 13 original paper comparative study of teaching and learning centers in universities by country jeong-kwun nam 1 1 center for teaching and learning, tong-myong university, busan, korea received: september 24, 2020 accepted: october 6, 2020 online published: october 19, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p13 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p13 abstract the purpose of this study is to compare the roles and functions of teaching and learning centers in universities operated in three asian countries and to find effective management strategies. to this end, periodic or non-periodical literature analysis and interviews with the staffs, were conducted together with the domestic and overseas research. as a result of the study, korea is in the center of learner support, while singapore is in the center of teaching support, and the philippines has only a few programs for learners and teachers. this phenomenon means that the operation of the university’s teaching and learning center focuses on strengthening the teaching and learning capacity to support teachers and learners. in addition, the establishment of teaching and learning centers in each country is composed of institutions affiliated with the college of education as separate independent institutions, supporting teams or individuals. in terms of financial aspects, human and financial distinctions were significantly different. keywords teaching and learning center, teaching, learning, functions between teaching and learning centers, types and features of inter-country operation programs of teaching and learning centers 1. introduction the rapid development of technology and the internet have changed the way of life as well as everyday life. in addition to the existing pedagogy-centered learning method, the learner-centered education paradigm shifts the use of information and communication technology, resulting in the diversity of learning, rapid information collection, web-based learning and computerbased learning is widely used. this means that teachers and learners in college education require the ability of digital literacy for digital lessons from the traditional analog teaching. therefore, in the university education in each country, the need to support and promote the learning of the students along with the improvement of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 14 published by scholink inc. the instructional ability of the teachers is increasing. for this purpose, the center for teaching and learning (ctl) and media have been developed and operated. 1.1 preliminary study on educational environment in study countries singapore is one of the fastest growing economies in asia, with a population of 5.6 million, of 719 square kilometers. this growth is due to the fact that it has a strong and sophisticated education system with a lot of capital, with centralization, integration, consistency and flexibility of education. the result is an international benchmarking that combines western and oriental educational philosophy. singapore education focuses on innovation, creativity and research with practical and relevant policies. the singapore education vision has an action plan to design education to fit the learner’s capabilities and interests and to provide years of changes in educational structure and options for learners. recently, the paradigm of education is mainly focused on mechanical learning, innovation based on innovation and effective teaching strategies, interaction learning, empirical discovery, differentiated teaching methods, and lifelong learning instead of repeating classes (singapore, oecd 2010). the philippines is located on the southeast coast of the asian continent. it is 300,000 square kilometers in size and has a population of almost 103 million, making it the 12th largest country in the world. the official languages are filipino and english. three-quarters of all people speak english, and the level of education is high. elementary and middle school courses are compulsory and literacy rate is about 10%. education has developed and many people study in the united states and exchange is active, but the gap between rich and poor is severe. more than half of the population lives in cities, and many of the immigrants that go abroad include highly skilled workers (philippines 2018). korea is a peninsula with an area of 99,000 square kilometers and a population of 51.11 million, ranking 27th in the world. half of the population lives in seoul and the metropolitan areas, and the gdp is $ 1.5297, the 11th largest economy in the world, but it is a divided nation separated by the liberal democracy in south korea and the democratic people’s republic in north korea. due to the geographical conditions connecting the continents and the ocean, they have taken cultural heritage from the continent early and developed their own cultures and brought them to japan and east asia. since 2000, the university has been evaluating the voluntary efforts of universities and has been conducting reforms and evaluations of universities financially supporting excellent universities in order to create a climate for studying universities and research universities. in particular, korea’s excellent information and communication technology (ict) is able to use the world’s fastest high-speed internet due to the installation of high-speed information and communication network. it has an ict environment to share information. 1.2 preliminary study on ctl in study countries the first teaching and learning center in north america teaching and learning center began in 1962 at the university of michigan’s center for research on learning and teaching. since then, it has been called variously as “faculty development centers”, “teaching and learning centers”, “centers for teaching and learning”, “centers for teaching excellence”, “academic support centers”, etc., and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 15 published by scholink inc. generally “teaching and learning centers” (tlc). ctl is an independent academic unit within the university, providing professional improvement of faculty, career preparation for graduate students, academic support for students, and other services (wikipedia, 2019). in korea, it is used as “center for teaching and learning” so i will refer to it as ctl in this paper. singapore’s teaching and learning center began with the establishment of the center for development of teaching and learning (cdtl) at the national university of singapore (nus). in 1984, it started as an educational technology center. in 1996, it changed its name to cdtl. in 1999, it was changed to the center for instructional technology, which led to the development of class technology. in addition, in 2008, three management teams have been appointed to oversee program development, research and public relations activities, and are now considered to be the core departments of nus, which achieve university goals. cdtl is committed to becoming a world-class teaching and learning center. we share best practices with the use of technology to create real learning experiences, improve the quality of education by providing professional program development and consulting services to the educational community, and build strong partnerships between departments. the most prominent center for teaching and learning in the philippines is known as the philippine normal training department (pntd) which was established between 1905 and 1906. from 1906 to 1941, filipino students gained educational experience by assisting american teachers. from 1999 onward, the center for teaching and learning has been operating as the core department of the university of education of the philippine normal university (pnu). as a result, the center for teaching and learning in the philippines maintains the best university mission to promote professional teacher development by creating meaningful teaching and learning environments and providing community experiences to future teachers through practical teaching and research activities. the teaching and learning center in korea is operated by most universities to support teaching and learning activities. however, as a result of examining and analyzing cases of excellent teaching and learning centers in foreign and domestic universities, the programs operated by the teaching and learning center have become a one-size-fits-all (yeom & kim, 2008). there were several problems encountered by the ctls such as lack of awareness of the university members, lack of policy support from the university authorities, lack of professionalism of the staff in charge, lack of program publicity, lack of budget, lack of awareness about the necessity of the program (min & lee, 2005; min, 2012). therefore, the teaching and learning center program in korea should be centered on “students” and “learning”, and it should provide community oriented programs and education-oriented education policy plans in addition to individual and university-specific programs (min, 2012). in the early years of establishment, the research and development center for teaching and learning centers of korean universities mainly focused on the introduction and operation of teaching and learning centers or the development direction in connection with university education (roh, 2007; yeom & kim, 2008; lee, 2003). in recent years, however, the focus has shifted to the study of perceptions and needs of teaching and learning centers and the quality management of education centering on operating programs (min, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 16 published by scholink inc. 2012; min & lee, 2005). the reason for this is that there is a shift in the perception that basic functions of the teaching and learning center can be fulfilled in terms of manpower and activities as well as the basic purpose of establishing the teaching and learning center (roh, 2007). the role of the teaching and learning center in korean and foreign universities has been divided into three areas: the development of instructional expertise of the professors, the support of learners’ learning, and the integration of learning activities in the established system (roh, 2007). therefore, the role of the teaching and learning center is to move away from the program operation of the university itself and to establish an online community such as mooc (2018) or kocw (2018) currently being implemented in korea to realize the social contribution of education and to research and develop various service functions and it is necessary to carry out the social responsibility of the teaching and learning center together with the improvement of the quality of education. 2. methodology 2.1 setting the research purpose the purpose of this study is to review and redefine the roles and functions of the teaching and learning center in college education. in order to do this, this paper aims to find effective management methods by comparing the teaching and learning centers of universities in singapore, the philippines, and korea. based on the teaching and learning center environment in three asian countries, the research purpose set in this study is to compare the following areas: 1) functions of the teaching and learning center; 2) types and characteristics of inter-country operation programs of teaching and learning centers; 3) national and international organizations; and 4) major programs. 2.2 research procedure and analysis in order to achieve the purpose of the research, a formative research methodology which is attracting attention as a new research methodology was utilized. this is because it is a conclusion-oriented research methodology that pursues generalization while considering the conditions and environments to which theories and models are applied (chung, 1997). therefore, we collected and analyzed formal data through case studies related to domestic and foreign research. for the purpose of collective data collection methods, interviewing data collection methods such as one-on-one interview, small group interview and large group interview were used (lim, 1994). in addition, periodic or non-periodical literature published by the teaching and learning centers in three countries was analyzed. in the literature, the teaching and learning center operation plan, teaching and learning center performance report, teaching and learning satisfaction survey, teaching and learning demand survey and response strategy research, annual regular reports, manuals and guidelines were used. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 17 published by scholink inc. in order to ensure the validity and appropriateness of the research, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 persons in charge of running programs at university teaching and learning centers in three countries in august 2017. the interviewer consisted of 4 males and 6 females, and was operating a program at the teaching and learning center. the subjects were interviewed at the university teaching and learning center in all three countries. the contents of the interviews were all recorded with the consent of the interviewees, and semi-structured questionnaires were used to ask questions based on the basic interview questions produced by the researcher, and to add other questions that might be helpful during the interview. the questions used in the interview were developed based on the items used in the study of lim (2001), and the data obtained through the interviews were applied. the opinions of the participants who participated in the interviews were categorized according to the purpose of the research. through this, it was possible to grasp the validity of the research and to find out how to operate and improve the effective teaching and learning center in the university. 3. results and discussions in this study, the operation of the teaching and learning center was identified by comparing and analyzing differences in the roles and functions of teaching and learning centers in three asian countries. the results are as follows: 3.1 analysis results this study compares the current state of operation of three teaching and learning centers in three asian countries, namely singapore, philippine, and south korea. in singapore, the center for educational technology changed its name to the center for development of teaching and learning. in the case of the philippines, the philippine normal training department has been changed to center for teaching and learning. in the case of korea, the name is used to expand the organization from the center for teaching and leaning to the educational innovation institute. 3.2 comparison of functions between teaching and learning centers singapore is using media to share its innovation and best practices with faculty participating in teaching and learning and to create practical learning experiences and focuses on the practice of evidence-based and effective teaching and learning that supports the university’s vision. as a training center, the philippines operates as a development center, observation center, pilot center, and research and creation center. in korea, teaching support programs and educational quality management are the main functions of teaching support, learning support, e-learning support, and support departments. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 18 published by scholink inc. our university’s teaching and learning center is mainly composed of practical contents to realize the vision of the university (singapore). in the philippines, the teaching and learning center will be centered on small centers for financial reasons and will gradually grow into an independent institution (philippines). we have the most learner-centered programs, faculty support, e-learning, or media support program departments. recently, we have created a department to strengthen education quality management (korea). 3.3 comparison of types and features of inter-country operation programs of teaching and learning centers programs operated by teaching and learning centers in various countries include singapore’s professional development programs, faculty support programs, subsidy programs, workshops and seminars, counseling, teaching grants, publishing and research, and teaching awards. in the case of the philippines, on-the-job training and specialization of research methodologies are being conducted with an emphasis on training and research methodology. on the other hand, korea is focused on teaching, learning, media and e-learning, and quality management. recently, programs on quality management have been increasing. therefore, the program of teaching-learning center in each country is mainly operated by teaching support or many quantitative center, and it is thought that the role of program is set according to national educational needs and environment. recently i realized that the role of teaching professors is important in college. therefore, most of the programs for teaching and learning center operation are mainly for supporting teachers and enhancing competency through pre-education (singapore). as the role of the teaching and learning center places more emphasis on the practice than the theory, programs in areas that can be utilized in actual society are mainly operated (the philippines). recently, in order to prepare for various evaluations of college, i focused on performance in terms of quality management if i focused on quantitative management based on existing teaching, learning, and media (korea). 3.4 comparison of inter-national organization of teaching and learning centers in the case of the teaching and learning center organization in each country, singapore is composed of academic development team and management support team. philippines is an affiliated organization of the college of education. korea consists of a center director, faculty support, learning support, e-learning support and performance management support. therefore, while singapore and korea are independent organizations and are composed mainly of teams and support functions, the philippines is a part of the education college and is composed of teaching professors and staff members. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 19 published by scholink inc. i think university evaluation is the most important factor nowadays. therefore, in the past, center-based management has expanded the organization and upgraded its position and status as an educational innovation center to strengthen the organization of teaching and learning centers (korea). 3.5 comparison of major programs between countries in terms of educational services, singapore has a strong emphasis on teaching professors’ lessons and utilization of professors’ research results. in the philippines, the teaching and learning centers in each country are focused on improving instructional teaching strategies, developing faculty research capacity, learning communities, and tutoring programs. thus, while the philippines and singapore have teaching areas that focus on teaching strategies and improvement, korea focuses on the areas of academic warning students or learning communities that are due to lack of education, i think that i am trying to strengthen the teaching and learning corresponding to the education. 3.6 others the national teaching and learning centers are limited due to their geographical and socio-economic conditions. in the case of the philippines, due to the lack of human resources and educational infrastructure, it is difficult to provide teaching and learning support. however, singapore is supported by the latest technology with advanced research base as well as human resources and financial support. because of the geographical influence, korea runs its programs by securing time to recharge during vacation. therefore, it can be seen that there are significant physical, human and financial differences among the teaching and learning centers in each country. therefore, in terms of function, the philippines focuses on training and development, while singapore has a practical learning experience approach for innovation and sharing. korea focuses on the quality of education as well as the support function of teaching and learning. therefore, it is thought that the function of the teaching and learning center is set according to the educational needs and environment of the country along with the unique characteristics of the centers providing the services. in conclusion, there were various differences in function, program, organization, and infrastructure of the university’s center for teaching and learning (ctl) between countries. therefore, singapore needs to develop learning programs along with e-learning support for a learner-centered, non-face-to-face environment, away from teaching. in the philippines, as the educational paradigm changes, a separate independent center for teaching and learning (ctl) must be established so that learning programs can be developed along with e-learning support in a non-face-to-face environment for teaching-learning interaction. korea must actively support the teaching support program along with the high-level application of the non-face-to-face environment program that has already been developed. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 20 published by scholink inc. table 1. comparison of university’s center for teaching and learning (ctl) between countries country functions operation programs organization major programs others conclusion singapore provide a practical learning experience teaching support independent research and management team class improvement, research and utilization sufficient education infrastructure need to support e-learning in non-face-to -face environments -need to strengthen learning support philippines training training and research methods university affiliated institutions improvement of instructional strategies and development of research capabilities lack of educational infrastructure -need to support e-learning in non-face-to-face environments -learning-oriented operation required -ctl needs to be an independent institution korea program operation and education quality management teaching and learning support independent support organization learner-centered research and development expansion of education infrastructure -need to apply a non-face-to-face environment program -need to strength teaching support 4. conclusions and recommendations in order to meet the demands of the teachers and students who are in demand of education, it is essential to install the ctle (centers for teaching and learning excellence). the common functions and services of the teaching and learning center are tutoring, workshops, and professional development programs (roberts, 2013). as a result, the roles and functions of the teaching and learning centers in university education have become more important as the education paradigm changes, and universities in each country are changing the name of teaching and learning center reflecting the latest trend of education. in the case of programs run by the teaching and learning center, korea is learner-centered, while singapore is supported mainly by teachers, and the philippines operates only a small number of programs for learners and instructors. this phenomenon means that the operation of the teaching and learning center of the university is focused on strengthening the teaching and learning ability corresponding to the education area, and the background of the program is the role of the program according to the educational needs and environment of the country. in terms of organization of teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 21 published by scholink inc. and learning centers in each country, it is composed of organizations affiliated with teachers’ colleges or separated into separate independent institutions and supported by teams or individuals. in the financial aspect, government support, student tuition fees, because it operates in a variety of ways, it can be seen that the teaching and learning centers are showing a great deal of physical, human and financial differences due to the infra construction in the countries or universities they belong to. this is in line with the previous study (truschel & david, 2009) that each learning center is unique because of the unique nature of the institution providing the program. based on the results of previous researches, in order for the university’s teaching and learning center to fulfill its original functions and roles, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the education and development center in the university education for the members of the education policy. the educational environment should be supported by the full support of the state. in addition, a community forum or a council for teaching and learning to overcome physical, personnel, and financial differences in teaching and learning centers by country is established to share the information and best practices of universities to spread opportunity through experiential practice of university education. references chung, j.-s. (1997). focused on developmental research: a decision-oriented research methodology for educational technology. journal of educational technology, 13(2), 339-359. https://doi.org/10.17232/kset.13.2.339 kocw. (2018). wikipedia. retrieved march 15, 2018, from https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/kocw lee, h.-c. (2003). the development of university education and the task of educational development center. in the 1’st college education development center symposium. lim, c.-i. (1994). formative research on an instructional theory for conceptual understanding. journal of educational technology, 10(1), 45-64. https://doi.org/10.17232/kset.10.1.45 lim, c.-i. (2001). formative research on instructional design strategies for the interactive use of presentation software. journal of educational information and media, 7(1), 29-57. min, h.-r. (2012). perception and need assessment of faculties on faculty development program-focusing on faculties of s university. the journal of korean teacher education, 29(3), 214-217. https://doi.org/10.24211/tjkte.2012.29.3.195 min, h.-r., & lee, h.-w. (2005). tasks and prospects of teaching and learning center for improving higher education quality. in 2005 international symposium hosted by snu’s center for teaching and learning. mooc. (2018). wikipedia. retrieved march 15, 2018, from https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/mooc philippines. (2018). wikipedia. retrieved march 15, 2018, from http://100.daum.net/encyclopedia/view/b24p1632b https://doi.org/10.17232/kset.13.2.339 https://doi.org/10.17232/kset.10.1.45 https://doi.org/10.24211/tjkte.2012.29.3.195 file://https: http://100.daum.net/encyclopedia/view/b24p1632b www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 22 published by scholink inc. roberts, l. j. (2013). a model for a center for teaching and learning excellence: a catalyst for program improvement in developing institutions. excellence in higher education, 4(2), 98. https://doi.org/10.5195/ehe.2013.98 roh, k.-h. (2007). a study on the introduction and operation of center for teaching and learning. management and information systems review, 22, 34-54. singapore, oecd. (2010). singapore: rapid improvement followed by strong performance. retrieved january 21, 2018, from http://www.oecd.org/countries/singapore/46581101.pdf truschel, j., & david, r. (2009). national survey: what is a learning center in the 21 st century. tlar, 14(1). retrieved from http://www.files.eric.ed.go wikipedia. (2019). teaching and learning center. retrieved october 7, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/teaching_and_learning_center yeom, m.-h., & kim, h.-j. (2008). understanding and promoting center for teaching & learning in universities. korean journal of educational research, 46(3), 219-248. https://doi.org/10.5195/ehe.2013.98 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/teaching_and_learning_center global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 16 original paper educating doctoral students in kinesiology to teach effectively angela lumpkin 1* & rebecca m. achen 2 1 department of kinesiology and sport management, texas tech university, lubbock, united states of america 2 school of kinesiology and recreation, illinois state university, normal, united states of america * angela lumpkin, department of kinesiology and sport management, texas tech university, lubbock, united states of america received: november 25, 2020 accepted: december 8, 2020 online published: january 12, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n1p16 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p16 abstract doctoral program graduates, including in kinesiology, may be inadequately prepared to become effective teachers. the purpose of this study was to examine the required courses in research and teaching for kinesiology doctoral students and the related skills and abilities most important for doctoral students to develop to be successful in their first faculty positions. through a survey, faculty coordinators of graduate programs in kinesiology were asked to identify required courses, the relative importance of skills and abilities in research and teaching, and the preparation levels of doctoral program graduates in research and teaching. respondents rated courses, skills, abilities, and preparation in research consistently higher than courses associated with teaching. the authors proposed recommendations for preparing a more qualified cadre of kinesiology doctoral program graduates. keywords doctoral students, research and teaching preparation, effective teaching, kinesiology 1. introduction the ph.d. is a research-focused degree, with its historical emphasis on developing students’ abilities to discover and contribute to the creation of new knowledge. following years of dedicated study and research as doctoral students, graduates often desire careers in similar, research-intensive universities. most doctoral graduates, however, are much more likely to obtain faculty positions in comprehensive universities, liberal arts institutions, and two-year colleges in which the primary mission is teaching. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 17 published by scholink inc. barney (2019), bergner, lin, and tepalagui (2015), bok (2013), and brightman (2009) argue that doctoral faculty emphasizing research and the reality of college teaching becoming doctoral program graduates’ central job responsibility perpetuate a disconnect between expectations and what faculty will do throughout their careers. marx, garcia, butterfield, kappen, and baldwin (2016) even accuses doctoral programs in business of “malpractice” (p. 501) for perpetuating the practice of emphasizing research while ignoring instructional preparation. doctoral faculty is most institutions typically expect doctoral students to learn disciplinary content and develop research and scholarly abilities to the exclusion of developing and practicing instructional design and delivery skills. for example, in a comprehensive assessment of the preparation of doctoral program graduates in business, bonner, stone, mittal, phillips, and utecht (2020) argue that doctoral students need “to develop competencies to become effective teachers” (p. 338). rousseau (2016) agrees, “…doctoral students will benefit from a structured and supportive environment in which to learn and practice effective approaches to teaching” (p. 525). in addition to a prioritization of research in doctoral programs, some doctoral students may doubt their abilities to become successful researchers and teachers, question their decisions to pursue a doctoral degree, or lack self-efficacy (i.e., a belief in personal capabilities to achieve or perform) (foot, crowe, tollafield, & allen, 2014). this may contribute to only about 50% of doctoral students across all disciplines completing their degrees (gardner, 2009). possibly to address this significant drop-out of students, doctoral faculty may need to re-conceptualize their doctoral programs through increased socialization and personalized mentoring, improved preparation to teach, and expanded emphasis on the effectiveness of graduate students’ ability to teach. 1.1 socialization and mentoring socialization, which is behaving and mixing in socially acceptable ways, can counteract a lack of self-efficacy and negative perceptions and contribute to positive experiences for students who successfully transition from prior academic studies, full-time employment, or other life circumstances. austin (2002) offers four recommendations for how doctoral programs could increase completion rates through a socialization process: providing opportunities for students to think more deeply about teaching; supporting them with mentoring, advising, and periodic feedback; facilitating peer relationships and peer mentoring; and encouraging doctoral students to engage in self-reflection to enhance their growth. boyce, napper-owen, lund, and almarode (2019) advocate that faculty mentoring and positive advising relationships increase academic and social integration of doctoral students. faculty mentoring and advising are especially important since many new doctoral students in the sub-fields of kinesiology report they lack a comprehensive understanding of program requirements, time to degree completion, and responsibilities of becoming a faculty member. in describing earning doctoral degrees specific to kinesiology doctoral programs, lee and curtner-smith (2011), richards, sinelnikov, and starck (2018), russell, gaudreault, and richards (2016), and ward (2016) underscore the value of socialization of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 18 published by scholink inc. students for doctoral studies. socialization helps students conceptualize and prepare for potential academic careers and associated faculty roles. ideally, doctoral students will receive regular and substantive mentoring, advising, and feedback, opportunities for peer interactions, diverse and developmentally oriented teaching opportunities, guidance about faculty responsibilities, and encouragement for guided reflection (austin, 2002). writing reflective personal journals, keeping activity logs, and participating in ongoing dialogues with peers and faculty mentors can help doctoral students navigate challenging transitions into and through new learning environments (brightman, 2009; foot et al., 2014). 1.2 inadequate preparation to teach boyce, lund, napper-owen, and almarode (2019) report that doctoral students in kinesiology feel prepared to teach, perceive they can create inclusive classroom environments, and believe they can articulate a teaching philosophy. these doctoral students’ perceptions appear to contradict other research that suggests doctoral student preparation on how to teach effectively is lacking (bergner et al., 2015; brightman, 2009; brightman & nargundkar, 2013; marx et al., 2016). inadequate preparation for teaching responsibilities is not unique in the sub-fields in kinesiology. when asked about their level of preparedness, graduate students in sociology identified several challenges they encounter—lack of confidence in feeling qualified to teach including insecurity about their teaching skills; time required to respond to emails, complete grading of tests and assignments, and create course materials; inability to deal with student issues and problems, such as when students challenge grades, claim illegitimate excused absences, cheat on tests, and plagiarize assignments; and lack of support from faculty mentors (smollin & arluke, 2014). dunn, hooks, and kohlbeck (2016) report that 60% of former doctoral students in accounting receive no pedagogical training in their doctoral programs. based on their investigation of the teaching preparation of graduate students in economics, walstad and becker (2003) report a major gap between teaching demands on these students and their teaching preparation with about 40% receiving no training prior to teaching their own courses. sometimes doctoral students get “mixed messages” (p. 104) when faculty expect quality teaching, yet advise doctoral students to spend less time on teaching and more time engaged in research (austin, 2002). when examining stem disciplines with long hours dedicated to research in labs, stowell, churchill, hund, kelsey, redmond, seiter, and barger (2017) identify that research commitments serve as a barrier to increasing the amount of time doctoral students could spend studying about and practicing effective teaching. doctoral curricula offer expansive disciplinary content, yet many programs do not require dedicated courses, seminars, or other learning experiences about how to teach. graduate faculty may devote insufficient time to mentoring their students in instructional design and delivery skills. teacher training in doctoral programs, suggest brightman and nargundkar (2013), may not exist because of faculty’s traditional opinions—believing teaching strategies are discipline-specific, improving teaching is unnecessary, perceiving that “good teachers are born, not made” (p. 299), and devaluing the importance www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 19 published by scholink inc. of effective teaching, while overvaluing research. brightman (2009) and marx et al. (2016) argue the lack of a faculty champion to develop and implement a teaching course or program is the reason doctoral programs in business schools do not offer significant pedagogical preparation in teaching. 1.3 quality of instruction quality of instruction is central to undergraduate student retention and graduation from college. when graduate students teach economics courses and this instruction is not done well, it “can hurt a department by increasing student complaints, decreasing majors, and negatively affecting the employment potential of graduate students” (walstad & becker, 2003, p. 451). when taught by effective teachers—faculty and graduate students—with pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, undergraduate students learn more and develop essential life skills prior to graduation (gyurko, maccormack, bless, & jodl, 2016). stowell et al. (2017) advocate that when doctoral program graduates in stem disciplines learn best practices in teaching and learning, they are more likely to become better faculty and educators, can communicate information more effectively, become better scientists, and are more competitive for academic positions. stowell et al. (2017) also claim, “…putting highly trained graduate student instructors into the classroom to implement these practices will increase the quality of undergraduate education” (p. 318). barney (2019) identifies three ways the teaching abilities of doctoral students can improve: 1) having a teaching mentor who helps them improve their teaching skills; 2) conducting several direct observations of excellent teachers in action; and 3) participating in at least one teaching workshop each semester. similar to barney’s (2019) description of the absence of teaching business management students how to teach, lund, napper-owen, and boyce (2019) agree about the lack of preparation of doctoral students in kinesiology. brightman and nargundkar (2013) suggest requiring all doctoral students to study pedagogical literature, learn about classroom management, student motivation, course organization, active learning strategies, assessment and grading, technology, and student evaluation, complete peer and faculty teaching observations, and develop a teaching philosophy. bonner et al. (2020) recommends that doctoral students need to develop competence in their content, instructional design, courses administrative skills, and instruction delivery. we agree with brightman and nargundkar (2013) and bonner et al. (2020)—doctoral students can and should be better prepared to teach. 1.4 purpose and research questions more information is needed about if and how phd students are prepared to teach. the purpose of this investigation is to examine the status of teaching preparation of doctoral students in the united states in one broad discipline—kinesiology. we sought to answer these four research questions: a) what are the required courses in research and teaching for kinesiology doctoral students? b) what skills and abilities are most important for doctoral students to develop to be successful in their first faculty positions? c) do program coordinators feel doctoral program graduates are well prepared in research skills and teaching skills for a variety of faculty positions? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 20 published by scholink inc. d) what resources do programs provide students who teach during their graduate programs? 2. method this study used survey methodology to explore the research questions. cross-sectional survey methodology using a questionnaire was an appropriate method for this research because it allows the researcher to explore relationships between variables and collect descriptive data when variables cannot be manipulated (gratton & jones, 2014). additionally, a questionnaire is ideal when the data that need to be collected are relatively simple and researchers are looking to describe what is (gratton & jones, 2014). participants were recruited from faculty coordinators in graduate programs in kinesiology. the website of the national academy of kinesiology (nak) provides an inclusive list of 38 doctoral programs, with 89 doctoral program areas that focus on the study of physical activity. the names and email addresses of faculty coordinators for each of the nak doctoral program areas were collected from institutional websites and entered into a database. while not all doctoral programs are members of nak, the membership includes programs that clearly identified themselves as fitting within the field of kinesiology. after receiving approval from the institutional review board at the first author’s institution, a 13-item questionnaire (available from the authors upon request) was sent to each faculty coordinator. because some coordinators oversaw multiple programs, a total of 84 email messages were sent. a reminder email was sent one week after the initial email, and a second reminder was sent another week later. seventeen individuals responded yielding a 20% response rate. because the survey was anonymous, and the population was small, we did not request demographic information or university names from faculty coordinators. the questionnaire was created specifically for this study. while it is generally better to use existing scales to collect data (gratton & jones, 2014), a review of the literature did not result in existing scales or questions to answer the research questions. thus, to enhance validity of the survey, a subset of six program coordinators was randomly chosen from the database and asked to participate in semi-structured interviews to help create questions and answer responses. asking your population to participate in survey creation and review your survey prior to data collection is a way to improve face validity (gratton & jones, 2014). one coordinator agreed to participate. follow-up emails did not yield additional willing participants. the low response rate precipitated the need to review program websites for doctoral programs to aid question and response option creation and improve face validity. these sources of information were used to design the questionnaire to help ensure the questions being asked measured what was intended. the first author, who has 46 of years of teaching experience in higher education, did a final review of the survey prior to sending it out, as a way to improve content validity through expert review (gratton & jones, 2014). the qualtrics questionnaire included questions about required doctoral courses (e.g., experimental design, grant writing, research methods, statistics, college teaching, teaching effectiveness, and teaching practicum), development of research-related and teaching-related skills and abilities of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 21 published by scholink inc. doctoral students, and how doctoral programs prepared graduates for their careers. likert-type questions were used to investigate the perspectives of coordinators in relation to the preparedness of their students and importance of different skills and abilities to their success. likert-type questions are effective for assessing attitudes, opinions, and beliefs because they allow respondents to indicate the response to which they agree or disagree with a statement (gratton & jones, 2014). because the population from which to draw the sample was small, sending the survey out for a pilot to test reliability was unrealistic. data were downloaded from qualtrics into spss version 24 for analysis. descriptive statistics were run. the mcnemar test for differences in proportions was used to examine differences in percentages for required courses because the same participants were evaluating the courses and thus responses were likely to be related. this test is similar to the chi-square test, except it does not require data to be independent, and it is a non-parametric test (adedokun & burgess, 2012). since the same participants answered questions on the importance and achievement of skills and abilities, paired t-tests were run to compare the means of the skills and preparedness of student outcomes to determine if means on these dependent variables differed significantly from each other. due to the small sample sizes, confidence intervals were large; however, the sizeable discrepancies between preparation in teaching and research are still meaningful and significant, even at the closest ends of the confidence intervals. to protect against drawing inaccurate conclusions because of small sample size, we chose to use a p value of .01, instead of .05, to reduce type i error. 3. result all 17 (100%) graduate coordinators who responded reported their programs prepared graduates for faculty positions in higher education, although one (5.9%) added its graduates also were prepared to work in schools for children and adolescents. a total of 13 (76.5%) respondents indicated their doctoral students took the same courses regardless of the type of institution (i.e., a teaching or research focus) in which they planned to seek faculty positions. 3.1 rq1: what are the required courses in research and teaching for kinesiology doctoral students? research methods (15; 88.2%) and statistics (14; 82.4%) were the two types of courses most frequently required for every doctoral student. experimental design (8; 47.1%), grant writing (4; 23.5%), teaching practicum or experience (4; 23.5%), college teaching (3; 17.6%), and teaching effectiveness (3; 17.6%) were required. mcnemar’s test was run for each pairing of courses to determine if there were statistical differences in percentages. differences between college teaching, teaching effectiveness, and teaching practicum and research methods and statistics as required courses were significant at the p < .01 level. differences between grant writing and research methods and statistics were also significant at the p < .01 level. table 1 provides greater specificity about the required courses including types of courses and number of credit hours for each. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 22 published by scholink inc. table 1. number of required credit hours for selected courses taken by doctoral students no required credit hours less than 3 credit hours 3 credit hours more than 3 credit hours college teaching 52.9% (9) 11.8% (2) 5.9% (1) 0% (0) experimental design 35.3% (6) 35.3% (6) 11.8% (2) 0% (0) grant writing 47.1% (8) 0% (0) 23.5% (4) 0% (0) research methods 0% (0) 0% (0) 47.1% (8) 29.4% (5) statistics 5.9% (1) 0% (0) 11.8% (2) 70.6% (12) teaching effectiveness 35.3% (6) 5.9% (1) 11.8% (2) 0% (0) teaching practicum or experience 41.2% (7) 5.9% (1) 11.8% (2) 0% (0) 3.2 rq2: what skills and abilities are most important for doctoral students to develop to be successful in their first faculty positions? graduate program coordinators rated the importance of skills and abilities needed for doctoral graduates to be successful in their first faculty positions. paired t-tests were run to determine differences in means on variables in the same sample, comparing each skill and ability to one another. as shown in table 2, there were multiple significant differences, most notably when comparing both attaining advanced disciplinary knowledge and collaborating on an independent research project with other skills and abilities. table 2. importance of skills and abilities needed for success in first faculty position skills and abilities m (sd) mdiff t df p attain advanced disciplinary knowledge 4.88 (.34) gain experience teaching college courses in the discipline 0.57 2.76 15 .01 plan and develop courses 0.69 3.47 15 .003 facilitate active student learning activities 0.69 3.15 15 .007 conduct high-level statistical analyses 1.25 5.00 15 < .001 design and implement independent research 4.88 (.34) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 23 published by scholink inc. gain experience teaching college courses in the discipline 0.57 2.76 15 .01 plan and develop courses 0.69 3.47 15 .003 facilitate active student learning 0.69 3.15 15 .007 conduct high-level statistical analyses 1.25 5.00 15 < .001 collaborate on research projects 4.63 (.50) conduct high-level statistical analyses 1.00 4.47 15 < .001 facilitate active student learning 0.44 2.41 15 .03 plan and develop courses 0.44 2.78 15 .01 conduct basic statistical analyses 4.56 (.63) write and submit grants 4.38 (.89) gain experience teaching college courses in the discipline 4.31 (.70) plan and develop courses 4.19 (.75) facilitate active student learning activities 4.19 (.75) conduct high-level statistical analyses 3.63 (1.03) conduct basic statistical analyses -0.93 3.76 15 .002 write and submit grants -0.75 3.87 15 .002 gain experience teaching college courses in the discipline -0.69 2.42 15 .03 plan and develop courses -0.56 2.52 15 .02 facilitate active student learning activities -0.56 2.33 15 .03 3.3 rq3: do program coordinators feel doctoral program graduates are well prepared in research skills and in teaching skills for a variety of faculty positions? graduate program coordinators indicated on a five-point likert-type scale of 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree that doctoral students were well prepared to design and implement research projects after graduation (m = 4.25, sd = 1.342), design and deliver undergraduate courses in the discipline www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 24 published by scholink inc. after graduation (m = 4.00, sd = 0.730), and facilitate active student learning activities in undergraduate courses in the discipline after graduation (m = 3.38, sd = 0.806). paired t-tests indicated there was a significant difference in their confidence that graduates could design and deliver undergraduate courses and facilitate active student learning activities in undergraduate courses (t(15) = 3.10, p = .007). 3.4 rq4: what resources do programs provide students who teach during ttheir graduate programs? table 3 lists the instructional resources provided and evaluation methods used when programs assigned doctoral students to teach undergraduate courses in the discipline. sample syllabi were the most common teaching resource provided to graduate student teachers, and over half of the institutions responding formally evaluated graduate students’ teaching. table 3. resources provided to and required evaluation of graduate student instructors resources and evaluation methods % (#) sample syllabus 82.4% (14) reference librarian assistance 58.8% (10) formal written evaluation by mentor or supervisor 58.8% (10) required attendance at a one-day graduate student teaching workshop 47.1% (8) optional attendance at teaching excellence center instructional sessions 47.1% (8) instructional aids provided by the textbook publisher 47.1% (8) periodic mentoring meetings including some discussion about teaching 47.1% (8) casual observation by mentor or another a faculty member 29.4% (5) faculty mentor 23.5% (4) required attendance at teaching excellence center instructional sessions 11.8% (2) only if student evaluations indicated a problem in doctoral students’ teaching 11.8% (2) student feedback 5.9% (1) required a graduate teaching certification or teaching portfolio 5.9% (1) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 25 published by scholink inc. 4. discussion the purpose of this investigation was to examine the status of teaching preparation of doctoral students in kinesiology programs in the united states. doctoral programs identified by the nak prepare graduates for faculty positions with similar types of courses required for all doctoral students. the first research question asks, “what are the required courses in research and teaching for kinesiology doctoral students?” as expected, this study found that research methods and statistics, in support of the research emphasis of ph.d. programs, were the most frequently required, with courses associated with developing teaching skills required significantly less often. research methods and statistics are foundational courses for all students, with experimental design and grant writing courses required by fewer programs. courses associated with teaching usually are not required, which supports the conclusions of austin (2002) and golde and dore (2001). the second research question asks, “what skills and abilities are most important for doctoral students to develop to be successful in their first faculty positions?” faculty program coordinators believe that developing and expanding research skills from collaborating on projects to becoming an independent researcher far surpassed in importance all of the teaching-enhancement learning experiences. doctoral programs emphasize attaining advanced disciplinary knowledge, conducting independent and collaborative research projects and statistical analyses, and learning grant writing. graduate faculty coordinators confirm their students are better prepared to design and implement research projects after graduation than design and deliver undergraduate courses. this supports how austin (2002) and golde and dore (2001) describe most doctoral programs nationally. since research-related activities eclipse teaching development and experience, are doctoral faculty preparing their graduates more effectively for research-focused rather than for teaching-focused institutions? there are only 38 doctoral institutions in the nak compared with over 2400 4-year, degree-granting institutions in the united states with most of these institutions offering at least a bachelor’s degree in a discipline related to kinesiology. therefore, it seems preparing doctoral students to teach effectively is a worthwhile, and even essential, undertaking. the third research question asks, “do program coordinators feel doctoral program graduates are well prepared in research skills and in teaching skills for a variety of faculty positions?” faculty coordinators report their doctoral students possess solid research skills, yet they are much less prepared to design and deliver and facilitate active student learning in undergraduate courses. study findings support bok (2013), grasgreen (2010), and robinson and hope (2013) who suggest the importance of preparing the future professoriate for their primary responsibility of teaching. something other than “here is a copy of the syllabus and good luck” seems essential. these findings also are similar to the perceptions of doctoral students from a variety of disciplines in a study by heflinger and doykos (2016). they report that about one-third of students feel unprepared to teach, while about 90% feel prepared for writing and presenting their scholarly work. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 26 published by scholink inc. the fourth research question asks, “what resources do programs provide students who teach during their graduate programs?” while some institutions provide mentoring or evaluating of teaching of doctoral students, the most common resource given these students when assigned to teach a course is a sample syllabus. while research skills and abilities are essential for discovering and expanding knowledge in the discipline (golde & dore, 2001; russell et al., 2016), developing the teaching skills and abilities of doctoral graduates ought not to be overlooked (bergner et al., 2015; gyurko et al., 2016; stowell et al., 2017). given the popularity of kinesiology undergraduate programs in which most graduates of nak-member institutions will teach, improved preparation of doctoral students in instructional courses and experiences seems extremely important (richards et al., 2018; robinson & hope, 2013). although students may perceive they are prepared to teach (boyce, lund et al., 2019), there is a significant difference between teaching and effective teaching, and our current study suggests formal teacher preparation is lacking. building on the importance of learning to teach effectively, doctoral programs owe their students greater preparation, especially since most graduates will obtain faculty positions at teaching-focused institutions. brightman (2009) describes two programs he considers exemplars for teacher training for doctoral students, and we endorse both of these. the george w. woodruff school of mechanical engineering at georgia tech university began its doctoral seminar on teaching in 1990 (see http://www.me.gatech.edu/graduate/phd/practicum for more information). doctoral students find a faculty member who is willing to team-teach an undergraduate course with them. as teaching interns, doctoral students help design syllabi, grade homework, prepare exams, conduct recitations, and teach classes while receiving feedback from the faculty member. the teaching interns report how helpful this experience is in developing confidence in a classroom environment and obtaining jobs after graduating. brightman (2009) advocates for the course outline for the robinson college of business at georgia state university’s model for doctoral teaching training. this model offers a 15-week list of topics and assignments applicable to any discipline. the center for teaching and learning (clt) at the university of pennsylvania offers a clt teaching certificate (see https://www.sas.upenn.edu/ctl/grad/certificate.html for more information). to earn this certificate, doctoral students complete four components: 1) pedagogical discussion and training through attendance at five teaching workshops; 2) teaching experience through serving as a teaching assistant or instructor; 3) observation and review conducted by a clt staff member; and 4) development of a teaching philosophy. doctoral students prefer having mentors committed to helping them throughout every phase of their doctoral programs (gardner, 2009; stowell et al., 2017). in our research, less than one quarter of the doctoral programs provide mentors to doctoral students for their teaching. one helpful approach could be institutions offering or requiring doctoral students to obtain teaching certifications (grasgreen, 2010; robinson & hope, 2013). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 27 published by scholink inc. marx et al. (2016) recommends four approaches to doctoral teaching preparation for business schools: a) the university of michigan offers a three-year teaching development program. it includes classroom observations, classroom culture seminars, two, second-year courses focusing on developing teaching competences, and a full third-year teaching assignment with observations and feedback culminating in development of a teaching portfolio. b) boston college’s organizational studies department provides a 13-week teaching practicum course combining firstand second-year doctoral students. in addition to required reading and writing assignments, students present 15-minute lectures on learning from feedback received. completion of journal entries for each class and submission of a teaching portfolio also are required. c) saint louis university requires its doctoral students to complete a certification program offered by the institution’s center for teaching excellence. attending at least 10, 2-hour effective teaching seminars, developing a teaching portfolio, receiving feedback on video-taped class lectures, and faculty mentoring are program requirements. departments are encouraged to develop and require students’ participation in discipline-specific seminars. d) the university of massachusetts requires its doctoral students to complete an intensive six-day teaching seminar that includes one full day of sessions after the first year, four full days after the second year (which precede independently teaching two semesters of a course), and one full day for third-year students for reflections on their teaching experiences and development of a teaching portfolio. the association of college and university educators (acue) responded to educational research over the past four decades affirming teachers are the most essential factor affecting student learning (gyurko et al., 2016). acue, in collaboration with the american council on education, offers a certificate in effective college instruction. participants can earn online certificates independently or in cooperation with an institution’s teaching and learning center. delivered through 28 modules, doctoral students can earn this certificate concurrently with other instructional and research requirements, so as not to elongate their programs. earning this certificate in effective college instruction ensures teachers have the core competencies of instructional practice including how to design an effective course and class, establish a productive learning environment, incorporate active learning techniques, promote higher-order thinking, and assess instruction and learning. while teachers become more competent, confident, and satisfied, greater student success and enjoyment of learning are anticipated benefits. since these certification programs are open to doctoral students in all academic disciplines, kinesiology students could be encouraged to take advantage of these learning opportunities. certification programs and centers for teaching excellence exist because doctoral students and the institutions hiring them support completion of teacher-training coursework (brightman & nargundkar, 2013). doctoral students should be encouraged to attend teaching effectiveness workshops offered by campus teaching and learning centers during their programs of study. lund et al. (2019) state that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 28 published by scholink inc. kinesiology doctoral students can benefit from mentoring programs addressing research, teaching, and service to optimally prepare them for careers in higher education. they emphasize, “developing good teaching skills is an important part of doctoral training and not be neglected” (p. 345). silverman (2003) adds, “by helping students become competent teachers, we can help them adjust to their new positions, feel good about their teaching, and have a better chance of managing their various roles… helping our students learn to help their students learn will give each new faculty member some of the skills that are needed to be successful” (p. 79). the most important implication for practice from our research is institutions need to better prepare doctoral graduates to teach and help them avoid many frustrations common to inadequately prepared teachers. another implication for practice comes from barkley and major (2016, 2018) and barkley, major, & cross (2014) who advocate the importance of all teachers learning about the sequence and inter-connectivity of curricular design, instructional delivery, and assessment. while doctoral program faculty may be concerned that investing time in better preparing graduate students to teach effectively, shortlidge and eddy (2018) found there was no negative impact on research preparedness or publication numbers when phd students were provided training on effective teaching. 5. limitations and future research this study provides an initial evaluation of the teaching and research preparation of ph.d. students; however, one of its main limitations was the low response rate. while we were able to gather data from 20% of faculty program coordinators, which is adequate in survey research, the variability in programming across institutions might necessitate a larger sample size for definitive conclusions. additionally, while every effort was made to establish validity and reliability, a lack of response during survey development may have resulted in leaving out potential question responses. finally, this study focused on perceptions faculty program coordinators had in terms of their students’ skills, abilities, and readiness. future research should create an instrument to give to doctoral program candidates in kinesiology and other disciplines to evaluate their readiness and explore areas in which they feel underprepared. additionally, future qualitative research could be conducted to understand why all disciplinary programs are more focused on research and how program coordinators feel about effective doctoral education and preparation. 6. conclusion the ph.d. remains a research-focused degree as this study confirms. attaining advanced disciplinary knowledge and conducting and collaborating on research projects are much more frequently required in doctoral programs than are planning and developing courses, gaining teaching experience, and facilitating active learning in courses taught. graduate faculty coordinators believe their doctoral students are much better prepared to design and implement research projects at a higher level of competence than they are competent to design and deliver undergraduate courses in their discipline. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 29 published by scholink inc. emphasizing research skills and abilities should not mean neglecting preparing doctoral students to develop their pedagogical skills and become effective teachers. graduate faculty in kinesiology have the opportunity to revise how they prepare their students for the job market, most often in colleges where faculty have significant teaching responsibilities. ensuring doctoral students know about and have access to college teaching courses, teaching workshops, a teaching mentor, and teacher certification programs can help them realize the importance of developing and enhancing their instructional abilities in preparation for academic careers. accountability for student learning is the new currency in higher education, with the associated expectation that doctoral program graduates need to learn how to teach effectively during their doctoral programs. faculty are encouraged to mentor doctoral students not only in research skills but also in pedagogical skills. helping graduates develop their pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, such as through the required completion of a college teaching course or certification program, is the optimal way to improve teaching in all disciplines. references adedokun, o. a., & burgess, w. d. 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(2010). preparing professors to teach—doctoral student interest and enrollments in teacher certificate programs are rising, as programs evolve (and emerge) and job market worsens. inside higher ed. retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/15/mit gratton, c., & jones, i. (2014). research methods for sports studies. new york: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315796222 gyurko, j., maccormack, p., bless, m. m., & jodl, j. (2016). why colleges and universities need to invest in quality teaching more than ever. retrieved from http://acue.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/white-paper-201611114-web.pdf heflinger, c. a., & doykos, b. (2016). paving the pathway: exploring student perceptions of professional development preparation in doctoral education. innovative higher education, 41(4), 343-358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-016-9356-9 lee, h. m., & curtner-smith, m. (2011). impact of occupational socialization on the perspectives and practices of sport pedagogy doctoral students. journal of teaching in physical education, 30, 296-313. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.30.3.296 https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562920907132 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1618066 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1618070 https://doi.org/10.28945/42 https://doi.org/10.1111/dsji.12013 https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-50989 https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.2.1.103 https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.v34:6 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315796222 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-016-9356-9 https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.30.3.296 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 31 published by scholink inc. lund, j. l., napper-owen, g., & boyce, b. a. (2019). recommendations for thematic issue on kinesiology doctoral students’ perspectives. quest, 7(3), 342-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1618079 marx, r. d., garcia, j. e., butterfield, d. a., kappen, j. a., & baldwin, t. t. (2016). isn’t it time we did something about the lack of teaching preparation in business doctoral programs? journal of management education, 40(5), 489-515. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562915616430 national academy of kinesiology. (2018). retrieved from http://www.nationalacademyofkinesiology.org/about-nak richards, k. a. r., sinelnikov, o. a., & starck, j. (2018). practical strategies for enhancing doctoral students’ preparedness to teach. journal of physical education, recreation and dance, 89(2), 26-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2017.1404508 robinson, t. e., & hope, w. c. (2013). teaching in higher education: is there a need for training in pedagogy in graduate degree programs? research in higher education journal, 21, 1-11. rousseau, d. m. (2016). yes! rejoinder to “isn’t it time we did something about the lack of teaching preparation in business doctoral programs?” journal of management education, 40(5), 524-527. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562916643993 russell, j., gaudreault, k. l., & richards, k. a. (2016). doctoral student socialization: developing stewards of the physical education profession. quest, 68, 439-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2016.1234963 shortlidge, e. e., & eddy, s. l. (2018). the trade-off between graduate student research and teaching: a myth? plos one, 13(6), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199576 silverman, s. (2003). the role of teaching in the preparation of future faculty. quest, 55, 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2003.10491790 smollin, l. m., & arluke, a. (2014). rites of pedagogical passage: how graduate student instructors negotiate the challenges of first-time teaching. teaching sociology, 42(1), 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x13502181 stowell, s. m. l., churchill, a. c., hund, a. k., kelsey, k. c., redmond, m. d., seiter, s. a., & barger, n. n. (2017). transforming graduate training in stem education. bulletin of the ecological society of america, 96, 317-323. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-96.2.317 walstad, w. b., & becker, w. e. (2003). the instructional use and teaching preparation of graduate students in u.s. phd-granting economics departments. american economic review, 93, 449-454. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282803321947506 ward, p. (2016). policies, agenda and practices influencing doctoral education in physical education teacher education. quest, 68, 420-438. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2016.1234964 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1618079 https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562915616430 https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2017.1404508 https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562916643993 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2016.1234963 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199576 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2003.10491790 https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x13502181 https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-96.2.317 https://doi.org/10.1257/000282803321947506 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2016.1234964 microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p21 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 21 original paper step: from collaboration to innovation and from innovation to collaboration marodsilton muborakshoeva1* 1 department of graduate studies, the institute of ismaili studies, london, uk * marodsilton muborakshoeva, department of graduate studies, the institute of ismaili studies, london, uk received: november 13, 2018 accepted: november 21, 2018 online published: december 10, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p21 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p21 abstract secondary teacher education programme (step) is a collaborative program of the university college london’s institute of education and the institute of ismaili studies in london. qualitative research was undertaken to collect and analyse data. the findings demonstrate that the collaborative efforts at the senior institutional and lecturers’ levels led to the creation of this innovative programme, which had to constantly reinvent itself and keep the collaboration alive so that the unique features of the programme are sustained. it contends that the most innovative and unique feature of this programme is having an integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and production, where the teacher-candidates are equipped with the content knowledge about islam and the updated pedagogies and methodologies of teaching to enable them to teach religious education to secondary students. in this endeavour, the teacher-candidates’ roles are immense. keywords collaboration and innovation, integrated approach to knowledge, islamic education, islam and modern teaching strategies, ismaili muslims 1. introduction based on the analysis of available documents, qualitative interviews, and reflecting on teaching practice this paper contends that the secondary teacher education programme (step) is an innovative programme that has managed to create a conducive environment for collaborative teaching and learning. step is a collaborative program of the university college london’s institute of education (ucl-ioe) and the institute of ismaili studies (iis) (memorandum of agreement, 2011, 2015). the former is a public institution renowned for its research and teaching in the field of education and the latter is a private www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 22 published by scholink inc. institution conducting research on islam and its shia ismaili branch and delivering educational programmes for the shia imami ismaili muslims (henceforth ismaili muslims). it is a two-year post-graduate programme where the teacher trainees obtain two degrees, ma in education (muslim cultures and civilisations) and mteach. the ma and mteach are designed in a complementary way to equip students with the subject knowledge to do with muslims’ faith, cultures and civilisations as well as methodologies and pedagogies of teaching. the programme recruited its first cohort in 2007 and in september 2017 its cohort 11 started their studies at ioe-iis. despite its 10-year existence, very little research has been conducted on step, except a phd study on how step students engage with faith diversity over the course of their studies (kadiwal, 2014) and a vignette on how step students become effective teacher-researchers (brown, 2017). there is no research on how the programme started, its specific features, and how the two institutions maintain the collaborative venture. additionally, although there are discussions among muslim academics about how to meaningfully integrate islamic civilisations and cultures into mainstream education (some of which will be reviewed later), there is very little empirical research on programmes like step. the findings of this research are significant considering the challenges other muslim denominations face with regard to religious education (panjwani et al., 2017; scott-baumann & cheruvallil-contractor, 2015; muborakshoeva, 2013a) and are educational for muslims as well as other faith communities who may want to embark on such collaboration. in the attempt to fill the gaps in literature, this research aims to explore these two broad questions:  why was step created and how does the programme reinvent itself for continuous collaboration?  how does the programme approach teaching and learning and what roles do the teacher candidates play in the process? to address these questions, a qualitative research was conducted and the findings are presented in this paper. 2. review literature 2.1 collaboration and innovation: where to locate step? step not only could be located comfortably among the examples of innovative programmes offered at higher educational institutions globally, but it is a unique case of collaboration between a public institute of education and a private institute of religious studies belonging to a faith community. the vision of the programme is “to produce professional secondary level teachers by combining strong academic programmes with experiential teaching practices, in an intimate and welcoming learning environment” (step prospectus, 2015, p. 6). it aims to address the need for professional secondary education teachers by educating candidates “to become teachers and mentors who can help to shape and inspire future generations within a global context” (ibid). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 23 published by scholink inc. after graduating, the students are qualified to teach within the wider aga khan development network (akdn) institutions with a focus on teaching at ismaili religious education centres (recs) with their respective ismaili tariqa and religious education board (itreb). they will deliver the secondary curriculum prepared by the iis, which focuses on humanistic, civilizational and normative perspectives of religious education (ibid). the average number per cohort is from 25 to 40 students. 270 teacher trainees have successfully completed this programme till 2017 and have been teaching religious education to secondary ismaili muslim students in around 13 countries. the programme has continuous collaborations at different levels, for instance, the senior management, lecturers, lecturers and students, students and students, lecturers/students and school communities, etc. that is why it is important to locate the experience of step within the broader scholarship on collaboration and innovation. research on collaboration and innovation predominantly focuses on research cooperation between public universities and industries to evaluate the contributions to innovation and national economic development or collaboration at transnational level where corporations work with research universities to enhance the “knowledge—intensive economic practice” (abramo et al., 2011; kauppien, 2012; knobel et al., 2013). additionally, there is an abundance of research on collaboration between different types of institutions (kezar, 2006) and mergers to share resources for broader educational or research purposes (brown, 2001; czarnitzki et al., 2007). however, most of these collaborations and mergers are on hard sciences, except for a few that are on teacher training and health education (russell et al., 2001; lewis et al., 2012; abbey et al., 2015). this narrow approach to collaboration and innovation has been questioned by researchers who claim that the place of humanities and social sciences in such mergers and institutional collaborations is either absent or very limited (benneworth, 2010). these concerns led some universities to initiate collaborative projects with the wider community (carlton et al., 2009; weerts et al., 2010; watson, 2013; watson, 2014) to conduct and support research that aims to connect diverse ways of knowing in different disciplinary traditions with the academic and public forms of knowledge (facer & enright, 2016; facer, 2016). there is a shortage of serious research on collaboration between a public university and an institution of religious studies with educational mission for a faith community. a few initiatives to explore collaboration and partnership between universities and muslim institutions in the uk, to which this author also contributed a paper (muborakshoeva, 2013b), seem to be a one-off enterprise (scott-baumann & cheruvallil-contractor, 2015). in fact, collaboration between ioe—ucl as a secular institution and the iis as an institution for religious studies could be seen as an impossible task. it could be claimed that the first is a secular and the latter is an institution with a certain ideology. however, recent studies have challenged “the superficial responses of the political controllers of education as well as prevailing views’ about secular or liberal education” (pring in panjwani et al., 2017, p. 4). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 24 published by scholink inc. although the debates about secular and religious institutions and how education is generally ideological in nature are beyond the scope of this paper, we nevertheless agree with jeremy henzell-thomas that “all education systems are based on particular conceptions of human nature, faculties, ideas and beliefs, even if underlying ideologies may not be made explicit” and therefore the secular institutions too are ideologically laden (sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017, p. 208). considering that higher education institutions are becoming big businesses liaising with corporations and investment banking to provide services for their “clients” and “consumers” (sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017), having institutions such as the iis that conduct research in islamic cultures and civilisations and promote a different type of collaboration with public universities to enhance teaching and learning in islamic studies is an innovative endeavour in itself. 2.2 the “what” and “how” of collaboration and its cyclical nature collaboration means when two or more people or organisations work together on a project, however, some sources focus on its positive as well as negative meaning. henneman’s (1995, p. 104) discussion on collaboration in the context of health care emphasises that the “adversarial groups, namely physicians and nurses’ have to collaborate together despite the hierarchical structures and different power dynamics to achieve common goals. in an educational context collaboration connotes a variety of activities too”. for goulet et al. (2003) collaboration is when people work together on a project and when people or groups come together for a common goal, which leads to some kind of transformation in the participants. they acknowledge the value of different types of collaboration; between teachers and university researchers, consultants or teachers working with other teachers, faculty advisors working with student teachers, or doctoral students researching their relationship with mentors as well as those projects which examine the essential characteristics of collaboration. however, they felt that these “fell short of explaining” the depth of their own experiences of a collaborative research they were involved in (goulet et al., 2003, p. 2). as a result of discussions and collective self-reflections they developed a model that explains “the what (phenomenon) and the how (process) of collaboration” (p. 3). they identified features through which the participants start and maintain relationships and work with one another to achieve the goals and how they are transformed in the process. these features are labelled as ways of being, ways of doing, and ways of becoming, which are cyclical and iterative that shape collaboration. other models of collaboration are: between a university and a professional development school; a consultation model; one to one collaborations; and multiple collaborations under one umbrella organisation (slater & ravid, 2010). however, slater and ravid (2010) claim that these do not cover all developing configurations of collaboration and propose a more inclusive framework. it adds to the above: the multiple configurations (partnerships, networks, and research universities the goals of which is dissemination of innovation and knowledge); post-secondary (community college and community/school projects aiming to increase minority enrolment into higher education); technology www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 25 published by scholink inc. projects (externally funded to instill technology and innovation in schools); and interagency (a semi-autonomous approach geared towards creating institutional change, experimentation, development of organisations, and innovation and change) (slater & ravid, 2010, p. 8). for others collaboration involves mobilisation of resources, harmonising and synchronising operations to solve shared problems, meeting common needs, making the most of important opportunities: here, stakeholders develop unity of purpose; forge a collective identity; develop shared language, knowledge, norms, and skills; foster equitable relations; develop conflict resolution mechanisms; agree on shared responsibilities and mutual accountabilities; promote norms of reciprocity and trust; reconfigure rule, roles, and jurisdictions; share resources; realign existing policies and create new ones; develop shared governance systems; and accommodate salient features of the local context (lawson, 2004, p. 228). lawson proposes that “collaboration can be a process innovation, a product innovation, or both”, where in the former sense it is a new intervention, strategy, or method, and in the latter, it may be an end goal in itself, for instance, when service delivery teams that collaborate become institutionalised. these teams become invaluable product innovations due to generating new ideas on a continuous basis and contributing to more innovation. and most of the time the boundaries between the two (product innovation and process innovation) are blurred and both are manifest when teams/organisations collaborate. these are interesting models and concepts that have informed this research on step and assisted in the analyses of the findings. the process of collaboration itself though, as most research findings report, is cyclical and iterative in nature, for which we need to examine models or theories developed in the corporate world. 2.3 collaboration for innovation as mentioned earlier, research findings highlight the importance of collaboration and its cyclical nature when organisations attempt to work together with the intention of creating innovative programmes and businesses. how though does this collaboration for innovation happen? research on collaboration for innovation has much benefited from ring and van de van’s (1994) framework which examines the process of such collaboration between organisations. they contend that there are a series of events and interactions among organisations that “unfold to shape and modify” inter-organisational relationships (iors) (p. 91). the three simultaneous stages in the process of collaboration are negotiation, commitment, and execution. the relationship between them is iterative and cyclical and is reconstructed by the continuity of the interactions and events. personal relationships, tacit knowledge and psychological contracts are replaced by formal functions, agreements and legal contracts as the ior evolves gradually (marshall, 2004). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 26 published by scholink inc. ring and van de van’s framework is a useful one to employ in this research, because it enlightens us about how the collaborative process between the ioe and iis have taken place. more importantly though it allows us to see how an innovative programme such as step has emerged and constantly reinvents itself. 2.4 approaches to organisation of knowledge—an integrated approach the attempts for having an integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and production amongst muslims have gained momentum recently (iiit, 2013; sardar, 2015; sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017) and some workshops and conferences have been organised to this end. the thinking behind the “integrated approach” developed partly as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier movements (e.g., the islamisation of education movement) that were equally concerned with educating muslim youth in the matters of faith (al-attas, 1980; al-faruqi & nasseef, 1981; ashraf & bilgrami, 1985, etc.), but have been criticised for having a narrow approach and sometimes ideological aims (abaza, 2001; muborakshoeva, 2013a). ziyauddin sardar, however, distinguishes between the polemical discourses of the islamisation project and a useful framework it offers—starting with the divine unity and extending to the unity of all creation, knowledge, etc. he agrees with jeremy henzell-thomas that there is a need for going beyond the current competing paradigms and that “the way forward is a new mode of consciousness which is integrative and inclusive” (sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017, p. 92). in this paper, therefore, we see how a religious education programme attempts to be inclusive and integrative. all these movements, in one form or another, attempt to “correct” the state of affairs in muslims’ education ever since the time of colonialism. european colonialism, and later nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, created a kind of dichotomy in education and thus religious education was marginalised in muslim contexts. some scholars consider this marginalisation as the main reason for the muslim youth being unaware about their cultures and civilisations. in the western context, it could happen that some young muslims are taught religion by non-professional teachers (scott-baumann & cheruvallil-contractor, 2015). in some muslim countries, very often learned scholars teach religion, yet due to lack of knowledge about modern approaches in teaching and learning they are unable to make sense of modern challenges young muslims face (muborakshoeva, 2013a). in pakistan for example, the teaching of religion is problematic in secular educational institutions too—it has been criticised for its confessional and biased approach which goes against the diversity within and without muslim communities. additionally, religion is used by the government, political and religious groups for spreading their ideologies and achieving political aims. as such therefore, a kind of blurred distinction exists in teaching religion at the so called “secular” and “religious” educational institutions (panjwani et al., 2017). therefore, generally speaking muslims have remained deprived not only from the classical teachings of religion, but also from having adequate knowledge about their educational, civilizational, and cultural heritage. for them it is very important to have an integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 27 published by scholink inc. production that enables them to make sense of their broader cultural and civilizational heritage in a modern world (muborakshoeva, 2016). in such a case, step is an innovative program from which other muslim and faith communities could learn. a visit to the iis in london by the state delegation from kyrgyzstan in 2016 testifies that there is an interest amongst muslim majority countries to learn from step’s experience. unfortunately, as stated, there is very scarce research on step to present it to the wider scholarly and faith communities and this study is the first attempt to correct the situation. 3. methodology 3.1 qualitative research qualitative research was conducted to collect and analyse the data. the main design was a case study, although the researcher kept reflective journal, a method used in action research, during the research. employing a case study was advantageous because it allowed using multiple tools of data collection (yin, 2013) such as individual interviews, focus groups, and document analysis. one of the disadvantages of case study, namely the issue with generalizability (yin, 2013) perhaps was not very much applicable to this research because step is a unique programme. however, the findings could be still educational for other institutions that would like to establish programmes like this. bera’s guidelines for research ethics were followed and confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed for the participants. however, it is not always easy to completely disguise the identity of those in senior positions involved in this programme from the beginning or the lecturers who are few in numbers at both institutions (muborakshoeva, 2013a). this issue was discussed with the participants, and they were fine with the possibility of their identity being recognised. the participants are referenced according to the source and position, for example, individual interviews are referenced as: iisenior manager 1, etc. (see table 1). 3.2 sampling techniques and methods data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis, and researcher’s reflection journal from january 2016 to may 2017. the interviews were recorded using both a smartphone and a traditional dictaphone to ensure data was backed up in case one of these tools failed to work. additionally, data was backed up in a personal computer. a total of 6 hours interview data was collected, out of which the individual interviews were 3 hours and the two focus groups were 1.5 hours each. the documents included the memorandums of agreement, minutes from meetings, and other related to the programmes written sources. the reflection journal was kept to record researcher’s reflection and non-verbal communications during interviews. 3.3 participants purposeful sampling was used for the semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with students. this allowed the researcher to select participants who had the highest potential of contributing to the research, but also those that may have had “a divergent” view, especially among the students. the total population of step teacher trainees during this research was 59 students (33 cohort 9 and 26 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 28 published by scholink inc. cohort 10). 9 students were selected from cohort 9 for the focus group in the first term of their second academic year, 2016-2017. since the researcher had taught these students for two terms, they had a good idea about whom to select for the focus group. country of origin, educational background, and male and female ratio was considered. however, because generally the number of male students is low in step (usually 4 to 6 males per cohort of 26-40 students), the focus group selection is 2 males and 7 females. for the focus group interviews with the lecturers, purposeful sampling played a role due to the strong knowledge base of the lecturers about the programme, however, because there were only 5 lecturers who taught for the programme during this research, all of them were invited for the focus group interview: table 1. description of participants and methods tools and frequency participants-gender involvement with programme as referenced in the findings 3 individual interviews a male senior manager a female senior manager a female senior manager since 2007 to 2010 since 2007 to present since 2010 to present ii-senior manager 1 ii-senior manager 2 ii-senior manager 3 1 focus group interview with lecturers 1 male lecturer 4 female lecturers since 2007 to present 3 lecturers since 2007 to present 1 lecturer since 2010 to present fg—lecturer 1-5 1 focus group with students 9 students (2 males and 7 females) since 2015 to 2017 students 1-9 document analysis throughout the research researcher’s reflective journal throughout the research 3.4 methods of data collection an interview schedule was developed for the individual and focus group interviews, which contained open ended questions as well as semi-structured questions. depending on the responses, some questions were adjusted during interviews. in some instances, the same questions were asked to different groups to see how each group perceived of the phenomena under investigation and to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 29 published by scholink inc. triangulate data (denscombe, 1998). as the interviews progressed a few questions were modified so that the respondents could contribute more or provide clearer answers. three senior managers-lecturers from the ioe and iis were selected for semi-structured interviews, among whom two were involved with the programme since its inception and one has taken a leadership position midway through the programme’s existence. it allowed the gathering of the most relevant material in a short period of time (robson, 2012), but also gave opportunity for the scholars to speak about the programme, who otherwise would not have shared their ideas. two focus group interviews were conducted; one with the step lecturers (5 lecturers) from both institutions and one with step, cohort 9 teacher trainees (9 students). in the focus group with the lecturers there were no major issues with a person dominating the discussions (kelly, 2003), possibly because as professionals they knew how focus groups work. additionally, since the researcher was a step lecturer, the interviews and discussions with the lecturers in some instances resembled a collective self-reflection rather than anybody dominating the discourse, echoing the approach taken by goulet et al. (2003). in the focus group with the step teacher trainees there were occasions where one or two students would control the discussions or divert from the main topic (kelly, 2003). in such cases, the researcher tactfully intervened and brought the discussions back to the topic and invited more people to contribute. with regard to document analysis, while documents offered ready and available data, the fact that they were not prepared for the aims of this research were taken into account (robson, 2012), and were carefully and critically reviewed as per their relevance for this research. the researcher recorded the reflection on teaching as well as the research process, where non-verbal communication and body language during interviews were recorded. 3.5 methods of data analysis a qualitative method was employed to analyse data, where major themes were identified, some in relation to the questions asked (miles & huberman, 1994) and some linked to the theoretical frameworks. the recorded interviews were transcribed, which took a considerable amount of time (robson, 2012). to save time, the diverted discussions during interviews were listened to carefully and summarised by the researcher briefly rather than being transcribed fully. template analysis was used to analyse data, which “refers to multiple but related techniques for thematically organising and analysing codes, and can be applied across multiple methodological and epistemological approaches” (king, 2004, 2012 in jabbar et al., 2017). the researcher came up with priory templates using the interview guide as well as theoretical frameworks for collaboration (king, 2004, 2012). table 2 presents how the priory templates helped the researcher to come up with more codes and sub-codes during data analysis. the first two priory templates were developed using ring and van de van’s (1994) framework on cyclical nature of collaboration and innovation. the other three priory templates are based on the questions asked during interviews. the use of template analysis was helpful in this small-scale research (king, 2004, 2012) since it allowed the researcher to know where to stop www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 30 published by scholink inc. and clearly see the relationships between various codes. for instance, codes such as “integrated approach” and “pedagogies and content” relate to two priory codes. ultimately, these thematic codes were merged together and the findings are presented under four larger themes as seen in the findings and analysis section. the analysis of reflective journal added to the richness of the findings. it allowed the researcher to test their own views and practices with other colleagues as well as see the value of reflection for teaching and research (robson, 2012). table 2. coding templates priory template template a template b template c collaboration leading to innovation reasons for step reasons for step reasons for step rationale for choosing ioe rationale for choosing i negotiations negotiations ioe’s concerns & iis’ vision innovative programme is created innovation reinforcing collaboration step’s innovative features step’s innovative features step’s innovative features integrated approach integrated approach pedagogies & content/isl. studies pedagogies &content/ islamic studies other features reinforcing collaboration approaches to knowledge acquisition the overall philosophy integrated approach the overall philosophy integrated approach the overall philosophy integrated approach methodologies methodologies pedagogies role of teacher trainees integrating the two degrees integrating the two degrees integrating the two degrees comfort level when integrating comfort level when integrating various views about mteach students/students & lecturers collaborations challenges the programme faces external lecturers external lecturers external lecturers workload (students & workload (students & www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 31 published by scholink inc. lecturers) lecturers) professional vs non-professional teachers other challenges 4. analysis of the findings 4.1 why was step created and how it reinvents itself? the analyses of data demonstrate that the creation of step was a long process and involved careful planning and preparations before its launch. data analyses from all sources indicate that the need among ismaili muslims globally to educate their young generations about the historical past and present of islamic heritage was one of the main reasons for creating step. the concern was that the youth should be exposed not only to religious education, but also to broader cultural and civilizational aspects of that heritage. additionally, after completion of a rather well established primary religious education programme called ta’lim (education), the ismaili youth were not taught re very systematically at the secondary level. above all, the emphasis on having professional teachers for secondary re by the leader of the ismaili muslims, aga khan iv or shah karim al-husseini, was decisive in creating such a programme (ii-senior manager 1, 2, & 3; fg-lecturers and students). once initial discussions and meetings were conducted with wider intellectuals and students, the next stage was to find a partner institution which could be valuable in terms of offering high quality education but also be able to validate the programme, because iis is not a degree granting institution. at that point, the senior scholars at iis approached the management of ioe because of its programmes and high reputation and prestige in teacher education as well as the opportunities it presented: we looked at what were the strengths of the ioe and what were some of the things we would be interested in, for example, they had interesting programmes like citizenship, ethics, and we felt that the teachers needed to be grounded in those concepts so that the issues of identity, of being a global citizen, being ethically aware of and informed about the kind of teaching they did. so, a part of it was the content knowledge about islam but there was another part, and that was about the kinds of attitudes and perspectives that the teachers would get, and because the ioe was teaching those kinds of programmes it was felt that they had the kind of faculty we would like to have from educational point of view, what the teachers would learn (ii-senior manager 1). accordingly, meetings at senior levels were organised between the iis and ioe where much enthusiasm as well as cautions were expressed. as much as the iis “explored” the possibilities of working with ioe, the latter too had its own reservations. however, the intentions of both institutions coincided, as it became evident from the first documentations that were presented to the curriculum committee at ioe: the ioe was very concerned that it did not become a normative religious programme and that they were not supporting one community’s programme. they wanted to see a serious programme to understand islam as a humanities discipline. and that was exactly our intention www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 32 published by scholink inc. too, which was reflected in our proposal. so, we tried hard to have two streams, we understood that the ma itself was going to be very focused in humanities, very academically rigorous but we also understood that these teachers were going to teach secondary curriculum, which would have both aspects of humanities and normative aspects (ii-senior manager 1). the tasks were divided between the faculty at iis and ioe to design the modules for the ma and mteach. the plan was that the students recruited had to have teaching experience. at ioe they had to modify their current mteach and adjust it to step’s needs: at ioe we relied on our existing mteach modules, but obviously they needed to be modified, there was a module where students had to go back to their home countries and come up with really innovative use of urban setting, so i remember people taking school trips to museums and parks and so it just translated it into another context. we needed to learn from such modules and come up with modules that addressed step teachers’ needs (ii-senior manager 2). for the ma degree, the senior faculty at iis developed the modules which had to be approved by the senate at ioe. in addition to writing the programme specification, the details of each module needed to be identified for approval. thus, the iis’ faculty developed what “the modules should be like, how it would work for each term but before that we had much higher-level documentation” (ii-senior manager 3). the modules were prepared “in line with the curriculum, depending on what curricula was going to be produced, so the introduction of step and the creation of the curriculum by the iis were in parallel to a large degree” (fg-lecturer 2). thus, an innovative programme was born: the whole programme in itself is innovative; there is no other programme that teaches you how to become a teacher so it gives you the pedagogical stuff as well as the content simultaneously. because it is usually you get the content and then you get the teaching compartment so i think in that way in itself the entire programme is innovative (fg-lecturer 2). in addition to exposing the teacher trainees to rigorous academic standards and various methodologies of teaching and learning, they are taken to field trips to connect with cultural and civilisational aspects. they have to teach at ismaili recs in the uk and europe on saturdays as well as their home countries to implement the knowledge and skills gained. the other innovative feature is that although the classes are taught in different physical spaces (mteach is taught at ioe and the ma at iis by their respective faculty), the programme as a whole is an integrated one both in philosophy of teaching and physical movements of students and faculty between these two institutions, as will be discussed later. for the overall quality assurance of both degrees the responsibility lies with the ioe, because of its degree awarding power. 4.2 from collaboration to innovation and from innovation to collaboration all the managers and lecturers agreed that step did not remain static since its inception—the early collaboration led to the creation of this innovative programme and in turn the programme had to enhance collaboration at different levels to come up with further innovations and creativity. structures were put in place to manage the programme collaboratively and effectively. for example, in addition to institutional www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 33 published by scholink inc. governance of the programme (strategic management by the directors of the two institutions; senior management by the dean of the faculty at ioe and head of graduate studies at iis, operational meetings), establishing the joint programme management committee (jpmc) was crucial to deal with the management and administration of the programme and day-to-day decision making. additionally, the findings demonstrate that over the years collaboration in the programme expanded and consolidated, especially with different stakeholders. for example, those between the ioe/iis and itrebs globally for recruiting teacher candidates; the ioe/iis and itreb of the uk for recs’ teaching placements; and the ioe/iis and secondary schools in london for mainstream teaching placements. the teaching placement in london’s schools addressed the concerns that the teacher candidates needed more exposure to teaching, because over the 5 years of the programme’s existence fewer professional teachers were recruited to the programme. although all students recruited for step would still have voluntary teaching experience, the lack of professional teaching experience was seen as the main challenge for them to absorb the mteach material. however, a lecturer thought that the voluntary experience resolved some of the issues: something that happened over the years was that people joined with very little professional or recs’ teaching experience, so at some stage we made it compulsory to have at least one year rec experience minimum. so, the incoherence among the students in terms of some letting us down, because “they have not got teaching experience and we are experienced”, that sort of thing disappeared, we do not hear of that anymore (fg-lecturer 1). another lecturer disagreed about whether there was much difference between the professional and voluntary teachers recruited for the programme, because “obviously some are more experienced, but it really doesn’t matter, sometimes those with little or no professional teaching experience come up with a real gem of a statement or teaching strategy” (ii-senior lecturer 2). the lecturers unanimously agreed that collaboration between the lecturers had to reinvent itself too. the initiative of reinvigorating collaboration by the lecturers since 2015 is working very well. they set up an integration committee, where they meet and discuss how to collaborate more constructively and manage the programme in a more integrated manner. as a result, they started to deliver sessions together, observe each other’s teaching, design the assessment tasks and give feedback, share reflection on the teaching and learning process, and conduct collaborative research. this brought the faculty from both institutions closer and more transparency and mutual understanding occurred. thus, the collaborative efforts that created this innovative programme constantly need a reinvention to maintain the integrated approach to knowledge acquisition production. 4.3 approaches to teaching and learning: integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and production with regard to approaches to knowledge and methodologies of teaching for step, the senior faculty and lecturers agreed, there was a lot to learn and borrow from another programme at iis, the graduate www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 34 published by scholink inc. programme in islamic studies and humanities (gpish). it was looked at as a model, because it “encourages a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of islam, but seeks to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture” (iis’ website). however, gpish is not a teacher training programme and therefore, the concern was that the approach chosen for step should be in harmony with what is eventually taught at the recs. consequently, for the teacher trainees the programme was not only about getting academic content knowledge but also learning how to teach it to secondary students whilst being sympathetic and empathetic to the believers’ perspectives. the task was not to create clashes or confusions with the secondary school material but deliver religious education in a meaningful way: our step candidates needed to be taught as gpish students would be taught or as an ma programme in islam would be taught. for me it was not about normative teaching of islam or ismaili tariqa (faith) [by normative they mean conventional belief] so to speak, i wanted them to be sympathetic to the belief, because i really believe that you can be academically rigorous but yet be able to talk about normative aspects of faith in a way that is sympathetic but also critical because the whole point of step is that it accepts that there is a normative but also if we need to look at the normative in multiple aspects, it could be the critical aspect (ii-senior manager 1). to the question about the possible tensions between the academic and believers’ perspectives their response was that these tensions could be overcome if people think about both critically and engage with the thought processes rather than be dismissive of one or the other: whenever there is the idea of normative and critical attitude there are going to be tensions because not everybody thinks that those are reconcilable and i think people who think that the critical is the only way you do things they have a tendency to dismiss the normative and then similarly people who are normative when they think about critical they think that the very important aspect of identity and history is being ignored and that these are not resolvable and i think ultimately it depends on your orientation in life, for me i do not see a conflict, i encourage people around me to reflect on these. it is a process of discovery, it is a study of human experience (ii-senior lecturer 1). they further reflected on medieval muslim thinkers such as farabi, ibn sina, ibn rushd, abu hatam razi, sijistani, hamidudin kirmani, qadi nu’man, nasir khusraw, nasiriddin tusi and others who seem to be able to create a harmony between the two adding that in our times “we seem to struggle because for many of us our reading is narrow and so it is about struggle, human life, things we need to grapple with, for me it is being part of human experience. i would not want a step teacher to go into class and say i have all answers”. to avoid confusions and potential misunderstandings, step lecturers adopt various methodologies and pedagogies. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 35 published by scholink inc. 4.3.1 innovative methodologies and pedagogies step lecturers use to prepare professional step teachers an integrated approach to teaching religion was adopted, an approach which studies islam from a civilizational point of view and being respectful of religious belief. for example, most interviewees agreed that when designing the revelation, hermeneutics, pluralism and practice (rhpp) module the sociological dimension of religion, understanding rituals, bringing in the study of religion and studies of the qur’an were taken into account. it was designed in a way that the teacher trainees were grounded not just in the normative aspects but also in the academic study of religion. it allows education of teachers with critical skills, because beliefs and believers change and “if you do not produce people with critical thinking skills, then belief dies. as time changes questions change and you cannot cope with that if you do not have people with different skills set” (fg-lecturer 4). that is why step is a distinctive program that takes a civilizational approach to the teaching of muslim cultures and civilisations although the (non-confessional) theological and faith-based perspectives are conveyed through the teaching of history, the sacred scripture and its interpretation, philosophy and mysticism, literature and culture using contemporary methods of teaching and learning. it emerged from the focus group interviews that methodologies informing lecturers’ teaching are phenomenology, hermeneutics, ethnographic (interpretative) approach, historiography, constructivist theory, and literacy-centred or critical thinking. these methodologies enable the lecturers to support the teacher candidates to overcome certain challenges they face. for example, the academic approach to the teaching of muslim cultures and civilisations which requires creative and critical engagement is sometimes overwhelming and confusing for most students in the beginning. when they take the rhpp module (mentioned earlier), they are often excited to learn but also explore their own identities, asking “are we scholars or believers” or “are we teachers or researchers?” (researcher’s reflection journal). to address these issues phenomenology is used, which informs the lecturers on how to assist students to understand religious phenomenon and appreciate believers’ perspectives, including their own. constructivist theory encourages the students to develop their own world views by linking their experiences to broader humanistic and religious experiences and reflect on those. critical approaches are used by the lecturers cautiously; constructive and not destructive criticism is adopted in teaching and addressing some of the challenges students face. for example, sometimes, especially in their first year, students struggle with critically approaching the sacred scripture or religious authorities. in the rhpp module they are encouraged to critically engage with the scholarships about the qur’an rather than deal with the qur’an, because students do not have sufficient knowledge of arabic language and are not trained in the methodologies of studying the scriptures. for both degree programmes the lectures are largely interactive where student centred teaching strategies are used. students are active learners in this process and participate in the lectures through questioning, discussions and analyses, and brainstorming. they learn collaboratively from each other www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 36 published by scholink inc. and from the lecturer during group, pair, and individual work. they are encouraged to resolve problems or questions posed to them using different inductive teaching and learning methods (e.g., inquiry-based learning, case-based instructions, problem-based learning, project based learning, discovery learning, etc.). for example, one of the inductive teaching strategies used in the literature of muslim societies module was a case-based study. students had to read a story from “the rose garden’ of the persian poet, sa’di shirazi, and discuss in groups to resolve the seeming tensions between the medieval and modern pedagogies of teaching and upbringing of young people” (researcher’s reflection journal). additionally, the lecturers are mindful of students’ needs, which are different in each cohort. this means constant updates of class materials as well as reflecting on what works best: i think also because the pedagogy in education has changed so you are not expected to just lecture to them and they do not want that, they want a lot of interaction and group work, so you have to incorporate that and make sure that you are imparting enough content to them, so i try and do a lot of that as well, because that is what they want, which means it is constant revision, because what works with one group doesn’t always work with another group, and so it depends on the cohort as to what they want and how they want it done (fg-lecturer 3). there are some challenges lecturers face when implementing different strategies and those that students face when being taught via student centred learning. students who join the programme have various educational background (humanities, social sciences, sciences, business, it, etc.) and are from diverse educational structures with various teaching and learning approaches. therefore, it is sometimes a challenge for lecturers to strike a balance between the use of different pedagogies and students’ needs. to deliver the content knowledge according to students’ needs, the lecturers take these various components into account when revising the modules. the module leaders also collaborate with the guest lecturers and discuss with them students’ background and what methods are best to use in teaching. however, it could happen that students from sciences, business and it or from certain contexts find the student-centred approach challenging and not accommodating to their needs. to address these issues, lecturers use other strategies (e.g., face to face tutorials, giving them specific tasks, pairing them differently, etc.). furthermore, collaboration between the faculties from both institutions enables them to address students’ needs whether it is in terms of content delivery or pedagogies. the module leaders design the course work in such a way that it allows the students to conduct thorough research into a topic, critically review the sources, propose innovative and creative analyses, and demonstrate their knowledge of learning theories and teaching strategies. for example, a module leader sets the assessment task in a way that students can explore “how they will take the content into the classroom in their home context or how it connects with the curriculum”, and it is set broadly so that “they can select any aspect of the curriculum that fits with what they are doing, but it is always trying to contextualise it for their home context”, which in a sense is challenging for them, because “even though they have done their one year of voluntary teaching back home, they www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 37 published by scholink inc. have not thought about the content and teaching in this way, so they struggle with it” (fg-lecturer 3). another lecturer stated that they look at the learning outcomes to make sure that those are assessed and “the questions are usually very broad, so they do not require specific answers”. students “can take it in any direction, so long that the learning outcomes are addressed” (fg-lecturer 1). the other lecturer revises the assessment task every year to enable the teacher trainees “to demonstrate the critical understanding of content knowledge but also how they teach that content in their re classes” (lecturer 4). assessment tasks are usually shared with the colleagues for feedback and assignments are double marked by the lecturers from iis and ioe. hence, the revision of the modules, the assessment tasks and other activities related to the programme revolve around the teacher candidates’ needs, who play an integral role in bringing the two programmes together. 4.4 teacher candidates’ role in integrating the two programmes the role of teacher candidates is especially important, because they actually bring the two-degree programmes together through their active participation in lectures and seminars, writing assignments, teaching at recs, field trips, and extra-curricular activities. in a focus group interview, the teacher candidates stated that they are able to integrate the knowledge gained from two programmes in the forums listed above. this was one of the major factors for most of them when they applied, because in “no other university they could obtain two master’s degrees which teaches islamic studies yet at the same time equips them with the most updated teaching and learning strategies” (students 2, 4, 5, 7, 9). however, there are different levels of comfort amongst students when integrating the knowledge and skills gained from both degrees, especially when writing assignments. the analysis of the data demonstrates that those with professional teaching experience feel more at ease with the integration, specifically in their assignments, whereas some with little or no professional teaching experience struggle to integrate the content and teaching components. for example, a teacher trainee (with nursing background) stated that they felt “this detachment between these two programmes at the start of the programme but also to a certain degree even in the second year when they are about to complete the programme” (student 1). this view though immediately was challenged by others who emphasised that for this double masters programme most of the candidates should have had professional teaching experience and able to creatively integrate the content into their mteach or ma assignments. therefore, because some of them did not have that background they “struggle because of it not because of ‘the detachment’ between two masters”. another respondent emphasised that “although i come from non-professional background, it does not mean that the programme [mteach] has not given me anything. i learned a great deal from it, because it is somehow adjusted to step needs and we are able to make sense of the two masters” (student 3). some thought that the mteach programme was more valuable for non-professionals, because “it may sound repetitive for the professional teachers, but the non-professionals find it very useful” (students 3, 4, 5, 8). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 38 published by scholink inc. as far as collaboration with lecturers is concerned, most students were really appreciative of working closely with tutors, especially with their supervisors for their research projects. they brought many examples of how this enabled them to design their research and prepare for the field work. consequently, the teacher candidates are actively bridging the two programmes, yet at the same time they are reflective of the challenges they face. thus, for the students too it was very important to make this integration and collaboration more effective. despite these complex issues and feelings about the two masters degrees, the mteach was replaced with a post graduate diploma in teaching and reflective practice (pgdip) in 2017, as we discuss below. 4.5 challenges the program faces and measures taken all lecturers shared that having iis’ guest lecturers for the ma degree who may have outdated methods of teaching due to being textual scholars is a challenge. despite module leaders conducting introductory sessions with them, it is hard for the former to change their modes of teaching. this challenge has been addressed to some extent by the iis enrolling those lecturers into the post-graduate certificate in teaching in higher education course at king’s college. the other challenge for students as well as the faculty is the workload of this multifaceted programme. this remains an unresolved issue, due to the demand of the programme but also financial impediments. since the teacher candidates are on full scholarship provided by iis (covering their tuition fees, accommodation, field-trips, and monthly allowance), it is a rather expensive programme. hence, there is a shortage of funding when it comes to the other components of the programme (e.g., recruiting more lecturers, seminar leaders, etc.). one of the major challenges that resulted in restructuring step in 2017 is that the enrolment of students with professional teaching experience has decreased over the last few years. this has been perceived as an issue, especially for the delivery of the mteach modules. after several deliberations and negotiations, the senior managers at ioe and iis decided that the mteach needs to be replaced with a pgdip. from september 2017 (cohort 11) onwards, students would obtain an ma in education (muslim cultures and civilisations) and a post graduate diploma in teaching and reflective practice (pgdip). when “students struggle in teaching or writing assignments, it is immediately linked with most of them not being professional teachers and we conclude that the mteach modules do not address their needs. other factors that may be at play here are not considered” (fg-lecturer 5). as it was discussed earlier too, the situation is much more complex than what is perceived about mteach. most lecturers and teacher trainees value the mteach, especially for the non-professional candidates. the teacher trainees thought that instead of a replacement, the mteach needed to be further modified and the renowned professors at ioe be involved in teaching it. the mteach “could have been updated to include modules such as philosophy of religion, pedagogies of teaching abstract concepts and theories, etc.” (fg-student 1). this view was supported by other students too (students 2, 3, 5, 8, 9). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 39 published by scholink inc. linked with the above is another structural challenge that the teacher trainees discussed. they questioned the fact that some mteach tutors from the ioe, who did not have content knowledge of islamic studies, marked their assignments. as mentioned, the iis’ lecturers organise briefing sessions, discuss the assessment tasks and criteria, and invite the ioe tutors to the ma lectures and seminars. these forums enabled the ioe colleagues to get a good grasp of the content knowledge and over the 10 years of the programme’s existence, they obtained sufficient content knowledge to assess the ma assignments. moreover, the iis’ lecturers collaborate closely with the new faculty members at the ioe and discuss with them the assessment tasks and criteria for marking. with this new pgdip degree, the entire faculty at ioe is new and it is a worry for the iis’ lecturers as well as teacher trainees. both the iis’ and ioe’s faculty need to refresh and strengthen collaboration and learn from each other continuously. whether or not the ioe and iis have taken the right course of action to replace the mteach with pgdip, is perhaps too early to judge. further research needs to be conducted on this restructured programme to explore its achievements and areas of improvement in the future. 5. discussion due to specificities of step, the various models discussed earlier shed light on certain elements of collaboration in the programme, yet they do not provide a unifying framework which could be utilised to examine the programme. research findings by goulet et al. (2003) speak to this research in terms of conducting the research as well as what the findings suggest. in this research too, the transformative power of collaboration is visible, where the lecturers and students work together, learn from one another, and influence one another’s growth, despite different power dynamics. as a result, the faculty from both sides work closely to achieve the best possible results. the most prominent feature of such collaboration has been in teaching and learning but also research. among other models broadly categorised by brown (2001) as the ad hoc collaboration, mergers, strategic alliances, and strategic planning between universities, step’s experience echoes with some features of the last two. iis and ioe-ucl too have strategic alliances and planning. this is largely related to the degree awarding power of ioe but also the quality of the programmes it offers as the findings demonstrate. moreover, step too developed an identity which brought ioe and iis together through official and non-official mechanisms to foster relationships and solve issues. here it is both “a process and a product innovation” (lawson, 2004). the interagency model too seems to explain how collaboration in step programme is geared towards experimentation, development of organisations, and innovation and change (slater & ravid, 2004). at the start of the programme it looked like an experiment, even though there have been serious negotiations and discussions. there was no guarantee of its success, and hence in its nascent years of existence it was referred to as “a pilot programme”. however, as collaboration became stronger, both institutions developed a stronger relationship that boosted their confidence about the programme and its www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 40 published by scholink inc. aims and objectives. the programme started to produce competent teachers of secondary re in which the innovative approach to knowledge played a crucial role. as a result of an integrated approach to organisation of knowledge, the teacher trainees obtain content knowledge on religion, cultures and civilisations and simultaneously are taught about teachings strategies to deliver that content. the most updated methodologies and pedagogies are used by lecturers to enable the teacher trainees to enhance the content knowledge and teaching skills. furthermore, as demonstrated, the programme constantly reinvents itself and comes up with further innovation and changes. for example, the change from mteach to pgdip is the latest experimentation and innovation in the programme. whether or not this experimentation is appropriate due to the reservations by some lecturers and students, only time will tell. the cyclical nature of collaboration in step involved the process of negotiation to create and continue the programme, to define the commitment of each institution and to execute the programme (van de van, 1994). the starting negotiations and dialogues as well as initial commitment and allocation of responsibilities which were fluid at the beginning were replaced by formal contracts and agreements. as far as the challenges are concerned, some have been addressed successfully, while others to do with the workload and structural issues seem to persist. for instance, replacing mteach with pgdip should have resolved the challenges of teacher trainees with no professional teaching background. however, informal conversations with the current teacher trainees (cohort 11) demonstrate that the prolonged days of teaching at secular schools are not beneficial for most of them. for example, the non-native speakers find teaching in english challenging and sometimes the teacher trainees might be asked to teach subjects not related to their qualifications. this creating excessive anxiety and stress for the teacher trainees. moreover, sometimes the power dynamics between the two institutions during collaboration creates barriers rather than resolving them. as we have seen, the teacher trainees thought that if mteach was adjusted more to the need of the programme, both degree programme could still work in harmony. however, this did not materialise even though it was proposed to the two institutions by a senior professor involved in the programme. this demonstrates not only the restraining environment of the two institutions and their resistance to change and failure “to realise the radical nature of current historical change” (sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017, p. 6), but also both institutions have become reluctant to meaningfully address important questions to do with power relationships between the collaborating institutions, the nature of education and its philosophy from the stand point of both institutions, and how to come to a mutual understanding. as far as the iis is concerned, its teacher trainees are not “customers” but rather are future educators and leaders. the iis provides full time scholarship for the teacher trainees as well as pays their tuition fee to the ioe. as opposed to consumerist approach of higher educational institutions, iis’ approach to teaching and learning is broadly humanistic and culture and civilisation oriented. although the ioe is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 41 published by scholink inc. aware of these conceptions and its own renowned professors (ronald barnett, peter scott, david watson, etc.) promote education which enhances cultures and civilisations, it nevertheless is caught up in the race for joint ventures and becoming part of larger network of corporations and businesses. the merger of ioe and ucl itself perhaps was partly an attempt to attract larger investments from the multinational corporations. this has implications for step and its possible further restructuring or even relocation to a different institution. while this paper was in the process of publication, further changes happened in step, where a new institution, the school of oriental and african studies (soas) joined this collaborative venture and from 2019 the ma degree will be granted by soas. moreover, not very constructive structural changes were introduced into the teaching body of step—iis in autumn of 2018 where the number of lecturers was reduced. this demonstrates the increased managerialism at the institution and making decisions dictated by the market economy. this restructuring therefore is contradictory to the vision and philosophy of step discussed throughout this paper and its students not being “consumers” as mentioned earlier. 6. research limitations and recommendation for further research this small-scale study focused on collaboration between the two institutions and how they jointly manage a collaborative programme like step. the time and scope limitations therefore did not allow the researcher to focus on areas that perhaps needed to be given more attention. that is why we recommend them as research topics to be explored further. one of the important topic in need of exploration, is the power dynamics between the two institutions, for instance, how the degree awarding power of ioe influences the collaboration between lecturers, especially when they design the assessment tasks and assess students’ assignments. another important aspect of the programme that needs further research is the philosophy, epistemology and methodology of knowledge acquisition and production in this collaborative programme. how far can we expand the boundaries and create more scope for incorporating alternative epistemologies and teaching and learning methods or alternative paradigms (sardar & henzell-thomas, 2017)? in order for the programme to become more integrated and relevant to the needs of the communities it serves, there is a need to critically reflect on medieval epistemologies and methods of teaching and learning and juxtapose them with modern epistemologies and methods of teaching and learning to see the commonalities and points of departure. the reason for this is that much of religious education among muslims in general and ismaili muslims in particular is textual as well as visual and artistic that takes place outside formal schooling/institutions (e.g., places of worship, ziyaras—pilgrimages, religious festivals, etc.). this will allow for more creativity in teaching and learning and possibly coming up with a new paradigm and approach to knowledge. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 42 published by scholink inc. 7. conclusion it can be concluded that the research questions were answered and that this unique programme was created to address the young ismaili muslims’ need for having a broader humanistic, civilizational and normative religious education taught by professional teachers. it became necessary for the iis to liaise with the ioe for collaboration and setting up step. it is an innovative programme with a distinctive approach to knowledge production and acquisition where teacher trainees simultaneously learn about muslim cultures and civilisations and methodologies of teaching. despite numerous challenges the programme is successful and reinvigorates collaboration between the two institutions leading to more innovation and creativity. it is hoped that step’s experience and achievements will be useful for muslims and other faith communities that may struggle with how best to teach re to their young generations. acknowledgements i would like to thank the students (cohort 9), the lecturers, and the management of the secondary teacher education programme, iis & ioe-ucl for their participation in this research and sharing their ideas with me. my appreciation and thanks also go to the participants of the 21st annual seda conference on effective innovation and collaboration in the new higher education (brighton, november, 2016), where the 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(2013). case study research: design and methods. sage publications. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 89 original paper a psychodrama intervention to loneliness due to covid-19 hakan usakli 1 1 prof. dr., sinop, turkey received: october 12, 2021 accepted: november 3, 2021 online published: december 19, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p89 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p89 abstract loneliness as a psychological state is affective and cognitive discomfort or uneasiness from being or perceiving oneself to be alone or otherwise solitary. since the beginning of the pandemic, people stayed at home, afraid of contracting covid-19. as youths followed lectures via the internet for long hours without physical participation, they became more and more withdrawn and socially isolated. this study explores psychodrama as an intervention to reduce loneliness in university students. covid-19 pandemic durations seemed to be caused loneliness for all people. the short-version of the ulca loneliness scale was applied to 358 university students. 24 students were selected for the study based on their higher scores on the assessment. these students also accepted that covid-19 negatively affected their loneliness state. the average age of participants was 21 years old, and no one was younger than 19 years old. randomly they were divided into two groups as experimental and controlling with equal representation of number. the experimental group joined 15 weeks of psychodrama groups for 90 minutes each week. all sessions were held with via internet video platform meeting program. in psychodrama method of psychotherapy, clients enacted their concerns to achieve new insight about themselves and others. the psychodrama program started with introducing group participants and expression of why they are in the group to each other. the group was guided with an experienced group leader. with the techniques of psychodrama such as warmup, mirror, doubling, and role reversal, participants self-disclosed their current moods. k-square statistical analyses suggested that the group of university students who joined psychodrama overcame their loneliness. education policy makers should bear in mind that today’s covid-19 society suffers from psychological treatment deficits in the area of loneliness. group action methods should be taken immediately. group guidance, counseling, and drama in education and psychodrama can be useful for students to cope with problems resulting from of covid-19. youths truly need to share their suffering with professionals. preventive guidance activities should be given importance in schools. keywords covid-19, loneliness, psychodrama, university students www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 90 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction covid-19, which originated in china and spread all over the world in a short time, like a nightmare, affected all people negatively. hundreds of people have died and thousands of people also are suffering from this illness in most miserable health conditions. coronavirus (cov), what we used to see around us, it is among the catarrhal-flu factors. the variant that emerged on december 29-31, 2019 and is currently in the pandemic (world epidemic) that we fear will cause cov type is defined as “coronavirus disease 2019”, i.e., “covid-19” from the beta-cov group. all types of it can affect mammals. at the time of publication, covid-19 proved fatal in 3% of cases worldwide. health authorities suggested that rapid recognition and isolation of cases be combined with increasing awareness and social, residential quarantine in order to prevent the spread of the virus. scientific institutions and health units will end the epidemic with the coordinated work of government agencies (karcioglu, 2020). on january 23, 2020 “lock-down” for the city of wuhan, quarantine decision was made and implemented. considering the different clinical prognosis of the disease, the age groups in which it is seen, and it’s spread; it can be anticipated that the subject will not be limited to the medical dimension, but may have negative effects in terms of socio-cultural, ethical and moral, legal, education, tourism, economy, agriculture and public health. this article, which is the starting point, includes content that examines and evaluates the negative aspects of the covid-19 pandemic that affect social life and the ethical plane based on news sources with high accuracy on the internet and scientific literature (ustun & ozciftci, 2020). terán-pérez et al. (2021) claim that concerning anxiety and depression, both sexes reported high symptoms. these data suggest that stressful conditions related to social isolation and the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic may induce mental health disturbances, which may become worse with sleep restriction. in a similar study, citak and pakdemir (2021), found that a significant number of participants had high anxiety levels. also, it was determined that individuals’ sleeping habits changed, and that they had more difficulty sleeping during the covid-19 pandemic. the study also found that those individuals having trouble sleeping also had a higher inclination to have generalized anxiety. there are many research studies concerning covid-19 and loneliness (luchetti et al., 2020; groarke et al., 2020; killgore et al., 2020a; saltzman, hansel, & bordnick, 2020; li & wang, 2020; killgore et al., 2020b; hwang et al., 2020; killgore et al., 2020c). all of these studies indicate the effects of covid-19 on loneliness. as a psychological maladaptation, loneliness is one of today’s epidemic diseases. the concept of loneliness defined by dictionaries and the concept of loneliness used in the field of mental health are not exactly the same. loneliness in the dictionary refers to the situation where nobody is around. however, the concept of loneliness used in the field of mental health is the inability of a person to feel the feelings of attachment, closeness and belonging to anyone. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 91 published by scholink inc. loneliness: it can be measured (sni: sozial network inventory) not by the number of people around an individual, but by the personal satisfaction of the individual in his/her social relations. for example, although they have a lot of friends around them, there are still people who need deep relationships and feel lonely. even if we give an opposite example, we can observe that some people who are isolated from their environment and have very few friends do not feel lonely. according to genctan (1994) there are different kinds of loneliness such as: 1) people who live alone may feel lonely. 2) he/she may become lonely by alienating his/her community group. 3) loneliness may occur due to exclusion by the environment. 4) a person can become lonely by his own choice by minimizing his relations with his environment. 5) real loneliness; the feeling of being unrecognized and lonely. 6) temporary loneliness; loneliness, which, by the individual’s own choice, often produces constructive and creative consequences. as our life cycle progresses, we may notice that our perspective on loneliness and relationships changes. for example, young adults (18-30 years) want to have a large number of friends to escape loneliness, while advanced adults (30-45 years) want a small number of but closer friends. in addition, the causes and consequences of loneliness vary according to culture. for example, in western societies, loneliness is seen as the lack of a close friend or lover/spouse due to the influence of individualist culture. but in eastern societies, loneliness is evaluated in the context of a wider network with the effect of social culture. in other words, incomplete relationships with family, relatives or even communities are considered loneliness genctan (1994). the reasons that prevent lonely people from establishing relationships have been investigated and, according to research, two main reasons causing loneliness were found. one of them is negative expectations and the other is a lack of social skills (hawkley, 2019, p. 185). first, look at what is meant when speaking about negative attachments. as lonely people enter a social environment, they think that their experiences here will not go well like others, and they constantly have negative expectations. these low expectations poison lonely people while trying to establish a friendship or romantic relationship. this poison is reflected in their thoughts and behavior, causing them to behave cold and avoidant. at this stage, people alone should try to overcome their negative thoughts and low expectations and try to replace those thoughts with more functional thoughts (sahin, 2019). let us look now at the deficiencies in social skills, which is another factor. some situations such as not knowing how to communicate, not knowing how to behave, not being able to use gentle and effective language, not being able to empathize, and not knowing how to continue talking are some of the situations that are seen due to the lack of social skills. lack of social skills can lead to inability to get out of the loneliness cycle and to be trapped in that cycle. at this stage, in order to overcome loneliness, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 92 published by scholink inc. individuals should develop their social skills, research, read, and participate in a social skills training if they are not self-sufficient. psychodrama is highly affective to enlarge social skills such as, interpersonal skills, communication, empowerment, and human relationships (giacomucci, 2021). 2. psychodrama psychodrama is an action method of psychotherapy which has a distinctive language and a characteristic structure. psychodrama interventions are creative, engaging, and interactive for group and individual treatment. psychodrama is a form of group psychotherapy in which action techniques are used. group members do not sit in a circle on chairs discussing life and its problems. life is brought into the room and enacted using group members as the cast of the drama. the process is rich, enlivening and fun. solutions are found to problems using the creativity and spontaneity of the group (holmes, 1992). the aim of psychodrama is to help a person be more constructively spontaneous, be happier and have the strength to design life as she wants it to be. the objectives of insight and cathartic release play their part in unblocking the person’s perception and ability to deal with change (wilkins, 1999). what this means is that psychodrama, in combination with all the other psychological and social technologies being developed, can facilitate a new, potentially achievable goal: the intentional transformation of consciousness itself. with these considerations in place, let us proceed to an examination of some of the issues in greater detail (blatner, 2000). psychodrama involves the staging of a problem in life as if it were a play, and so certain terms are used which are derived from theatre: protagonist, director, stage, audience, and the like. the protagonist is the person who is the subject of the psycho dramatic enactment and the director is the person who orchestrates the psychodrama to help the protagonist explore a problem. the stage is the area in which the enactment takes place. the audience or the auxiliary egos play the roles the protagonist wants to work on and the audience watches the play. table 1. core techniques in psychodrama techniques usage of frequency list of techniques core techniques soliloquy double mirror role reversal resistance interpolation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 93 published by scholink inc. secondary techniques sculpture social atom intermediate objects games sociometry role play symbolic representation other techniques symbolic representation amplification concretization empty chair table 1 illustrates the techniques in psychodrama that frequently used. definition of techniques: soliloquy: the protagonist shares with the audience the feelings and thoughts that would normally be kept hidden or suppressed. double: when another group member joins the protagonist, taking on their posture and, when it is helpful, speaking for the protagonist, they are said to be a double. mirror: a process in which the protagonist’s part in the drama is taken by another who then does and says what the protagonist did previously while the latter watches. this “instant replay” allows the protagonist a more objective view of the scene. role reversal: when protagonists take on the role of “the other” in their dramas and the auxiliary plays the protagonist, roles are said to be reversed. resistance interpolation: this intervention describes the process of testing the protagonist’s spontaneity, in terms of responding to new situations, by modifying the psychodrama scene. sculpture: the director asks the protagonist to arrange group members in a symbolic representation of the way he/she perceives an aspect of his/her life or self. social atom: an individual’s immediate social network. originally the social network into which a person is born, and which continues to affect them throughout life, but also used to mean those www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 94 published by scholink inc. “significant others” surrounding an individual in the present. intermediate objects: objects such as props, fabrics, puppets, cloth dolls and masks have been recognized as catalysts of important non-verbal reactions and at the same time allow a greater distance from the emotionally charged situation. games: dramatic games were referred to in about a quarter of the revised references. the game must go through the same stages of the psychodrama session: warm-up, action and sharing. sociometry: an approach to the measurement of interpersonal relationships. role play: a group therapy approach in which clients act out their problems to gain new insights and achieve emotional catharsis and was developed by jacob moreno who contended that people could gain more from acting out their problems than from talking about them. symbolic representation: the process of mentally representing objects and experiences through the use of symbols (including linguistic symbols) psychodrama utilizes and cultivates imagination, symbolic representation, and also the ability to shift back and forth between the realms of imagination and ordinary reality. amplification: describe a judged tendency of a person to amplify physical symptoms based on psychological factors such as anxiety or depression. concretization: concretization allows protagonists to experience physically what had been experienced psychologically, and the marshaling of the multilevel resources of the body can serve as a vehicle for spontaneity and insight. empty chair: (also known as “auxiliary chair”) instead of another person (an auxiliary) playing the complementary figure in a protagonist’s enactment, an empty chair represents that position. sometimes this allows for a more spontaneous expression of aggressive or tender feelings, depending on the makeup of the group or the embarrassment of the protagonist in working with another person (lippitt, 1958). this is an invaluable technique in a one-to-one therapeutic context and has been incorporated as an integral part of gestalt therapy. spontaneity and creativity are two broad and very important concepts in psychodrama, and those lead to interpersonal and social changes (giacomucci, 2021). the aim of this study is to find out effectiveness of psychodrama on loneliness of university students caused by covid-19. there are many studies relating to covid-19 and loneliness as mentioned above. none of those studies indicate any remedies to loneliness of university students. so, this study seeks to offer effective remedies. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 95 published by scholink inc. 3. method 3.1 participants the loneliness short version scale was applied to 358 university students whereby 50 students scored high indicating loneliness and were interviewed to determine if the pandemic affected them negatively. the interviews revealed 24 students accepted that the lockdown affected them badly and feel extremely lonely. the participants were in the age of between 19 and 21. two groups randomly were assigned as control and experimental. all groups consisted of the same number of participants. 3.2 data analysis the mann-whitney u test was used in this study to compare differences between two independent groups when the dependent variable is either ordinal or continuous, but not normally distributed (macfarland & yates, 2021). 3.3 measure loneliness scale ucla loneliness scale short form was used. the scale, which consists of 20 items, is in the four-point likert type, and is scored as 1 (not at all appropriate) and 4 (completely appropriate). the lowest score that can be obtained from the scale with 2 reverse coded items (items 3 and 6) is 8 and the highest score is 32. high scores on the scale indicate that the individual has a high level of loneliness. the exploratory factor analysis resulted in a factor and a confirmatory factor. the analysis showed that the model fits well with the original scale and has high validity. the psychometric properties of the scale were analyzed with internal consistency, exploratory and confirmatory factors. the internal consistency coefficient of the scale is .96, and the test-retest reliability coefficient is .94 (dogan, cotok, & tekin, 2011). 3.4 the program table 2. the program week number thema of the session used technique aim 1 taking the pulse of the group double identifying the group’s state, reducing anxiety and enhance spontaneity 2 self-presentation role play getting to know the members of the group and stimulating the willingness for self-disclosure and listening to others 3 the mirror mirror to create and strengthen positive relationships www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 96 published by scholink inc. 4 the interview role play getting to know the members of the group, the willingness for self-disclosure and also for listening to others 5 role reversal role play to collect “new truths”, to act and naturally overcome emotional blocks and cognitive prejudices 6 role reversal with a significant other role play to collect “new truths”, to act and naturally overcome emotional blocks and cognitive prejudices 7 role reversal with an object role play to collect “new truths”, to act and naturally overcome emotional blocks and cognitive prejudices 8 the auxiliary chair technique empty chair surfacing unexpressed thoughts, self-projections and fears to life 9 the stimulation of communication and self-perception clarification self-presentation, mirror, double look inside deeply 10 experience and become aware of positive/negative attitudes role play, soliloquy to know self in more detail 11 inspiring the need for change "old me new me" role reversal, future projection soliloquy this exercise helps the client to examine his/her old ways of being and his/her hopes for the future 12 highlighting personal group status sociometry, future projection concretization identification and acknowledging the individual role and group relations. 13 highlighting group relationships concretization, sociometry identifying and acknowledging the individual role www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 97 published by scholink inc. 14 conflict management sociometry, social atom, concretization, future projection exploring and assessment of group relationships 15 group separation self-pres entation, concretization soliloquy reminding significant moments from the group history and sharing emotions; establishing closure table 2 illustrates 15 weeks sessions in respect to session themes, used techniques and the aim of the session. 4. findings table 3. u-test result of the loneliness scale according to the group group n mean rank sum of ranks u p experimental 12 6,88 82,50 4,50 0 control 12 18,12 217,50 table 3 illustrates u-test result of the loneliness scale according to the group. mann whitney u-test results of post-application loneliness scale scores of university students with high loneliness scores who participated in the psychodrama program and those who did not participate in such a program are given in table 1. accordingly, at the end of a fifteen-week experimental study, it was found that there was a significant difference between the loneliness scores of the students who participated in the psychodrama program and the students who did not participate in such a program (u=4.50, p<.00). when the mean ranks are taken into account, it is understood that students participating in psychodrama have lower loneliness scores than students who do not participate in psychodrama. this finding can be said that the psychodrama program is effective in reducing the loneliness of students who are lonely. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 98 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusion and discussion covid-19 has been highly and negatively affecting all over the world. due to the prohibition on going out, people cannot go to parks, visit family, meet with their friends, and cannot go to places such as restaurants, bars and discos. young people stated that they had been quite alone for more than a year. there are studies in the literature showing that covid-19 is related to loneliness (luchetti et al., 2020; groarke et al., 2020; killgore et al., 2020a; saltzman et al., 2020; li & wang, 2020; killgore et al., 2020b; hwang et al., 2020; killgore et al., 2020c). covid-19 is an indisputable and feared reality. another fact is that people start to have psychological problems. especially young people have expressed their loneliness on various platforms. psychodrama is an effective method for young people to overcome their loneliness. techniques such as double, mirror, role reversal and so on can be highly effective for participants of psychodrama (wilkins, 1999; blatner, 2000). these interventions create a non-threatening environment for the psychodrama participants (usakli, 2012). in conclusion, processes such as psychodrama, group therapy, group counseling are recommended to children, adolescents and adults who are the victims of unwanted psychological situations such as loneliness, anxiety, and decline in well-being due to covid-19. acknowledgement i want to thank for all his helps to dr. scott giacomucci. references blatner, a. (2000). foundations of psychodrama. new york, ny: springer. çitak, ş., & pekdemir, ü. (2020). an analysis on sleep habits and generalized anxiety levels of individuals during the covi̇d-19 pandemic. journal of family, counseling and education, 5, 60-73. https://doi.org/10.32568/jfce.742086 dogan, t., cotok, n. a., & vetekin, e. g. (2011). reliability and validity of the turkish version of the ucla loneliness scale (uls-8) among university students. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 15, 2058-2062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.053 genctan, e. (1994). i̇nsanolmak (to be a human) (14 th ed.). istanbul: remzi. giacomucci, s. (2021). social work, sociometry, and psychodrama: experiential approaches for group therapists, community leaders, and social workers. springer nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6342-7 groarke, j. m., berry, e., graham-wisener, l., mckenna-plumley, p. e., mcglinchey, e., & armour, c. (2020). loneliness in the uk during the covid-19 pandemic: cross-sectional results from the covid-19. psychological wellbeing study. plos one, 15(9), e0239698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239698 https://doi.org/10.32568/jfce.742086 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.053 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6342-7 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239698 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 99 published by scholink inc. hawkley, l. (2019). social isolation, loneliness, and health. solitary confinement, 185-198. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190947927.003.0011 holmes, p. (1992). the inner world outside: object relations theory and psychodrama. tavistock/routledge. hwang, t., rabheru, k., peisah, c., reichman, w., & ikeda, m. (2020). loneliness and social isolation during the covid-19 pandemic. international psychogeriatrics, 32(10), 1217-1220. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610220000988 karcıoğlu, ö. (2020). what is coronaviruses, and how can we protect ourselves? phoenix medical journal, 2(1), 66-71. killgore, w., cloonan, s., taylor, e., & dailey, n. (2020a). loneliness: a signature mental health concern in the era of covid-19. psychiatry research, 290, 113117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113117 killgore, w., cloonan, s., taylor, e., lucas, d., & dailey, n. (2020b). loneliness during the first half-year of covid-19 lockdowns. psychiatry research, 294, 113551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113551 killgore, w., cloonan, s., taylor, e., miller, m., & dailey, n. (2020c). three months of loneliness during the covid-19 lockdown. psychiatry research, 293, 113392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113392 li, l., & wang, s. (2020). prevalence and predictors of general psychiatric disorders and loneliness during covid-19 in the united kingdom: results from the understanding society uk household longitudinal study. ssrn electronic journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3617302 lippitt, r. (1958). the auxiliary chair technique. group psychotherapy, 11, 8-23. luchetti, m., lee, j. h., aschwanden, d., sesker, a., strickhouser, j. e., terracciano, a., & sutin, a. r. (2020). the trajectory of loneliness in response to covid-19. american psychologist, 75(7), 897-908. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000690 macfarland, t., & yates, j. (2021). using r for biostatistics. springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62404-0 sahin, k. (2019). psikoloji perspektifinden yalnızlık (loneliness from the psychology perspective). retrieved march 27, 2021, from https://medium.com/t%c3%bcrkiye/psikoloji-perspektifinden-yaln%c4%b1zl%c4%b1k-e57b1 452ca4c saltzman, l., hansel, t., & bordnick, p. (2020). loneliness, isolation, and social support factors in post-covid-19 mental health. psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 12(s1), s55-s57. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000703 terán-pérez, g., portillo-vásquez, a., arana-lechuga, y., sánchez-escandón, o., mercadillo-caballero, r., gonzález-robles, r. o., & velázquez-moctezuma, j. (2021). sleep and https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190947927.003.0011 https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610220000988 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113117 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113551 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113392 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3617302 https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000690 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62404-0 https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000703 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 100 published by scholink inc. mental health disturbances due to social isolation during the covid-19 pandemic in mexico. international journal of environmental research, and public health, 18(2804), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062804 usakli, h. (2012). effects of forum theater (drama technique) on adolescence johari awareness window. journal of education research and behavioral sciences, 1(2), 24-34. ustun, ç., & ozciftci, s. (2020). effects of covid-19 pandemic on social life and ethical plane: an evaluation study. anadolu kliniğitıpbilimleri dergisi, 142-153. https://doi.org/10.21673/anadoluklin.721864 wilkins, p. (1999). psychodrama. ca: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062804 https://doi.org/10.21673/anadoluklin.721864 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 73 original paper practical challenges to teachers and students in asynchronous cross-cultural communication projects kate j. m. sato 1* & birte w. horn 2 1 center of liberal arts & sciences, hokkaido university of science, sapporo, japan 2 hamm-lippstadt university of applied sciences, lippstadt, germany * kate j. m. sato, center of liberal arts & sciences, hokkaido university of science, sapporo, japan received: november 5, 2021 accepted: november 17, 2021 online published: december 16, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p73 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p73 abstract teachers are expected to prepare their students for life in a world that changes daily, fueled by technological progress and globalisation (howells, 2018). in this internationalized world, english has become the lingua franca for business, science and education (tatsioka et al., 2018). young professionals are expected to be proficient in english and able to easily communicate with colleagues from other countries. achieving these objectives presents challenges for teachers and students. practical approaches to incorporating authentic communication across cultures in the english language classroom are discussed in this paper. over three years we authors implemented several projects using different didactic methods to bring students from japan and germany together to improve their proficiency in language as well as their cross-cultural communication skills. students worked in small teams on joint tasks, in which the use of ict (information and communication technologies) was crucial to successful outcome. naturally, any careful advance planning was quickly met by the emergence of unforeseen problems that needed immediate attention from teachers and students. in this paper, we focus on challenges teachers and students may encounter when developing new strategies to include meaningful cross-cultural and intercultural exchanges in the tertiary elf classroom, based on teacher and student experiences. keywords cross-cultural communication, asynchronous virtual projects, higher education, online learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 74 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction over the past three years, we have created and implemented five projects in our english language classrooms that were aimed at strengthening both language and cross-culture communication skills of our students. those projects were completed with varying degrees of success. the majority of our students are pre-service engineers and often not very interested in language learning. nevertheless, we also found that students from other academic backgrounds such as health science or media had a more open attitude to languages and cross-cultural communication projects. additionally, in some of our projects, we not only included students from our countries of residence (germany and japan), but also from various parts of africa, asia and europe, who were studying in germany. in this collaboration, our initial idea was to increase our students‟ motivation and language proficiency by providing a very hands-on experience of working with colleagues from another country and the subsequent necessity to use english as a common language. we were very conscious of the challenges that many efl/esl teachers face in their classrooms: motivating students in their use of english and offering them opportunities to use english as a means of communication rather than an object of study. however, initially, we were unaware that such a cross-cultural virtual exchange might be a “very complex and difficult activity to integrate and use in the foreign language classroom” (o‟dowd, 2012, p. 350). the beginning of the collaboration presented here, was very spontaneous. from idea to implementation of the first project in the classrooms, less than two weeks passed. though fuelled by enthusiasm, at least on the teachers‟ side, it is easy to imagine that we soon became aware of numerous challenges throughout the course of the project. this paper covers challenges that we have faced in our projects, literature to frame our experience, and notes that we feel are most pertinent to consider when embarking on an asynchronous cross-cultural communication project. 2. background the interactions that took place and that we refer to in this paper, were between students studying at a german science university and students at a japanese science university. in this context, we will briefly discuss the terms intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication. while these two terms are often used synonymously, some voices in literature differentiate in their interpretation. for example, tichnor-wagner., parkhouse, glazier, & cain (2019) state that intercultural communication is “also referred to as cross-cultural communication” which is comprised of several elements, including an awareness of differences in communication, both verbally and non-verbally. indeed, they are closely connected, however, when we ask how those two terms are understood in the respective languages of the participants, we can see that the german language, for example, implies that a cross-cultural study may be analytical, or compares cultures, but also where interaction between those of different cultural backgrounds is taking place. intercultural communication, however has a different nuance that implies www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 75 published by scholink inc. interaction in the german language. japanese researchers translate the two english terms seemingly indiscriminately into one of two terms in japanese. yashiro & wakita (2001) define intercultural communication as a place where „my common sense is not yours, and your common sense is not mine”. holliday says, “interculturality is a reflexive awareness of self and other” which aligns with yashiro & wakita (ibid.). we acknowledge that not all languages have both words (such as french which uses “intercultural” for intercultural, but for cross-cultural the translation is less straightforward). intercultural communication requires an examination of oneself, one‟s own culture and the perception of others. it is through intercultural communication that “students are expected to recognise aspects of culture and create their own communication styles to accomplish the objectives” (tasaki, 2020, p. 96). cross-cultural communication also acknowledges a difference in cultures, but the focus lies less on application of the knowledge, or the practicalities of communicating, and more on the differences of cultures and the way they communicate. in short, we focused more on the practicalities of communicating with people from different cultural languages and background, and while doing so learning about them. therefore, in the context of this study, we formalize the occurrence of cross-cultural communication when students from different cultural backgrounds meet and interact, which may include making comparisons between their respective countries. nevertheless, we acknowledge the two terms are intertwined and due to the nature of our projects cannot be separated. the terms intercultural communication, and cross-cultural communication are used throughout the paper on this basis. however, where the literature may deviate from our definitions, we have not changed the terminology therein. the majority of japanese students have had limited experience communicating with someone from a different cultural background, let alone intercultural encounters. they are often anxious to enter into any conversation with “a foreigner” and it has long been accepted that japanese efl learners are reluctant to speak in english (cutrone, 2009). on the other hand, while the german students have more contact with others from different countries, their awareness of “interculturality” is almost non-existent. therefore, it is of little surprise that in pre-project surveys, most of our students‟ worldview can be qualified as essentialist. for example, comments that were given ran along the lines of “germans drink beer”, and “japanese people eat sushi”. as a consequence, we consciously aim to expand our students‟ understanding of culture to encompass “the skills, attitudes, and behaviours needed to improve interactions across difference, whether within a society (differences due to age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, political affiliation, ethnicity and so on) or across borders” (deardorff, 2020, p. i). we endeavour to foster the awareness that perceived differences are based more on individual notions of identity than on national cultures when engaging with students from abroad. thus, we seek to train and strengthen our students‟ “ability to relate constructively to people who have mindsets and/or communication styles that are different from one‟s own” (dypedahl, 2019, p. 102) in our projects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 76 published by scholink inc. in creating and assigning tasks to our students, we put the focus on individual experiences and preferences that are to be shared with their respective partners from the other country. our focus is thus less on “broad constructs like „culture‟ and more on the everyday concrete actions through which culture is produced” by the individual (scollon, 2012, p. 18). however, while our projects are designed to enhance our students‟ intercultural competence, we also need to be aware of how relatively little time we were able to spend on them. most of the projects only make a very small part of an otherwise packed syllabus and need to use a fairly uncomplicated approach to be successfully completed by our students. since we put a strong emphasis on relationship building and cooperation, we ask our students to communicate with their partners abroad regularly via a chat app or video chats. we encourage them to discover personal commonalities and differences that stem from being part of different identity-groups such as age, gender or interests rather than different countries. however, due to the short-term nature of the projects we have implemented so far, personal relationships between our students often stay on the surface. nevertheless, there are also teams in which students have continued communicating with each other long after a project had ended. finally, before embarking on describing the challenges that surfaced to both teachers and the students, it should be noted that in each project ethical procedures were followed. however, this paper shares summaries of issues that arose during our projects, rather than details of data from individual projects that would require the use of pseudonyms. 3. challenges for the teachers 3.1 the syllabus one of the first challenges a teacher may face is positioning an exchange within the frame of a syllabus, deciding goals, working out details of implementation and grading. o‟dowd (2016) argues that telecollaboration should not only be integrated into current study programmes, but also be used as “alternative credit systems for students” (hauck & mackinnon, 2016). furthermore, when working with engineering students “[d]esigning an appropriate syllabus, selecting appropriate materials and methodology for teaching english language and culture in a technical university with a view of developing the engineering students‟ cross-cultural understanding, constitutes a challenge for language teachers as they have to enhance everyone‟s motivation to learn and communicate” (catana, 2014. p. 346). there are a number of ways to approach this and the solution is going to depend on a number of interdependent factors. nevertheless, organising a cross-cultural project means taking on quite a considerable amount of additional work. teachers lead busy lives: in tertiary education our roles include teaching, conducting research, writing papers, being part of university committees or academic organisations, and working on a variety of other projects at any given time. consequently, when adding a cross-cultural project to your regular workload, you must be prepared that this will put increased pressure and demands on your time. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 77 published by scholink inc. many teachers have to deliver a prescribed syllabus content whilst wishing to impart what they perceive will be necessary for students in their futures. those with complete freedom over the syllabus are left to determine what should take priority in the efl classroom. both of these situations can be challenging as our world becomes increasingly complex. syllabi can “enable the students to acknowledge and evaluate cultural differences, to empathize with other cultures, to enhance their motivation to learn and their ability to act in line with the rules of the culture they will encounter in their lifelong work and social experience” (catana, 2014, p. 345). therefore, finding the focus of any project is of primary importance. while deep learning and ai are delivering increasingly high-quality text translations, and reliance on those tools will become inevitable in a future work environment, cross-cultural projects challenge students on many different levels-giving them a learning experience beyond translations of text whilst facilitating communication. thus, examining what to teach, how to teach and when to teach, need to be examined. consequently, in this part we discuss some of the underpinning challenges teachers face when embarking on the more practical aspects of conducting an asynchronous cross-cultural communication project, including what the students need to learn, or should learn, and why. having successfully weaved a telecommunication project into your syllabus, the question of evaluating the project arises. there are two aspects to the evaluation: the tally of the project in the whole syllabus, and the evaluation of the project itself. it is important to assess the coursework in the class, and determine the portion that can reasonably be allotted to the project. in many cases, it is not possible to commit 100% of the course evaluation to a telecommunication project despite o‟dowd‟s (2016) case for doing so. when deciding the tally of the project in the course, it is also important to respect the decision the other teacher(s) you may be working with. therefore, it is possible that in one country the participants will have a greater weighting of their course on the project, than in another. this may affect the degree of success of the project and thus it is helpful to be aware of decisions made by other teacher(s). with the evaluation of the project, again, we would like to emphasise the importance of mutual respect. some teachers may choose to evaluate the amount of interaction between participants, or the outcomes of the interactions. these are relatively easy to understand for the students and for the teachers to create a grading framework. however, other teachers may wish to approach grading from a different perspective. leontjev and deboer illustrate how in one study “learners used multimodal resources to develop their english and conceptual understanding” (2020, p. 14). this insight would not have been achieved if the interaction between students had not been carefully examined. furthermore, this may be attractive to a teacher who wishes to evaluate language development. however, with telecommunication projects, it is also possible to focus evaluation on aspects such as bloom‟s taxonomy, or critical thinking skills. in such cases, the project can be organised so that participants‟ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 78 published by scholink inc. feedback, or other responses, will provide evidence for grading. since our students‟ interactions are generally on line, and the privacy of their communication is respected, we chose the latter approach for evaluation. 3.2 cultural aspects teachers in tertiary education are tasked with preparing students to succeed in a world that is complex and rapidly changing. perpetual developments in technology and globalisation challenge teachers and students on social, economic, and environmental levels (howells, 2018). according to the oecd and other organizations aiming to define and explain skills needed for the demands of a global workplace, communication and, more specifically, intercultural communication are of top priority (ananiadou & claro, 2009). communication is no longer understood as immediate, face-to-face interactions, but includes digital formats since students need to “have the ability to communicate, exchange, criticise, and present information and ideas, including the use of ict [information and communications technology] applications to participate and make positive contributions to the digital culture” (ananiadou & claro, 2009, p. 5). there are many facets to intercultural communication which not only focus on language but also negotiation skills, a knowledge of hindrances, diversity awareness, non-verbal communication, and communicative business skills such as giving presentations (gibson, 2002). many teachers are already aware of, and teach, business communication skills to their students. these are often called “hard communication skills”, which we define as a communication skill that predominantly relies on the deliverer of the message. “soft communication skills” are defined as skills that rely on communication between two or more participants where the outcome relies heavily on the participants (e.g., negotiation). needless to say, the hard communication skills are more concrete, the outcomes more controllable and predicable; thus it is easier to create a framework with which to teach them. there are abundant variables in soft communication skills, which make them harder to implement in the efl context. additionally, when communication is taking place predominantly online, it is difficult to access, whereas written language is available for interpretation. these all interlink with the challenge of how to evaluate or grade students‟ coursework as mentioned above. consequently, when conducting a project such as we describe, reflection on the cultural aspects are fundamental. gibson states that “in intercultural communication it is vital to distinguish between what is part of a person‟s cultural background and what is part of their personality” (2002, p. 12). one way to approach this may be to follow hadley‟s suggestion which says that the first step in “teaching for cultural understanding in our classroom” is “becoming aware of our own biases” (2001, p. 354) for both teacher and student. additionally, williams and burden point out that: humanistic teaching, therefore, is not just learner-centred, but person-centred. a teacher‟s view of teaching mirrors [a] view of [oneself] and [one‟s] teaching behaviour reflects [one‟s] www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 79 published by scholink inc. essence as a person. one consequence of taking such an approach is having to accept that teaching is an expression of values and attitudes, not just information or knowledge. another consequence is that teachers must recognize that they themselves are constantly involved in a lifelong process of learning and change. (1997, p. 63) certainly, for a teacher to be aware of their own cultural biases is vital to facilitating intercultural communication projects. meanwhile, another approach that can be taken is to start with establishing a “sphere of interculturality”, emphasising the diversity that exists within all cultures and then critically examining “cultural content” (mckay, 2002). regardless of one‟s teaching situation, we have found that being aware of one‟s own cultural biases as a teacher, and respecting and understanding those of the students, helps lay a foundation which facilitates reducing potential hindrances. nevertheless, how this is done, and the depth to which is it done may be dictated by several factors including logistical limitations imposed by time, teaching tools and methods, as well as syllabus requirements. therefore, teachers need to decide on the priority for each project. we recommend continually focusing on the aims of the project and revisiting them as the project proceeds. consequently, teachers need to evaluate their own situation, and prioritise what they deem necessary for their students. in our situations, we chose to focus on cultural background as a starting point for all our projects while maintaining teacher-teacher communication throughout the project. often, it is a challenge to find, take, and give the time needed to guarantee smooth execution of the project. it cannot be overstated that flexibility, honest communication, and the willingness to support one another is fundamental. 3.3 communication above all, good communication in all directions is vital to an intercultural project: between teachers, teachers and students, and the students themselves. the main communication tool for us teachers was email. however, we also tried to meet via video conference as regularly as possible. while we did not use this tool as much at the beginning of our collaboration, we noticed the high value of direct conversation during our third project. when time differences are an issue, as in our case, emails are easier. nevertheless, while a project is active, direct feedback, reassessing expectations and quick adjustments to strategies are imperative. video exchanges enable the teachers to “alter the logistics of the exchange to adapt to developments and problems as they arise” (o‟dowd, 2015a, p. 67). furthermore, this face-to-face communication also helps the teachers to become more familiar with each other. throughout all stages, clear and honest communication between the teachers involved is required. since our first project was created so spontaneously, we did not give much thought to our own expectations towards the projects. this led to a misunderstanding, which translated to some confusion for our students. in later projects, we always made a point of discussing the academic background of our students and the outcomes we aimed to achieve. when team-teaching, especially with a colleague www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 80 published by scholink inc. from abroad, mutual understanding, tolerance and respect are the foundation of success. these aspects will strengthen when a personal level is added. 3.4 tools and instruments having decided to include an exchange into the syllabus, the logistics need to be planned carefully. how are the students to interact? if you participate in an externally organised exchange, then only limited technological access or knowledge might be needed. one such example is the international virtual exchange project which has had seven thousand participants from 15 different countries, and which has taken place on a moodle platform on which participants and teachers enroll (hagley, 2020). such large projects with defined goals and parameters tend to be less flexible and while only limited technical knowledge is needed teachers still need to be prepared to learn how to use the interface tools. thus, regardless of the type of project, the teachers need to decide on communication tools. in our case, communication between teacher and students pre-dominantly happens in class (whether face-to-face or virtual) and/or via email. other technological tools are also useful in asynchronous projects. however, choosing and finding the right tool is not always easy, as the “wide range of options can be daunting for inexperienced practitioners” (o‟dowd, 2015b, p. 5). overall, for general communication we have experimented with emails, messaging apps, google docs, survey monkey and moodle. while google docs and survey monkey both have the advantage that students from both countries can access the survey, sharing and analysing the results were not very practical. since both universities use moodle as an lms, we settled on this tool often, as it was simply the easiest way for teachers to collect information from their own student cohorts. we collected feedback from our students mainly using the feedback module on moodle. by the end of our fifth project we found teacher-teacher communication worked best using emails (as mentioned above), line (a powerful messaging app which we outline in more detail below) and a shared moodle course which served as a space for sharing documents between us teachers. to facilitate easy and immediate communication between students in our first project, we chose to include a chat, or messaging, app. we knew that the majority of students were already using chat apps frequently and thus were familiar with this method of communication. in japan, the app line was most popular; in germany, students regularly used whatsapp. we decided on the app line for several reasons. firstly, line allows users to create a qr code to add contacts. since students might have been uncomfortable sharing their private phone numbers, we deemed this as appropriate for protecting students‟ personal information and data (sato & horn, 2020). secondly, the first project was rather spontaneous, and rapid in its inception as mentioned above. the german students involved in this first project were media students. consequently, we correctly assumed that they might enjoy trying out a new chat app. knowing your students helps reduce hindrances in the exchanges. ultimately, finding line suitable we have continued with it for all the remaining projects together. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 81 published by scholink inc. as mentioned above, both of our universities use moodle. with this background, for the exchange platform in project 3, we used learning tools interoperability (lti) and linked our institutions‟ moodle courses to a central moodle course. this was achieved as “lti can be utilized for integrating different remote activities for advanced online collaboration” (harashima et al., 2015). in project 3, we also introduced another new element: a synchronous meeting of all participants via skype. during the meeting, students could participate in a quiz using laptops or cell phones. the answers to the questions appeared on the screen either in the form of a diagram, a word cloud or text for everyone to see. some of the responses led to further questions directed at students, which individual students would answer. in our fourth project, we invited all students to a moodlecloud course, where we could share information and facilitate different types of communication. one conversation platform was the forum on moodle, where each week a new question (e.g., what do you like about your home town/country?) was posted and answered by students. project 5 was undertaken during the covid-19 pandemic when our classes were online. to streamline the project we returned to line for the students to communicate directly with one another, and for us teachers: emails, line, video conferencing and our shared moodle course for sharing documents. ultimately, finding what works for both teachers has taken some time and testing, but eventually, we have settled on tools that we know or are familiar with, have found easy to use, and with which we are comfortable. 3.5 teacher collaboration teacher collaboration on a project can either reduce tensions and facilitate the project, or increase tensions and possibly hinder it. therefore, it is helpful to be aware of the socio-constructivist approaches that underpin such exchanges: [w]hile telecollaborative teachers do often come to exchanges with widely shared beliefs about teaching and learning, … it is precisely the ability to tolerate and work with these differences that is part of the intercultural skills and beliefs of the telecollaborative teacher. (o‟dowd, 2013) being comfortable working together in the project, being open to ideas, and being flexible in our execution of the projects are three components that have facilitated the collaboration in the projects. using these three components as a check-post is recommended for any type of cross-cultural project preparation. the demands on teachers when engaging in cross-cultural, online collaborations are manifold. o‟dowd (2015a) has created a set of 40 descriptors of what is expected from a teacher in such projects which may serve as a useful reference for teachers wishing to prepare before embarking on an exchange. the descriptors are in four sections: “(a) organisational, (b) pedagogical, (c) digital competences, and (d) attitudes and beliefs” (p. 66). in the above sections, we have touched on all of these four areas. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 82 published by scholink inc. consequently, a critical aspect to the success of projects is the mind-set of the teachers collaborating on the project. they need to be open to another country‟s cultural beliefs and traditions, especially, but not exclusively, with regard to foreign language teaching. one crucial aspect is the ability of the teacher to “prepare students for their online interaction, to debrief following contact with their partners” (o‟dowd, 2015a, p. 66). therefore, having illuminated some of the most pertinent challenges to teachers we now turn to the challenges students may encounter when participating in online exchange programmes. 4. challenges to students challenges to students come from various directions. in the increasingly global society in which we live today, reliance on import/export of goods, services, and information is increasing. even though students may not envisage working overseas, or even in an intercultural environment, raising awareness to be a responsible, educated global citizen is pertinent. however, in science universities, we have observed that students are not always strong communicators. this is even more the case when we challenge them to communicate in a foreign language (sato & horn, 2020). nevertheless, globalisation has been an external force affecting business (gibson, 2002). in turn, this has trickled down into education where instructors strive to equip students for their future as part of a global community. this is where the challenge to the teacher lies; how to integrate 21 st century skills into the academic environment, and more specifically, the efl classroom. 21 st century skills, which focus on life-long learning skills and competencies, offer a new definition of what teachers need to keep in mind when designing classes. binkley et al. defined four categories and ten skills that reflect the needs of life-long learners. the first category, “ways of thinking” includes the skills: creativity and innovation, critical thinking (problem solving, decision making) and learning to learn (metacognition). the second category, “ways of working” lists important skills such as communication and collaboration (teamwork). the “tools for working” are defined in category three as information literacy and ict literacy. lastly, in category four we find essential skills that reflect an increasingly global world with citizenship (local and global), life and career and personal and social responsibility (including cultural awareness and competence) (2012, pp. 18-19). all of these 21 st century skills play an important part in cross-cultural projects. where teaching english as a foreign language (tefl) has relied on students gaining linguistic competence, in an intercultural communicative settings participants also need interactional competence and sociocultural awareness (gibson, 2002). preparing students for the projects and guiding them through the process is important for successful completion. 4.1 preparing students for projects often a curriculum focuses on target vocabulary as well as the linguistic structures (such as grammar and syntax), which students are accustomed to learning, and being graded on. nevertheless, topics that may arise in students‟ future careers spanning 30 years post university studies could very well include www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 83 published by scholink inc. issues covered in the limited time given to studying efl at university. therefore, expanding the current curriculum to equip students for competent communication in the global workplace is an element that instructors need to consider teaching. meanwhile, students must be made aware that such studies have considerable benefits (hagley, 2020). when preparing students for the global business context there are three elements an instructor might consider as the focus for the students: global awareness, global perspective, and global engagement. global awareness may include the students showing an awareness of cultural differences and how these may affect their workplace in later life. global perspectives may include examining a problem in a business setting (possibly through a case study) as a foundation to teaching students how to solve a problem considering local and international cultural understandings (catana, 2014). while these can expand the knowledge base of the student, undertaking a project will also expand their experience. global engagement requires students to work collaboratively to find practical solutions to global issues, whilst considering the global and intercultural elements of the context. therefore, the instructor(s) should determine the extent to which students can work within the practical limitations of working and learning in a project (such as time, study load) whilst also choosing which elements students should engage with or experience. in other words, knowing your students and tailoring the focus of the project to their needs is elemental. 4.2 the projects finding the focus suitable for the students is one factor teachers have to consider, but students also need to perceive they are learning something new, and relevant. out of the efl context, international business communication courses are taught, which include instruction on appropriate use of (english) language. as we were working with students who often had a limited proficiency in english, one challenge was to integrate linguistic elements into the practical side of the project. in our first project, we were able to reduce the linguistic challenge by using their knowledge about their field of study as a foundation for the project. this was possible since the participating students in both countries were media students in mandatory classes. in doing this, the students had a springboard from which they were able to rise up and overcome challenges that appeared. in all of the projects, it was central to us teachers that students recognise the importance of english as an instrument to achieve a goal. the objective of some of the tasks that were given to students were to create a video giving cultural advice to a business traveller from the other country, create a joint powerpoint presentation with narration on a topic such as festivals, education, or our students‟ carbon footprints. simultaneously, we encouraged and provided avenues through which students could forge more personal relationships with other students. whether students worked in larger or smaller groups, in teams of four or two, they used line to communicate with each other on a more personal level. thus, we also integrated the use of line to create a platform where the students could get to know each other unmonitored by teachers, and from which they were to introduce their partners to the class in their www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 84 published by scholink inc. respective universities. as already mentioned above, we introduced a synchronous video meeting between the participants in both countries, which was received very well by the students. through these avenues, we were able to combine the challenges of the efl classroom and the ten 21 st century skills mentioned above, to achieve the aims, which were to engage and ultimately challenge our learners to become more responsible citizens of the world. 4.3 frequency of communication and time difference despite achieving the goals, cross-cultural projects can hold a number of challenges for the students. considering the geographical distance, one of the main issues for participants was working in different time zones. time lags between posts were quite common. students, who expected quick replies, were often frustrated. on a more positive note, others mentioned that the lack of immediacy allowed them to think more carefully about a reply or to find the correct phrasing. however, those students who complained about not receiving replies were in the majority. additionally, we observed strong variations in frequency of communication (sato & horn, 2020). some teams chatted regularly, whereas others would not hear from their overseas‟ partners for days or even weeks. naturally, this led to dissatisfaction among students whose teams or partners were not very loquacious. interestingly, these types of issues could be observed both with larger teams (up to ten members) and with teams where only two students, one from each country, were matched. since students from both countries voiced these concerns, we assume that diverging cultural communication styles are not necessarily an explanation. however, more research into this matter will be undertaken in the future. potential reasons for this behaviour could be individual strengths and weaknesses in communication as well as the overall motivation of students. consequently, when planning a cross-cultural project across different time zones, allowances for lags in communication need to be made. solutions lie in setting schedules and deadlines and, in allowing time between questions that include class assignments. further considerations need to be given to differences in academic schedules as well as holidays. for example, during the spring term, there will be a one-week vacation for german students around easter, and for japanese students during golden week. unfortunately, these periods vary and do not overlap. since many students think of their cross-cultural projects as “school work”, they do not feel the need to continue communication with their overseas‟ partners during these holidays. again, this leads to lag in conversation and often frustration with team members. while in japan, students need to study for mid-term exams, german students in our projects only had exams at the end of each semester. accordingly, we observed a decline in conversation during mid-term exam period. in teams, where this issue was voiced and communicated, students had fewer problems catching up after the exam period compared to groups where communication simply stopped. in a few cases, once interrupted conversation never really took off again and the team could not successfully complete the project. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 85 published by scholink inc. time and time differences, are obviously issues that need to be carefully considered when planning a cross-cultural project. to increase agency, and as a good exercise to develop life skills needed for future success, students can be asked to prepare for these issues and to find solutions to overcome them. nevertheless, this can be quite challenging. 4.4 language proficiency differences in language proficiency can also lead to issues in communication. for the majority of students in our projects, english is their second, at times even their third language. while some students are quite fluent and confident speaking english with teachers and fellow students, others are much more hesitant about using their english skills and try to avoid it whenever possible. two extremes we have observed are students who struggle to write even one clear and correct sentence in english; they often have difficulties understanding and following instructions, and there are those that are too shy to ask. on the other hand, we have had students for whom communication in english is quite normal, either because their secondary school education was bilingual, or they are part of an international degree programme where english is the working language. while this does not mean that these students‟ english proficiency is perfect, they are experienced in using english as a communication tool and do not mind making mistakes or asking for clarification. throughout the projects, we have also received feedback from students who said that not always being able to understand their partners immediately, was a stimulating challenge. they would have to ask for explanations, which would in turn lead to further conversations. 4.5 cultural background, collaboration, and group dynamics communicating with a total stranger is a challenge. this can further be amplified in online asynchronous cross-cultural communication projects due to a number of factors: the participants are using a foreign language, their experience of such projects is limited or non-existent, cultural differences, and furthermore, written communication can be hard to interpret. this was clearly evident with the japanese and german students however, less so with the international students. according to lewis (2010), japan is a reactive society, which means that the japanese students will seldom take the first step towards a conversation. for some of the japanese students, our projects were the first time they had to engage with someone from another country, other than a teacher. to them, the situation was entirely unknown. japan is an island nation that was historically cut off from the world for 200 years. it has never been colonised; the only time it was ruled by another power was post world war ii, and even during this time, media and education were heavily censored by the us (dower, 1999). as a nation, being shy (hazakashii) is accepted by society, thus in a project such as ours, communication is rarely initiated by the japanese students, and it is acceptable in the culture to remain quiet, making communication challenging. in addition, the group mentality is strong, thus stepping out and doing something by oneself is not common. conversely, japanese work well in groups. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 86 published by scholink inc. on the other hand, germany, being at the centre of europe has more immediate exchanges with people from other countries. many german students have a migration background or know colleagues with migration backgrounds, so that speaking to people with different cultural roots and different languages is much more common, or at least not too far removed from everyday life. furthermore, going on holiday to neighbouring countries is normal and many german students will have travelled to several foreign countries by the time they enter university. however, because german and international students may have more experience with different cultures and languages, it does not mean that they know how to successfully engage and work with others. these projects often offer a very new experience for them as well. adding to these dynamics in some of our projects was the inclusion of international students in germany, who come from a variety of countries in africa, asia and europe. these students add to the melange of cultural norms and expectations of each group. being aware of such dynamics and considering them when embarking on an asynchronous cross-cultural communication project is essential to their success. 4.6 communication styles and other issues other issues we observed concerned the use of emoji and stickers (sato & horn, 2020). for most of the german students, stickers and emoji in the line app were rather different from what those they had used in whatsapp. consequently, we were told about a few misunderstandings, which occurred because one side used emoji, or stickers, which were misinterpreted by the other side. however, these issues were normally clarified quickly and both sides mentioned having learned something from the experience. during our 5 th project, which happened during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic, several students expressed a desire to have face-to-face, video meetings with their colleagues from abroad. as teachers, we encouraged these types of meetings. however, since we had not included this in the plans for the project, students were reluctant to initiate video chats. in general, we have observed that when clear instructions are not provided, students hardly ever engage and stick closely to the written rules. thus, we are planning to encourage our students actively to venture beyond the general project guidelines. 5. conclusion entering a project with great enthusiasm will carry you through many rough patches. however, without careful organisation and planning, it will only get you so far. it is crucial that the teachers clearly outline content, teaching methods and outcomes together. this reflects o‟dowd‟s descriptor concerning teachers‟ competencies in which the teacher needs to “negotiate effectively with the partner-teacher the structure and organisational technicalities of the exchange which take into account both institutional contexts (calendars, etc.) as well as the needs and interests of both sets of participants” (2015a, p. 67). while considering all of this, one must create tasks for the students that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 87 published by scholink inc. take into account their interests, language abilities, technological knowledge, etc. another aspect is the grading: will the students be evaluated for participating in the project and will it affect their grades, or is it voluntary participation relying on intrinsic motivation? will evaluation be the same, or similar, in both countries, or will it be different? in our experience, the pressure of achieving a good grade has led to stronger communication efforts among out students. when the project was voluntary, we encountered issues with students dropping out of the project without notice leaving their partners to struggle by themselves. as shown from the literature, and feedback from participants in our exchanges, cross-cultural communication projects offer enormous potential to enrich students‟ learning. however, there are potential hindrances, which we have outlined in this paper. nevertheless, there are solutions: focus the course content on the project, and include language instruction at the discretion of the instructor. in addition, awareness raising tasks can be interwoven into the project to help focus students‟ attention to cultural biases and differences. in this way, hindrances can be reduced and cross-cultural communication projects can become more attractive to the teacher and the students. references ananiadou, k., & claro, m. (2009). 21st century skills and competences for new millennium learners in oecd countries. no. 41, oecd. binkley, m., erstad, o., herman, j., raizen, s., ripley, m., miller-ricci, m., & rumble, m. (2012). defining twenty-first century skills. in assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 17-66). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2324-5_2 catana, s. e. (2014). teaching cross-cultural communication issues—a way of successfully integrating into the multicultural knowledge society. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 128, 343-348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.168 cutrone, p. (2009). overcoming japanese efl learners‟ fear of speaking. language studies working papers, 1(1), 55-63. deardorff, d. k. (2020). manual for developing intercultural competencies: story circles. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429244612 dower, j. w. (1999). embracing defeat: japan in the wake of world war ii. ww norton & company. dypedahl, m. (2019). intercultural communicative skills. in t. burner, c. carlsen, & k. kverndokken (eds.), 101 ways to work with communicative skills—english teaching in primary and secondary schools (pp. 99-112). fagbokforlaget. gibson, r. (2002). intercultural business communication: an introduction to the theory and practice of intercultural business communication for teachers, language trainers, and business people. oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2324-5_2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.168 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429244612 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 88 published by scholink inc. hadley, a. o. (2001). teaching language in context. heinle & heinle publishers, chapter 8. hagley, e. 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(2010). when cultures collide (pp. 171-211). boston, ma: nicholas brealey publishing. mckay, s. l. (2002). teaching english as an international language: rethinking goals and perspectives. o‟dowd, r. (2011). intercultural communicative competence through telecollaboration. the routledge handbook of language and intercultural communication, 340, 358. o‟dowd, r. (2015a). supporting in-service language educators in learning to telecollaborate. language learning & technology, 19(1), 63-82. o‟dowd, r. (2015b). the competences of the telecollaborative teacher. the language learning journal, 43(2), 194-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.853374 o‟dowd, r. (2016). emerging trends and new directions in telecollaborative learning. calico journal, 33(3), 291-310. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i3.30747 sato, k., & horn, b. (2020). cultivating students‟ communication skills for the global workplace: a cross-cultural online exchange project with non-native speakers. international journal of teaching and education, 8(1), 64-83. https://doi.org/10.20472/te.2020.8.1.005 scollon, r. et al. (2012). intercultural communication. in a discourse approach (3rd ed.). wiley-blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0555 tasaki, a. (2020). role of japanese in english-medium instruction programs at japanese universities: toward the globalization of education that values diversity. tatsioka, z., seidlhofer, b., sifakis, n. c., & ferguson, g. (eds.). (2018). using english as a lingua franca in education in europe. de gruyter mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503115 tichnor-wagner, a., parkhouse, h., glazier, j., & cain, j. m. (2019). becoming a globally competent teacher. ascd. williams, m., & burden, r. l. (1997). psychology for language teachers: a social constructivist approach. cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1754329 https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.853374 https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i3.30747 https://doi.org/10.20472/te.2020.8.1.005 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0555 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503115 microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p85 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 85 original paper applying metacognitive theory in teaching vietnamese reading skills to foreign students nguyen thi hong chuyen1 1 department of primary education, tan trao university, tuyen quang province, vietnam received: march 19, 2020 accepted: april 7, 2020 online published: may 28, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p85 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p85 abstract since the late 1970s, the term “metacognition” has been used to generalize the thinking process of each individual in his or her own thinking. theoretical contents of metacognition such as: understanding knowledge and thinking of oneself; monitoring and evaluating their cognitive processes; trying to adjust the cognitive process when solving problems... have brought a new perspective in teaching to promote the role of learners and make the process of learning turn the training process into self-training process. within the scope of this article, we introduce briefly metacognitive theory in teaching vietnamese reading skillto foreign students. keywords manipulation, metacognition, reading skill, vietnamese language, foreign students 1. introduction in the context of deep and extensive integration with growing knowledge at exponential rates, it is important to have a teaching style that focuses on how to teach rather than what to teach. this will help the learner get better results than recalling, repeating events. if teachers want to form this habit and skill for learners, they need to use learning methods that allow learners to think independently, explore, and discover things based on reasonable guesses. in other words, the teacher needs to turn the training process into a self-training process. in order to meet the above requirements, many teaching methods are studied and practiced. one of the preeminent methods educators are now adopting and implementing is the theory of “metacognition”. this theory originated in the 60s of the seventeenth century; however, it was not until 1976 when the term was officially introduced in the work of “metacognitive aspects of problem solving” and its content refers to the thinking process of a person and the control and adjustment of that process. so far, there has been a lot of research from theory to practice; from psychology to many other disciplines; from the application of theoretical research in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 86 published by scholink inc. classrooms to outside the classroom ... with a series of famous researchers such as j.h. favell, timothy and achwartz, hazt, ann brown, borkowski and muthukrishma, phakiti, broyon, douglas j. hacker and john dunlosky, flower and hayes, myers and paris, teong su kwang. inheriting and promoting the results of metacognitive theory, vietnamese researchers also applied this theory in the study on their subjects such as nguyen thanhduc, trinh hong tinh (2011), “the level of use of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies of english language students”; pham thanh nghi (2011), “curriculum of educational psychology”; nguyen van thanh (2012), “practicing metacognitive skills for seventh graders in teaching proportion mathematics”; ho thi thu huong (2013), “studying metacogitive theory and suggesting applications in secondary education”... reading is one of the basic conditions for every person attending school. especially for foreign students learning vietnamese, reading is becoming the first basic requirement. reading helps them to occupy the second language actively, positively, and to be applied in communicating and learning. or, reading is a tool for learning, creating excitement, learning motivation and an opportunity for students to learn and study—this is an indispensable ability in the present time of man. doing research on reading skills has long earned much interest among researchers including grice (1975), myers and paris (1987), baker (1989) pearsons and stephans (1994), weaver and bryant (1995), maki (1998), rawson, dunlosky, thiede (2000)... the trend of rapid integration has affected all aspects of the lives of all nations. one of the fundamental implications for human development is that knowledge is also increasing at the rate of exponentiation and narrowing the gap among ethnic communities. the evidence for this is that in asean, students in the world in general and asean in particular studying at overseas is common. currently, vietnamese is becoming one of the languages that many foreigners are interested in and learn. however, learners of foreign languages in general and foreign students studying vietnamese in particular have many difficulties in learning vietnamese language and lack necessary language skills and specific language learning strategies. this requires teachers to have teaching methods that are tailored to the needs of the learners. recognizing the superiority of metacognitive theory that can be applied effectively in teaching vietnamese to foreigners, in the article based on theory of metacognition, i put forward some measures to apply this theory in teaching some vietnamese modules related to subjects students in the vietnamese language in the faculty of social sciences and humanities, udon thani rajabhat university, thailand. i hope the process will help students develop, improve their reading skills in particular and contribute to improving the skills: listening-speaking-reading-writing to meet the requirements of innovating teaching method in order to turn the “training process into a self-training process”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 87 published by scholink inc. 2. common issues of metacognitive theory and teaching vietnamese language to foreigners 2.1 common issues of metacognitive theory 2.1.1 concept of metacognition the term of metacognitive is derived from greek. in greek “meta” that means “after/pass” and “cognitive” that means “awareness/understanding”. therefore, metacognition is awareness beyond thought and mention the higher functions (self-control function). since its official appearance (1976), research on metacognition has attracted many researchers in the world and vietnam: j. h. flavell, a brown, tobias & everson, h. m. wellman, j. wilson, teong su kwang, l. baker, vu dung, nguyen van thanh, phan thanh nghi ... due to the approach in different areas so there are many different definitions of metacognition. in the context of this article, i introduce some authors with perspectives that many people agree on and give their views on the application of research on their subject: in 1976, the american psychologist j. h. flavell was first person to put forward the concept of metacognition. according to him, metacognition is: “the understanding of the individual is related to his or her own cognitive processes, products and other relevant factors, including monitoring attendance, adjusting results, and streamlining these processes in order to meet a target” (9). in this definition, flavell has emphasized two processes in the perception, including monitoring and adjusting activity. according to a. brown (1987), “metacognition is the flexibility in knowledge and control of one’s cognitive processes” (brown, 1987). in “dictionary of psychology”, the authors said: “metacognition is a term of thinking of thinking or perception of perception. it’s your ability to control your thoughts” (vu dung, 2008). thus, due to different approaches, the definition of metacognition is very diverse. however, the connotations of the definitions are relatively unanimous in some basic contents such as: awareness of oneself’s thought process positive and active monitoring of oneself’s cognitive process efforts to regulate cognitive processes in relation with learning tasks learners find the solutions by themselves evaluating the process and results achieved against the target (ho thihuong, 2013). on the basis of studying the definitions of metacognition, in the article i assume: metacognition is a form of cognition, a process of thinking higher than cognition, including understanding of one’s thinking; monitoring and adjusting the cognitive process in the effort of self; improving applicability in problem solving in practice. 2.1.2 function of metacognition when referring to the functions of metacognition, wilson (1998) pointed out three basic functions of metacognition: awareness; evaluation function; regulation function: the awareness function helps the learner to identify himself or herself about what he or she knows or does not know. this function is considered as the basic function for the remaining functions to be more www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 88 published by scholink inc. efficient. evaluation function helps learners to detect strengths, weaknesses in their thinking in specific situations. from there, the learner can choose the right solution to his or her problem. the regulation function allows the learner to adjust his or her thinking process. in other words, in the process of solving this functional problem, each individual can manipulate his or her knowledge, adjust his or her thinking, and shape his or her scientific thinking. thus, with the above functions, metacognition helps the learner to be aware of himself/herself, his/her tasks, effective problem solving and flexible adjustment in the cognitive process. this helps the learner to improve self-learning, self-awareness, and to assert that innovation of teaching method is completely effective. 2.1.3 the importance of metacognitive theory in teaching in the process of training, the teacher and the learner are the two main subjects of the training process, in which the learner is not only the cause but also the goal of the training process. so, i point out some highlights when applying metacognitive theory in performing teaching and learning tasks of these two subjects. for learners, metacognition have the following roles: first, to help them recognize the available data and form the problem solving direction themselves; second, to help learners to self-assess and self-adjust aspects of learning;third, to make it easy for the learner to follow his or her learning process and in situations that offer appropriate methods of dealing with each situation; fourth, to help learners develop logical thinking, strategic thinking when solving problems; fifth, to help learners develop independence and adapt to specific situations. for the teacher, metacognition has the following roles: first, metacognition supports the teachers during self-training process; second, metacognition helps the instructor adjust different teaching methods according to different learners, different goals and different situations. thus, in the process of teaching and learning, the application of metacognition helps learners to promote activeness. at the same time, it helps teachers to think about their thinking process in teaching and using knowledge and skills for learners. from that, it makes the generation of learners to have metacognitive thinking skills. 2.2 reading skills and reading vietnamese 2.2.1 the concept of “reading” when discussing “reading” and reading skills, researchers came up with a lot of different definitions. in the scope of this article, i am in the view of academician m. r. lơvôp in “handbook of teaching russian language” that defines: “reading is a linguistic activity, a process of transcribing written words into verbal sounds and understanding them (in the form of pronounced speech), which is the direct transition from the written form to the meaning unit without sound (corresponding to whispering)” (le phuong nga, 2009). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 89 published by scholink inc. in the above definition, the author have considered reading a quadratic decoding process including: level 1: script-sound and level 2: script-meaning. accordingly, reading is not just spelling, pronouncing well with letters, but also reflecting the characteristic of thinking, culture (meaning) hidden in words. 2.2.2 requirements for reading skills teaching reading and reading skills of teachers and students needs to meet the following requirements: pronounce correctly; distinguish sounds, syllables, and pronunciation associated with spelling. read clearly, fluently and correctly in punctuation. read expressively: reading in intonation; know how to emphasize in suggestive, sensual words; depending on reading content, the voice can be: proud, happy, serious, sad ...; read each language line in the work (words of the author’s or the character’s ...). 2.2.3 levels of reading reading is a process that goes from low to high level such as: a. read correctly: read clearly, clear words, correct sound (read correctly each phoneme and prosodeme-the bar mark in vietnamese); know how to pause in the punctuations and semantics of the text; accurately reproduce text written in sound, voice. b. expressive reading: expressive reading is the form of reading aloud, which requires to read not only properly but also emotively and to know how to combine intonation with nonverbal elements (facial expressions, gestures...) contributing to describing the content of the text. in broader sense, the intonation of reading is the harmony of the voice stop, emphasis, intensity, pitch, ... creating the tone of the reading. so, to read expressively, readers not only have to master the correct reading techniques, but also have to perceive the content of text and intend to the listener so that the voice becomes inspirational, creating emotions for listeners (chu thithuyan, 2011, pp. 22-24). c. creative reading vietnamese language learners are highly cognitive individuals: they have ability to associate, imagine, and experience in both language and culture in vietnamese. therefore, teaching always requires teachers to help students have the knowledge between the content that has been taught, is being taught and will be taught to stimulate the cognitive development of students. under the influence of factors such as family circumstances, gender, thinking, practical experience, etc. of different students, the creative reading ability of the students is not the same. however, under the general framework of the program, planning and fostering for students gives them good reading skills and is the foundation for listening and speaking skills to be more effective. 2.3 training vietnamese reading skills to foreigners like all other subjects, the method of teaching vietnamese to foreigners also determines that learners are centered. however, learners mentioned here are identified as specific individuals with their own abilities, needs and preferences. therefore, when teaching vietnamese in general and teaching reading www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 90 published by scholink inc. to foreigners, teachers need to pay attention to the following issues: 1) factors affecting the learning of vietnamese by foreigners such as: language experience; motivation to learn vietnamese; learning style; personality and other factors such as gender, age, interest, family circumstance, etc. 2) the main objective of foreigners learning vietnamese is to communicate. however, the formation of communication skills should be categorized and taught appropriately. specifically, with four communication skills to achieve: listening-speaking-reading-writing, teachers need to identify the direct communication skills: listening-speaking; indirect communication skills: reading and writing. in particular, reading skill is often required before-during and after school. this is also the basis for students to learn vietnamese actively. 3) communication objectives have effects on learners such as: satisfying the needs, meeting the requirements of learning vietnamese to communicate; promoting, motivating learning; learning vietnamese naturally occurring; facilitating to practice with specific situations close to daily life. 4) when teaching vietnamese, the following principles must be followed: vietnamese must be used as much as possible; situations built in teaching vietnamese language should be close to daily life; practical exercise should focus on meaning, content rather than form; learners should actively practice and debate with each other; the above are some methods of teaching vietnamese in general and teaching reading in particular to foreigners, which teachers should have. in the article, i consider this one of the criteria, the requirements in determining teaching goals. 3. applying metacognitive theory in teaching vietnamese reading skills to students of vietnamese for tourism at udon thani rajabhat university-thailand 3.1 some measures and techniques applying the metacognitive theory to teach vietnamese reading skills to students to improve the quality of teaching vietnamese for students through supplying students with the ability to self-study, self-monitor, self-evaluate, self-adjust cognitive process and learning process of self, in vietnamese lessons, teachers may use the combination of reading methods and techniques such as: first, model and explain to students how to monitor, adjust and evaluate the thinking process of their own. this is an important step before asking students to receive and solve a new thing. before asking students to do a learning task-solve a problem of reading such as reading text recognition, reading content, reading content analysis ... teachers can play the role of a companion to students to help them identify problems and solve similar problems. specifically, teachers can guide students to find the main content of the lesson, indicate the content deployed and indicate the link between the contents. from there, teachers help them anticipate and capture the main points of the content, make assumptions about the direction of vocabulary www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 91 published by scholink inc. development and adjust the direction of change when facing new problems in addition to personal experience. second, in order to deepen the student’s problem-solving orientation, the teacher needs to use questions making students think and look at their knowledge and experience related to the problem. for example, in order to understand the content of the text, the learner should know what the main topic of the reading is, relevant words (forming vocabulary fields), whether there are questions at the end of the text, if so, the questions at the end of the article are questions rewritten or questioned inference or not... from there, students form the most suitable way to read the text. third, the teacher must use the questions to get the students attention to the goal of the reading. students know how to approach and plan their learning activities. from there, students present their ideas on how to solve the problem as well as how to complete the objective of the reading. fourth, the process of presenting students and taking steps to solve the problem, the teacher must listen to and adjust the cognitive process of students. specifically, the teacher asks the students about the steps to solve problems such as whether there are words they cannot read, what words they do not understand, whether they have identified the main content of the reading, what topic is presented, whether they understand the type of question and how to find the answer... in those questions, which sentence is not implemented, the reason, whether they have tried out other alternatives when they asked the questions that did not work... fifth, to help students evaluate their cognitive process, teachers use questions that ask them to evaluate the results against their goals and plans. for example, what have/haven’t you done with this reading? is there a plan to solve the issues that have not been resolved? sixth, design and encourage students to participate in teamwork. taking up new knowledge if well organized in group work, it will help students to shorten the time to understand the problem and solve the problem quickly. for reading, teamwork will help students gain knowledge faster, specifically: through group activities, each member will acquire and adjust their perceptions in reading. however, group work is only effective when requirements are clarified, specifically on problem solving intentions. this will help students form frame of comments, evaluate the team members and adjust their own thinking. the process of reviewing, evaluating and adjusting students help them deepen the content of the reading and reinforce the critical thinking in the face of problems. seventh, for any subject in general and teaching vietnamese reading to foreign students in particular, the repetition of the content, requirements and objectives of the reading is a meaningful work of the framework so that not only teachers but students adjust direction. thus, the goal of the reading written on the board at the beginning of the lesson and summarized after the session and accompanied by the explanation, emphasis of the teacher’s helps students determine the direction of reading content and mobilize the knowledge that is available intentionally. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 92 published by scholink inc. eighth, for the study, that the students recording the personal feeling of each particular reading and classin generalis extremely important. this will help students: deepen their knowledge; consolidate, memorize and use fluent vietnamese; it is the basis for teachers and students to evaluate their progress after a process. however, it can be summarised measures and techniques on 5 specific steps to design lessons applying metacognitive theory as follows: step 1: define lesson objectives. step 2: assign students to do tasks. step 3: students perform the task themselves. step 4: organize seminars so that students exchange, discuss the implementation process and performance result. step 5: assign students self-evaluate, draw the direction of adjusting the process of performing their tasks. 3.2 illustrative example after completing the study topics: travel, shopping, ... during the review period, teachers can train their students to self-observe, self-monitor, self-evaluate and self-adjust their perceptions through teaching reading skills of the following readings reading: tourist attractions in vietnam vietnam has many landscapes that you can go sightseeing. in the north there is ha long, sa pa, mai chau, ninhbinh ...; in the central there is phongnha, hue, da nang, nhatrang, da lat ...; in the south there is vung tau, ho chi minh city, ... there are so many islands in the sea with wonderful and natural scenery: cat ba, con dao, phuquoc, etc. you can organize your trip or take part in tours. expedition tours are usually in a package, which means you do not have to prepare for anything but the price is much cheaper. however, take the tour, you will be limited in time. if you have a good group of hobbyists, you should organize yourself because it is cheap and suitable with the needs of the group. at present, more and more foreigners come to vietnam. vietnamese people, thanks to better living conditions, travelling in the country and abroad also increases significantly. on summer vacation or holidays, the tourist attractions are bustling, crowded as ants. to meet the needs of rest of people, many companies, restaurants, hotels also stand out as tourism services. travel companies always compete on price so the tour is quite pleasant. 1) if you want to tour somewhere in vietnam, consider carefully before deciding to organize your trip yourself or join the tour agency. hope you have a relaxing, fun and pleasant holiday. 2) read the article and identify true/false information www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 93 published by scholink inc. true false 1. vietnam has many beautiful landscapes on land and sea. 2. if you want to travel, you can just travel on tour. 3. traveling on tour is usually a package tour. 4. traveling on tour you unrestricted time. 5. group traveling is more expensive than traveling on tour. 6. currently, more and more foreigners travel to vietnam. 7. on summer vacation or holidays, the tourist attractions have few customers. 8. travel agencies always compete on price. 2. answer the following questions 1) name some landmarks on land in vietnam? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 2) name some of the sea landscapes in vietnam? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 3) how can you travel? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 4) what are the benefits of traveling by tour? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 5) in order to save travel expenses, how should you travel? why? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 6) who do the landscapes in vietnam now attract? why? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 7) to meet and attract the needs of tourists; what do companies, restaurants, hotels do? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 8) what are the notes for visitors? ………………………………………………………………………………………. 3. find the main points of the reading 1/ ……………………………………………………………………………………. 2/ ……………………………………………………………………………………. 3/…………………………………………………………………………………… design activities for teachers and students to perform the task of learning: action 1: teacher asks the students to read the content of the readings following 2 steps (silent reading and loud reading). the purpose of this work is to help students understand the script, improve reading ability and through the looking up the new words to comprehend the content. activities of students: students must proceed the following steps: step 1: students must read silently and look up the new word to hold the content. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 94 published by scholink inc. step 2: students listen to their classmates to read and debug pronunciationthat individuals unread or read incorrectly. this step helps students improve their reading comprehension and reinforce their reading comprehension. students will recognize the topic of the readings in the title of the text. from there, students start to comment on content related to the topic of tourism. activity 2: teachers ask students in turn to define the requirements of all answered questions and write down the answers. the purpose of the activity is to help students identify the three requirements of the question, to plan their individual learning. in other words, students will have strategic answer to the requirements of the question. activities of students: after determining the requirements of the question and applying the methods of response, he or she identifies each specific case. specifically, the student identifies three requirements in the form of: requirement 1: based on the text, students answer specific information questions (true/false); requirement 2: based on the text, students answer the inference questions; requirement 3: students identify the main idea of the reading. activity 3: teachers divide the class into groups of students to discuss, exchange ideas related to the implementing the requirements of the lesson and answering the questions: “in the above requirements, which requirements are the most difficult? why? what did you do to solve this problem?” the purpose of the activity: to give students an opportunity to present their ideas; it gives the students excitement when discussing the advantages and disadvantages of implementing requirements of the lesson; students have the opportunity to review and evaluate the thinking of other students. activities of students: students participate in the discussion and give different opinions. the teacher synthesizes the comments and forms the main ideas: with requirement 1: students get information from the text. if the information is true, students tick. if not, students cross. this is the easiest kind of questions. with requirement 2: students get the information from the text, use their words to answer the question. for this requirement, the student's answer must meet the requirements: 1) true information; 2) correct spelling; 3) grammatical correct use; 4) correct pronuciation. activity 4: teachers explain to the students to solve the problems of the lesson, which arises due to their not understanding the contents of the reading; not determining the content of the questions. therefore, in order to answer the questions, students need to know the content of the lesson and to correctly identify the question to answer. teachers guide students to find keywords, the content directly related to the question. the purpose of the activity: to train students to improve the ability to test, evaluate and recognize the shortcomings of their thinking. from that, they shift their attention and adjust their thinking. this adjustment is the second adjustment in the student’s mind. activities of students: based on the above guidelines, students will mobilize the knowledge, answering methods to apply in each specific request. with problems 2 and 3, if the student still has difficulties, the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 95 published by scholink inc. teacher can suggest the keywords so that students can focus and answer the question correctly. activity 5: teacher asks students to write their answers. the purpose of the activity is to help students become confident in their answers and to add new insights into a new lesson, at the same time, to engrave students types of questions and ways to answer the question. so, students will be able to receive the reading from the perspective of self-constructing the outline of the text, forming broad thinking and broadening the vocabulary as well as new cultural knowledge of vietnamese. activities of students: students will answer the following questions. 1. read the article and identify true / false information true false 1) vietnam has many beautiful landscapes on land and sea. x 2) if you want to travel, you can just travel on tour. x 3) traveling on tour is usually a package tour. x 4) traveling on tour you unrestricted time. x 5) group traveling is more expensive than traveling on tour. x 6) currently, more and more foreigners travel to vietnam. x 7) on summer vacation or holidays, the tourist attractions have few customers. x 8) travel agencies always compete on price. x 2. answer the following questions 1) name some landmarks on land in vietnam? some landscapes on land in vietnam: in the north there is ha long, sa pa, mai chau, ninhbinh ...; in the central there is phongnha, hue, da nang, nhatrang, da lat ...; in the south there is vung tau, ho chi minh city ... 2) name some sea landscapes in vietnam? some sea landscapes in vietnam: cat ba, con dao, phuquoc ... 3) how can you travel? you can organize trips yourself or take part in tours. 4) what are the benefits of traveling on tour? traveling on tour is usually a package, meaning you do not have to prepare anything but the price is cheap. 5) in order to save on travel expenses, how can you travel? why? to save money you can organize a tour with some people who have the same hobby. because self-organizing is cheaper and more suitable for the group. 6) who do the landscapes in vietnam now attract? why? the landscapes in vietnam attract tourists in the country and abroad. because of the increasing living standards of vietnam and the need to travel more; vietnam has many beautiful landscapes so it attracts foreign tourists. 7) to meet and attract the needs of tourists, what do companies, restaurants, hotels do? companies, restaurants, hotels stand out as tourist services and compete on price. 8) what are the notes for visitors? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 96 published by scholink inc. consider carefully before self-organizing your trip or traveling on tour. 3. find the main point of the reading 1/introduction to vietnam’s famous landscapes. (vietnam has many beautiful landscapes ... con dao, phuquoc.) 2/forms of traveling and some characteristics of tourism activities. (you can organize your trips ... tours) 3/note when deciding to travel. (traditional vietnamese new year ... explore the customs of the vietnamese.) activity 6: the teacher asks students to record their journals and travel guides on travel experiences and information in vietnam according to the reading. the purpose of the activity: to help students gain knowledge of tourism, improve the ability to use fluent vietnamese with vocabulary classes specialized; at the same time, it helps students keep track of the progress of their thinking, foster the love of vietnamese language and be more interested in learning vietnamese. student activities: students remember more about the climate of vietnam, the time and types of tourism to meet the needs of tourists. 3. conclusion applying the theory of metacognition in the process of teaching vietnamese to students, we found that reading skills of students move from the passive (receiving words from teachers) into the process of self-reception and selfadjustment (self learning). at the same time, they also make significant progress in the skills of listening-speaking-writing. this is reflected in the fact that students actively acquire knowledge, are interested in new lessons, make many questions for the teacher. especially, with the help of technology (telephone, computer ...), students actively study relevant information and respond to lectures of teachers. this confirms that the training process has been transformed into a self-training process and that applying metacognitive theory in teaching vietnamese to foreign students is effective and preeminent. references brown, a. (1987). metacognition, excutive control, self-regulation and other more musterious mechanisms. metacognition, motivation and understanding, erlbaum, nj, usa. chu, t. t. a. (2011). content and process of training vietnamese language skills for students of primary education. journal of education, 424, 22-24. ho, t. h. (2013). study of metacognitive theory and proposition of applicability in general education. institute of science and technology-code: v2012-17, vietnam institute of science education. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 97 published by scholink inc. le, p. n. (2009). vietnamese teaching methods in elementary school. university of education publishing house. lê, p. n. (2009). vietnamese teaching methods in elementary school i. university of education publishing house. nguyen, t. d., & trinh, h. t. (2011). the use of reading strategies and metacognitive theory of english major students. journal of science, 104-109. nguyen, v. t. (2012). training metacognition skills for 7th grade students in teaching mathematics. journal of education, 290, 26-28. pham, t. n. (2011). curriculum educational psychology. vietnam national university press, hanoi. scientific committee on social and educational behavior. (20017). optimal learning method: intellectual, thought, experience and school. ho chi minh city general publishing house. vu, d. (2008). psychology dictionary. vietnam encyclopedia publishing house, hanoi. wellman, h. m. (1985). origins of metacognition, in metacognition, cognition and human performance. orlando, florida, usa. wilson, j. (1998). the nature of metacognition: what do primary school problem solversdo? national area conference, melbourne university, australia. microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p59 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 59 original paper “living” epics in central highland-vietnam nguyen tien dung1* 1 gia lai junior college of education, pleiku city, vietnam * nguyen tien dung, gia lai junior college of education, pleiku city, vietnam received: december 7, 2018 accepted: december 20, 2018 online published: january 9, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p59 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p59 abstract this article is about h’mon, an epic genre of bahnar ethnic in the central highlands of vietnam. typical of this epic type is h’mon dam giong (or the dam giong epics). the contents of this article include space and mode of performance of h’mon; characteristics of the “living epic” of h’mon (it is the ability to refresh the content of h’mon by adding new details); characteristics of the character system (including the central character and the re-appearing characters). keywords central highlands, vietnam, h’mon, epic genre, “living epic”, epic cycle, bahnar, mode of performance, re-appearing character, the dam giong epics, non-native 1. introduction in gia lai and kon tum provinces in central highlands-vietnam there is a special type of folklore, which is h’mon, an epic of bahnar ethnic. in bahnar, h’mon means an epic genre or epic (ex: “h’mon dam giong” meaning “epic dam giong”). h’mon also means “h’mon performance” or “epic performance”, for example, “he sings h’mon” meaning “he performs epic”. h’mon performed most in the central highlands-vietnam is h’mon dam giong. this is an epic group including hundreds of linked epics together told about dam giong, an outstanding hero of the bahnar ethnic. therefore the h’mon called the dam giong epics. according to project on surveying, collecting, preserving, translating and publishing the central highland treasure (2001-2007), there are about 120 works by h’mon genre (thinh, 2008), among them translation and published 30 publications (son, 2013). today, h’mon dam giong (the dam giong epics) are still being performed in the villages. h’mon is a special genre of folklore. it was performed epic in the ancient way of the bahnar ethnic. in particular, it can add new details or non-native cultural elements while preserving the genre and style of the traditional performance. therefore, h’mon is called “living epic”. to understand the “living epic” feature of h’mon, this article will cover the following aspects by exploring the dam giong epics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 60 published by scholink inc. 2. content 2.1 performance space and performance mode of h’mon h’mon is a type of folklore from the ancient times of the bahnar ethnic. along with it there are other folk compositions such as folk tales, folk songs, rhyming phrase, locution, folk quizzes, folk games, forms of religious practice, etc. the uniqueness of h’mon is expressed in performance space and performance mode. performance space of h’mon is special space. h’mon performances usually take place in the village during festivals in house rong (note 1), tombs (note 2) or in the house. epic performances usually take place at night, from 7-8 pm to midnight, when villagers have finished eating dinner after a day of hard work. in addition to the functions of religious practice, h’mon is considered a form of recreation because of the ancient society very little recreational activity. in warm space, the villagers started gathering around the fire to take part in the h’mon performance. h’mon performer (folk artist) can sit or lie to show depending on his health and inspiration or the content of the story in h’mon. when participating in h’mon performances, villagers (audiences) not only satisfy the need of entertaining through the story with unique plot, fascinating characters and thrilling episodes but also integrate into the sacred space of religious beliefs. the audiences not only enjoy the content, the art of the work or the talent of the performers (ex: voices, narratives, acting, etc.) but also put all their soul into the h’mon as they are participating in a religious rite. performance space of h’mon is not the space for a regular singing or folk game because the audiences participate h’mon with all religious beliefs conveyed from their ancestors. they believe that the story in h’mon is real in their ethnic history. the stories that happen in h’mon are very familiar with their lives such as doing field work, hunting, fighting enemy, organizing festivals, exchanging with other villages, finding wives, etc. the audiences believe that the characters in h’mon such as set, dam giong, dam gio are their ancestors because the names of the characters are very familiars to people through the story, the worship of the gods in the traditional belief of bahnar ethnic. they also believe that events in h’mon have also occurred in their village life in the past. they believe that name of villages, name of mountains, name of rivers in h’mon are also associated with their village name or in a place they know or hear. the bahnar think h’mon as their chronicle. performance space and mode of performance are a unique characteristic of h’mon. h’mon only exists in the specific space of performances and the specific mode of performance. separating h’mon from space and mode of performance, h’mon is just a corpse without soul. 2.2 h’mon is “living epics” the content of the h’mon is often the story on the theme of building and developing community in the history of development of the bahnar ethnic. it is the process of labor production to build life, the wars to protect the community and expand the territory, etc. however, the contents of h’mon not only tell the story in the past but also add details, content, new events to match the current time. we can find details of modern life such as “cement”, “ceramic brick”, “binoculars”, “gold chain”, “golden ring” (note 3), www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 61 published by scholink inc. etc. (vietnam academy of social science, 2001-2007). in particular, there are christian elements in the h’mon. the elements appear many times in the dam giong epics collected in kon tum province. in 26 works (single epic) in the dam giong epics surveyed, there are 23 works containing the christian element (dung, 2014). the christian elements come naturally to h’mon and they are easily accepted by the audiences because the dam giong epics’ performing area is full christian. surveying 61 villages in kon tum city (note 4), where dam giong performed, most of the villagers were christians (note 5). in addition, mr. a luu, who performs more than 100 epic dam giong, is both a christian and a christian catechist. a luu’s great-grandfather was a christian priest (named a chau). in these villages, the villagers have participated in traditional cultural activities and participated in christian religious activities. therefore, the elements of christianity have entered into the content of the dam giong epics very easily. the above problem shows that new details and non-native cultural elements come naturally into the content of the dam giong epics. the addition and updating of events, new circumstances have the role of content innovation according to the needs of enjoyment of the audience. however, the dam giong epics still retain the character of the genre. this makes the performer and the audience do not feel the folk art form of the ancestors lost. even the old people in the village still see the epic despite the new content but the form remains unchanged. it’s still like the old days they used to hear when they were young. this is a special feature of the “living epic” of h’mon. 2.3 structure of h’mon is epic cycle the other uniqueness of h’mon is an epic cycle. unlike other epics in the central highlands-vietnam (such as dam san epic of the ede ethnic), each epic is a story depicted in a single epic. in it, events, characters, and episodes are fully embodied in a work. in contrast, the dam giong epics is an epic cycle, including many single epics linked by complex relationships such as themes, character systems and motifs. the dam giong epics collected in gia lai province and kon tum province from 2001 to present (2018), contains more than 100 epics about the hero named dam giong. the stories in the epics are always about the farming activities, the fights to protect the village and the territory or events of life of the ancient bahnar, such as getting married, collecting debts, hunting, hunger relief, festivals, etc. the story of hero dam giong in h’mon (epic) is shown through a series of epics. each single epic tells a small story in dam giong life. these stories do not seem to end. therefore the dam giong epics has a capacity of thousands of pages (note 6). the single epics in the dam giong epics link together in a concentric structure. the structure is constructed from the main narrative of dam giong hero’s life. from this story frame (note 7), there are many subnarratives in the form of single epics surrounding the heroes and linked together in the dam giong epics. the plot is subnarrative in the form of single epics surrounding the heroes and linked together into cycle epic. from the main narrative, single epics develop according to the hero’s action axis: farming-fighting the enemy-getting married. it can be said that every hero’s actions are a story that makes a single epic. in it, each story follows each other in the style of “each story echoes into www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 62 published by scholink inc. another story, in a series of reflections that can only ends if it becomes permanent: so it is through storytelling and integration with together” (todorov, 2014). the structure of the dam giong epics can be compared to the type of “epic cycle” of the world epic. “epic cycle” concept of only 12 ancient greek epics tells of the return of the heroes of the trojan war that revolves around two great epics, the iliad and the odysses, including, titanomachy, oedipus, thebais, epigoni, cypria, iliad, aethiopis, little iliad, sack of troy, returns, odyssey, telegony. these epics may initially have existed as independent works of art, but with the focal point of the iliad and the odyssey, they could stand together, linked together to complement one another. although the connections between the epics are loose, they form a unity through the “fragments” of stories related to the trojan war and the protagonists are troy heroes. performers can add a few details or some scenes to link between epic and epic. the similarity of the dam giong epics structure and cycle epic is that the epics revolve around a concentric shaft and their focus is the epic hero or the original epic. each “round” corresponds to a single epic and corresponds to a cyclic period around the centre. however, the focus of the dam giong epics structure is the character dam giong, while the focus of the 12th greek epic is the iliad and odysses epic. 2.4 the character system constructs h’mon structure 2.4.1 character dam giong are the focal point for converging other characters and events that create the concentric structure the dam giong epics is an epic series of single epics about hero dam giong. each single epic is like a “passage” on the life of the hero. the “passages” have the ability to narrow or expand the scope of the character’s activities and make the dam giong epics develop continuously. character dam giong is always the central character to gather the other characters and events. by the relationship with the main character (dam giong), the other characters in the epic form a system of protagonists and supporting characters interwoven with events and motifs that create a firm structure for the dam giong epics. this form of character creates the concentric structure of the dam giong epics. it allows the performer to close or open the work flexible and the stories of character dam giong without a limit. 2.4.2 re-appearing characters connect single epics with an integrated structure the dam giong epics usually has a re-appearance characters system. this character system appears regularly in many epics and always revolves around character dam giong. they have the function of clarifying the character, actions of character dam giong and linking other epics. the re-appearance characters have many relationships with character dam giong such as parents, relatives, brothers, friends, enemies, gods. these relationships have not changed in many single epics. with the re-appearance characters system, single epics gather into a group, connected by themes, characters and some common features that make up the epic cycle. in particular, the re-appearance characters often appear in pairs. so, we called the pair reappearance character. this type of character appears as two characters with similar characters and names with rhymes together, read up to create pleasant sounds, easy to remember, such as giong-gio; ma dong-ma wat, xem dum-xemtreng, pu pung-xor mam, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 63 published by scholink inc. aying ayong, chun bing-win krong, hri ko dong-chrong do xi, etc. (vietnam academy of social science, 2001-2007). the re-appearance characters and the pair reappearance character add the qualities to dam giong so that the character becomes the ideal character. in addition, they also function as a word-of-mouth formula, a type of performance that helps artists create and perform epics. this feature gives the dam giong epics an open structure in its process of formation and transmission. it contributes to the uniqueness of the dam giong epics that is “living epic”. the re-appearing characters can be compared with type of dualistic character (hero hunahpú and hero xbalanqué) in the popol vuh epic of mayan (mark, 2014) and type of pair character (divine pair, brothers afrodit and adonis, kibel and attis) in the caucasus epic (soviet academy of science, 2012). this shows that the dam giong epics of the bahnar people in the central highlands-vietnam have similarities with the epic in the world. 3. conclusion 3.1 h’mon is a special kind of folk performance h’mon is a special kind of folk performance of bahnar ethnic in the central highlands of vietnam. typical of this type is the dam giong epics (or called h’mon dam giong). h’mon is closely associated with the space of performance, the traditional living environment of the bahnar ethnic in the central highlands such as culture, customs, festivals, religious practice environment, etc. without that space, h’mon does not exist. 3.2 h’mon is a “living epic” calling h’mon is a “living epic” because it is being performed in the bahnar villages in a traditional way from ancient times. in particular, it is capable of adding new details of modern life and non-native cultural elements, non-native religions into the work. the addition of new details makes the content of h’mon richer and increasing the attractiveness to the audience. the dam giong epics contain a christian element that shows its content is “open”. it is the ability to accept non-native cultural elements to enrich the content and fit the new performing environment. 3.3 the epic cycle structure creates new epics the epic cycle structure allows linking hundreds of single epics into the dam giong epics. this structure creates the characteristic “living epic” of h’mon. it is capable of renewing epic content and producing new epics. it allows the performer epic creativity without being limited. in fact, many performers have created so many new epics beyond the epics that he learned from others. 3.4 the re-appearing character is seen as a performance pattern for performers to perform and create new epics the re-appearing character is seen as a performance pattern for performers to perform and create epics. with the character system, performers can remember details, events and content of hundreds of epics and creates new epics. so h’mon is “alive” until today. currently, it is still performing in villages of bahnar ethnic in the central highlands of vietnam. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 64 published by scholink inc. 3.5 h’mon in the central highlands still exist although the performance environment of h’mon is narrow and the performers are not much (due to old age, death) h’mon in the central highlands still exist. it is hoped that the government and the cultural management agency will be interested in preserving and developing this unique cultural form. references dourisboure. (1929). les sauvages ba-hnar (cochinchine orientale). paris: onzieme edition. dung, n. t. (2014). christian element in the dam giong epics. folk culture review, 51-59. haase, d. (2008). the greenwood encyclopedia of folktales and fairy tales. london: greenwood press. son, n. h. (2013). about books repertory central highland epics. journal of literature studies, 9. soviet academy of science. (2012). history of world literature (volume 2). hochiminh: literature publishing house & center for international studies. thinh, n. d. (2008, 10). vanhoanghean. retrieved november 28, 2008, from http://www.vanhoahoc.vn/nghien-cuu/van-hoa-viet-nam/van-hoa-cac-dan-toc-thieu-so/970-ngo-du c-thinh-tinh-thong-nhat-va-da-dang-cua-su-thi-tay-nguyen.html to ngoc, t., dang, n. v., pham, h. t., & vu thi, h. (1988). folklore bahnar. gia lai-kon tum: department of culture and information of gia lai-kon tum. todorov, t. (2014). the poetics of prose. ha noi: university of education publishing house. vietnam academy of social science. (2001-2007). central highland eics (volume 1-62). hanoi: social science publishing house. notes note 1. house rong is common house of the bahnar village. all the cultural activities and religious practices of the villagers take place here. note 2. in funeral rites. note 3. the traditional bahnar jewelery does not have gold rings and gold chains. note 4. kon tum city in kon tum province. note 5. according to the annual statistics of the kon tum bishops’ conference in 2014. note 6. each single h’mon (single epic) is printed in the length of 200-300 pages of 16cm x 24cm. so, if you print out the number of epics collected (more than 100 epics) will be thousands of pages. note 7. haase d. (2008), the greenwood encyclopedia of folktales and fairy tales, vol. 1-3, greenwood press, westport, connecticut-london, england (haase, 2008). global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper a research of subtitle translation and international communication of chinese cultural documentary from the perspective of eco-translatology yingjuan yao 1 & yun li 1 1 school of foreign languages, shandong university of science and technology, qingdao, shandong province received: april 2, 2024 accepted: april 28, 2024 online published: may 6, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n2p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n2p1 abstract with the acceleration of globalization, the internationalization of film and television works has become a powerful tool to enhance chinese culture’s international influence. as an important carrier for telling chinese stories, subtitle translation of chinese cultural documentaries is very favorable to cultural dissemination. the documentary “china bouquet” shows the colorful history, folk customs, and humanities of china and is widely disseminated on overseas media platforms. based on eco-translatology, this paper interprets the subtitle translation skills and international communication effects of it. it finds that translators adapt to translation ecological elements in linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions to enhance the acceptance of overseas audience. with domestication as the main strategy and foreignization as the auxiliary strategy, translators adopt free translation, conversion, transliteration, omission etc. to demonstrate the charm of chinese culture and promote effective cultural communication. keywords eco-translatology, subtitle translation, three-dimensional conversion www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the report of the 20th national congress of the communist party of china stressed the importance of upholding chinese culture, deepening mutual exchanges among civilizations and promoting chinese culture. under the initiative of “going global strategy”, many chinese film and television works have successfully “sailed out to sea” with popular formats, attractive plots and exquisite subtitles to win the favor of overseas audience. excellent translation of traditional culture, as a window for the world to understand china, has attracted the attention of officials as well as film and television industry. documentary truly reproduces chinese culture elements such as geography, customs, humanities and crafts, so subtitle translation of it is very crucial for foreigners to perceive chinese culture. “china bouquet” is a traditional culture documentary, in which each episode concentrates a representative symbol of chinese material or spiritual civilization, such as the mystery of liangzhu, maiji shengjing, super rice paper, and chinese shadow play. “china bouquet” consists of 20 episodes, each lasting about five minutes. the form of micro-documentary is more suitable for modern people’s fast-paced life and fragmented viewing time. the bilingual subtitles of it meet the needs of domestic and foreign audience to appreciate chinese culture, so this program has been widely disseminated on overseas media such as youtube, facebook, and twitter and won the praise from foreigners. 2. eco-translatology and subtitle translation eco-translatology is proposed by professor hu gengshen of tsinghua university. he employs natural ecology as a metaphor for translation ecology because they have the commonality that various elements are interconnected, influence each other and operate as a whole. hu gengshen (2011) defines “translation ecological environment” as a world formed by original text, source language and target language. this world is a whole composed of language, communication, culture, society, authors, readers, clients, etc. under different cultural backgrounds, the two languages of english and chinese have formed unique vocabulary, sentence patterns and rhetorical characteristics. in corresponding translation practices, they also produce different communicative purposes. hu gengshen (2013) believes that translator should select and adapt to various elements in source text and target text in translation. three-dimensional transformation strategy is an important concept, which means that the translator should conduct adaptive transformation of elements in linguistic dimension, cultural dimension and communicative dimension (hu gengshen, 2013). with the deepening of globalization, some high-quality movies and tv series broadcast on media platforms of many countries. the translator builds a bridge between cultures and the subtitle translation becomes the carrier for target language audience to understand the connotation of source language. subtitle translation belongs to audiovisual translation. suratno & wijaya (2018) believe that audiovisual translation means that the translator translates spoken and auditory information of source www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 3 published by scholink inc. text into target text and displays it on a digital screen. cintas & remael (2014) point out that the screen space and time limitation of subtitle translation have a great impact on the readability of text. two lines of text are the norm and the time should be balanced with the reading speed of the viewer. in addition to time and space constraints of subtitle translation, the translation ecology of “china bouquet” becomes more complicated due to the influence of many factors. first of all, each episode integrates the representative elements of material or spiritual civilizations of the chinese nation into five minutes, forming a complex internal translation ecology. secondly, the unique tone, personality and language characteristics of different storytellers also bring challenges to translation. finally, translation initiators, translators, readers, economic and political environments constitute the external translation ecology. initiated by china’s official department, this documentary undertakes the mission of spreading chinese culture to foreign audience. the quality of its subtitle translation is significant for accurately presenting chinese culture and stimulating foreigners’ curiosity and interest of it. the writer applies eco-translatology to interpret translator’s adaptation and selection of numerous factors in linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions of this documentary. 3. adaptive transformation of linguistic dimension in terms of linguistic dimension, english belongs to indo-european languages, while chinese belongs to sino-tibetan languages. there are many differences in vocabulary, sentence patterns and structures between the two languages. hu gengshen (2011) believes that translators should make adaptive selection or conversion of various aspects of language during translation. the writer will interpret translators’ adaptation and selection of language factors from three aspects of vocabulary, sentence pattern and rhetoric. 3.1 lexical level (1)神秘良渚 mystery of liangzhu. (2)麦积山见证了无数僧侣和工匠创作的艺术作品和他们的信仰 majishan is a beautiful and graceful testament to the work and faith of countless monks and artisans. (3)被称为“敦煌的守护神” and he is known as “the guardian of dunhuang”. (4)神头戴羽冠 the discovery of this god-like figure with a feather crown. at the lexical level, the translator mainly adopts translation skills of conversion and amplification. in example (1), the translator employs method of adjective nominalization. the source language “神秘良 渚” is equivalent to a modifier-head structure, that is, the adjective “mysterious” modifies the noun “liangzhu”. the translator transforms the adjective “mysterious” into the noun “mystery”. in example (2), maijishan is the subject and the verb is “见证”, so the corresponding english word is “witness”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 4 published by scholink inc. however, the translator adopts verb nominalization method by choosing the noun form “testament” and he also adds “beautiful and graceful” to show his praise of it. the nominalization skill makes the narration more objective and adapts to the static feature of english. in example (3), according to western mythology, “god in charge of protection” refers to “patron saint” or “tutorem” from latin. however, the translator translates “敦煌的守护神” as “the guardian of dunhuang”, because “the guardian” here highlights the meaning of “safeguard” and “care”, vividly illustrating chang shuhong’s contribution of taking root in dunhuang and protecting dunhuang culture. in example (4), the translator transforms the verb “wear” into preposition “with”, weakening the action and strengthening the state of the action recipient, which conforms to the feature that chinese is a dynamic language while english is more static. 3.2 sentence level chinese and english sentences have distinct differences, such as hypotactic and paratactic, opening at the beginning of a sentence and opening at the end of a sentence, topic sentence as well as subject-predicate sentence, so translators need to make dynamic transformations based on text meanings (chen shuping, 2002). the writer selects typical examples to illustrate translator’s selection and transformation of factors in sentences’ structure, order and voice. (5)这座太和塔的形象来源于云冈第 6 窟的墙上 the image of the taihe pagoda is copied from the relief in yungang’s grotto no. 6. (6)直到二十世纪早期，还有数以百计的虔诚僧侣一直在这些石窟中修行 hundreds of pious monks lived and worked in these caves, until the early twentieth century. (7)经过张金彪的表演，仿佛真的是一只鹰在天空盘旋 when zhang jinbiao flies it, it looks as if a real eagle is actually hovering in the sky. chinese mainly employs active voice, while english is dominated by passive voice. in example (5), the source language takes active voice when describing “太和塔的形象” and “云冈第 6 窟的墙壁”. however, the translator employs passive voice by translating “来源于” as “is copied from” to explain that the taihe pagoda built by craftsmen is very similar to the reliefs of yungang grottoes. it shows the translator’s praise for the superb craftsmanship and the pursuit of perfection of the builders, which also conforms to the habit of using passive voice to express objective facts in english. chinese is a topic-focused language with the emphasis of the sentence at the end, while english is a subject-focused language with the key information generally placed at the beginning of the sentence. therefore, in example (6), the translator adjusts sentence order by putting the key information which contains subject-verb components “hundreds of pious monks lived and worked in these caves” from back to the front of the text. moreover, the adverbial of time “until the early twentieth century” is moved to the back of sentence as secondary information. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 5 published by scholink inc. the religious word “修行” has rich meanings in different context and there’s no corresponding expression in english. the translator gives a free translation “lived and worked” according to its meaning in current context, which greatly improves its comprehensibility. chinese is a paratactic language, while english is a hypotactic language (lian shuneng, 2010), which means that sentence structures of chinese is loose and the sentence relationship of it is connected by context and meaning. however, english is tightly structured by grammar and usually employs conjunctions and prepositions to strengthen the coherence of sentences. in example (7), the translator applies amplification skills several times. there is no time mark “当……的时候” in source language. however, the translator adds the conjunctive “when” to make two clauses into a compound sentence. it not only adapts to the limitation of subtitle space but also enhances the coherence of meanings. there are a large number of sentences without subject in chinese, while the subject is a necessary component in english. when translating example (7), the translator adds two “it” to refer to the “kite”. the first “it” is the object of “flies” and the second “it” is the subject of the main sentence, which can be omitted as implied information in chinese. the amplification method makes the sentence more complete in component and clearer in meaning, which is easier for foreign audience to understand. 3.3 rhetoric level (8)药剂师的手就如同一杆秤 here, the pharmacist’s hand is the scale. (9)紫砂泥将开启全新的生命 the purple clay comes to life. (10)捞纸工人们正在如火如荼的忙碌着 paper fishers are busy working, seething with enthusiasm. in example (8), the translator first adds the topic guiding mark “here” to remind the audience to pay attention to the action of the pharmacist taking the medicine on screen. then he converts rhetorical device of simile in source language into metaphor in target language. simile is a figure of speech using figurative words such as “like, as”, while metaphor is achieved by describing a is b directly. the translator transforms “as” into “is” and the target language becomes “the pharmacist’s hand is the scale”. the rhetorical effect of metaphor is more intuitive and stronger, powerfully conveying the pharmacist’s skill of taking accurate quantity of medicinal materials. example (9) takes personification rhetoric to compare “purple clay” to “a living person”. the translator doesn’t use the word “start” or “begin” to translate “开启” in source language. instead, he applies authentic english phrase “come to life” to indicate the vibrant change of purple clay, which echoes the word “生命” in source language and vividly conveys the process of purple clay becoming a pot under the subtle carving of the master. the original meaning of the word “fisher” in example (10) is “fisherman”. considering that the action of workers taking out paper from the water is the same as that of fishermen catching fish, he translates “捞纸工人们” into “paper fishers”, which humorously www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 6 published by scholink inc. reproduces the working scene of the craftsmen. 4. adaptive transformation of cultural dimensions hu gengshen (2011) believes that translators should pay attention to differences of feature and content between source language culture and target language culture and conform to elements in cultural systems. in the long history and cultural accumulation, the chinese nation has formed many unique cultural images. chinese and english develops under different geographical, historical and humanistic conditions, and some chinese culture elements have no corresponding expression in english. therefore, culture-loaded words are difficult to translate in micro-documentaries. translators should fully understand the connotation of chinese culture, simplify difficult concepts, and find a balance between highlighting cultural characteristics and promoting cultural communication. 4.1 material culture loaded words (11)青铜盘是礼器中的盥器，在祭祀典礼中用来进行“沃盥之礼” the bronze plate is a ceremonial container used in hand washing ceremonies for worshiping heaven and earth. (12)这座胡同博物馆记录着四合院的历史 this hutong museum stores the history of siheyuan courtyards. (13)绍兴人汪明中为自己刚出生的女儿酿制了数坛黄酒 shaoxing native wang mingzhong brewed several jars of huangjiu (yellow rice wine) for his newborn daughter. the term “material culture loaded words” refers to some artifacts with unique chinese history and cultural origin. the word “盥器” in example (11) is commonly used in ancient china, meaning “a vessel for holding water”. the concept “沃盥之礼” refers to a ritual in western zhou dynasty of china, in which people’s body is cleaned with water to show respect for gods and others. the translator adopts domestication strategy, translating “盥器” into “ceremonial container” and “沃盥之礼” into “hand washing ceremonies”, which makes obscure material culture loaded words easy to understand and conducive to the spread of chinese culture. “四合院” and “胡同” in example (12) are both architectures handed down from the long history of beijing, the capital of china, showing the unique style of ancient chinese architecture and the chinese value of neighborliness. transliteration is the application of similar sounds in target language to translate concepts in source language. the translator transliterates “四合院” and “胡同” into “siheyuan courtyards” and “hutong” respectively. in particular, he adds “courtyards” after “siheyuan” because “courtyards” is familiar to foreigners and can arouse their association with this kind of chinese architecture. the word “黄酒” in example (13) is also a typical material culture loaded word. “黄酒” is brewed from the yellow rice produced in china, which has a history of 2,000 years. it is one of the representatives of the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 7 published by scholink inc. hard-working and intelligent chinese people. the translator doesn’t translate “黄酒” literally as “yellow wine”. instead, he adopts the skill of transliteration + interpretation, transliterating it as “huangjiu”, and then interpreting it as “yellow rice wine”. he not only conveys the original chinese culture, but also helps foreign readers understand raw materials of “huangjiu”. in addition, translator adopts the method of transliteration + literal translation frequently. for example, he translates “饕餮纹”, “泰山皮影”, “桂枝汤”, “宣纸” into “taotie pattern”, “tai shan shadow puppetry”, “guizhi soup”, “xuan paper”. this kind of translation not only retains the charm of chinese culture but also promotes the understanding of the audience, which has a strong cultural communication effect. 4.2 language culture loaded words (14)这笔丰饶的历史遗存也必然昭示着中国文化将兼容并蓄，海纳百川 this rich historical legacy shows that chinese culture is inclusive broad, and open. (15)“三山二水五分田”的格局，适宜人们居住 with the surrounding hills, rivers, and fields, yixing is perfectly habitable. (16)中国人常说“靠山吃山，靠海吃海” the chinese often say “one has to make use of local resources available”. language culture loaded words are idioms, sayings, four-character words that are full of chinese cultural characteristics (wang yang, 2023). they are the condensation and inheritance of chinese people’s wisdom and are often highly concise and rich in meanings. according to the explanation of the idiom dictionary, the expression “兼容并蓄” in example (14) comes from a classic article called “复郑好义书” in ming dynasty of china, which means preserving things with different contents and properties. the term “海纳百川” comes from another classic article in jin dynasty of china, which means that the main body can accommodate a wide range of content. the translator gives a free translation of “inclusive, broad and open”, faithfully conveying the connotation of source language. then he omits “必然” in translation to adapt to subtitle space on screen, reducing the reading burden of the audience. the translator conducts a free translation based on the connotation of chinese idioms in example (15). when he translates people’s settlement environment of “三山二水五分田”, he doesn’t translate the quantifiers such as two, three, and five, but translates it macroscopically as “with the surrounding hills, rivers, and fields”. this is because the quantifiers here are general and omitting them can make the target text more concise and easier to understand. moreover, if unimportant words are translated, the audience can not understand meaning comprehensively in a limited time span and the screen will be blocked, affecting audience’ aesthetic experience. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 8 published by scholink inc. idioms embody the collective wisdom of chinese ancestors, and literal translation will make them obscure and difficult to understand. for example, if the author translates example (16) as “relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the sea to eat the sea”. it will make the meaning abstract and ambiguous, hindering cross-cultural communication. based on its meaning of “making reasonable use of the resources around us”, he translates it into “one has to make use of local resources available”, which is both faithful to original text and clearly conveys the life philosophy of chinese ancestors. 5. adaptive transformation of communication dimensions from the communicative dimension, an important purpose of translation is to convey certain communicative intentions to receiver. therefore, the translator needs to consider audience’s reception habits and cognitive psychology. adaptive transformation of communicative dimension means that the translator should accurately convey the original language information and achieve communicative purpose of different conditions (hu gengshen, 2011). (17)这些在良渚制作的精美雕刻物具有象征意义 these intricately carved objects excavated in liangzhu are symbolically significant. (18)王有亮就是其中之一，他已经在这条路上行走了三十余年 one of them is wang youliang and he has been restoring historic artifacts for over 30 years. (19)简简单单几片干叶，开水冲之，此中激发的滋味 add a few dry leaves, pour boiled water into the cup and you will have the fragrance of tea. (20)买田阳羡吾将老，从此只为溪山好 “bought a house here in yangxian, i will have my retired life wandering in the mountains”. in example (17), the translator does not literally translate “制作” as “made”. instead, he translates it as “excavated”, which means digging out items buried in the ground with tools. the word “excavated” more vividly shows that liangzhu culture is not a product of modern times, but a history that was once sealed underground, meeting the communication purposes of showing the feature of china’s long history and culture to foreign audience. in example (18), the translator adopts paraphrase method when translating “这条路”. he interprets it as “restore historic artifacts” to concretely explain its meaning, satisfying the communicative intention of showing chinese cultural relic restorers’ love, persistence, and dedication to their work. the translator uses the amplification method in example (19). he adds the verb “add” and personal pronoun “you” to refer to foreign audience, shortening the psychological distance of audience and attracting them to participate in interaction. it makes them feel as if they are personally involved in making tea, which is conducive to achieving the purpose of stimulating foreigners’ yearning for chinese tea culture. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 9 published by scholink inc. example (20) is a poem by ancient chinese poet su shi. the translator applies the translation skills of conversion and amplification. firstly, he doesn’t translate “田” in source language literally as “land” or “field”. he translates it into “house” according to the poet’s idea. moreover, considering the creation background of the poem, he supplements the missing information, such as “retirement life” and “wandering”. in particular, the word “wandering” is very poetic, conveying the idyllic and free pastoral life that the poet longs for. it helps to arouse the viewers’ beautiful fantasy, which is conducive to stimulating their interest in the charm of chinese poetry. 6. conclusion this paper applies eco-translatology to study subtitle translation of chinese culture documentary “china bouquet” and its cultural communication effect. research shows that translators make comprehensive selection and adaptation to different dimensions of translation ecology. in terms of linguistic dimension, in order to adapt to differences of vocabulary, syntax, rhetoric in chinese and english, translators mainly apply domestication strategy to convey information. in terms of cultural dimension, for culture-loaded words, translators employ skills such as interpretation, transliteration and omission to make chinese cultural elements more comprehensible, which reduces the cognitive burden of audience and satisfies the purpose of cultural promotion. in terms of communication, translators adopt conversion and amplification methods to supplement the vacant information and stimulate the audience’ sense of participation. improving the quality of documentary subtitle translation is a necessary condition for telling chinese stories and spreading chinese voices well. translators play a leading role in translation process, so they should fully understand the connotations and cultural characteristics of both chinese and english. it is significant to improve the comprehensibility of translation so that the audience can catch the meaning of subtitles quickly. therefore, they need to consider the time and space limitations of subtitle and make the translation fit character’s personality, which will help chinese culture to better “go global” in the future. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 10 published by scholink inc. references chen, s. p. (2002). dynamic transformation of chinese-english sentence patterns. journal of henan normal university (philosophy and social sciences edition), 2002(01), 99-100. cintas, j. d., & remael, a. (2014). audiovisual translation: subtitling. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315759678 hu, g. s. (2011). research focus and theoretical perspective of ecological translation studies. chinese journal of translation, 32(02), 5-9, 95. hu, g. s. (2013). ecological transliteration: construction and interpretation. beijing: the commercial press. lian, s, n. (2010). a comparative study of english and chinese. beijing: higher education press. suratno, a., & wijaya, d. c. (2018). text reduction: strategies adopted in audio visual subtitle translation (pp. 205-213). international conference on language phenomena in multimodal communication (klua 2018). atlantis press. https://doi.org/10.2991/klua-18.2018.30 wang, y. (2023). a comparative study of culture-loaded words in classical novels and contemporary novels from the perspective of ecological translation: based on the analysis of the translation of the scholar and the living. journal of northwest university for nationalities (philosophy and social sciences edition), 2023(02), 147-155. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315759678 https://doi.org/10.2991/klua-18.2018.30 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper research on teaching reform in higher education under the perspective of digital transformation xinpeng xu 1 , yankai fu 2 & xiaolei qian 1 1 school of international finance and trade, sichuan international studies university, chongqing, china 2 chongqing college of humanities, science & technology, chongqing, china received: july 10, 2025 accepted: july 30, 2025 online published: august 16, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p1 abstract against the backdrop of the global digital wave and the national innovation-driven strategy, higher education teaching system is faced with the demand of profound transformation. basing on the multi-dimensional perspective of policy guidance, industrial transformation and the intrinsic driving force of education, this research systematically dissects the urgency of teaching reform in higher education and the existing major contradiction from the perspective on digital transformation. the research finds that value cognition bias, institutional and mechanism deficiencies, and the gap in practical ability constitute the core obstacles. through constructing a four-dimensional collaborative framework of “value-subject-tool-system”, proposing the reshape of teaching objectives, energize teachers’ development. optimizing the implementation pathways of governance mechanisms. this research highlights the principle of being student-centered and technology-empowered in optimizing governance mechanisms. it proposes advancing the digital competence of faculty, upgrading intelligent infrastructure, and ensuring institutional innovation to support this transformation. the goal is to facilitate a shift in teaching practices from passive adaptation to proactive leadership. ultimately, the study aims to provide both theoretical reference and practical guidance for building a high-quality education system that supports chinese-style modernization. keywords higher education, digital transformation, teaching reform, digital literacy, governance system www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 2 published by scholink inc. this paper is a research outcome of the chongqing municipal education commission’s teaching reform project: research on teaching reform in higher education under the perspective of digital transformation (project no. 233306). research on the construction of a systematic training model for master’s degree programs in international business under the new liberal arts perspective (yjsjg202209). the global digital technology revolution is profoundly reshaping industrial structures, knowledge systems, and the educational ecosystem. in july 2024, the third plenary session of the 20th central committee of the communist party of china adopted the decision of the cpc central committee on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance chinese modernization. for the first time, it identified the “coordinated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent” as a national strategy. it clearly outlined key tasks such as deepening reforms in talent cultivation approaches, school operation models, governance systems, and support mechanisms, and called for the “extraordinary development of urgently needed disciplines and specialties.” this strategic initiative is driven by a compelling practical necessity. as the world’s largest industrial nation, contributing 30.7% of global manufacturing value added, china still faces technological bottlenecks in 35 key areas such as chip manufacturing and bio pharmaceuticals, along with a talent gap of 12 million in strategic emerging industries. meanwhile, the digital-intelligent revolution is transforming “algorithms and data” into new forms of labor, challenging the traditional discipline-based academic system with a knowledge production paradigm driven by “intelligent agents.” as the primary base for cultivating innovative talent, higher education institutions are urgently confronted with outdated academic structures and rigid teaching models. against this backdrop, exploring how digital transformation can drive structural reforms in higher education teaching holds significant theoretical and practical value for meeting national strategic needs and building an independent and robust talent development system. 1. the urgency of teaching reform in higher education from the perspective of digital transformation the digital transformation of higher education has evolved from a developmental option to a strategic necessity at the national level. its urgency arises from systemic pressures formed by three interrelated dimensions: the imperative of international competition, the drive of national strategies, and the internal demands of education itself. 1.1 the profound transformation of global education paradigms creates an external forcing mechanism the strategic restructuring of international competition patterns is compelling higher education to accelerate its transformation. the world economic forum’s schools of the future report established www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 3 published by scholink inc. the education 4.0 framework, identifying adaptive learning systems, human-machine collaboration capabilities, and digital ethics literacy as the core competency matrix for future talent, marking the entry of global education into a new intelligent phase. unesco’s global declaration on digital learning transformation further promotes the construction of an “inclusive digital education ecosystem,” requiring member states to formulate national strategies. developed countries have already launched systematic plans: the eu’s “digital education action plan 2021-2027” invests €6.2 billion to build a digital resilience system for education, while the u.s. chips and science act allocates special funds to train 65,000 advanced manufacturing engineers. this strategic competition exerts dual pressure on china: on one hand, key technology sectors face restrictions on talent mobility, such as the u.s. “sensitive fields research restriction plan,” which hinders the return of overseas high-level talent; on the other hand, developed countries are competing for educational discourse power through technical standards like ieee’s ethical standards for educational ai and the eu’s digital education content certification framework. universities lacking in-depth digital transformation will continue to be marginalized in global academic resource allocation and talent competition. 1.2 systematic national strategic deployment imposes binding imperatives for digital transformation china has positioned digitalization as the core engine for modernizing its education system. the outline for building a strong education nation (2024-2035) issued by the cpc central committee and the state council for the first time listed “ai-powered educational transformation” as a key project in the new educational infrastructure, setting a clear goal to establish a comprehensive digital education system covering all academic stages by 2030. the ministry of education’s three-year action plan for digital transformation in education further proposed the “three universal coverage” objectives: teaching applications for all teachers, learning applications for all students, and digital campuses for all schools. supporting initiatives include: the national development and reform commission’s “new educational infrastructure” project focusing on 5g+smart education, the ministry of science and technology’s 2.36 billion yuan “smart education” r&d dedicated to educational large-scale models, and the ministry of industry and information technology’s “smart educational equipment” action plan. this top-level design not only reflects policy direction but also translates into mandatory resource allocation constraints—the success of digital transformation directly impacts universities' ability to secure national funding and development opportunities. 1.3 the tension between educational scale expansion and quality enhancement drives endogenous momentum the fundamental confronting the connotative development of higher education urgently requires digital solutions. with china’s gross higher education enrollment rate reaching 62.7% and 48 universities exceeding one million students, traditional teaching models face severe challenges: 68.3% of classes are large-format lectures, while an 18:1 student-faculty ratio severely limits personalized guidance. the fivefold disparity in per-student digital resource investment between eastern and western universities www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 4 published by scholink inc. (4,200 yuan/year at 985 institutions vs. 800 yuan/year at local colleges) exacerbates educational inequality. more critically, structural misalignment exists between talent supply and industry demand: while the integrated circuit industry faces a 250,000 talent shortage, related majors graduate only 80,000 students annually, and smart manufacturing job remains below 50%. as mckinsey research confirms that 45% of traditional industry workers require digital skills upgrading, universities must reconstruct teaching content and methods through digital transformation to resolve the dual of mass-scale cultivation versus personalized empowerment, and knowledge delivery versus competency development. 2. major challenges of teaching reform in higher education under the perspective of digital transformation 2.1 systemic deviations in value perception restrict the direction of transformation cognitive dissonance characterized by strategic misalignment and the absence of ethical risk management constitutes a primary barrier to effective transformation. a prevailing misconception among institutional administrators equates digital transformation with hardware procurement. according to a survey by the ministry of education, only 32% of higher education institutions have integrated digital literacy into their curricula, and over 70% of these offer it solely as elective courses. moreover, a disproportionate share of digitalization budgets is allocated to equipment purchases, while investment in faculty training remains minimal. at a deeper level, the misidentification of actors exacerbates the issue: a considerable proportion of educators exhibit “technological replacement anxiety,” fearing the erosion of pedagogical authority by artificial intelligence. the lack of ethical governance mechanisms—evident in the widespread absence of algorithm ethics committees—has led to recurrent incidents of data misuse. these contradictions reflect a fundamental disjunction between educational purpose and technological tools, and the absence of a shared educational philosophy grounded in “human-machine collaboration.” 2.2 structural deficiencies in institutional mechanisms impede systemic advancement fragmented data governance and outdated evaluation systems have become institutional bottlenecks. on average, universities operate more than ten isolated digital systems, with data interoperability between departments below 30%. critical systems for teaching and research management still rely on manually exported excel spreadsheets, consuming substantial administrative resources annually. the lack of standardized data frameworks results in incomplete recording of basic information such as student ids and names, with high redundancy in student data entry. evaluation systems remain mired in path dependency, emphasizing quantitative metrics such as publication counts and research funding while neglecting core indicators of transformation—such as smart classroom utilization and learning analytics. this misalignment in resource allocation manifests in underutilization of digital infrastructure; for instance, in some institutions, virtual simulation laboratories operate at under 20% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 5 published by scholink inc. capacity due to the absence of performance-based incentives. consequently, investments in digital transformation fail to yield commensurate improvements in educational effectiveness. 2.3 capability gaps at the operational level undermine the effectiveness of transformation superficial pedagogical reforms and faculty capacity deficits hinder the practical efficacy of digital transformation. technological applications remain at a rudimentary stage: utilization rates of intelligent grouping systems and real-time learning diagnostics are low. in many institutions, “smart classrooms” are limited to upgraded projection equipment, with over 70% of renovated classrooms used primarily for powerpoint presentations. pedagogical innovation lags even further behind, with minimal adoption of new instructional models such as problem-based learning (pbl) and flipped classrooms. at the root lies a systemic deficiency in teachers’ digital competence. nationwide, digital training for university faculty is insufficient in both breadth and depth. approximately 75% of training content is limited to tool operation, lacking integration with pedagogical practices—resulting in a widespread phenomenon of “can use but cannot teach.” the absence of incentive mechanisms further stifles motivation: for example, the development of vr-based teaching resources, which may require 200 hours of effort, is credited with merely 0.5 teaching workload units, and digital teaching skills are often excluded from criteria for academic promotion. 2.4 risk spillover effects threaten sustainable development emerging risks—namely educational equity disparities and cultural heritage erosion—pose systemic threats to the sustainability of digital transformation. disparities in household access to digital devices exacerbate academic performance gaps, while the accessibility rate of digital resources for visually impaired students remains below 30%. braille e-textbook updates are delayed by as much as nine months, further marginalizing vulnerable groups. more critically, the marginalization of humanities education signals a crisis of cultural continuity: digital adaptation rates for literature, history, and philosophy courses remain below 30%. for instance, shifting classical chinese literature to online self-study formats has resulted in a 70% reduction in teacher-student discussion time. overreliance on technological rationality—particularly intelligent grading systems—has eroded students’ critical thinking capacities, leading to formulaic writing and a measurable decline in argumentative depth among humanities students. these risks underscore the urgent need for an inclusive digital transformation framework that avoids falling into the trap of efficiency absolutism. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 6 published by scholink inc. 3. pathways for higher education teaching reform from the perspective of digital transformation 3.1 establishing a three-dimensional digital literacy framework and implementation principles construct an educational objective system integrating “tool application—thinking methodology—value ethics.” the foundational layer focuses on cultivating operational skills in intelligent tools and data analysis, embedding python, matlab, and similar tools into general foundational courses. the methodological layer emphasizes computational thinking and information discernment, enhancing decision-making rationality through algorithmic logic courses. the ethical layer fosters digital citizenship responsibility, incorporating mandatory modules on technology philosophy to address issues such as algorithmic bias and data ownership. implementation should adhere to three core principles: human-centered education, ensuring technology serves holistic development; technology empowerment, leveraging ai and big data for precision teaching and personalized growth; and systemic synergy, promoting coordinated reforms in teaching, management, and evaluation systems. a tiered strategy should be adopted for undergraduate and graduate students: undergraduates should focus on “intelligent+” disciplinary integration, while graduate students should prioritize data-driven research training, alongside establishing a closed-loop system for monitoring industry demands and tracing talent quality. 3.2 developing a digital competency framework for faculty innovate a tripartite faculty development model integrating “competency standards—training pathways—incentive mechanisms.” first, establish a three-dimensional competency standard encompassing “intelligent tool application—data-informed instructional design—human-machine collaborative organization,” covering 22 core competency indicators. second, design systematic training pathways: create a national-level digital literacy training platform offering core courses such as educational big data analysis and intelligent instructional design; implement a three-tier “smart education instructor” certification, with certified faculty receiving priority in promotion evaluations; and introduce an industry-academia “dual-appointment” system, enabling faculty to participate in corporate r&d to enhance teaching. crucially, reshape incentive mechanisms by incorporating digital teaching achievements as key promotion criteria, equating digital course development with provincial-level teaching reform projects, and establishing an automated digital growth portfolio system to record faculty innovation contributions. 3.3 building intelligent educational governance infrastructure develop an “educational neural network system” comprising a data hub and intelligent core. integrate 12 operational systems—including academic affairs, student services, and research management—into a unified university-wide data hub, adopting standardized coding protocols to eliminate data silos and ensure “one-source, multi-use” data flow. construct four intelligent cores: (1) a teaching core employing learning behavior analytics for real-time academic diagnostics and automated intervention www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 7 published by scholink inc. recommendations; (2) a resource core using demand-prediction models to dynamically allocate classrooms, equipment, and faculty; (3) an evaluation core establishing multi-dimensional assessment models for academic progress and innovation capability; and (4) a service core deploying ai chatbots to handle 85% of routine inquiries. concurrently, integrate cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and digital twins: use blockchain for immutable academic credentialing and virtual campus simulations to optimize emergency decision-making. 3.4 innovating governance systems and risk mitigation mechanisms establish a four-dimensional institutional framework encompassing “standards—organizational coordination—security safeguards—ethical review.” publish an educational data governance white paper defining 218 data standards and certify model institutions for data governance. at the organizational level, form a university-wide data governance committee (30% faculty, 20% student representation) to ensure multi-stakeholder decision-making. deploy a cybersecurity framework meeting china’s *classified protection 2.0 level-3* standards, with an ai security hub to neutralize cyber threats in real time. ethical governance is pivotal: convene an algorithmic ethics committee to review high-risk applications, issue educational ai ethics review guidelines mandating dual “technical safety + ethical compliance” certification for ai systems, and incorporate digital ethics into faculty and student evaluations. continuously optimize systems using a four-dimensional efficacy metric (decision accuracy, resource utilization, response timeliness, stakeholder satisfaction). 3.5 constructing a student digital competency development system enhance students’ digital learning literacy through a tripartite framework of “foundational skills—advanced thinking—ethical accountability.” foundational training emphasizes intelligent tool usage and data acquisition, embedding python programming and data analytics into general courses while modularizing skills like information retrieval and visualization. advanced thinking cultivates computational and innovative thinking via algorithmic logic analysis and interdisciplinary digital projects in major courses. ethical education instills digital citizenship through mandatory technology ethics modules examining data ownership and algorithmic bias. implementation relies on intelligent learning platforms generating personalized digital profiles to dynamically allocate resources, while evaluation adopts a four-dimensional model (tool proficiency, information processing efficiency, digital creativity, and ethical decision-making). this forms a closed-loop ecosystem of curricular integration, platform support, and evaluative guidance, laying the foundation for lifelong learning in the digital era. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 8 published by scholink inc. 4. conclusion the digital transformation of higher education teaching is an imperative response to national strategic demands and competency reconfiguration in the intelligent era. this study reveals that transformation urgency stems from triple pressures—global competition, national strategy, and endogenous educational needs—while barriers include value cognition gaps, institutional flaws, capability deficits, and risk propagation. the solution lies in a “goal-actor-technology-institution” quadripartite framework: guiding education via three-dimensional digital literacy goals, activating reform through faculty competency building, underpinning technology with intelligent governance infrastructure, and safeguarding progress via ethical governance and efficacy evaluation. this pathway embodies a dialectical unity of technological empowerment and institutional innovation, propelling higher education from experiential to data-driven governance and from scale expansion to connotative development. future efforts must deepen strategic synergy between educational and industrial digitization, breaking talent bottlenecks in critical fields like integrated circuits and quantum information, ultimately supporting chinese modernization with high-quality human capital. references deng, m. m. (2025). ai-empowered digital transformation of talent cultivation in higher education. shaanxi education (higher education), (07). duan, s., & shang, s. (2025). international cooperation in digital education: china’s paradigm for higher education internationalization in the post-deepseek era. journal of hebei normal university (educational science), 27(3), 51-62. kan, y., & liu, l. (2025). toward a digital compact: unesco’s value framework, operational mechanisms, and practical experiences in promoting digital transformation of higher education. journal of hebei normal university (educational science), 27(3), 63-72. yu, g., feng, y. f., li, s. j. et al. (2025). research on digital transformation strategies for application-oriented universities. journal of hubei polytechnic university (humanities and social sciences), 42(04), 16-23. zhang, w., & wang, z. (2025). data-intelligence empowered graduate education management: paradigm evolution and endogenous mechanisms. tsinghua journal of education, 46(3), 69-77. zhang, z., & chen, c. (2025). the phenomenon of “institutional suspension” in digital governance of higher education: manifestations, mechanisms, and rectification strategies. journal of southwest university (social sciences edition), 1-13. advance online publication. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper fostering scholarly approaches to peer review of teaching in a research-intensive university: strategic development of a departmental sprot protocol andrea s. webb 1* , harry t. hubball 1 & anthony clarke 1 1 faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada * andrea s. webb, faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada received: november 23, 2022 accepted: december 5, 2022 online published: january 11, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n1p1 abstract this article draws on a 10-year institutional initiative and examines whether and how a strategic departmental summative peer review of teaching (sprot) protocol was implemented at a canadian research-intensive university. a peer review of teaching initiative (2010-12), led by a team of ubc national teaching fellows, was prompted by institutional concerns about the quality of student learning experiences and the effectiveness of teaching in a multi-disciplinary research-intensive university context. canadian universities have long recognized the importance of attending to the evaluation of teaching practices in their particular contexts; however, the enactment of localized scholarship directed at these practices remains very much in its infancy. traditional approaches to the evaluation of university teaching have often resulted in the over-reliance on student evaluation of teaching data and/or ad-hoc peer-review of teaching practices with numerous accounts of methodological shortcomings that tend to yield less useful and less authentic data. using a case study research methodology, this paper examines the strategic development of a departmental sprot protocol at the university of british columbia, canada. issues addressed in this article include contemporary approaches to the evaluation of teaching in higher education, faculty “buy-in” for the evaluation of teaching in a research intensive university, scholarly approaches to summative and formative performance reviews of teaching (prt), faculty-specific engagement in summative and formative (informal to formal) prt training and implementation, and strategic institutional supports (funding, expertise, mentoring, technological resources). keywords peer review of teaching, tenure and promotion, scholarship of teaching, case study www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction historically, inadequate means of evaluating teaching have undermined the consideration of teaching in tenure, promotion, and re-appointment cases within research intensive universities (bernstein, 2008; elen, lindblom-ylänne, & clement, 2007; hammersley-fletcher & orsmond, 2004). for the most part, this has been due to the lack of rigour, authenticity, and credibility in peer reviews of teaching. peer reviews of teaching (prt) for high-stakes decisions (e.g., tenure and promotion) face a number of challenges (chism, 2007; hubball & clarke, 2011), including:  lack of systematically prepared and knowledgeable assessors.  confusion about the relationship and distinction between formative and summative prt.  exclusive reliance on classroom observations by peers or student evaluations of teaching.  methodological shortcomings that result in less authentic and credible data.  potential conflict of interest associated with peers acting as reviewers. this article draws on a 10-year institutional initiative and examines whether and how a departmental summative peer review of teaching (sprot) protocol was implemented at the university of british columbia (ubc), canada. 1.1 context for prt at the university of british columbia, canada as a research-intensive university, the university of british columbia educates a student population of 50,000 and has over 250 graduate degree programs with 12 faculties, 2 colleges (interdisciplinary studies and health disciplines), and multiple schools (see http://www.ubc.ca/). it is routinely ranked among the top 40 universities in world and among the top 3 in canada (times higher education world university rankings, 2022). therefore, if prt is to be accepted for tenure and promotion decisions, it must be consistent with the standards of quality that are characteristic of scholarly work across the university (hubball & clarke, 2011). for this to happen, data from prt must be rigorous and credible, ideally addressing all of the challenges outlined above. however, while ubc has long recognized the importance of student experience of instruction, most frequently gathered in end-of -term student evaluation of teaching, localized, discipline-specific scholarly approaches to prt remains very much in their infancy (glassick, huber, & maeroff, 1997; hubball & clarke, 2011; kanuka, 2011; university of british columbia, 2009). in 2010-12, ubc embarked on a major prt initiative that was articulated in ubc’s place and promise: the ubc plan, a “10-year visioning” document for the institution (university of british columbia, 2010a). the academic plan outlined in the document emphasizes priorities and goals for enhancing the quality of teaching and learning across the university. in addition, a new educational leadership tenure track, culminating in a professor of teaching stream, emerged in 2012 to situate educational practices as both scholarly and professional endeavours within this research-intensive environment. these opportunities accentuated the need for more authentic and credible data on the quality teaching. in 2018, a new strategic plan shaping ubc’s next century, focused around ten goals, emphasized www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 3 published by scholink inc. transformative learning as a core area. “excellence in transformative teaching” is supported through educational renewal (strategy 11 of 15 strategies), which emphasizes instructors as “highly effective teachers […] developing their craft” (university of british columbia, 2018). ubc considers teaching as one of three essential components of academic life (research, teaching and service). faculty members are expected to not only be pedagogically proficient but also to develop a scholarly approach to their university teaching practices (ubc, 2020). heads, deans, and the senior appointments committee were also seeking better data on teaching so they can more responsibly carry out their respective oversight and evaluation responsibilities in the university. thus, in 2009-2010, a ubc faculty working group report followed by a ubc prt initiative (ubc, 2009), led by three 3m national teaching fellows, director of faculty relations and 12 representatives (dean’s nominees), one from each of the faculties on campus, developed discipline-specific guidelines and professional development strategies for prt in order to enhance the quality of teaching evaluations within and across the disciplines at ubc. typically, prt has been undertaken by experienced academics for the purpose of evaluating new/less experienced/tenure-track faculty members. in most instances, there has been a disproportionate reliance on student evaluation of teaching or hastily conceived classroom observations. when these types of data are used, peer reviews are often dismissed or given little credence for re-appointment, tenure or promotion, or other reviews of teaching at ubc (e.g., formative reviews of teaching) (pratt, 1997). specifically, traditional prt practices have lacked adequate prior dialogue or follow-up around critical issues such as a clear rationale for how particular judgments are made, as well as the appropriateness of guiding frameworks (institutional, disciplinary, programmatic, and teaching) and timelines used in the process. further, the actual practice of prt often bears little resemblance, and makes scant reference, to the current teaching and learning literature. rarely does prt scholarship clearly articulate “best practices” for teaching and learning within various disciplinary contexts, often with differing philosophical underpinnings (e.g., consider the qualitative emphasis in the arts versus the more quantitative emphasis in the sciences). 1.2 theoretical underpinnings to the evaluation of teaching in higher education contemporary approaches to prt are increasingly the subject of research in higher education. for example, a 2009 report by four australian universities recommended that peer review of teaching should be tailored to specific institutional needs and circumstances rather than adopting generic protocols. further, contemporary approaches draw on authentic assessment and evaluation processes including attention to criteria, standards, data collection, trained reviewers and the important relationship between formative and summative peer reviews of teaching. for example, figure 1 illustrates the relationship between formative and summative approaches to prt. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 4 published by scholink inc. figure 1. relationship between formative and summative approaches to prt formative peer review of teaching emphasizes periodic feedback to faculty members to improve teaching practices (esterhazy, de lange, bastiansen, & wittek, 2021). the progressive focus of formative peer review is essential to immersive continual professional development through iterative feedback. formative approaches range from informal, classroom or practice-setting observations with follow-up collaborative reflection and discussion among colleagues, to formal, rigorous criteria-driven processes that simulate summative evaluations (hubball & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2022). building on these approaches, summative prt uses both internal and external evaluators to provide information and feedback to faculty members about the quality of their teaching. peer, student, and self-evaluation can be integrated to offer a more holistic and contextual assessment of teaching (bullough & pinnegar, 2001; cochran-smith & lytle, 2004). the evaluative focus of summative prt inform decision-making considerations for reappointment, tenure, or promotion. researchers have cautioned that prt, as with peer review of other forms of academic work (e.g., merit reviews), peer reviewers must be sensitive to personal agendas and frames of reference, such as, their understanding of institutional and teaching contexts, personal beliefs and values about effective teaching, and their evaluative skills, as well as the beliefs, values, and intentions of the faculty member being reviewed. while recent literature has documented a best practice approach to formative and summative peer review of teaching, this approach can easily become performative, ad hoc and/or lost within the disciplinary context or complex (and often competing) priorities of research-intensive universities. scholarly approaches to prt deliberately build upon current practices by tailoring peer reviews of teaching to the diverse needs, circumstances and disciplinary contexts of one’s university. but in all cases, a scholarly approach to prt (formative and summative) requires greater commitment to the process than ad-hoc or one-off evaluations that currently characterize the practice in many research-intensive universities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 5 published by scholink inc. 1.3 scholarly approaches to prt in research-intensive universities scholarly approaches to prt are part of a larger process of current institutional, curricular, and pedagogical reform in higher education (ambrose et al., 2010; chism, 2007). a scholarly approach to prt, as with all forms of research, is based on underlying assumptions about knowledge, in this case, knowledge about teaching and learning. we believe that there are at least three assumptions that are significant in relation to prt specifically that knowledge is: 1) personally constructed, 2) socially mediated, and 3) inherently situated (cox, 2004). each assumption provides direction and caution for the peer review of teaching. for example, the first assumption cautions that individual, local, and disciplinary conceptions of the “good” in teaching will always be part of the prt process. therefore, peer reviewers need to make explicit their personal beliefs about effective teaching (atwood, taylor, & hutchings, 2000; pratt, 1998). similarly, those being reviewed should be allowed to clarify their own assumptions, beliefs, and intentions related to effective teaching. this bilateral transparency is critical to making peer reviews of teaching fair, as well as authentic. the socially mediated aspect of knowledge construction speaks to the negotiated nature of gathering and presenting authentic and credible knowledge about someone’s teaching. negotiation may be more obviously relevant in the formative review process, but it is no less relevant in summative reviews. indeed, scholarly approaches to summative reviews of teaching often involve faculty members from different institutional levels or disciplinary traditions, e.g., when internal and external reviewers are involved (friedman, 2008; healey, 2000). coming to consensus about the quality of someone’s teaching may, therefore, require give and take across disciplinary traditions and diverse communities of practice. negotiation between various stakeholders, e.g., administrators, peers, and students, can enhance the validity, reliability, and authenticity of prt (wenger-trayner et al., 2015). finally, knowledge about teaching is also inherently situated within disciplinary traditions, learning environments, and political landscapes that frame what is acceptable in both the review process and evidence of effective teaching. scholarly approaches to prt must, therefore, have regard for the historical, political, and contextual factors that are beyond the control of individual teachers and reviewers, but are part of the signature pedagogies or accepted practices within which they are teaching. acknowledging the situated nature of knowledge about teaching is, therefore, also a matter of assessing the appropriateness of an individual reviewer within a culture of teaching (stake & cisneros-cohernour, 2000; lave & wenger, 1991). given that very little research has examined summative prt experiences in diverse university settings, this paper draws on a 10-year institutional initiative and examines whether and how a departmental sprot protocol was implemented in a canadian research-intensive university context. drawing on case study research methodology, the following research question was designed to guide this investigation within one department at the university of british columbia, canada, whether and to what extent was a strategic sprot protocol implemented in ubc’s department of curriculum and pedagogy (edcp)? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 6 published by scholink inc. 2. methodology 2.1 case study research case study research is a systematic in-depth inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life practice context (pearson, albon, & hubball, 2015). case study research methodology internalizes theory and practice by drawing on a wide range of contextually-bound data and engaging with key personnel. accordingly, researchers in this study included co-chairs of the fcp and original members of the ubc institutional prt initiative (2010-12). case study research enables research practitioners to develop a richer and more in-depth understanding of the phenomena under investigation (webb & welsh, 2019; yin, 2017). thus, case study research is highly generative in nature and is particularly well-suited to examine whether and how a strategic departmental sprot protocol was implemented in a canadian research-intensive university context. specific prompts for this inquiry included:  how does the institutional teaching context, with its particular features such as geographic region, organizational structure, strategic objectives, and allocation of resources, shape prt initiatives? for example:  how is prt understood, interpreted, organised, delivered, experienced, and/or institutionalized within edcp?  what are the most common best practices and challenges for implementing prt initiatives in edcp?  how can prt be better supported in the departmental setting? 2.2 data collection and analysis integral to this inquiry, a purposeful sample of contextually-bound program data were gathered from the following:  relevant documentation from ubc strategic planning documentation (indigenous strategic plan, 2020; place & promise, 2010; strategic plan 2018-2028);  meetings. mixed groups (including co-chairs ubc fcp, edcp teaching review and awards committee (trc) leaders, administrators, and faculty members) with members ranging from four to six stakeholders or individuals in either face-to-face venues or by using online video conference platforms, ranging from two to three sessions in total over a 3-month period.  samples of teaching (online and face-to-face) materials including syllabi, podcasts, video recordings, worksheets, teaching dossiers, student evaluations of teaching, feedback and grading of students’ work, teaching awards, unsolicited letters of support for teaching;  classroom teaching observations; and  reflective field notes from the edcp trc team. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 7 published by scholink inc. qualitative data sources were analyzed using the constant comparative method through itemizing, categorization, and finally to thematisation (coe, waring, & hedges, 2017; cresswell, 2013). next, member checking was utilized to establish major themes, data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions with respect to prt practices. the use of iterative and multiple data sources established the trustworthiness of the research findings through triangulation. 3. result the focus of this study examined whether, to what extent and how a strategic edcp sprot protocol was implemented in ubc’s research intensive context. first, it is important to re-assert that a strategic edcp sprot protocol was implemented in order to address primary institutional concerns for the quality of scholarly and evidence-based teaching evaluation reports that were required for the high stakes purpose of tenure and promotion at ubc. thus, with a strong focus on sprot, the trc in edcp were guided by a number of discipline-specific questions drawn from the ubc context and the literature related to peer review of teaching:  what are critical elements of an effective summative prt report?  what evidence/data for summative prt are appropriate?  what criteria for summative prt are appropriate?  what standards for summative prt are appropriate?  what ethical principles for summative prt are appropriate?  what engagement sequences for summative prt are appropriate? 3.1 frameworks for scholarly approaches to prt in edcp we argue that there is no one single institutional strategy or scholarly approach to prt in research-intensive university contexts. building on prt perspectives presented in the literature and research, the organizational framework shown in figure 2 was useful for facilitating scholarly approaches to prt within edcp. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 8 published by scholink inc. figure 2. operational framework for conducting a scholarly approach to prt in a riu figure 2 provides a flexible and iterative framework that takes into account the prt context, and integrates responsive institutional strategies for conducting scholarly approaches to prt. practical strategies, outlined briefly below for each component of the framework, are drawn from a combination of literature sources and research at ubc (hubball & clarke, 2011; ubc, 2009). 3.1.1 prt context prt context refers to the attention and sensitivity given to the “big picture” that shapes peer review of teaching practices. this can be achieved through appropriate leadership, research and ethical considerations, consultation, dialogue, collaboration, and attention to adequate support and incentives to conduct prt. these strategies ensure that the prt experience is not only meaningful and relevant to the needs and circumstances of faculty members, but it is also manageable to administer, and, above all, empowers the community to engage in scholarly approaches to prt. within the edcp context, leadership support, including recognition of prt team as a departmental committee and ensuring that their contributions were recognized as service (within tripartite work contract at ubc: research, teaching, and service), lend credence to the process as a scholarly practice. additionally, a clear distinction between formative assessment and summative evaluation clarifies the importance of prt committee within the department processes. faculty members on the committee are familiar with the university, faculty, and departmental processes for evaluation of teaching and policies for reappointment, tenure, and promotion 3.1.2 prt planning prt planning refers to the preparation and development of shortand long-term prt goals including the scheduling of timely (e.g., pre-assessment, assessment, and post-assessment) meetings, deadlines, and expectations with respective parties (e.g., department head, reviewers, and reviewed faculty member when appropriate), which, in part, drive the prt process. for example, these meetings can be focused on discussions to clarify signature pedagogies (such as pbl in health, case study in law, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 9 published by scholink inc. aesthetics in the arts), and appropriate forms of assessment and evaluation. situated with the larger faculty of education, prt planning as a department includes annual timing to coincide with faculty reappointment, tenure, and promotion deadlines and managing subject specific perspectives that may be part of disciplinary training (e.g., historians in social studies education, kinesiologists in physical education, chemists, biologists, and physicists in science education, etc.). for any process to be fair and equitable, it must be as transparent as possible to the participating members. for that reason, a protocol for the prt should be established and agreed upon by the members in the department/faculty. an example of one such protocol that was developed in one faculty context included the following sequence: sample protocol for summative prt  notification of required summative prt  meeting of prt committee (internal and external reviewers) to discuss context, appropriate data, criteria, standards, and process expectations  meeting of candidate with prt committee member to discuss/clarify context, data collection, criteria, standards, and process expectations  data collection to obtain a long and broad perspective of a faculty member’s teaching practice  meeting of candidate with prt committee member to discuss and debrief outcomes from prt  meeting of external and prt committee to discuss data analysis and formulation of summative report that is submitted to department head by external prt committee member) 3.1.3 prt data sources prt data sources are typically quantitative and qualitative in nature, and include teaching workload statistics, classroom observations of teaching, course syllabi, teaching dossier, and student evaluations of teaching. data sources must be appropriate and sensitive to assessing a broad perspective of teaching practices, including evidence about context, process, outcomes, and impact within the institution. the inclusion of peer, student, and self-evaluation data is important to help address the prt challenges including assumptions about knowledge in teaching and learning. moving away from a single data source (classroom observations or student evaluations) and building in, where possible, formative cycles of feedback, provides additional data to contextualize the activities, pedagogical understanding, and personal growth of each faculty member 3.1.4 prt criteria and standards prt is guided by appropriate frameworks related to logistical and pedagogical criteria (e.g., command over subject matter and representation of recent developments in the field, preparedness, relationship between goals/objectives, student engagement strategies, and assessment of learning) and standards for effective teaching (e.g., descriptors pertaining to designated criteria for percentile or a, b, c, d ratings; exceeds, meets, or does not meet standards; strengths and weaknesses) if judgments about the quality of a faculty member’s teaching practice is to be authentic and credible within specific contexts. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 10 published by scholink inc. within edcp, departmental criteria and standards use scholarly approaches to integrate institutional requirements (guide for senior appointments committee, etc.) with the current literature and practices. various criteria frameworks for effective teaching have been documented in the higher education literature. the following criteria are suggested in the collective agreement at the university of british columbia (ubc, 2020 section 3.2.1-3.2.7). sample criteria for summative prt  command over subject matter (how knowledgeable or authoritative)  representation of recent developments in the field (what’s in; what’s not)  preparedness (for individual sessions and for overall course/term)  presentation  student engagement  influence on the intellectual and scholarly development of students  relationship between goals/objectives and assessment and evaluation of student learning  appropriateness of course materials and requirements (given the topic and level)  articulation with other programmatic courses/elements  responsiveness/accessibility to students  demonstration of a scholarly approach to teaching  effective graduate supervision (as appropriate) making judgments on aspects of a colleague’s teaching practice (evaluation) is typically the most challenging dimension of prt. evaluation challenges often emerge due to inadequate attention to communities of practice, inappropriate criteria, and vague standards. for example, judgments tend to focus on committee members’ interpretations of statements such as “exceeds”, “meets”, or “does not meet” expected standards. the following descriptions (table 1) are provided as examples and illustrate valuable specificity (further developed and contextualized by each faculty) that, in part, overcomes idiosyncratic interpretations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 11 published by scholink inc. table 1. sample standards for summative prt a exceeds faculty/departmental expectations reserved for the (usually) few exceptional examples of teaching practice consistent with the standard, reserved for those that the department/faculty would nominate for teaching awards. both internal and external peer reviewers need to be in agreement with the evidence presented. meets faculty/departmental expectations evidence suggests there is generally a high quality throughout the instructor’s teaching practice, no problems of any significance, and evidence of consistent attention to the following: student engagement, effective teaching practices, and developing a scholarly approach to teaching and learning. does not meet faculty/departmental expectations evidence suggests there is generally an inadequate quality in the instructor’s teaching practice and serious flaws or deficits in the instructor’s understanding of teaching and learning. 3.2 data used for summative evaluation of teaching various types of data for summative peer review of teaching are documented in the literature (chickering & gamson, 1987). building on the earlier organizational framework for conducting scholarly approaches to prt, data sources can be strategically categorized within the parallel conceptual framework shown in figure 3 (hubball & clarke, 2011). figure 3. potential data sources for prt 3.2.1 teaching context teaching context data focus on critical structures that shape a faculty member’s teaching practice. therefore, a comprehensive needs assessment involving consultations and collaborations between respective parties is required in order to situate a faculty member’s teaching practice within the sotl www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 12 published by scholink inc. literature, institutional visioning documents, pedagogies within their context and discipline, and an individual’s academic workload. 3.2.2 teaching process teaching process data focus on issues of importance that arise throughout a faculty member’s teaching practice. for example, to what extent are learning outcomes made explicitly to the students through course syllabi? to what extent are individual instructors incorporating learning-centred classes that are responsive to the needs and circumstances of the students? to what extent is the instructor drawing on an appropriate selection and sequencing of active learning methodologies and developing a reflective teaching disposition to guide further teaching development? this could also be better served with annual quality assurance and quality enhancement strategies for further developing both formative and summative departmental prt practices. 3.2.3 teaching outcome teaching outcome data focus on immediate outcomes of a faculty member’s teaching practice. for example, what are key student learning outcomes from this particular teaching approach and how do students rate the quality of the educational experience? it might also encompass an examination of the quality of students’ work and an examination of the faculty member’s student grading practices. 3.2.4 teaching impact teaching impact data focus on the long-term (e.g., months, years) impact of a faculty member’s teaching practice. this might involve, for example, an examination of the faculty member’s long-term impact on and contributions to teaching and learning within a subject or unit. it might also encompass a longer-term analysis of the range in quality of students’ work, a longitudinal examination of grades given, and an examination of the faculty member’s responses to and subsequent changes from previous formative peer review of teaching feedback/reports. see appendix for a sample summative review report. 4. discussion departmental teaching review and awards committee (trc) leaders, collectively and individually, have progressed through various stages of prt professional development training pertaining to scholarly prt processes. not unexpectedly, various challenges emerged from these prt experiences. initially, for example, there was a great variation in quality and rigour of initial summative prt reports that were disseminated among the group. on review, these generated useful debates about disciplinary cultures with respect to prt (e.g., misunderstandings about formative and summative prt practices, initial confusion and anxiety about the rationale and interpretations for internal and external prt evaluators, misunderstandings about prt sources of data collection). for example, one of the most pressing challenges, has been the lack of departmental and faculty-wide support, resources and recognition for the importance of an external reviewer in the sprot process (i.e., comparable to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 13 published by scholink inc. peer-evaluations of research productivity by colleagues in other faculties and/or similar institutions for the purpose of institutional tenure and promotion considerations) which rendered a major limitation to authentic sprot practices. however, over time, inspired by cross-disciplinary discussions pertaining to current practices, significant progress was made and greater coherence agreed upon with respect to authentic (e.g., signature pedagogies) and scholarly approaches to prt within the department that includes external reviewers (i.e., those not immediately from the unit or department of the faculty member being review). nonetheless, there is still considerable discussion and debate within edcp and ubc more broadly about external reviewers. these discussions are aided by the fact that many trc leaders have served on faculty and institutional promotion and tenure committees. beginning with an understanding of the quality and type of report that is required by the dean’s advisory and senior appointments committees, has guided the development of rigour, longitudinal, and broad perspective reporting on teaching practice. this insight has guided the development of a template that includes multiple data considerations, both qualitative and quantitative sources. the edcp sprot protocol has been adopted as the faculty-wide model. one important outcome that emerged, sped forward by the transition to online learning during the covid-19 pandemic, was the effective and efficient use of digital technologies in order to facilitate faculty members’ engagement in scholarly approaches to prt. the appropriate use of technology was deemed to provide greater flexibility and, in many cases, improve the quality of analysis of teaching practices. for example, the increasing use of video conferencing tools (e.g., zoom) was deemed to facilitate preand post-assessment meetings, as well as e-portfolios for teaching dossiers and online teaching and digital recordings of “classroom” experiences (e.g., split screen video with one camera focusing on the instructor and the other on the class). however, it should be noted that technology cannot always adequately capture true classroom atmospheres or teacher-student dynamics and/or tensions in diverse classroom settings and sometimes posed difficulties with the technology itself. evidence thus far suggests five issues that arose during this study: (1) significant differences have occurred in pre-post prt reporting protocols; (2) insufficient familiarity and clarity with prt literature and key concepts such as formative, summative, external and internal reviewers; (3) lack of understanding regarding diverse and authentic prt data sources; ignorance around explicit prt sequencing; (4) lack of methodological rigour of prt processes by refining/developing reports to incorporate key prt concepts; and (5) the need for a greater sense of community and cohesion among edcp prt leaders within and across the disciplinary domains (e.g., science education, art education, etc.). scholarly approaches to prt often require faculty members to move beyond their own disciplinary orientation and embrace broader social science methodologies, which for many is epistemologically and ethically challenging (kanuka, 2011). additionally, prt may expose unknown weaknesses but not strengths in individual teaching practices (barrios-rodriguez et al., 2022). although, if coupled with a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 14 published by scholink inc. strategically aligned formative prt practice/policy, we are hopeful that we can develop an ongoing and iterative cycle of peer review that supports faculty development and provides additional data for the sprot report. despite these inevitable challenges, the early signs for implementation of the ubc prt initiative are very encouraging, though we are closely analyzing progress annually. finally, where appropriate, edcp trc provides additional support for mentoring and nominations for teaching awards. the intent of this is to build discipline-specific protocols that are sensitive to the pedagogical norms of the discipline, profession, and field of practice in the department. 5. conclusion this article has outlined a prt initiative at one canadian research-intensive university and the issues, practices, and challenges associated with implementing that initiative. we are still learning and trust that the progress made to date will provide a strong foundation for a reputable and respected prt process within and across the disciplines into the future. we acknowledge that we will still have to overcome existing suspicions and conceptions that linger from earlier and less scholarly prt efforts. thus, as outlined in this paper, we have attempted to provide a more scholarly underpinning to prt reconceptualization of the process. we hope that through this study we can inform ongoing campus-wide renewal and review. a scholarly approach to prt in a research-intensive university is a complex and multifaceted process. it involves focused attention to the needs and circumstances of discipline-specific communities of practice, relevant literature and conceptual frameworks, systematic methodology for authentic assessment and evaluation, ethical considerations, and effective dissemination of outcomes. summative prt should take a broad and long perspective of a faculty member’s teaching practice with explicit procedures and guiding principles (e.g., scholarship, accuracy, integrity, transparency, diversity, credibility, and usefulness). further, to implement formative and summative scholarly approaches to prt, in a research-intensive university requires appropriate resourcing for peer reviewers’ time, expertise, and training costs. consequently, if scholarly approaches to prt are not adequately supported, confronting implementation issues can present significant challenges for many reviewers and administrators-the magnitude of which may well be an outright deterrent for some academic units to engage in scholarly approaches to prt (hubball & clarke, 2011). while there are still many significant challenges and areas for improvement in this department, the growing local and institutional support, and widespread attention to scholarly approaches to the prt within and across disciplines is a testimony to the increasing value placed on scholarly approaches to prt in research-intensive universities. an institutional commitment to research, therefore, far from being a barrier to improving teaching, can be publicly engaged as the basis for authentic assessment and evaluation of teaching in a research-intensive university setting. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 15 published by scholink inc. acknowledgements the authors would like to express their sincere thanks to institution-level educational leaders and colleagues from ubc who have provided key insights for this paper. references ambrose, s. a., bridges, m. w., dipietro, m., lovett, m. c., norman, m. k., & mayer, r. e. 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(2009, april). report of the ubc working group on peer-review of teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/0307507042000236380 https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2010.1.2 https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0672-0.ch001 https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050103 https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2015.3.12 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 17 published by scholink inc. the university of british columbia. (2010). place and promise: the ubc plan. president’s office, ubc press. the university of british columbia. (2018). shaping ubc’s next century: strategic plan 2018-2028. retrieved from https://strategicplan.ubc.ca/ the university of british columbia. (2020). indigenous strategic plan. retrieved from https://isp.ubc.ca/ the university of british columbia. (2020, sept). guide to reappointment, promotion and tenure procedures at ubc. retrieved from https://hr.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/sac%20guide.pdf webb, a. s., & welsh, a. j. (2019). phenomenology as a methodology for sotl research. teaching & learning inquiry, 7(1), 168-181. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.1.11 wenger-trayner, e., fenton-o’creevy, m., hutchinson, s., kubiak, c., & wenger-trayner, b. (eds.). (2015). learning in landscapes of practice: boundaries, identity, and knowledgeability in practice-based learning. routledge, new york, n.y. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315777122 yin, r. k. (2017). case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. appendix sample report template for a summative prt the following excerpts (purposely edited) provide a working example of a summative prt report at ubc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <unit letterhead> date: xxxx to: xxxx head department of xxxxx from: xxxxxx <name of external ad internal reviewers> re: peer review of teaching for <name> summative peer review of teaching: feedback report introduction we have worked with xxxxxxx over the past six weeks to review his/her teaching practice. the departmental guidelines for the “colleague review process” define teaching practice to include post-baccalaureate courses, graduate courses, and membership (including supervision) of graduate student thesis committees. departmental guidelines identify key data sources and criteria when https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.1.11 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315777122 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 18 published by scholink inc. determining the standard (exceeds, meets, or does not meet the standard of teaching expected of faculty members in this department) upon which to evaluate teaching practices. this report looks back over xxxxxxx’s recent accomplishments and forward to professional development goals for future teaching practice. prior to the peer review, we met with xxxxxxx to discuss the context of his/her teaching, departmental criteria and standards for effective teaching, his/her teaching and course goals, and the peer review protocol. in compiling this report, therefore, we drew on the following data sources:  our pre-instruction, post-instruction, and follow-up discussions with xxxxxxx  his/her course syllabi and lecture plans (e.g., is based on current scholarship and literature; uses authentic methods to assess and evaluate student learning outcomes; contributes to departmental/programme goals; and articulates a rationale for pedagogical approaches)  her/his scholarly teaching dossier (if available)  two peer classroom observations of xxxxxxx (e.g., breadth and depth of pedagogical repertoire; clear and helpful classroom discourse; engagement with and responsiveness to students; and inclusiveness and fair treatment of student diversity is evident)  comments elicited specifically for this evaluation from xxxx students (graduate and undergraduate) for whom xxxxxxx was a course instructor and/or supervisor (e.g., is reasonably accessible; provides timely feedback; offers high quality guidance; knows institutional/departmental procedures)  her/his student evaluation of teaching (seot) open-ended comments and numerical scores on teaching practice from ubc’s 6 module teaching evaluation components  student grading practices (including distributions and justification, review of feedback on students’ assignments)  his/her 2-page reflection paper pertaining to xxxxxxx’s interpretation of his/her previous formative prt or seot data from xxxxx to xxxxx xxxxxxx’s teaching expertise is in the areas of xxxxx, with a scope that is interdisciplinary and international. xxxxxxx has a strong commitment to diversity and innovation in his/her teaching practice, evident in his/her teaching philosophy statement and pedagogic goals. for example, xxxxxxx’s teaching practice draws on and uses a wide range of learning and teaching strategies (such as xxxxx) in order to recognize, acknowledge, and honour xxxxx in the student learning experience. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 19 published by scholink inc. major teaching contributions xxxxxxx’s contributions to teaching at ubc are significant and varied. for example, she/he is the xxxxx, she/he is a graduate student advisor, and teaches in both the graduate and undergraduate programs within the faculty. since coming to ubc, xxxxx has been involved in direct supervision, co-supervision, and committee work of several graduate students at the xxxxx and phd level. in the xxxxx years that he/she has been at ubc, a total of xx graduate students (xxxxx) with whom she/he worked as principal supervisor or committee member have successfully defended their research theses/dissertations. in addition to guiding his/her graduate students in their research inquiries, she/he has actively encouraged and successfully supported a number of them in developing conference proposals, presenting conference papers, and preparing articles for publication. one of her/his recent xxxxx graduates has since enrolled in the phd program in xxxx and she/he was successful in securing one of the prestigious 4-year xxx graduate scholarships. the following two quotes from his seots demonstrate how his/her teaching (both graduate and undergraduate) has been perceived and interpreted by students at ubc. the first quote refers to his undergraduate teaching, and the second quote comes from a student who took one of his/her xxxxxx graduate courses. xxxxx (graduate student xxxxx) graduate student supervision since 2007, xxxxx has worked with several graduate students. we were able to contact xxx of these students to request feedback about xxxxx’s graduate teaching practice and supervision. all responses consistently speak of a highly dedicated and talented teacher. a representative selection of their comments (and those from a selection of undergraduate students) include the following: xxxxx l (xxxx may-june 2022). meetings with xxxxx: reflective practice and professional development our meetings with xxxxx proved to be valuable in that we were able to move beyond artifacts and observations to a conversation about the assumptions that underlie and give meaning to his/her teaching practice. we were impressed with the thoughtfulness, enthusiasm and care with which xxxxx talks about and reflects on his/her teaching, and the willingness to constantly seek ways of further developing her/his teaching repertoire. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 20 published by scholink inc. student evaluation of teaching (seot) numerical scores on teaching practice the seot office provided a summary report of the numerical scores for three undergraduate courses and four graduate courses xxxxx has taught while at ubc. the scores are based on student responses to a 30-item questionnaire. the report documents xxxxx’s record of achievement beginning with courses she/he taught in 2007 as an aaaaa professor. seot records document xxxxx courses which dr. xxxxx has taught since the fall of xxxxx. since xxxxx, the three-year faculty average for undergraduate courses was xxxxx, and the graduate average was xxxxx. dr. xxxxx was above the faculty mean for one of the undergraduate courses and above the faculty mean for all xxxxx of the graduate courses listed. dr. xxxxx’s weighted overall average was xxxxx across xxxxx undergraduate courses, and xxxxx across all four graduate courses she/he has taught since xxxxx (seot summary report, october xxxxx). taken overall, these results reflect a very high standard of teaching. summary we commend xxxxx for her/his valuable contributions to the graduate and undergraduate (xxxxx) programs and for his/her commitment to embark on professional development initiatives to expand and improve his/her teaching practice in order to enhance student learning. in our opinion, when taking into account all data sources and criteria, xxxxx meets the teaching standards of our department. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper english language learner instruction in middle school mainstream classrooms lakisha m. nelson 1 , michelle m. mccraney 1 , ruby burgess 1 , sunddip panesar-aguilar 2* & chris cale 1 1 riley college of education, walden university, minneapolis, usa 2 college of health sciences, university of st. augustine, usa * sunddip panesar-aguilar, college of health sciences, university of st. augustine, usa received: october 24, 2020 accepted: november 7, 2020 online published: january 12, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p1 abstract in a southeastern state, grade 7 and 8 middle school general education teachers were not implementing cultural and individual instructional strategies consistently to support the academic achievement of the growing population of english language learners (ells). the purpose and key research questions of this qualitative study were designed to (a) identify what cultural relevant instructional strategies grades 7 and 8 middle school general education teachers implement, (b) identify what individual relevant instructional strategies, and (c) understand what perceptions teachers have regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instruction to support ells. the nine participants were middle school (i.e., grade 7 and 8) general education teachers from a school district in a southeastern state. data were gathered through semistructured interviews and the themes included teachers’ beliefs in their abilities to provide consistent instruction to support ells, use of varied individual instructional strategies to support ells, use of varied cultural instructional strategies to support the needs of ells, and their want of preparation and relevant professional development to instruct ells. the findings have implications for positive social change, including identifying areas where professional development and focused instruction on the cultural and individual needs of ells increase teachers’ knowledge, skills, consistency, and perceived ability to support ells in the local school district. keywords english language learners, middle school instruction, instructional strategies, cultural instruction, professional development, teacher instruction, teacher support, language instruction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction changes in demographics have increased the number of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. english language learners (ells), a heterogeneous and complex group of students with diverse educational needs, backgrounds, and abilities, are among the fastest-growing subgroup in u.s. public schools (mcfarland et al., 2018; national center for education statistics [nces], 2019). ells represented approximately 9.5% of the k-12 student population in 2015 compared to 8.1% in 2000 (soto, hooker, & batalova, 2015). projections have indicated that by the year 2025, ells will account for 25% of students in public schools (musu-gillette et al., 2017). the number of ells has exceeded the number of teachers certified to educate the subgroup (national assessment of educational progress [naep], 2017), leaving general education teachers responsible for educating ells and non-ells (gonzález, 2016). increases in the ell population have correlated to changes in educational policies on how general education teachers deliver instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. recognizing that there is an increasing number of ells, federal administrators mandated policies requiring teachers to accommodate culturally and linguistically diverse learners. ell students’ demographic shifts changed the dynamics of classrooms when public school educators experienced an increase in school accountability pressure under the no child left behind act of 2001 (spees, potochnick, & perreira, 2016). in 2015, president obama signed the every student succeeds act (essa), replacing no child left behind (nclb). as the nation’s primary education law, the essa represents a commitment to provide an equal opportunity for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, english proficiency, or income (darrow, 2016). within the essa is a mandate requiring leaders of school districts to staff each classroom with a teacher suitable to meet the needs of the student population (fuller, hollingworth, & pendola, 2017). however, the extent that teachers have met the needs of ells has varied. schools with a higher concentration of integrating ells have been more responsive to the needs of the students (spees et al., 2016). in contrast, researchers have found that ells families settle in rural areas, particularly in the south, and attend integrated schools that may be less responsive to ells’ needs (spees et al., 2016). despite federal efforts to ensure an equitable education for ells, results from national testing indicated a risk of literacy achievement for ells. results from the naep assessment have reflected the literacy risk for ells. in 2017, only 5% of ells in eighth grade scored at or above the proficient level in reading (naep, 2017). comparably, results from the 2015 naep assessment indicated that only 4% of ells in eighth grade scored at or above the proficient level in reading (naep, 2015). in 2011, data from naep showed that 1% of eighth-grade ells scored at or above the proficient level in reading (naep, 2011). the data trends from naep (see figure 1) have piqued concerns when considering ells as the fastest growing population in u.s. schools. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 3 published by scholink inc. figure 1. national assessment of educational progress results: data trends of the percent of english language learners in eighth grade scoring at or above proficient level in reading the problem was that seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers of ells were not consistently implementing cultural and individual instructional strategies to support ells academic achievement. when students from various cultural or linguistics groups joined the mainstream classroom, teachers struggled to implement instructional practices to meet the needs of each student. general education teachers are often ill-equipped to teach common core state standards english language arts (ccss ela) to english learners (guofang, hinojosa, wexler, bian, & matinez, 2017). general education teachers in the local setting became worried with their knowledge on how to teach and address the standards to prepare ells for mastery of the high-stakes ccss ela testing. notes from a faculty meeting also indicated that three of every four teachers ask how to adjust instructional strategies to meet the need of ells. addressing the concerns teachers of ells encountered when providing ccss ela instruction is an essential component in ensuring that teachers are preparing ells to gain the skills for mastering assessments. in addition to teachers feeling a need for improvement, recent developments in teaching english have heightened the requirement for investigating the impact of effective instructional tactics on instructing reading to the students. in the past, louisiana educators relied on the use of the louisiana comprehensive curriculum (lcc) for instructional practices before the implementation of ccss ela. but seventhand eighth-grade ells in the local setting often possessed minimal success in mastering the lcc. district data from the assessments associated with the 2009-2010 implementation of the lcc indicated that less than 45% of ells in the local setting met or exceeded english language proficiency requirements. thus, in 2010, the state department of education for the study district eliminated the lcc and authorized implementation of the ccss. with the change in the curriculum of the study district came a shift in standards and instructional practices. the ccss ela standards were more rigorous www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 4 published by scholink inc. than the lcc objectives (louisiana department of education [ldoe], 2018a). the standards encompassed the citation of textual evidence from the complex text when reading and writing; however, a detailed instructional pedagogy to aid teachers in supporting ells was not in the ccss (daniel & pray, 2017). therefore, teachers struggled to implement culturally consistently and individualized instructional strategies to support ells achievement of the standards. in response to a need for instructional strategies, the ldoe released an ela document to support educators who taught ells to provide strategies for teachers to help students to reach their maximum potential (ldoe, 2018b). developing deep approaches to instruction is important for ells to develop mastery in language requirements and forms of language (i.e., vocabulary, grammar, and content vocabulary). intended to be a supplement to content standards, the use of ell document provided support to teachers in the design of instruction based on the students’ english proficiency and guidance and knowledge in the progression of language acquisition (ldoe, 2018b). however, the instructional approach local teachers used may contribute to the local problem. observational data indicated that general education teachers of ells made four instructional changes during the 25-minute response to intervention period without examining data to determine the impact on student learning. minutes from a faculty meeting also indicated that the problem of inconsistent instructional practices occurred at the study site. based on notes from a faculty meeting, general education teachers retaught the tier i english vocabulary and structures in the same manner presented during regular instruction. the evidence from the faculty meeting indicated a need to investigate how teachers in the local setting implemented cultural and individual context in instructional practices for ells. some ells have struggled because of limited access to instruction tailored to their needs. for some ells, the structure of language at home and school vary, and as a result, ells may have a difficult time trying to decipher the variances of the native language and the secondary language causing difficulties in learning vocabulary, comprehension, and written composition of english (echevarria, frey, & fisher, 2015). the challenge with language and literacy has placed ells at a disadvantage in meeting the mandates of the ccss ela, especially in the study site. in the local setting, ells did not meet the academic goals for the 2018 school year. according to the 2018 accountability data, louisiana educational assessments results suggested that approximately 70% of ells in the local district did not meet or exceed the requirements for obtaining english language proficiency (ldoe, 2018a). gaining clarity in understanding how teachers of ells in the local setting provided individual and cultural instructional strategies may play a role in helping ells meet proficiency requirements of the ccss ela. teachers who possess clarity in the use of instructional strategies exert more overall effectiveness in developing thinking skills, specifically in meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students (rizzuto, 2017). affirming an ell’s native language in the classroom may impact the literacy development for the student. opportunities can become available for teachers to meet the instructional goals and implement constructs for pedagogical purposes where students can engage in disciplinary www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 5 published by scholink inc. learning and language development (musu-gillette et al., 2017). some research has emphasized that teachers learn of evidence-based interventions to support the needs of ells (dussling, 2018). further, though access to educational supports has existed for ells, there has been a substantial lack of research regarding how general education teachers use cultural and individual instructional strategies at the middle school level to support ells in developing academic proficiency of ccss ela. the following research questions (rqs) guided this qualitative case study: rq1: what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? rq2: what individual relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? rq3: what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies for ells? 2. method 2.1 purpose the purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers’ implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies to support the academic achievement of ells in a southeastern state. the study site had an increasing number of ells. a qualitative case study design in which an analysis of real-life events occurring in the natural setting was the basis for this study, as qualitative research occurs in the natural setting to explore themes within the research (ravitch & carl, 2016). a qualitative method was used to research any cultural and individual instructional strategies seventhand eighth-grade teachers of ells use in the general education classroom. 2.1.1 sampling at the rural school, general education teachers possessed the responsibility of educating ells to the same extent as non-ells. one criterion for selecting participants was to choose individuals that have knowledge that related to the purpose of the study (ravitch & carl, 2016). a purposeful sample was used to select the participants for the study. for this study, the participants selected were 10 seventhand eighth-grade middle school general education teachers who provided instruction to at least ell. the selection of participants centered around the availability, commitment to the study, and knowledge of the individual about the study topic. the justification for the number of participants related to the consideration of sample size to meaning saturation in which no further insights derive (hennink, kaiser, & marconi, 2017). generally, by the ninth interview, meaning saturation occurs. the plan was to have 10 individuals who could provide www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 6 published by scholink inc. knowledge about the practices they use to instruct ells to increase the likelihood of obtaining the information for the study; however, only nine agreed to participate in the study. having a relatively low number of participants provided an opportunity to devote more time to the analyzation of data. the relationship with the participants correlated to the quality and trustworthiness of the study. to increase the likelihood of obtaining valid and reliable output, the researcher must establish a good rapport with the participants (ravitch & carl, 2016). conveying the process of the study to participants helped build the trust that encouraged more open interviews (rubin & rubin, 2012). additionally, potential participants received information on expectations, including demands of their time, what participation would entail, potential risks, data storing procedures as well as how i will disseminate information and potential benefits to the field of education (rubin, h. j. & rubin, i. s., 2012). expectations were conveyed through the explanation of an informed consent form as well as providing contact information to develop lines of open communication for the participants to state additional concerns and questions. developing a working relationship can increase the validity and trustworthiness of the research. 2.1.2 data collection based on the topic, the primary source for this qualitative case study was the use of semistructured interviews of nine general education teachers of ells. semistructured interviews are a standard qualitative, data collection method that allows the researcher to delve into how individuals’ experiences and perspectives relate to other study participants and develop holistic descriptions of perspectives (ravitch & carl, 2016). the use of semistructured interviews allowed for focused exploration of participant perceptions on providing consistent instructional practices that address the cultural and individual needs of ells. the source of data collection aided in addressing the data desired for the project study as well as the use of the elements of self-efficacy and sociocultural theories (see table 1). table 1. alignment of interview questions to research questions and elements of self-efficacy and sociocultural theory interview question research question or element 1. what is your experience in working with english language learners? rq1 (qualitative): what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 2. what are your perceptions of working with english language learners? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 3. what instructional strategies have worked well with english language learners? rq1 (qualitative): what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 7 published by scholink inc. general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? 4. what cultural relevant instructional strategies do you implement when instructing english language learners? rq1(qualitative): what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? “mind in society” (vygotsky, 1978) 5. explain the importance of implementing instructional practices the address the cultural needs of ells. rq1 (qualitative): what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? “mind in society” (vygotsky, 1978) 6. what individual relevant instructional strategies do you implement when providing instruction for english language learners? rq2(qualitative): what individual relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? “mind in society” (vygotsky, 1978) 7. explain the importance of implementing instructional practices the address the individual needs of ells. rq2(qualitative): what individual relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? “mind in society” (vygotsky, 1978) 8. what are your perceptions on facilitating consistent implementation of cultural instructional strategies for ells? rq3(qualitative): what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies for ells? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) (table continues) interview question research question or element 9. what are your perceptions on facilitating consistent implementation of individual instructional strategies for ells? rq3 (qualitative): what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 8 published by scholink inc. instructional strategies for ells? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 10. what assistance have you had that has been beneficial for implementing consistent instructional practices for english language learners? rq3(qualitative): what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies for ells? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 11. would you like to have more help with implementing consistent instructional practices when working with english language learners? rq3 (qualitative): what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies for ells? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 12. what did i not ask that you want to discuss? “self-efficacy” (bandura, 1977) 3. results the findings provided an understanding of participants’ perceptions of supporting ells and strategies to implement individual and cultural instruction. according to the findings in this study, as teachers received guidance on how to employ varied instructional practices, their level of self-efficacy improved in the learning environment. provisions from school leaders for successful implementation of individual and culturally relevant instructional strategies will lead to creating strategies that will support the academic needs of ells. in this section, a presentation of how the themes align with the rqs is presented. 3.1 findings for research question 1 research question 1 pertained to the following question: what cultural relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? questions 1 through 5 from the interview protocol were used to answer rq1. the intent of the rq1 was to elicit responses that linked teacher implementation of cultural instruction to their consistency in supporting ells. cultural instruction allowed teachers to academically prepare all students, including ells, with experiencing social constructs that transmit development for culturally organized individuals. teachers understood that ells learn best when instructional strategies match their education needs. ells enroll in schools with varied experiences, languages, and cultural needs. to support ells, school leaders must assist teachers in adjusting their instruction. theme 3 aligned with rq 1 because teachers used varied cultural www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 9 published by scholink inc. instructional strategies to support ells. the participants shared in-depth information about their perceptions of cultural instruction when working with ells. the participants believed that supporting ells includes having an awareness of the backgrounds of the students and integrating cultural learning into instruction to diversify education. there were two areas that the teachers saw as vital to providing cultural instruction. the teachers were understanding of different nationalities and embedding time into the prescribed curriculum. many participants stated that the implementation of inclusive cultural instruction could be achieved using various avenues. the participants stated that infusing cultural literature and activities that allow students to learn of other backgrounds will enable ells to feel a sense of belonging, which leads to the students wanting to learn despite the difficulties they may encounter. many participants reported that embedding ells’ cultural backgrounds into instruction allow them to gain access to integrated instruction in which all students can learn the importance of diversity, and individuals from your diverse background contribute to society. the data stemming from the participant interview regarding culturally relevant instruction also showed that teachers believe time constraints should be adjusted to allow for embedment of cultural strategies for learning. the participants expressed that non-deviation from the mandated curricula impacts their ability to provide cultural aspects of instruction consistently. this data also aligned with research question 3 because the participants note the aspect that hinders their ability to provide consistent cultural instruction. 3.1.1 findings for research question 2 research question 2 pertained to the following question: what individual relevant instructional strategies do middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state implement to support the academic achievement of ells? questions 6 through 7 from the interview protocol were used to answer rq2. the intent of the rq2 was to elicit responses that linked teacher implementation of individualized instruction to their consistency in supporting ells. themes 2 connected with research question 2, establishing that teachers use varied individualized instructional strategies to support ells’ academic needs. individualized instruction allowed teachers to academically prepare all students, including ells, to experience academic success according to their proximal development zones. teachers expressed that ells learn better when classroom instruction was representative of the students’ educational needs. ells must have an equitable opportunity to gain access to the same general education academic curricula as non-ells. teachers in the general education classrooms used a variety of strategies that were relevant to assisting ells with understanding the curriculum standards. the participants shared in-depth information about their goal to assist the ells as best as possible. the participants believed that supporting ells includes an awareness of the students’ specific academic needs. the participants’ areas as vital to providing individualized instruction were teacher experience, individualized assistance from peers, and bilingual resources. the number of years of teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 10 published by scholink inc. experience in educating ells was communicated as the main factor for providing individualized instruction. most participants expressed the use of peer tutors and small group practices to assist ells. participants reported that they either have access to resources located within the curriculum or resources obtained, which impacts their ability to provide consistent individual instruction. 3.1.2 findings for research question 3 research question 3 pertained to the following question: what are the perceptions of middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers in a southern state regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instructional strategies for ells? questions 8 through 11 from the interview protocol were used to answer rq3. the intent of the rq3 was to elicit responses that linked teacher perceptions of their ability to provide consistency in supporting ells. themes 1 and 4 aligned with research question 3, establishing that teachers want preparation and relevant professional development to support ells’ academic needs. preparation assists in providing teachers knowledge of approaches that will inform teachers how to adjust instruction to improve ells’ academic outcomes. professional development provides teachers with time to learn of ways that facilitate consistency in teaching methods. the data gathered from the participants regarding their ability to facilitate consistent cultural and individualized instruction and assistance they have received to support ells academically aligned with research question 3. the interviews revealed that the participants’ ability to facilitate consistent instruction was influenced by their perceptions of assistance received. most participants expressed that they have not received correspondence or participated in inadequate training from district leaders on how to instruct the ell population effectively. the participants stressed that there needs to be more directives and professional development on how to help ells succeed in the general education classroom. 3.1.3 relationship of the results to the literature themes 1 and 4. rizzuto (2017) asserted that teachers who have clarity in using instructional strategies possess more effectiveness in meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students making the teachers’ perceptions on the facilitation of consistent instructional strategies vital for which aligns with theme 1. the level of self-efficacy plays a role in the teacher’s ability to master the task (korkmaz & unsal, 2016). in this study, the participants’ perception of their level of expertise related to the challenges faced. according to heineke et al. (2019), teachers face a challenge acquiring competencies and understanding to meet ells’ cultural and individual needs (theme 4). the participants in this study believed that there was a need to receive directives and training on specific strategies to meet ells’ academic needs. according to the participants, receiving guidelines would help general education teachers become knowledgeable about instructional practices that can be used to help students master standards across subject areas. furthermore, the researchers added that teacher self-confidence in their ability on preparedness for diverse learners impacts how instruction is provided. wong, indiatsi, and wong (2016) stated that teachers who receive guidance in second language www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 11 published by scholink inc. acquisition provide more consistency for students’ needs; therefore, it is crucial to ensure appropriate instructional guidance for teachers that support the needs of ells. themes 2 and 3. echevarria et al. (2015) asserted the importance of general education teachers providing varied instruction, which makes individual and cultural strategies vital for ell instruction (theme 2 and 3). according to byrd (2016), cultural instruction increases academic growth for ells (theme 3). the participants in this study felt that is was crucial to adjust instruction to provide ells with an opportunity of learning that was equivalent to the instruction provided to non-ells (theme 2 and 3). the participants structured their practices to provide students with the individual instructional time, peer learning opportunities, and bilingual assistance (theme 2 and 3). general education teachers should focus on the developmental levels of the students (daniel & pray, 2017). furthermore, teachers impact ells’ development with the application of sociocultural strategies (echevarria et al., 2015). participants in the study agreed that providing individual and cultural instruction is a meaningful way to reach the anticipated outcome. the participants used a variety of individual and cultural strategies to assist with academic growth for ells. some of the strategies used included providing individual and cultural instruction during the response to intervention time and small grouping. the findings as they related to theme 2 and 3 were like the kinds of strategies reported in previous research. lucas, t., villegas, a. m., & freedson-gonzález, m. (2008) and feryok (2017) stated that making connections between classroom instruction and students’ background is a way to assist students in making meaning of content. brown, d. s. (2017) and diaz-rico (2017) noted that teachers must implement specific practices relative to ells’ cultural and individual needs. during the response to intervention and small grouping instruction, participants in the study acknowledged ells’ unique academic needs and implemented student-specific strategies to support learning. above all, researchers emphasized that general education teachers accommodate the diverse educational needs of ells. 4. discussion 4.1 research discussion the participants in this qualitative project study were nine middle school seventhand eighth-grade seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers of ells. the teacher shared their experience, perceptions, and knowledge about implementing individual and culturally relevant instructional strategies to support ells in a general education setting. a detailed narrative discussion of the findings delineated themes that resulted from the participants’ interviews. small grouping and peer tutoring were the most used methods of individual instruction. embedding literature aspects into teaching was most noted for cultural instruction. the participants communicated that there was a need for preparation and training to provide instruction that would improve ells’ academic performance in the general education setting. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 12 published by scholink inc. 4.1.1 limitations although the research study can benefit school leaders, teachers, and students, there are several limitations. one limitation of this project is the small number of participants. there were 31 grade 7 and 8 middle school general education teachers invited to participate in this study; however, only nine teachers elected to participate and were interviewed. the limited number of participants is not a large representation of the middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers, which makes the results difficult to generalize in other populations. because the qualitative study was conducted specifically for the local study site, the results of this research study cannot be generalized on a larger scale. finally, since the inception of this research study, the dynamics of the traditional on-campus model to school has completely changed. with the coronavirus pandemic, social restrictions, such as maintaining 6-feet apart, are in place to minimize the spread of infection (hickner, 2020). the school leaders of the local study site may not perceive the implementation of professional development as feasible due to the social distancing restrictions mandated by the local, state, and the federal government. 4.1.2 implications for future research based on the statements of limitations of this research and interpretations, directions for future research are provided. future studies could follow a different research design. rather than qualitative, this study could be extended in search of statistical generalizability. additionally, a longitudinal study could be conducted later, when the participants have completed instruction based on the recommendations in the position paper. the research can be continued in several years. it would provide longitudinal accounts to reveal how teachers’ perceptions change over time and the role guidance and professional development play in middle school general education teachers’ ability to instruct ells. future research may include teachers’ implementation of cultural and individual instruction for ells on the elementary and secondary levels. 4.1.3 conclusion grounded in the sociocultural and self-efficacy theories, a qualitative case study research design was used. three rqs were used to guide the data collection. through personal individual, semistructured interviews with middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers, data were collected and analyzed. data was organized based on the themes derived from coding. based on the findings, several factors impacted the teachers’ ability to facilitate the implementation of cultural and individual instruction consistently as well as the type of strategies used to support the ells. the result of the research study was a position paper defining the data retrieved from the study and provisions of recommendations to school leader of the local district in areas regarding providing middle school seventhand eighth-grade general education teachers with guideline and professional development on implementation consistent cultural and individual instructional strategies to support the academic achievement of ells. with the implementation of the recommendations in the position paper, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 13 published by scholink inc. implications of positive social change are an enhancement in the teachers’ knowledge, skills, consistency, and perceived ability in supporting ells in the local school district. references bandura, a. 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(2012). qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. soto, a., hooker, s., & batalova, j. (2015). state and districts with the highest number and share of english language learners. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-and-share-english-l anguage-learners spees, l., potochnick, s., & perreira, k. (2016). the academic achievement of limited english proficient (lep) youth in new and established immigrant states: lessons from the national assessment of educational progress (naep). education policy analysis archives, 24(99). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2130 vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. wong, c., indiatsi, j., & wong, g. (2016). esl teacher candidates’ perceptions of strengths and inadequacies of instructing culturally and linguistically diverse students: post clinical experience. journal of cultural diversity, 23(2), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2017.1296912 https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2130 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper the practice of research innovation in higher learning institutions: implication for quality education mwanza-tanzania demetria gerold mkulu 1 1 department of educational foundations, st. augustine university of tanzania, mwanza, tanzania email: mkuludemetria@gmail.com received: july 5, 2022 accepted: july 18, 2022 online published: august 8, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n3p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n3p1 abstract this study explored practice of research innovation in higher learning institutions; implication for quality education. higher learning with high provision of research activities would attract finance from different agencies. globally, research exploration contributes significant benefits to society. the study posed three objectives: to identify roles of research in higher learning institutions in mwanza, determine areas for research innovation in higher learning, to examine possible strategies to curb challenges facing research innovation. three higher learning institutions in mwanza city were involved. the research adopted mixed paradigms. a number of 140 respondents were involved in the study. the study adopted cross-sectional survey design, which allows the researcher to visit the field in a single point of time, collect both narrative and quantitative information concurrently, analyze separately and merge it at the end of the study. data gathering were questionnaires, descriptive guide, and observation. instruments were validated, piloted; the result indicated 0.81 cronbach alpha demonstrating that tools were acceptable. information was coded using descriptive statistics with the assistance of the package for social sciences (spss) version 21. narrative data was subjected to word clouds program. various themes emerged and used in report writing. the findings displayed that; research enables learners to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, empower the youths, gives self-confidence, it gives autonomy and provides monetary funds. however, were varieties of challenges facing research innovation as monetary capital, lack of institutional partnership and low learners registration. hence, government should set policy that would ensure research is given paramount priority in all learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 2 published by scholink inc. keywords research, innovation, quality education, higher institutions 1. introduction higher education is viewed to be among the major source of knowledge needed by an individual or society to foster development (mkulu et al., 2020, p. 155). the idea that students in higher education should be provided with essential knowledge needed to solve variety of problems across the world has been debated by many scholars from different corners of this globalized world (mahona & pacho, 2021, p. 13). globally, higher education traces its lineage as early as antique greece during plato’s academy to oxford’s universities in 1249 “anno domino”, the legislation for subsidy tertiary institutions in usa 1862 up to the dawn of e-learning degree in late 20th century (mkulu & paschal, 2020, p. 155). the higher learning institution has been changing very fast due to globalization, technology, environmental and organizations thus, the growth has led to the development of higher education improvement in education ambitions. however, the new scenery demands research innovation to convene the challenges of the modern world (mahona & pacho, 2021, p. 13). globally, research plays a vital role in national development. furthermore, it contributes knowledge; for instance, for the past ten decades, most of the developed countries have been indebted to address and supply wider access to higher learning education to guarantee sufficient venture in high-level research that hinges on visionary policies and more diversified findings. nevertheless, ten years back most of the first world countries have been indebted to address and supply wider access to higher learning education so as to guarantee sufficient venture in research. although today there are 22 of the world wide elite and 25 research on higher learning knowledge as supper. according to the world bank, research innovation in tanzania is wanting for enhancement, and transformation in higher institutions’ education. in fact nowadays a huge number of africans learners including tanzanian students, complete elementary schools without knowledge including research (ilo, 2020). nonetheless, most of those students leave institutions without skills needed such as science, mathematics and reading. furthermore, it has been documented that 520 million youths worldwide will need new employment by 2030. however, only 460 million jobs will be created; in addition 50 percent of employment in african countries will remain to be in agriculture which pays very low productivity in this regard was interested to find out research innovation as a transformation tool in tertiary education in tanzania (ilo, 2020). innovation is a process of changing, improving what is existing or creation of original thing for more production. research innovation is the process of initiating something original. hence the term innovation is a process for inventing into a good service that creates value. research innovation is about reinventing strategies, products and processes and creating new ideas and performing at the right time. innovation involves important changes in result intended thus innovations focuses on better www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 3 published by scholink inc. addressing client’s needs nevertheless; research innovation goes hand in hand with quality education. this idea concurs with (white & glickman, 2007) asserted that innovation is a transformational of new thing. this article focuses on sustaining innovation because advancement happens when we are looking for improvement for better way of performing at what we have already been used to do. thus we want to boost the existing capabilities in available research (mkulu, 2017). consequently, research innovation is a key to the transformation due to the fact that it triggers sustainable development and employment creation and research is pillaring for innovating higher productivity, services, creation of employment and eventually boosters the national development. quality education is a type of education which provides learners with abilities to become economically productive, develop sustainable, entails issues such as proper skills progress, livelihoods, contribute to peaceful, democratic societies and enhance individual well-being. quality education focuses on the whole person and it prepares the learner for life not for testing. furthermore, quality education should focus on whole person and mold learner for lifelong this indicates that higher learning should provide teaching and learning material and directs policy to ensure that learner has access to personalized learning (nyerere, 1967). in relation to this study, darling-hammond et al. (2020) claimed that the globe today is facing challenges in infusing quality learning. quality should be inserted in every section including higher learning institutions. quality implies purposeful, transformative, exceptional, and accountable. it based on dimensions such as high standards, zero defects and value for productivity. nonetheless, higher learning institutions calls for more investment in quality learning systems in order to ensure that, there is evenhanded, harmonized and quality university education system that can contribute to the realization of the national development vision in 2025, which would be characterized among other things, by high quality livelihood a well-educated and learning society. these expectations would come true only if the learning system from elementary to higher learning would be rooted in research (the tanzania commission for universities, 2019). similar to this study the education and training policy in 2014, stresses the need for quality education and training the standards of which are recognized at national, regional and global levels, and production of human resources according to national development priorities. higher learning institutions are universities, colleges, owned by different groups of people including churches, non-governmental organizations and individual groups which operate independently except for the approval of academic programs. the word transformation in this study is a changing process of transmutation from one status to a new state, more advances. this change can be applied to a person or association such as an institution or the product. higher institutions have a significant contribution by means of conditions that provide in-service training, teachers training programs, undergraduate education, preparing learners to be critical thinkers, problem solvers by using research writing. hence higher learning is a level of education after elementary and secondary level. furthermore, the word quality in this study implied the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 4 published by scholink inc. situation of infusing value education, provision of excellent education to learners, infusing skilled to the staff, employing merit lecturers, the quality of buildings and pedagogies, teaching and learning material builds should be the topmost interest (tremblay et al., 2012). walder (2014) looked at innovation in tertiary education at los angel-usa. the result of the study displayed that; the provision of research writing to novice learners should be taught and practiced in groups. these findings implied that innovation in higher learning should be introduced in a single group such as political leaders nevertheless; the real innovation needs to be involved by the majority of people in the country so that the implementation could be easy. in addition to this study, the european common research data warehouse database (ecorda) examined higher learning institutions on research innovation. the study discovered that higher learning contributes a lot in national progress. to have effective change innovation must be introduced to the majority. research innovation as a transformation tool for quality in tertiary level is highly wanted. quality relates to the growth of critical thinkers’ national progress autonomy etc. nevertheless, some studies recommended joint investigation and this would happen only, if the government invests much in research. besides this, research innovation could contribute a lot because through research, new techniques of solving problems, discovered would be experienced. some researchers commended that, research in african countries do not encourage, continuity of research activity. although some writers stated that higher learning need to be empowered by provision of knowledge, skills in research, training facilities and motivation. these could inculcate learners with creativity and entrepreneurship interests (ngongalah et al., 2018). these fact calls for the governments in sub-saharan countries to increase initiatives that hasten and sustain research based enhances solid underpinning for research, increase research capacity, and enable institutions to provide valuable training. in tanzania research is a continuing practice captivating place in the scores of higher learning, nevertheless, the effort to associate innovation discoveries among higher learners is not given the desired focus. this study therefore intended to explore on research innovation as a transformation tool for quality education. statement of the problem research innovation at tertiary level is a serious concern. university plays a fundamental role in molding learners to become creative, critical thinker and job makers. it is documented that researchers in african continent including tanzania is mainly the weak capacity of research institutes that learners are not well prepared to produce the next generation of researchers. moreover inadequate research writing, dissemination and publications also exist. nevertheless, there is rising recognition that research is the key pillar for nation progress. globally, research exploration contributes significant benefits to society, for instance higher learning education with high provision of research activities would attract finance from different agencies. it provides opportunities to create better policies. nonetheless, africa produces less than 1 percent of global research output. african countries visage some of the toughest www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 5 published by scholink inc. issues global, the majority of which can only be solved through vigorous and efficient research. this might deter the progress of the country. there is requirement to convert research into practice in the role of higher education for social transformation. it is in this extent the study aimed to explore research innovation in higher learning institutions: implication for quality education mwanza-tanzania. the objectives of the study are: i. to identify role of research in higher learning institutions in mwanza tanzania. ii. to determine areas for research innovation in higher learning in mwanza, tanzania. iii. to examine possible strategies to curb the challenges facing research innovation. 2. literature review the study adopted the innovation model founded by bush in 1945. generally, the model is categorized into stages of innovation. however, a liner model received some criticism. nevertheless, the model has more strengths than limitations. innovation model was demonstrated with drawing portraying research progress continues step by step process starting with the fundamental investigation. the linear model aimed at precise activity innovation confined stage by the stage that produces current technology and education which is concerned with transformation and change. the study adopted this model because the model is useful and is applied by various researchers such as (rothwell & zegveld, 1985). furthermore there are two kinds of a linear model of innovation, open and close innovation; to differentiate between the two is the operation (chersbrough, 2003). this donets that in doing research we should combine both types of innovation open and close we must seek ideas from external and internal that means from outside and within the learning institutions. research innovation is a process that involved not a single person but teamwork such as higher learning management, lecturers, learner, and other stakeholders from external and internal. the model is highly connected to the current study as it deals with research innovation as a transformation tool in higher learning institutions. the model indicates that research innovation is a continuous process from one stage to the next. the model is related to the current study and it has been applied by various researchers. moreover, a linear model dealt with precise activity innovation restricted in one stage by the stage that produces current technology and education, which is concerned with transformation and change. the study focused mainly on research innovation as a transformation tool for higher learning, because higher learning is a place where learners and lecturers grow in career improvement. apart from disseminating knowledge, higher learning also contribute a lot to knowledge creation through research writing. thus higher learning is expected to involve much in research activities. actual research is a pillar for national growth, designed for higher learning to comprehend and sustain their institutional value, university managers need to involve profoundly in research, and they need to have the required resources, capacities and support from all key internal and external stakeholders. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 6 published by scholink inc. role of research in a higher learning institution innovation is a transformation of higher institutions. in the 19th century, innovation was about technology while at present, innovation is about reinventing strategies, products and processes and creating new ideas and performing at the right time. innovation involves important changes in result intended thus innovations focuses on better addressing client’s needs nevertheless; innovation goes hand in hand with quality education (zeleza, 2017). generally, it is accepted that change is connected to the pool of knowledge available within an organization, in addition, innovation or transformation is linked to research and development, onu et al. (2012) examined on the transformation of learning institutions in nigeria the study used pure qualitative approach which cannot be generalized however this study focused on research innovation this study focused on research innovation as tool for transformation. in addition, this study looked at research innovation as positive change. in relation to this study onu et al. (2012) examined on the transformation of the learning institutions in nigeria, this study used pure qualitative research and the results displayed that majority of the lecturers 145 from 33 higher institutions which is equal to or mean 2.64 which was low than the 3.0 minimum mean accepted not have skills to utilize the e-journals and e-books thus creating a hard for them to advance their profession. in addition, it was found out that most of the staff in higher learning do not attend various conferences, in general, they do not attend scholastic researches as one way of advancing their skills and their area of occupation. lecturers in higher learning institutions are expected to be the pillar in research innovation and they could bring a transformation in universities if they would be informed. this means that lecturers need to be more equipped in research than any body because you cannot share what you do not have hence lecturers need to advance in research. in nigeria, asiyai (2015) examined how to improve quality, in the higher institution. the previous study discussed the roles of various scholars in education to improve quality in higher learning institutions in nigeria. the study pointed out that persistent and holistic infusing quality in all sectors in higher learning requires the joint hard work of various stakeholders from both inside and outside the universities. research has connected quality in higher institutions, the learner’s intake, university programs, program designs, lecturers, provision of knowledge and learning, students’ professional qualification, teaching and learning material as well as non-lecturers for the learners (baird, 2006). nevertheless, results demonstrated in the previous study first was a critical challenge to quality in higher learning institutions were funding, the author stated that the management leaders in nigeria did not find the need to allocate the quantity of budget to higher learning. these findings concur with the world bank (2012) analysis of budgetary allocation to education in various countries indicates that tanzania is the least country in terms of budgetary allocation. similar to masenda (2021) asserted that tanzanian tertiary institutions lag on the planet. statistics indicate that nairobi university ranked 13th makerere ranked 14th while the university of dar es salaam ranked 42 yet, other universities were www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 7 published by scholink inc. nowhere to be allocated. in addition, it was stated that universities in tanzania continue to perform poorly year after year. dar es salaam university secured a position of 42 out of the first 50 best this calls for an argent measure (kigotho, 2021). in relation to this study, unctad (2007) stated that; enrolment in all higher learning institutions in low developed countries is 3.5 percent involve in research writing while 69 percent are financial set apart for research in rich countries. furthermore, the low developing countries government are devoting only 0.3 percent of their gross domestic product to research. while haiti, gambia and somalia, cape verde, and samoa have lost the majority of their university potential lecturers shifted to the most developed countries looking for better remuneration and a conducive environment. this might be some of the reasons why tanzanian universities lag behind in the global ranking. similar to this study, jitendra (2017) asserted that the role of global research contributes to a critical role for the sustainability and development of the economy. therefore, excellence of research is an indicator that the provision of education and learning in higher institutions is expectedly taking place. the support of research in a gigantic and diverse country like tanzania would assist the nation positively change however some literature asserts that most of the universities nowadays face some challenges such as inequality research, not many universities have obligatory research for individual faculty, unavailability of infrastructure, lack of empowerments from lecturers even from the university managers poor libraries, or libraries without e-journals and e-books, lack of internet connectivity. higher learning institutions play vital roles global are expected to create and disseminate knowledge to people, through university learners and lecturers as professionals. this may be through instruction, extension, outreach, production, or research. while each of these foci is more or less overlapping in terms of contribution and relevance, each of them has its degree of significance for higher learning. in this sense, higher learners are expected to be knowledge and skills producers, job creators, problem-solvers for sustainable development. in a similar sense, lukman, krajnc, and glavič (2010) asserted that research is the stamina of higher learning institution positions and their outcomes. nevertheless, if higher institutions are not practiced in conducting research this responsibility will not live up to its name and nature. thus, it is important to look into two things when dealing with research in universities: the quality of research being performed by lecturers and students. global literature asserted that by 2030 tanzanian youth 15 million will be seeking jobs nevertheless; the youth in tanzania are facing the issue of joblessness due to the fact that low level of provisions of education which do not translate the ability and skills of learners. these findings concur with jitendra (2017) who asserted that learners who are weak in education are a good indicator for the absence of research. hence research innovation is highly wanted to transform higher learning institutions by empowering learners to be critical thinkers; problem solvers by so doing territory institutions would reduce challenges of unemployment of the youth because the youth are leaders of tomorrow. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 8 published by scholink inc. university education as the key to supporting economic progress needs to be more flexible and skilful in meeting the challenges of adaptation. actually, the speed of transformation accelerates; higher education provides a good example of this phenomenon. in previous years, universities were the source of change-resistant institutions on earth, however; this is no longer the same today. higher learning institutions have changed more in recent years and the major change includes an education system has changed, from privileged to mass education, increase reliance on tuition fees, rapid enrollment increase, substantial development in the private provision of higher learning, global growing competition, the introduction of teaching, learning, research and outreach, thus research innovation is wanting (babalolola et al., 2017). the issue of research innovation as a transformation tool for quality education in selected higher learning institutions is not much documented in tanzania. some of the reviewed literature used a single approach the current study will fill this gap by using mixed approaches and the strength of data gathering on both approaches would strengthen each approach. nevertheless, the geographical factor has been seen in the literature review most of the studies were done in first world countries while very few are found in tanzania hence this study would fill the gap. from the reviewed studies it was also revealed that there was a time gap such as (asiyai, 2015; walder, 2014; chersbrough; 2003; onu et al., 2012). 3. methodology mixed research approaches were employed in this study; this approach allows the researcher to apply quantitative approach and descriptive approach into a single study. this technique strengthens both approaches, since we believe that each approach has some gaps which can be filled by other approach (creswell, 2014). 3.1 target the population of the study comprised all lecturers, third-year higher learning students, and administrators. participants were full lecturers with a minimum service period of two years and above. hence the study population was 2500 population and was considered adequate it provided key information pertinent to the objectives of the study (burke, 2008). 3.2 research design explanatory sequential research design (esmrsd) was adopted in this study where the researcher went to the field twice, first collected information using questionnaire followed analyzed it then based on the quantitative information construct in-depth interview guide visit the field for the second time phenomenology design was used to collect and analyze data on cultural dynamics of the specified research innovation as a transformation tool for quality education. the design was preferred because is a two-phase mixed design in which quantitative data helped to explain qualitative results (mgenda, 2013; creswell, 2014). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 9 published by scholink inc. 3.3 sampling procedure the current study adopted both qualitative and quantitative paradigms were employed in current study stratified and simple random sampling, these techniques allow the respondents to have an equal chance of being selected or there is a random collection of respondents for the research and each participant in the inhabitants had an identical and self-sufficient chance of being elected in the example (burke, 2008). stratified, simple random sampling was involved in the study under probability the study involved one hundred academic staff, 30 university learners who were in third year or final year and 10 managers for higher learning giving a total of 140 participants out of 2500 population. these participants were enough to provide the needed information. non-probability sampling does not use simple random sampling thus in this study the researcher employs purposive selection to select ten participants out of 40 members in the population. 3.4 research instruments questionnaire and in-depth interview was used to assemble information. questionnaire was employed to collect data from lecturers and learners, while an interview guide used to collect information from hlis’ administrators. the researcher used questionnaire because this kind of tool allows the researcher to gather information straight from the participants. similar to punch (2009) contends that instrument triangulation strengthens a study by offering the possibility of the strengths of the combined instruments and compensating for the weaknesses of either instrument. 3.5 validity and reliability instruments were exposed to the research section and peer members in the research investigation furthermore, the academic staff questionnaire, administrators, and students’ questionnaire had an overall cronbach alpha coefficient of α=0.81 correspondence, suggesting that the instrument was reliable (tavakol & dennick, 2011). for qualitative tools such as interview and observation the researcher considered checking the trustworthiness of qualitative tools. involvement of phenomenology technique in data collection requires the validation of interview and document analysis guides (mugenda, 2013; creswell, 2014). ethical consideration was observed during the whole process of research writing. 4. results and discussion this part presents the main findings on research innovation as a transformation tool for quality education in three selected universities in mwanza, tanzania. research is a pillar for national growth; from the findings, it was revealed that there was a very strong relationship between research innovation and quality education in tertiary institutions. the first research question was out to ascertain whether research contributes to higher learning. moreover, the research findings exposed that research enables learners to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, research empowers the youths, it gives self-confidence to the researcher; it gives autonomy and provides monetary funds. the current finding is in agreement www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 10 published by scholink inc. with jitendra (2017) asserted that research plays a critical role in a sustainable economy. literature portrays that teaching research to learners provides knowledge that is vital to both learners and academic staff it implies that when learners gain research knowledge and skills they are actively involved in writing and applying research methodologies, presents the results finally publish their works to the world. thus, if learners are provided with the needed education on research, they would become very productive writers and publications. this benefits the universities, learners, the lecturers finally the country will be globally recognized. hence involving all learners in research is likely exposing them to the world of knowledge. however, it was revealed that most of the lecturers are not committed to research provided to the learners, leadership and efficient harmonization are essential to guide to become capable researchers, but because lecturers do not mentor and harmonize learners and academic staff, learners are not involved in research writing at all, or involve in meager quality investigations notwithstanding the strong emphasis placed on the need to innovate investigation capability output, dissemination and outcomes, the tertiary education research coordination remains an issue of concerned and this is similar to the accessible data by asiyai (2015) stresses that research has turned down in writing and publication in current years. research for improvement the researcher asked participants to rank three factors on a scale of 1 to 3 based on the importance from the highest to the lowest, as main concern areas that need to be improved research productivity in africa, including tanzania. these part involved financial support, training, support and cooperation. 140 respondents gave answers to this question. for first priority, the highest number of responses 60 percent demonstrating that providing more training and support. nevertheless a majority of the respondents 61 percent pointed that more funding escalating teamwork was the third priority while a least of 19 percent. research innovation is a vital to the progression of humanity as it overcomes the kinds of social challenges and empowers society’s ability to create new ideas, design product services, and economically competition with other nations. however, the research paradigm, which is needed to enhance middle economy, seems to fall short in terms of meeting the requirements and demands of the tanzanian. the researches in most of higher learning institutions in tanzania receive very acute research financial support. one of the interviewee narrated that: every year universities’ management plan and submit monetary to officials yet, the allocation of money for research falls remote back beneath 30 percent however, providing enough money to higher learning institutions could solve the problem. there is a need for research innovation in tanzania inadequate research support across tanzanian universities is a consequence of the limited significance given to research by institutional influential. this has also led to an extensive lack of research management expertise amongst teaching and support staff across all areas. the study discovered skills gaps in identifying bursary, developing proposals, attending conferences, and research uptake. from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 11 published by scholink inc. the findings it was openly revealed that funding for research in tanzania remains a serious restraint. the researches in most higher learning institutions in tanzania receive very acute research financial support. one of the interviewee narrated that: every year universities’ management plan and submit monetary to officials yet, the allocation of money for research falls remote back below 30 percent however, providing enough money to higher learning institutions could allow lecturers and learners to involve in research writing. areas for research innovation in higher learning in tanzania in addition, research innovation is the topmost playing in problem-solving. research is responding well against corona pandemic through research exploration creation of new skills, various techniques for protections, vaccines and other medicinal treatment is invented yet research is highly needed to provide possible measures to alleviate and curb the issue of covid-19. research can assist in policy decisions for national development. government should carry on sustaining research growth. the study result demonstrated that research is a backbone of the nation hence the stakeholders and lecturers should ensure the provision of research to the learners is empowered. the status of research in higher learning in tanzania the researcher was interested to find out how higher learning institutions perform in research. the reviewed studies demonstrated that tanzania is the least country in terms of budgetary allocation when we compare it with other countries in africa. the review is portrayed in figure 1. schooling grounded in research, availability of funds authentic partnership research writing and publication 12 11 4 3 percent figure 1. the status of research in higher learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 12 published by scholink inc. figure 1 illustrated that tanzania’s tertiary gross enrolment rate of 3.1 per cent and is one of the lowest countries in higher learning in eastern africa and lags by kenya’s 11.5 per cent, ethiopia’s 8.1 per cent, rwanda’s 6.2 per cent and uganda’s 4.8 per cent, according to unesco., in addition, the overall quality of post-secondary education in tanzania is also low and do not adequately prepare university graduates for current and future formal jobs or self-employment (gigotho, 2021) this findings indicates that tanzania needs to struggle and innovation in research this would improve the whole system of education and obtain quality in teaching, learning and research, finally economy development. to ensure effective research innovation all university managers in tanzania should guarantee to innovate research. this implies that all members in higher learning institutions should use research inquiry; learners must be provided with suitable knowledge which should be grounded in research, availability of funds, authentic partnerships from within and outside the country. higher learning lecturers ought to be rooted in investigation inquiry the intent is to edifice rational competence training in universities and all tertiary education ought to be taught by potential lecturers those who are research experts who own self-interest and skills in the public interest. this would enhance research innovation in higher learning. research exploration is not a work of a single person but it is a teamwork job or cooperation work therefore, should involve all people required. this study explores research innovation as a transformation tool for quality education. the key findings indicated that 77 percent of the respondents claimed that higher learning institutions with the high provision of research activities attract finance from different agencies. a number of participants 73 percent commended that research provides opportunities to come up with better policies, planning and strategies. globally research investigation contributes a significant benefit to society. most of the studies investigated specifically actions research have been passed out in higher learning however some of the learning institutions do not have tools for carrying out investigation actions. research empowers inquisitiveness. having an interest in learning research takes you far away in life. research widens your sphere to various opinions and new generating thoughts. it also builds perception and logical skills. the research process rewards curiosity. when you’re dedicated to scholarship, you will be always in a place of development. curiosity is also good for your fitness is associated with higher levels of learning research you feel better satisfaction with life, and it lowers anxious. figure 3 indicates the summary of the importance of research. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 13 published by scholink inc. figure 2. illustrates the importance of research to mankind (n=100) figure 2 shows the contribution of research that helps to solve problems 74 percent of respondents indicated that the role of research is to solve challenges in society and globally in general. research plays a crucial role in solving various issues such as personal or professional challenges. vivid example during corona pandemic many researchers involve in investigations so that they come up with vaccines. the majority of the respondents 68 per cent claimed that research helps to look outside and think wider to create a solution for the problem. some participants 43 per cent commended that confidence is another point that can be brought by investigation. when you are aware that you have gathered adequate data, analyzed and published you become contented and you will feel much more motivated to investigate research and you can become more confident in your solution. furthermore, research innovation can aid in policy decisions for national development thus research contributes a lot to national growth. the study was interested to find out possible strategies to curb challenges facing research innovation the study result indicated that there were varieties of challenges facing research innovation as monetary capital, lack of institutional partnership, low learners’ registration and disengagement between instructions and investigates were some of the limitations that challenged tertiary institutions in investigating knowledge growth in tanzania. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 14 published by scholink inc. lack of monetary funds the study was interested to evaluate the challenges facing research innovation so as to boost investigation production in higher learning, we need to locate money for research development so as draw citizens nearer to involvement and get occupied in research writing and publishing. moreover, it has been revealed that majority 68 percent of university managers do not invest in research, while some 14 percent participants displayed that some universities give little financial for research however, 45 percent of the respondents do not attempt to coordinate financially sustainable for research development. these results concluded that there is a serious need to widen suitable harmonious mechanisms concerning various stakeholders in the research system, including the higher learning leadership in particular. this study exposed that all learning institutions must put a link of supporters, grants from external and internal systems for lecturers’ research funding. it is consequently, required those higher learning supply pertinent personnel advance programs like supervising, monitoring and assistance within the diverse department. the corona pandemic has seriously challenged researchers and added limitations in university structures. there have been 25 per cent of the number of people graduating in phd every year however during corona all schooling in all levels of education abruptly stopped, learners were not able to present their research hence no graduated in time. the research findings indicated that some of the lecturers are not active in research writing and publication as one of the members cited: “i am not encouraged to either write or publish since there is no supports from the university even the government. she added as you know publication needs funds”. challenges of academic research in tanzania in this section, the researcher expected to understand if academic staff was faced with constraints in research growth. respondents cited several challenges facing hli’s the implementation of research objectives in tertiary institutions such as irregular financial support, low motivation, outdated study infrastructure, professional turnover, increasing duties resulting from weakening lecturers, learners’ proportion which was not related to the teaching staff. these limitations have also led to low research production. participants also mentioned severe factors that contribute to research declining in tanzania such as un-seriousness of the education sector, deficient in stressing on science subjects’ courses. the majorities of the factories belong to the government yet; do not connect in creativity to develop new products that would improve its competitiveness, poor funding and research publication. change is inevitable this innovation is potential through scholastic investigation that generates new knowledge, skills, technologies and the potential for action. possible strategies to curb challenges facing research innovation the current study was interested in looking for techniques used for research innovation as a tool for change. different methods for research innovation were revealed as displayed in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 15 published by scholink inc. table 1. techniques for research innovation (n=100) item frequency percent research base learning 56 56 support learners for self-organizations 50 50 advance education for transformation 78 78 increase research mentoring 69 69 involve outsider stakeholders 55 77 supply self-reliant modules 55 55 increase digital skills modules 79 79 promote and support start-up researchers 37 37 table 1 indicates various methods which could be used to transform research in higher learning. the findings displayed that: project-based learning 56 per cent, support learners self-organization 50.0 while majority 78.0 per cent of the participants commended that teaching in research innovation services need to be improved, extend research mentoring 69.0 per cent, including external stakeholders 77 per cent however provision of entrepreneurial modules 55 per cent. nevertheless, the majority of the participants 79 per cent asserted that developing digital skills modules is one of the techniques which could assist research innovation in higher learning, finally, a least of participants 37.0 per cent portrayed that professionals must encourage and support the young researchers to involve in research writing and publications. innovation in higher learning is not only a single person work but is an act of teamwork a solid system to anchor within a bigger system that enables and draws on a transformation process. moreover, higher learning institutions would be successful in bringing transformation in universities if varieties of methods would be implemented. including using sufficient academic autonomy in higher learning, freedom to create new study programs and design their content. tertiary learning should adopt online teaching and learn including; e-learning, e-journal, e-book, higher learning must have sufficient autonomy in using the fund to support lifelong expertise, career growth through different financial support streams, involving monetary from university fees. this findings concur with paschal, pacho and adewoyin (2022, pp. 37-38) who recommended several strategies for innovation in higher education. for example provision of fund by the government, improving internet connection and ict infrastructure as well as application of blended learning as an innovative ways to effective learning in higher education. promote research innovation in higher learning institutions during the interview, one of the participants voiced out that tertiary institutions’ lecturers, managers and other stakeholders must work together as a team to facilitate joint innovation among hli and industries, community organizations. reward commitment lecturers involve in research provision and mentoring as well as career development. generate monetary incentives to remunerate research and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 16 published by scholink inc. teaching involvement is very vital. hence work with and collaborate with external stakeholders. 5. conclusion like any other institution in the world universities in tanzania need research innovation that would convert the learners to be successful, creative, crisis solvers, and not job seekers. research innovation can aid in policy decisions for national development; competence-base, research empowers the youths, it gives self-confidence to the researcher; it gives autonomy and provides monetary funds. the pattern of skills will lead to human resource development and competence building. hence, the role of tertiary institutions is considered to be critical to social development and economics. the results also demonstrated that there are significant differences in higher learning lecturers’ operation of expertise and other applicable materials in their delivery of lectures. it was also revealed that lecturers were not committed to educational researches as a means of updating their understanding in areas of occupation. the exploitation of e-learning e-journal and e-books to mention some were similarly found to be limited however utilization of these materials makes the academic staff successful agents of renovation in higher institutors. worldwide higher learning is expected to mould learners to be elevated thinkers functioning, contrary and convergent critical thinking, elaboration, transformation and evaluation of knowledge, and traits said to be trainable. the lecturer is supposed to be professional who hold strategic innovation in research and education as a whole because the location they occupy in the education process is very significant. it was found out that research innovation is challenged with insufficient enforcement of research laws, monetary capital, lack of institutional partnership, low learners’ registration and disengagement between instructions and investigates were some of the limitations that faced higher learning coupled with inadequate awareness on the important of research were the major factors challenging research innovation in higher learning education in higher learning in mwanza, tanzania. in addition, lack of pertinent skills in e-learning consequently can bring severe problems in higher learning. 6. recommendations this study brought forth a number of concerns that require the attention of stakeholders: i. the republic government of tanzania should set a policy that will ensure that research is given paramount priority in all tertiary learning. ii. the study recommended those higher learning institutions’ managers, from government and private sector must invest more in research writing and publications and academic staff should provide varieties of skills and possible measures for research innovation in all higher learning institutions. iii. the higher learning institutions managements must critically make a review on the teaching pedagogy of the higher learning; provide seminars, workshops, refresher courses to academic lecturers to use both experiences, skills in teaching and direct learners to be competent researchers. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 17 published by scholink inc. iv. to all tertiary institutions should broaden the results of amount and excellence of investigation accepted in all higher learning institutions moreover results in contributions must be disseminated for implications of findings to the entire public. v. the republic of tanzania must seek sufficient funds such as physical resources and financial focusing on investigations specifically stressing on research transformation, in general, this might boost the research investigations in tanzania. references asiyai, i. r. (2015). improving quality higher education in nigeria: the roles of stakeholders. international journal of higher education, 4(1), 61-70. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p61 burke, w. w. (2011). organization change: theory and practice (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca sage. creswell, j. w. (2014). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). sage publications, inc. creswell, j. w., & clark, p. v. (2007). designing and conducting mixed methods research. london: sage publications, inc. darling-hammond, l., flook, l., cook-harvey, c., barron, b., & osher, d. (2020). implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. applied developmental science, 24(2), 97-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791 fosci et al. (2019). evaluated on the need for research innovation in nigeria. assessing the needs of the research system in nigeria. in report for the sria programme. fosci, m. et al. (2019). report on assessing the needs of research system. international development. retrieved from http:www.dfid.gov.uk gupta, p. (2017). role and need of research in higher education enological innovations of small organization in nigeria. kaloudis, a. et al. (2019). report on higher education contribution to innovation. kigotho, w. (2021). world bank project set to boost tanzanian higher education. lukman, r., krajnc, d., & glavič, p. (2010). university ranking using research, educational and environmental indicators. journal of cleaner production, 8(2), 619-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.09.015 mahona, p., & pacho, t. (2021). reshaping education in the post-covid-19 pandemic in africa. african research journal of education and social sciences (arjess), 8(3), 13-26. maina, w. (2021). competency based curriculum universities lagging behind university world news. the global window in higher education east africa. meissner, d., & kotsemir, m. (2016). conceptualizing the innovation process towards the “active innovation paradigm”—trends and outlook. journal of innovation and entrepreneurship, 5(14), 1-18. springer, heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-016-0042-z https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p61 https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.09.015 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-016-0042-z www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 18 published by scholink inc. mkulu, d. g. (2017). workplace environment administrative strategies for retention of academic staff in private universities in southern highlands zone, tanzania. mkulu, d. g., & paschal, m. j. (2020). the contribution of private sector in the provision of higher education in tanzania: challenges and growth. journal of humanities and education development (jhed), 2(3), 155-169. nyerere, j. k. (1967). education for self-reliance. arusha: united republic of tanzania. https://doi.org/10.22161/jhed.2.3.2 mugenda, a. g. (2013). qualitative research methods: applied research & training services. nairobi: kijabe printing press. onu, v. c., eskay, m. k., obiyo, n. o., igbo, j. n., & ezeanwu, a. b. (2021). transformation in nigeria learning institution for the national growth. education us-china education review, 2(8), 229-236. paschal, m. j., & mkulu, d. g. (2020). online classes during covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa. global research in higher education, 3(3), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n3p1 paschal, m. j., pacho, o. t., & adewoyin, o. (2022). teaching methods applied in higher education during covid-19 pandemic in africa. international journal of educational policy research and review, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.15739/ijeprr.22.003 punch, k. f. (2009). introduction to research methods in education. sage london publications inc. tremblay, k., lalancette, d., & roseveare, d. (2012). assessment of higher education learning outcomes. bochum: ed. oecd. open journal of social sciences, 2(6), 89-114. walder, a. (2014). innovate in a university strongly committed to research. international research in education. https://doi.org/10.5296/ire.v2i2.6303 wangwe, s., & charle, p. (2005). macroeconomic policy choices for growth and poverty reduction: the case of tanzania. retrieved from http://www.nsiins.ca/english/pdf/prsp_tanzania.pdf world bank. (2012). higher education for development an evaluation of the world bank group’s support. zeleza, p. t. (2017). positioning universities as engines of innovation for sustainable development. journal of higher education in africa, 15(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.22161/jhed.2.3.2 https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n3p1 https://doi.org/10.15739/ijeprr.22.003 https://doi.org/10.5296/ire.v2i2.6303 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper career readiness skills for marketing majors: an examination of soft skills, hard skills and course applications katryna m. johnson 1* , minjung park 1 & jack a. lesser 1 1 department of marketing, supply chain and international business, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, usa * katryna m. johnson, department of marketing, supply chain and international business, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, usa received: march 7, 2023 accepted: march 16, 2023 online published: april 4, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n2p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n2p1 abstract what are the skills marketing majors need upon graduation from college? in today’s world, many of the skills rely on technology within the field of marketing (technical/hard skills). other skills (soft skills) can be taught across various curricula. organizations, educators and professional job search sites are placing increasing emphasis on “workplace” or “career” readiness skills. in this paper, the authors discuss their analysis of 133 pieces of literature from practitioners and academics on the in-demand skills needed by marketing majors. the first section provides a categorization of marketing soft skills to give a broad picture of various soft skill sets that students need to be aware. next, the paper analyzes different “hard skills”, or technical abilities individuals need to perform to be successful in different marketing careers. the authors then examine the primary soft skills needed to execute different hard skills. finally, the paper discusses course strategies to implement soft and hard skills in class. attention is given to developing an integrative and “robust” set of soft and hard skills, and strategies, that can be used in different types, and sizes, of marketing classes. keywords career readiness, soft skills, hard skills, technical skills www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction organizations, educators and professional job search sites are placing increasing emphasis on “workplace” or “career” readiness skills (beaupre et al., 2022; carmona et al., 2020; greenacre et al., 2017; indeed editorial team, 2022b; nace 2022a). these workplace readiness skills focus on educating students at all levels with the requisite skills they need to succeed in the workplace. the national association of colleges and employers in 2015 developed a list of core competencies to prepare students for success in their careers (nace, 2022b). these competencies have been updated in 2022 to include “career and self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork and technology” (nace, 2022a, p. 9). career readiness skills include both soft skills (more general skills/processes such as communication, organization and decision making) and hard or technical skills (how to perform a specific task) (anderson, 2020; chinchanachokchai et al., 2021; indeed editorial team, 2022d, 2022e). since 2015, many researchers and practitioners have applied the concept of career readiness to their respective fields. this paper focuses on career readiness skills needed for marketing students. why should marketing educators care about their students’ career readiness? a large portion of students’ “future lives” involve their careers and their career satisfaction. undoubtedly, the ultimate success of a marketing faculty member partially depends on how well students prepare for their careers. despite the importance of career readiness skills for marketing students, there is a lack of comprehensive research that examines different types of career readiness skills in marketing. therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of soft and hard skills needed for career readiness in marketing and to develop course strategies that will build these skills. the soft and hard skills that are discussed resulted from a literature review of academic and professional industry publications. this paper first considers the different soft skills, or general skills and traits, that are needed in marketing. this initial section examines the different soft skills that are most often used in marketing careers. employers want well-rounded employees who have numerous different abilities and it is essential for students to understand what these skills are. the first section provides a categorization of marketing soft skills that give a broad picture of various soft skill sets that students should acquire. secondly, the paper analyzes different “hard skills”, or technical abilities individuals need to perform to be successful in different marketing careers. the key types of soft skills needed for the different hard skills are also determined. finally, the paper develops course strategies that help faculty determine students’ soft and hard skills for later lives. attention is given to developing an integrative and “robust” set of soft and hard skills, and strategies, that can be used in different types, and sizes, of marketing classes. the field of marketing ends with, “ing”, and it is concerned with “doing”. marketing is a field of “doing”, and this article will provide serious, detailed scholarly attention to how students should www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 3 published by scholink inc. translate their “doing” to develop rich, life-long careers. 2. methodology: literature review the authors reviewed 133 articles of soft, hard and technical skills that were considered to be important in marketing. from this literature review. we began by reviewing 84 articles with a focus on practitioner-oriented articles such as career builder, cnbc.com, forbes, linkedin, indeed.com, monster.com and smartinsights.com from the past six years. we also reviewed 49 articles from academic publications including the chronicle of higher education, journal of applied business and economics, journal of marketing, journal of marketing education, marketing education review, marketing management association proceedings, and the search engine journal. we then performed a qualitative content analysis to determine the most frequently mentioned soft, hard and technical skills which will be discussed in the following sections. 3. career readiness soft skills soft skills are the non-technical skills that we use to perform our daily activities at work. they include common attributes of individuals that are applicable to all professions. these skills include how one works with and relates to other employees, administration and customers. since the majority of jobs require interaction with others, it is important that educators develop these skills in students. educators at all levels should provide students with the opportunity to develop and showcase their soft skills (anderson, 2020; johnson, 2022; karns et al., 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; miller et al., 2021; wasyliszyn et al., 2022; wingard & farrugia, 2021). at the university level students gain experience in many of these skills through fulfilling liberal arts requirements and through courses in their major. nace (2022b) emphasized the importance of providing students with opportunities throughout their educational experience to develop and apply these skills that will assist with career readiness. it is also critical that we as educators develop their skills specifically within their chosen field, in this case, marketing. many authors have discussed soft skills that graduating students need to succeed in their careers (see table 1). the most frequently mentioned skills include active listening, analytical reasoning, collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds, creativity, critical thinking, decision making, detail orientation, emotional intelligence, flexibility, interpersonal skills, leadership, networking, problem solving, professionalism, public speaking/presenting, resilience, storytelling, teamwork, time management, work ethic and written/verbal communication. the 22 most frequently mentioned soft skills have been assigned to six categories based on content similarity and references in literature. the six resulting categories include: rational thinking, communication, relationship management, business acumen, conscientiousness and resourcefulness. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 4 published by scholink inc. table 1. categories of soft skills rational thinking communication relationship management business acumen conscientiousness resourcefulness analytical reasoning critical thinking problem solving active listening presentation skills storytelling written communication verbal communication collaborating with diverse individuals interpersonal teamwork decision making emotional intelligence leadership professionalism detail oriented resilience strong work ethic time management creativity flexibility networking of more frequent reference in recent years is the ability to collaborate with diverse individuals and being aware of multicultural issues (goodman, 2022; henman, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; stahl, 2019; steimer, 2019; steinberg, 2018). students need exposure to working with individuals from different racial groups, social backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, cultures, learning styles, and communication styles to prepare them for a successful career in marketing. why should we care about the soft skills shown in table 1? from a practical standpoint, in business, job sites such as linkedin, indeed.com and monster.com are used by students to post resumes and by employers to post job openings. when students develop an online profile listing job experience and skills, employers are more likely to find potential matches on a job site if the student lists these skills (doyle, 2022). therefore, it is important that educators help students determine the soft skills that should be highlighted on an online job profile. yet, from another standpoint, table 1 helps students determine the different sets of soft skills that they should develop and emphasize to potential employers. finally, why should we care about soft skills in general? of course, soft skills are not “everything”. yet, they are generally essential. at times, employers can train strong candidates to learn “hard skills”, such as statistical analyses. if the employer needs a candidate that has a detail orientation soft-skill, training will generally not be enough. 3.1 rational thinking rational thought is based on reason, logic and facts rather than emotion. rational thinking skills include analysis, critical thinking and problem solving (table 2). analytical thinking is helpful in identifying connections between two ideas (indeed editorial team, 2021b). “analytical thinking is more linear and focused as compared to critical thinking which is more circular in nature” (indeed editorial team, 2022b, para. 5). critical thinking uses analysis to make a rational decision or form a judgment (indeed editorial team, 2021c & 2022a; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; raska & keller, 2021). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 5 published by scholink inc. problem-solving uses thought to find a solution. problem-solving may use analytical and/or critical thinking skills for a specific purpose: to solve an issue at hand (hain & ritz, 2022). table 2. analysis soft skills analytical reasoning—the ability to collect and organize information (anderson, 2020; bortz, 2022; coursera, 2022; dewar, 2023; doyle et al., 2020; indeed editorial team, 2022a; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; llewellyn, 2020; mackenzie, 2021b; malinsky, 2022; orechwa, 2021; nace, 2022b; raska & keller, 2021). critical thinking—the ability to think clearly and rationally and understand connections between ideas (bouygues, 2022; cae, 2022; chiew tong, 2023; forbes expert panel, 2022; hain & ritz, 2021; he et al., 2022; hihello, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; marr, 2022; melnichuk, 2022; moore, 2022; nace, 2022a; raymond et al., 2021; reed, 2022; rohm et al., 2018; rose & flateby, 2022; sinelnikov, 2022; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019; zay, 2022). problem solving—finding solutions for difficult or complex situations (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b & 2022; chase, 2023; chen, 2022; chiew tong, 2023; garner et al, 2019; kirti & rattan, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; lyons, 2023; mackenzie, 2021a; nace, 2022a; orechwa, 2021; rose & flateby, 2022; smith, 2022a; sy, 2021; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019) 3.2 communication communication involves active listening, presentation skills/public speaking, storytelling, written communication and verbal communication (table 3). the ability to converse verbally and correspond in written form was found to be a highly important skill for marketing students (bortz, 2022; bullock, 2022; burt, 2023; chase, 2023a; chew tong, 2023; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; forbes expert panel, 2022; hihello, 2022; krakoff, 2022; lynott, 2022; lyons, 2023; mackenzie, 2021a; malinsky, 2022; nace, 2022; omoth, 2022; raska & keller, 2021; raymond et al., 2021; riley & nicewicz, 2022; rohm et al., 2018). marketing students should be given the opportunity to communicate in groups, write papers, and give presentations to their classes to enhance these skills (table 3). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 6 published by scholink inc. table 3. communication soft skills active listening—involves listening and reflecting back what you hear (chase, 2023; chew tong, 2023; conant, 2019; conti, 2022; deesha, 2022; doyle, 2022; forbes expert panel, 2022; kirti & rattan, 2022; markinokos, 2020; nace 2022a; omoth, 2022). public speaking/presentation skills—ability to explain an idea to an audience (coursera, 2022; doyle, 2020; forbes expert panel, 2022; garner et al., 2019; heisler, 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; omoth, 2022; orechwa, 2021; steimer, 2019; thompson et al., 2021). storytelling—using a narrative to communicate a message (ama partner, 2022; bennett, 2021; booker, 2019; dollar, 2017; doyle, 2022; goodman, 2022; hattar, 2022; lynott, 2022). written communication—exchange of information in written format (blumenstyck, 2022; bortz, 2022; bullock, 2022; cae, 2022; career builder, 2021b; coursera, 2022; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; forbes expert panel, 2021 & 2022; garner et al., 2019; hihello, 2022; kirti & rattan, 2022; lynott, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; nace 2022; omoth, 2022; orechwa, 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; rose & flateby, 2022; yeoh, 2019). verbal communication—exchange of information both verbally (blumenstyck, 2022; career builder, 2021b; delong & elbeck, 2018; doyle, 2020; duggal, 2022; forbes expert panel, 2022; krakoff, 2022; garner et al., 2019; graham et al., 2020; hihello, 2022; johnson, 2022; kirti & rattan, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; malinsky, 2022; nace, 2022a; riley & nicewicz, 2022; omoth, 2022; orechwa, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; singh, 2022; smith, 2022a; yeoh, 2019). active listening involves listening with intent while paying attention to other factors including nonverbal communication (chew tong, 2023; deesha, 2022; doyle, 2022). active listening is essential for marketers as we need to listen to the wants and needs of customers, so that we can better meet their needs. storytelling in marketing means using a narrative to communicate about a brand/company/product (ama partner, 2022; booker, 2019; dollar, 2017; hattar, 2022). storytelling “taps into narrative, connecting with an audience on an emotional level, in order to help them empathize and understand the problems your business solves on a deeper level. it is a powerful way for brands to cut through the noise” (ama partner, 2022, para. 2). storytelling can be particularly effective in branding on company websites and social media platforms where customers discuss their experience with brands/companies. 3.3 relationship management relationship management skills include collaborating, interpersonal and teamwork skills (table 4). businesses want students to be able to work in groups to achieve a goal (bortz, 2022). being able to work with individuals of different racial, ethnic, language, and cultural backgrounds is crucial in today’s society (hazard & wu, 2020; marr, 2022). giving students the opportunity to work in teams www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 7 published by scholink inc. assists them with experiencing a diversity of viewpoints. groups also provide an opportunity for individuals to demonstrate that they work well together with other students on a project including dividing the workload equitably and getting work in on time so that group progress can continue (hihello, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; marr, 2022; omoth, 2022; rampton, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; singh, 2022; thompson et al., 2021). how each individual acts on the team towards others (interpersonal skills) gives students a chance to exhibit if they listen to diverse opinions, if they are responsive, and maintain good rapport with other students. table 4. relationship management soft skills collaborating with diverse individuals—the capability to work with people who are different from you (chase, 2023; coursera, 2022; david et al., 2021; forbes expert panel, 2022; goodman, 2022; hartley et al., 2019; henman, 2022; marr, 2022; omoth, 2022; steimer, 2019; stahl, 2019; steinberg, 2018; yeoh, 2019). interpersonal/people—skills used to interact with others (career builder, 2021a; chew tong, 2023; deesha, n., 2022; doyle, 2022; kelly, 2022b; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; krakoff, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; orechwa, 2021; van nuys, 2020; yeoh, 2019). teamwork—working with a group of people to achieve a goal (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; david et al., 2021; delong & elbeck, 2018; dewar, 2023; forbes expert panel, 2022; garner et al., 2019; hihello, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; melnichuk, 2022; nace, 2022a; orechwa, 2021; riley & nicewicz, 2022; thompson et al., 2021; zay, 2022) 3.4 business acumen business acumen incorporates knowledge of how an organization works and both hard and soft skills (business acumen, 2023; chase, 2023b; indeed editorial team, 2021a). soft skills such as the ability to make good judgements and decisions, emotional intelligence, leadership skills and professionalism help build the foundation for exhibiting business acumen (table 5). emotional intelligence plays a strong role in business acumen. emotional intelligence is the ability to manage one’s own emotions and recognize and influence the emotions of others (argianas, 2022; kelly, 2022a; omoth, 2022; melnichuk, 2022; orechwa, 2021; sinelnikov, 2022). emotional intelligence is a necessary skill for being a good leader. strong leadership involves the ability to influence and guide others as well as being able to respond appropriately (bortz, 2022; krakoff, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 8 published by scholink inc. table 5. business acumen soft skills decision making—the ability to choose between two or more alternatives to make the best choice possible (bortz, 2022; doyle, 2020; dewar, 2023; herrity, 2023; indeed editorial team, 2022b; johnson, 2022; kirti & rattan, 2022; mccoy, 2020; nace, 2022). emotional intelligence—the ability to read other people’s emotions and respond appropriately (argianas, 2022; chase, 2023; forbes expert panel, 2022; kelly, 2022a; omoth, 2022; melnichuk, 2022; orechwa, 2021; sinelnikov, 2022; zay, 2022). leadership—ability to influence and guide others (bortz, 2022; burt, 2023; career builder, 2021a; chase, 2023; dewar, 2023; hihello, 2022; krakoff, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; garner et al., 2019; lyons, 2023; mackenzie, 2021b; marr, 2022; nace, 2022a; omoth, 2022; orechwa, 2021; thompson et al., 2021; zay, 2022). professionalism—conduct, behavior and attitude of a person in the workplace (black et al., 2021; career builder, 2021a; gray, 2022; ewing & ewing, 2017; kennedy, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; mcquerry, 2018; nace, 2022a; raska & keller, 2021; raymond et al., 2021; rogers, 2022b; wilson et al., 2013; yeoh, 2019). employers desire leadership skills in potential job candidates (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021a; marr, 2022; omoth, 2022). a senior executive found, from an analysis of new candidates for different positions of the large firm, that leadership potential was the second most important consideration that it had for initial screenings, after amount of past work experience (pittinsky, 2021). unquestionably, the soft skill, leadership, is a basic and central quality of both marketing, and other business careers. if anything, leadership is even increasing in importance as a soft skill for marketing and business positions (lund & hancock, 2021). professionalism encompasses the ability to understand norms of behavior and behave in a courteous and respectful manner (kennedy, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; nace, 2022a; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rogers, 2022b; yeoh, 2019). “nace’s job outlook 2022 survey found that while 86.9% of employers say professionalism is very or extremely important, just 44.2% indicate that new college graduates are very or extremely proficient at it” (gray, 2022, para. 2). making students aware of the importance of professionalism, the expectations in the business world for professional conduct and giving students opportunities to demonstrate professionalism (such as business reports or formal class presentations) gives students an advantage when they come to the workplace. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 9 published by scholink inc. 3.5 conscientiousness conscientiousness reflects a person’s tendency to be responsible and do a task well. individuals who are conscientiousness show an attention to detail, have resilience, demonstrate a strong work ethic and manage their time well (ercan, 2017; harper, 2022; indeed editorial team, 2017). detail orientation occurs when a person pays close attention to minute specifics (blumenstyck, 2022; bortz, 2022; garner et al., 2019; indeed editorial team, 2019 & 2021a; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; nace, 2022a; streiff, 2022). “according to the survey, 62.6% of managers are looking for new grads that have meticulous attention to detail. as a result, make sure your resume is impeccable, free of typos and grammatical errors, and organized with the use of clear, concise, and effective language” (bortz, 2022, para. 14). table 6. conscientiousness soft skills detail-oriented—being able to pay close attention to detail (blumenstyck, 2022; bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; indeed editorial team, 2021b; kelly, 2022a; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b; nace, 2022a; streiff, 2022). resilience—ability to recover quickly from difficulties (doyle, 2022; dwivedi, 2020; hihello, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; orechwa, 2021; purcell, 2020; smith, 2022b; zay, 2022). strong work ethic—a commitment to one’s job (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; delong & elbeck, 2018; goodman, 2022; mackenzie, 2021b). time management—using time effectively and productively (career builder, 2021b; chase, 2023; chiew tong, 2023; hihello, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; marr, 2022, malinsky, 2022a; schlee & karns, 2017; omoth, 2022; singh, 2022; steimer, 2019; yeoh, 2019; zay, 2022). an attention to detail can often be a part of one’s work ethic (doyle, 2022; garrity, 2023). a strong work ethic encompasses behaviors such as being organized, highly productive, cooperating with others, determination, taking ownership, internal motivation to succeed, and producing high quality work (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; delong & elbeck, 2018; goodman, 2022; leonard, 2023; mackenzie, 2021b; taygerle, 2022). according to nace’s 2023 job outlook survey, at least half of all employers seek employees with a strong work ethic (nace, 2022a). the ability to recover quickly from difficulties (resilience) is a skill that marketing students need to succeed in class and on the job (doyle, 2022; dwivedi, 2020; goodman, 2022; marr, 2022; omoth, 2022; purcell, 2020; smith, 2022b). students often face difficulties during their college career such as illness, family concerns, changing/losing a job and many other situations. when students are able to adapt to changes in their lives (or changes in a group member’s life) and bounce back from a situation (e.g., group conflict) it demonstrates resilience. students learning online platforms, navigation and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 10 published by scholink inc. communication demonstrated resilience during the pandemic. time management involves prioritizing tasks and organizing one’s time to complete more important tasks first (career builder, 2021b; chase, 2023a; chiew tong, 2023; hihello, 2022; keiling, 2023; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; marr, 2022; malinsky, 2022a; rampton, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; omoth, 2022; singh, 2022; steimer, 2019; yeoh, 2019; zay, 2022). time management skills can be improved by planning, setting and being aware of deadlines, communicating and collaborating with others and delegating tasks (keiling, 2023). instructors should point out to students that when they balance their jobs and education, juggle multiple courses and family life and work, and successfully accomplish multiple tasks in a semester, that they are demonstrating time management skills. 3.6 resourcefulness resourceful employees are able to look at ideas in a new way and overcome obstacles (ariella, 2023; indeed editorial team, 2022c; lyons, 2023). resourcefulness encompasses being persistent when difficulties arise and using one’s imagination and innovation abilities. two of the skills highly associated with resourcefulness are creativity and flexibility (table 7). table 7. resourcefulness soft skills creativity—the ability to produce new ideas (career builder, 2021b; chen, 2022; coursera, 2022; david et al., 2021; duggal, 2022; forbes expert panel, 2022; kirti & rattan, 2022; mackenzie, 2021a; marr, 2022; mccoy, 2021; omoth, 2022; orechwa, 2021; reddihough, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; scanlon, 2022; sinelnikov, 2022). flexibility—ability to adapt to new circumstances/situations (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; chase, 2023; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; forbes expert panel, 2022; goodman, 2022; hihello, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; krakoff, 2022; lyons, 2023; malinsky, 2022; marr, 2022; melnichuk, 2022; orechwa, 2021; sinelnikov, 2022; steimer, 2019; van nuys, 2020; yeoh, 2019). networking—the ability to connect with others to exchange information (ariella, 2023; career builder, 2021a; gray, 2022; hihello, 2022; indeed editorial team, 2022d; kelly, 2022a; lotfi, 2022; marr, 2022; nace, 2022a; rose & flateby, 2022; “the most valuable”, 2022; zay, 2022). creativity involves using one’s imagination to produce new and original ideas. in marketing, this traditionally was thought of in relation to promotions, ads, and products, but in today’s world having creative content online engages and involves customers on a higher level (reddihough, 2021; scanlon, 2022; steimer, 2019; sy, 2021; yeoh, 2019). marketing majors have increasing opportunities to display their creative abilities due to the continuing rise of digital content. “creative content is moving www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 11 published by scholink inc. further and further away from pictures and captions and toward video and more immersive experiences” (scanlon, 2022, para. 10). the creative process must allow for new ideas and different perspectives. a student’s ability to adapt to new situations and have flexibility of thought and actions will also help them to succeed (bortz, 2022; career builder, 2021b; chase, 2023; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; goodman, 2022; lyons, 2023; malinsky, 2022; marr, 2022; melnichuk, 2022; orechwa, 2021; van nuys, 2020). the ability to adapt to changes in a calm and rational manner enables a person to work more effectively, especially when working with others. students should be given the chance to not only work with others, but work to increase their connections with others (gray, 2022; kelly, 2022a; smith, 2022; zay, 2022). when students join professional network sites such as linkedin and build relationships with other students, they are able to build their support network. professional networking sites allow students to demonstrate their professional skills and abilities to assist them with finding employment in their careers. 4. career readiness hard/technical skills anderson (2020, para 6) defines hard skills as “an employee’s ability to do a specific task”. hard skills are much more dependent on career/job choice. businesses today have much different needs for students than they did 10, 20 or 30 years ago. while some skills remain similar (e.g., branding, customer relationship management, sales management), other skills are constantly changing (e.g., content creation, digital media skills, social media skills). table 8 discusses the most frequently mentioned hard/technical skills in literature. the table also identifies some of the primary soft skill categories and the key specific soft skills that are associated with developing each hard/technical skill. table 8. hard and technical marketing skills business/marketing analysis/intelligence (anderson, 2020; doyle, 2022b; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022; nanji, 2019; rosales, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017; van nuys, 2019). primary soft skill category: rational thinking, communication & conscientiousness key soft skills: analytical reasoning, written communication & detail orientation content creation/management (agouridis, 2022; bullock, 2022; burt, 2022; coursera, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022; nanji, 2019; rogers, 2022a). primary soft skill category: communication, business acumen & resourcefulness key soft skills: written communication, decision making & creativity data analytics/mining (bullock, 2022; doyle, 2022b; ferrell & ferell, 2020; forbes expert panel, 2022; krakoff, 2020; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022). primary soft skill category: rational thinking, conscientiousness and business acumen www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 12 published by scholink inc. key soft skills: detail orientation, critical thinking, problem solving & analytical reasoning design/visual marketing (agouridis, 2022; bullock, 2022; krakoff, 2022; coursera, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; lynott, 2022; nanji, 2019; rogers, 2022a). primary soft skill category: resourcefulness & rational thinking key soft skills: creativity, analytical thinking & flexibility digital & social media marketing (agouridis, 2022; anderson, 2020; burt, 2022 & 2023; goodman, 2022; krakoff, 2022; coursera, 2022; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; frederick, 2022; hartley et al., 2022; hihello, 2022; kelly, 2017; key et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021a; malota, 2022; papandrea, 2022; rogers, 2022a; rosales, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; raska & keller, 2021; rosales, 2021; singh, 2022; smith, 2022b; thompson et al., 2021). primary soft skill category: rational thinking and communication key soft skills: analysis, written communication, storytelling & active listening project management (career builder, 2021b; burt, 2023; dewar, 2023; krakoff, 2022; doyle, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; landau, 2023; mackenzie, 2021b; nanji, 2019; rosales, 2021). primary soft skill category: rational thinking, conscientiousness & relationship management key soft skills: leadership, communication, problem solving, time management, interpersonal, collaborating & emotional intelligence research (bullock, 2022; dewar, 2023; krakoff, 2022; coursera, 2022; doyle, 2022b; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; nanji, 2019; thompson et al; 2021). primary soft skills category: rational thinking and communication key soft skills: critical thinking, problem solving & written/verbal communication search engine marketing/optimization (agouridis, 2022; bullock, 2022; burt, 2022; coursera, 2022; frederick, 2022; kelly, 2017; krakoff, 2020; malota, 2022; mccoy, 2022; rogers, 2022a; rosales, 2022). primary soft skills category: rational thinking, business acumen and conscientiousness key soft skills: detail orientation, analytical thinking & decision making 4.1 business/marketing analysis business/marketing analysis consists of assisting students with identifying business and marketing needs and finding a solution to problems. marketing analysis involves analyzing a specific market within an industry. students often conduct a situation analysis and/or swot analysis identifying strengths and weaknesses of the business and external opportunities and threats (anderson, 2020; doyle, 2022b; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022; nanji, 2019; rosales, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017; van nuys, 2019). a person performing a market/business analysis must not only see the big picture, they www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 13 published by scholink inc. must also pay attention to small details and be able to communicate the results in written format. content creation involves identifying information and creating written or visual content that can be used in a way that provides value to the target audience. students need to have good communication skills and creative in how they present information to gain consumer attention (agouridis, 2022; bullock, 2022; burt, 2022; coursera, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022; nanji, 2019; rogers, 2022a). content creators need also to understand the importance of business and marketing concepts that are important to customers so that they can convey valuable information. 4.2 content creation content creation involves identifying information and creating written or visual content that can be used in a way that provides value to the target audience. students need to have good communication skills and creative in how they present information to gain consumer attention (agouridis, 2022; bullock, 2022; burt, 2022; coursera, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; lynott, 2022; malota, 2022; nanji, 2019; rogers, 2022a). content creators need also to understand the importance of business and marketing concepts that are important to customers so that they can convey valuable information. 4.3 data analytics marketing students need to not only understand how to collect data, but they must be able to work with data from multiple sources and make decisions as to what information is relevant (doyle, 2022b; ferrell & ferrell, 2020; krakoff, 2020; lynott, 2022). students should be able to use marketing analytics tools such as google analytics, marketo, and whatagraph and statistical software such as r, spss, sas, and stata to evaluate and measure the performance of marketing activity. data analytics relies heavily on analytic, critical thinking, problem solving and paying attention to detail. 4.4 design/visual marketing students must be able to understand the fundamentals of the design of promotions, packaging, and digital media (ferell & ferell, 2020; krakoff, 2020; lynott, 2022; rogers, 2022a). additionally, students should know how to make the content of digital posts capture customers’ attention and keep their interest. knowing how to select appropriate images from the web to use in a promotion/website/package is a valuable tool for students to develop (krakoff, 2020). creativity in thought is especially important in visual marketing as is the ability to synthesize information in determining which elements to present. marketing practitioners in this position need to also be able to adapt to the continuous ongoing changes in available and desired platforms. 4.5 digital marketing digital marketing involves promoting products, brands, companies and services through digital channels, including websites, social media, seo, mobile applications, and email. students should be able to understand the major digital marketing concepts and their applications. for example, search engine optimization (seo) focuses on making the content of a page more relevant in a keyword search so that it will be more likely to appear as one of the first sources in a web search (bullock, 2022; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 14 published by scholink inc. frederick, 2022; malota, 2022). to succeed in digital marketing, students need to develop their analytical thinking skills and be able to present information in a clear and understandable format that will reach the target audience. 4.6 project management marketers involved in project management need to set goals, meet deadlines, prioritize work, and accomplish tasks (duggal, 2022; goodman, 2022; krakoff, 2020). through a university education, students are often placed in situations where they need to address many of the elements of project management while balancing various classes and course projects. marketers “need to create publishing schedules, track contacts, and maintain social media profiles. they will need to run reports, meet with designers and writers, manage ad budgets, and much more” (duggal, 2022, para. 7). good project management skills include leadership, written and verbal communication, time management, problem solving and interpersonal skills (landau, 2023). 4.7 research marketing students need to understand qualitative versus quantitative research and the various tools they may use within each domain (bullock, 2022; doyle, 2022b; duggal, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; thompson et al., 2021). marketers need “research to build out campaigns, inform strategy, and create content” (krakoff, 2020, para. 13). students wishing to engage in a career of research should focus on developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills so that they can identify issues and analyze them. additionally, students need to be able to communicate with their colleagues and respondents in both verbal and written format. 4.8 search engine marketing and optimization “what is seo? it’s the process of optimizing a website to get a high ranking in search engine results pages” (malota, 2022, para. 2). search engine optimization focuses on making the content of a page more relevant in a keyword search so that it will be more likely to appear as one of the first sources in a web search (bullock, 2022; frederick, 2022; malota, 2022). individuals who work in seo need to have business acumen as they need to understand what attributes/features are important to a product or company. they should possess strong critical and analytical thinking so that they can understand consumer insight in order to make digital information most relevant to consumers. finally, they must be active listeners in order to quickly and thoroughly hear and understand what customers want and if the platforms they are using work for customers so that they can reach customers more effectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 15 published by scholink inc. 5. course strategies to develop career readiness skills as discussed previously, educational institutions and employers want to assist students in developing skills that will prepare them for their jobs in the marketing field (beaupre et al., 2022; carmona et al., 2020; greenacre et al., 2017; indeed editorial team, 2022b; nace 2022a). marketing and business courses must focus on more than merely imparting information/content/concepts to students and must provide students with opportunities to apply this information to real-life projects. students have been found to benefit greatly from experiential and active learning (bonwell & eison, 1991; kolb 1984; kolb & kolb, 2005), whether this is through a real-life project or an in-class assignment or paper that reflects work done in the business world. in table 9, different activities are suggested that apply the most commonly mentioned hard/technical marketing skills for students. these applications were derived from the combined experience of the authors (over 70 years of teaching) and from the examples in literature reviewed. table 9. career readiness course applications hard/technical skill application business/marketing analysis capstone course—case analysis business plans marketing plans swot analysis content creation blogs such as wordpress, tumblr or blogger website development online writing apps—grammarly, wordtune, prowritingaid data analytics/mining customer analysis from a database identifying social influencers trend analysis data visualization design/visual marketing imc plan—promotional creations using tools such as adobe, canva, sketch digital/social media marketing & seo keyword research paid ads creation seo worksheet google analytics certification hootsuite certification simulation software project management course projects www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 16 published by scholink inc. team projects marketing campaigns team charters schedules (gantt charts) research marketing research project surveys, focus groups, interviews data analysis 5.1 business and market analysis business and market analysis have many course applications. capstone courses can be used to create a business plan to analyze a company and its associated industry, conduct a swot analysis, assess financial impact, and create a budget. marketing plans can assist students in identifying new products, the influence of pricing, appropriate promotions, and distribution channels. case analyses are also beneficial and allow students to demonstrate their analytical and critical thinking abilities as well as solve problems. 5.2 content creation content creation involves generating content that engages customers. this includes both written and visual images. developing content requires critical thinking on the part of the marketer/student as to what images and content best meet the needs of the target audience. marketing students have the opportunity to showcase their creativity in the images they choose and the words they write. attention to detail in the content is important to ensure that accurate information is conveyed (such as a promotional deadline or the cost of a product or service). depending on what platform is used, storytelling may be involved. for instance, on a blog or a website, conveying consumer experiences with a product or service often comes in the form of a story about the user experience. there are helpful tools such as grammarly, prowritingaid, and wordtune for ensuring writing is effective. 5.3 data analytics data analytics involves analyzing data to make data-driven marketing decisions. assignments and activities such as extracting insights from data on the web, visualizing data, developing a predictive model to forecast future customer behavior, and allocating marketing budget based on the data would enhance students’ data analytics skills. for example, instructors provide students with a sample marketing campaign dataset, and ask them to create visualizations using tools such as google data studio, tableau, or excel. 5.4 design/visual marketing design and visual marketing skills can be developed when students craft creative content for integrated marketing communications using various tools such as adobe, canva, and sketch. for example, instructors can provide students with a hypothetical brand, and ask them to develop a branding strategy www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 17 published by scholink inc. and a creative campaign that include a logo, brand colors, visuals, and brand messaging. also, students can work on creating content for social media, websites, and email marketing which help them understand how to use design elements to create effective and engaging marketing campaigns. 5.5 digital marketing digital marketing courses must combine theory and practice in order to teach skills. one of the ways to do this is to create a project or assignment that requires students to conduct keyword research, complete an seo worksheet, create google ads and social media pay-per-click campaigns, and analyze data. moreover, requiring students to earn various types of digital marketing certifications such as google analytics certification is another way to teach digital marketing skills that hold value in the marketing industry. 5.6 project management various course projects are used to teach project management skills. a semester-long team project gives students the opportunity to collaborate with others, organize their schedules, communicate with members in both written and oral form, work with and meet deadlines, demonstrate their work ethic, and be professional in their interactions within the group and with the instructor. students can be given opportunities to lead portions of the project which can be assisted with a team charter that establishes norms of expected behavior on the team, allocates responsibilities, sets deadlines, and indicates what consequences will be for not meeting group expectations (johnson & horn, 2019). for example, gantt charts allow students to envision an entire project’s timing and when activities need to occur. 5.7 research research allows students to demonstrate their analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving. if students are collecting secondary data, they need to search for and evaluate the relevancy and legitimacy of the information they find. if students conduct primary research, they must pay attention to detail in writing surveys, creating focus groups, or running an experiment. if the research is quantitative, students can demonstrate their analytical and critical thinking through statistical analysis and interpretation. 6. conclusions this paper has identified a comprehensive discussion of the soft, hard, and technical skills that marketing majors need to use. further, this paper has identified course applications that can be used to put these skills into practice. indeed, one powerful conclusion of this paper stems from the large number of sources that agreed with the different soft, and hard, skills found in this article. the authors identified 22 different soft skills, and they could be classified into six broader categories of soft skills in table 1. the 22 skills were found repeatedly, and from such sources as the indeed editorial team, career builder, and the forbes expert panel, as well as academic literature. a student can possibly use a “quick” online search from less reputable sources to discover these skills, but it would take a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 18 published by scholink inc. substantial amount of time. however, if the student is interested in marketing analytics, or digital marketing, s/he will find from this article different soft skills that have been heavily found and supported. the soft skills found in this article can be broken into some broader categories of soft skills that should be the basis of the students’ preparing for their careers. the soft skills, in turn, directly lead to strategies that marketing faculty should use when teaching courses. these ideas, in table 9, are not comprehensive. a marketing faculty member should have confidence that each of the hard skills shown are indeed important to many students. they, too, directly correspond with some of the most central soft skills that students “must have” to be successful in them. they also help the faculty member to brainstorm about these, and other course applications, all aimed at helping students to develop in their careers even after they complete their degrees. stated alternatively, the hard skills, soft skills, and course applications, discussed in this article, “fit together” well. as explained in the introduction, recruiters are looking for students that have an assortment of skills, and not just one specific talent or ability. similarly, faculty members should also seek activities that will allow students to display a variety of their skills. the overall convincing manner in which soft skills, hard skills, and course applications fit together, in this article, should help students and faculty brain storm even further about how to develop their career searches and marketing courses. in addition, a key implication, suggested from this paper, is that many marketing courses need to have the ability to updated course content. marketing courses cannot wait to rely on a textbook update that often involves a 3-year cycle. an invaluable solution is to use course materials that are open-access and editable. then, instructors and students will be able to find the most current materials and resources. a study conducted by the open education group shows that “most students perform as well or better using oer course materials compared with students using traditional textbooks” (colvard et al., 2018, p. 263). 7. limitations and future research while this paper provides an overview of marketing career readiness skills and how the courses can help develop such skills, it did not discuss how colleges and employers can work together to address developing these skills. therefore, future research should also examine the strategies to develop marketing career readiness skills at the college level and by collaborating with employers to ensure marketing students are set up for success. in addition, the different marketing careers, discussed here, are broad. for example, marketing research includes a number of different career areas, and some require different abilities, than others. a student who wants to develop an expertise in qualitative research will develop somewhat different hard and soft skills than someone who wants to focus on survey research. for undergraduates, research students who want to develop an expertise in qualitative research, or survey research, will use both analysis and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 19 published by scholink inc. creative soft skills. this article will benefit either type of student, or a marketing faculty member who is developing a course using both forms of research. regardless, others should consider differences in specific areas of marketing. furthermore, academic research, itself, should conduct empirical research on marketing career readiness, more fully. in addition, this article should be the starting point for academic researchers to investigate general theories involved in marketing career search. for example, this article suggested six different categories of soft skills that underlie different marketing careers. the soft skills (rational thinking, communication, relationship management, business acumen, conscientiousness and resourcefulness) and not the same as the “big 5” personality dimensions (e.g., o’connor, 2002), often found in psychology, about the underlying traits of personality. indeed, soft skills are theoretically very different than personality qualities. however, intuitively, the soft skills found here appear similar to the “big 5”, and these similarities may be useful for future research. yet, this article repeatedly found similar soft skills and hard skills, for different marketing careers. practical course applications were suggested for these different skills, too. this consistency suggests that future practical and academic research will assist both marketing students and marketing faculty to learn more about marketing careers. references ama partner. 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(2022, december 8). the top 18 in-demand soft skills for 2023 you need to master. hihello. retrieved from https://www.hihello.me/blog/the-top-in-demand-soft-skills-you-need-to-master https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.833035 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503628076 https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2019.1661258 microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p69 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 69 original paper student impression management in the classroom julita haber1* & robert tesoriero1 1 gabelli school of business, fordham university, new york, usa * julita haber, 441 e fordham rd, bronx, ny, 10458, usa received: april 4, 2018 accepted: april 10, 2018 online published: may 16, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p69 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p69 abstract with the growing shift from lecture-style teaching methods to interactive and experiential group exercises, instructors need to know more about their students, such as their desired impressions, to adequately engage and support students’ social interactions. this study addresses this need by providing an overall understanding of the types of images that are important for students to project when interacting with others in a classroom. after a concise review of impression management literature and grounding our reasoning in cybernetic theory (bozeman & kacmar, 1997) this study offers an insight of the positive impressions students desire to project in front of their peers and professors and the negative impressions students aim to avoid. with a two-part survey based on 269 responses, we measured students’ ranking of specific images and the effort level they exerted towards achieving or avoiding them. we offer suggestions of how these findings can be integrated into teaching for improved student learning and experiences. keywords impression management, management education, impression motivation 1. introduction impression management, which was anchored in self-presentation by goffman (1973), involves a process of creating, maintaining or avoiding a desired image (rosenfeld et al., 1995; bozeman & kacmar, 1997). the trend for impression management studies, continues to be heavily tied into the interview process (for example, adkins, russell, & werbel, 1994; wilhelmy, kleinmann, könig, melchers, & truxillo, 2016; roulin, bangerter, & levashina, 2014) and more recently into online interactions (rosenberg & egbert, 2011). searches in pedagogical publications provided a scant number of studies that examined students’ impression management in the classroom (e.g., becker-lindenthal, 2015; rui & stefanone, 2013) most of which predominantly focused on online education. with a growing shift in teaching methods from lecture-style to interactive and experiential group www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 70 published by scholink inc. exercises instructors incorporate case analysis, group projects, interactive in-class exercises, advanced technology, and flipped classroom methods in college education (farashahi & tajeddin, 2018; mazur, 1993; strayer, 2012). to adequately engage and support students in classroom interactions instructors should seek to develop a deeper understanding of students’ preferences and characteristics as a way of relating to student (chory & offstein, 2016). arguably, colleges provide professors with limited information about students’ individual differences such as personality, attitudes, experiences, strengths, values, expectations, learning styles, and goals. having this information might enable professors to structure more individualized and optimized teaching methods to enhance students’ learning. today, not only do most instructors build their course outline ahead of students’ registration, they primarily rely on their intuition and selective prior experience to craft courses with little regard for the characteristics and individual differences of their particular students. while some instructors seek input from students about their individual expectations in the course (spiegel, 2012) or use learning styles to customize content (boyatzis & kolb, 1997; kolb, a. & kolb, d., 2017), it is rare for faculty to explicitly inquire about personal self-images that students strive to make in class. questions about the role of students’ self-images in a classroom are largely unanswered in the current literature of impression management (bolino, long, & turnley, 2016). with the goal to identify ways of leveraging impression management in teaching for improved student learning experience. this paper aims to explore the role of students’ self-presentation motives in learning and the potential effects of impression management effort in face-to-face class interactions. the following research questions were formulated to guide the development of the study: 1) what do we know about selfimpressions that students strive to attain in class? 2) how do students want to be perceived by their peers and, their professors? 2. purpose and theoretical framework 2.1 study purpose although it may not yet be feasible to gather and provide faculty with all the particular information about enrolled students, this study provides insight into impressions and self-presentations (goffman, 1973) that are important to students when interacting in a classroom. following a review of impression management literature and grounding the conceptual process in a theory, this study offers an insight of the positive impressions students’ desire to project in front of their peers and professors and the negative impressions students aim to avoid. specifically, we measured students’ ranking of specific images and the effort level they exerted in making these impressions in front of peers and professors. 2.2 cybernetic theory of impression management the theoretical reasoning for applying impression management into a classroom based on cybernetic theory (bozeman & kacmar, 1997). impression management had its dramaturgical onset, initially set by goffman (1973), who compared the process of making impressions in human interactions by comparing www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 71 published by scholink inc. it to actors and targets—the audience. cybernetic systems have three primary parts: a reference standard or a desired image goal that an actor strives to achieve (e.g., a person wants to be seen as friendly); feedback from the target whether the actor is perceived in light of the desired image (e.g., the target does not perceive the actor as friendly); and a comparator, which is the process by which a comparison is made between the feedback and the reference standard (e.g., actor evaluates target’s response and cues about being perceived as friendly). a comparator process is used to detect discrepancies between the reference standard and the target’s feedback to inform the actor of actions to take. there are three potential outcomes to this process: zero discrepancies, in which the individual does not have to perform corrective measures (e.g., target perceives the actor as friendly). negative discrepancies, where the individual is not reaching their reference standard (e.g., the actor is seen as not friendly enough) and corrective measures are needed in order to minimize these discrepancies (e.g., the actor may engage in more friendly behavior), or the reference standard must be changed to reflect the feedback (e.g., the actor may agree to hold an image of being less friendly). positive discrepancies, where the individual is exceeding the reference standard (e.g., the actor is perceived as too friendly), the discrepancies might be corrected, tolerated, or incorporated into the reference standard depending on the situation (e.g., the actor may decide to be less friendly or may accept the image of being overly friendly). motivation for managing impressions can be understood as a function of perceived discrepancies between feedback received from the target and the reference goal (argyle, 1988; green & welsh, 1988). if individuals perceive that their image, is being properly conveyed to those around them, then there is no need for them to take any corrective actions. when their image is being improperly conveyed, they will make corrective adjustments through the use of impression management tactics in order to alleviate the discrepancies. for example, when students sense that they are not being viewed as competent by other students, they may start an in-class discussion on a topic with which they are familiar with the intent of displaying their competence. to them, selecting a familiar topic is preferable to starting a discussion that they are unfamiliar with, even though they could have benefited more by learning about a new topic. another way, they may decide to overly criticize a disliked topic. such action is considered hypercriticism, a type of verbal behavior, used in impression management (gibson & oberlander, 2008). depending on the context, individuals may select different targets and reference standards. in a classroom, desired impressions of students are typically influenced by peers and professors (edwards, 1992). a different impression maybe sought and emphasized towards students than professors. impression management is a prevalent and vital component of every day social life including the classroom (leary & kowalski, 1990). students may actively pursue their desired images when driven by the perceived discrepancy in the eyes of peers and professors (bozeman & kacmar, 1996; edwards, 1992). understanding students’ motivation to attain desired identities in a class should be an advantage for instructors looking to provide a more effective learning experience. next, we describe the research methodology and data analysis. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 72 published by scholink inc. 3. methodology the study was designed to include two cross-sectional self-report surveys. the first survey was conducted as a test pilot followed by a final survey, which details are described below. 3.1 test pilot design to identify what impressions are important for students, we first used an open-ended questionnaire pilot administered to 30 undergraduate sophomore students in the northeast of the united states (u.s.) for extra credit (see table 1). in an open ended questionnaire, they were asked to list the top five positive impressions they wanted for their peers and professors to have of them. we also inquired about the negative impressions they wanted to avoid projecting to their peers and professors. together, responses from the four types of questions were grouped on the basis of synonyms provided by the oxford dictionary shown in table 2. words that appeared most were used to anchor its category. two coders were involved in identifying the five initial categories. the top five categories for each question were selected for inquiry in the final survey. table 1. test pilot survey questions please answer the following questions for a pilot research survey on impression management in the classroom. 1. please list and rank the top 5 attributes that best reflect how important it is that your peers see you as. 2. please list and rank the top 5 attributes that best reflect how important it is that your professors see you as. 3. please list and rank the top 5 attributes that you are afraid of being perceived as by your peers. 4. please list and rank the top 5 attributes that you are afraid of being perceived as by your professors. table 2. test pilot: categorized impression attributes by word count, n=30 positive peer impressions (sought) positive professor impressions (sought) negative peer impressions (avoided) negative professor impression (avoided) intelligent: intelligent (7), smart (5), wise intelligent: intelligent (8), smart (5), analytical, knowledgeable, logical, wise dumb: dumb (12) dumb: dumb (8), careless (4), ignorant (2), illogical (2), unprofessional (2), foolish hard-working: hard-working (2), ambitious, conscientious, diligent, engaged, hard-working: hard-working (10), diligent (4), attentive (3), conscientious (3), lazy: lazy (10) lazy: lazy (13), tardy (2), slacker, not-working-hard www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 73 published by scholink inc. focused, motivated dedicated (2), eager-to-learn (2), focused (2) friendly: friendly (7), agreeable (3), outgoing (3), helpful (2), kind (2), approachable, caring, empathetic, easy-going, good-friend, nice, understanding friendly: friendly (3), kind (3), agreeable (2), communicative (2), nice (2), open (2), outgoing (2), caring, compassionate, extroverted, personable mean: mean (6), rude (5), aggressive (2), angry (2), abrasive, conceited, intimidating, nasty, unfriendly disrespectful: disrespectful (4), rude (3), mean (3), selfish (2), aggressive (2), disruptive (2), grumpy, moody, angry, abrasive, disagreeable, jaded reliable: reliable (8), loyal (5), responsible (1), trustworthy engaged: engaged (2), aware, contributor, interested, involved unreliable: unreliable (5), dishonest (4), disloyal (2), irresponsible (2), careless, flaky, irrational, liar, secretive, untrustworthy unreliable: unreliable (4), dishonest, disloyal, liar, unhelpful funny: funny (10) organized: organized (6) annonying: annoying (2), unprofessional (2), silly (2), lackadaisical, nuisance, weird unmotivated: unmotivated (4), uninterested (4), unengaged (3), bored (2), irresponsible (2), aloof, disorganized, unorganized, tired other other other other 3.2 final survey design based on the pilot, the final survey first listed the five top impressions and asked participants to rank the impressions in the order of importance, that is, how important it is that their peers or professors view them as the listed item. this process was repeated for the impressions that students most wanted to avoid. the second section of the survey asked participants to indicate how much energy and effort they were willing to exert in order to be perceived by peers and professors, as each of the listed items. again, we asked about impressions that participants desired to avoid. the level of effort exerted to attain or avoid these images was measured on a five point likert scale, with one being the least amount of effort and energy, and five being the most. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 74 published by scholink inc. 3.3 population for the final survey, we asked 239 students enrolled in marketing courses and participating in the marketing lab for extra credit. the racial background of respondents included 68% white, 14% asian, 12% hispanic and 6% other. 63% of the prospective participants were women. the average grade point average (gpa) was 3.42 out of 4.0 with standard deviation of 0.32. the following gpa distribution contained 13% students with less than 3.0; 19% between 3.1 and 3.3; 27% between 3.4 and 3.5; 29% between 3.6 and 3.7; and 12% above 3.8. 4. data analysis we first calculated the average rankings for all impressions displayed in table 3. we focused on analyzing the top two images per target group. for peers, students showed that they want to be perceived as reliable with an average rank of 2.53 and friendly with 2.68. for professors, students most valued being seen as hard-working which had an average rank of 1.93 and intelligent with a rank of 2.60. on the other hand, while they wanted to avoid being seen by peers as annoying with an average rank 2.35 and unreliable with 2.86, students revealed that they most wanted to avoid being perceived by professors as disrespectful with 2.13 and unmotivated with 2.86. we also used anova in spss to examine the association of gpa and gender with effort levels. specifically, 15 out of 20 items (five categories x four scenarios) measuring effort levels turned out to be statistically different (p<.10) among students gpa groups. in addition,14 out of 20 effort level response items were statistically different (p<.05) between men and women. table 3. students’ desired positive and negative impressions (by peers and professors, n=237) rank average (std. dev) 1 (lowest)-5 (highest) effort average (std. dev) 1 (lowest)-5 (highest) positive peer impressions reliable: 2.53 (1.30) reliable: 4.05 (1.12) friendly: 2.68 (1.41) friendly: 3.81 (1.18) intelligent: 3.06 (1.35) intelligent: 3.65 (1.13) hard-working: 3.22 (1.42) hard-working: 3.61 (1.23) funny: 3.51 (1.37) funny: 3.39 (1.27) positive professor impressions hard-working: 1.93 (1.15) hard-working: 4.26 (1.00) intelligent: 2.60 (1.27) intelligent: 4.10 (1.08) engaged: 2.79 (1.20) engaged: 3.97 (1.14) organized: 3.74 (1.15) organized: 3.56 (1.24) friendly: 3.94 (1.26) friendly: 3.40 (1.20) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 75 published by scholink inc. negative peer impressions annoying: 2.35 (1.34) unreliable: 3.97 (1.14) unreliable: 2.86 (1.22) annoying: 3.88 (1.23) dumb: 2.97 (1.39) dumb: 3.69 (1.23) mean: 3.03 (1.49) mean: 3.68 (1.31) lazy: 3.79 (1.23) lazy: 3.24 (1.32) negative professor impressions disrespectful: 2.13 (1.35) disrespectful: 4.35 (1.04) unmotivated: 2.86 (1.33) unmotivated: 4.11 (1.10) dumb: 3.07 (1.48) dumb: 4.01 (1.10) lazy: 3.28 (1.27) unreliable: 3.99 (1.06) unreliable: 3.66 (1.16) lazy: 3.86 (1.12) 5. findings a number of interesting findings can be drawn. intelligence or avoiding being seen as dumb not the top image that students are concerned with in the academic environment. hardworking turned out to be the top positive image for professors and reliability for peers. while the perception of being unreliable serves as the second most avoided negative image by average rank for peer targets, it is the least avoided negative image when targeting professors. avoiding being seen as unreliable by other peer students was more important than by professors. our instrument allowed us to examine the relationship between desired images and effort. we compared average ranking and effort level for the five impressions in each section shown in table 3. the results revealed on overall congruence in the average effort levels given to positive impressions and their average rank of desirability. both positive peer and professor impressions aligned: the impression with the highest rank was also given the highest average effort level. with the lowest average rank of 1.99 the hard-working image was also top ranked of all positive impressions toward professors and was given most effort with the average of 4.26. a slight misalignment occurred for negative impressions with the unreliable image targeting both peers and professors alike. with an average rank of 2.86, unreliability was the second most avoided image in the eyes of peers and jumped to number one as the top average effort of 3.98. interestingly, students showed top preference for not being seen as annoying according to the rank average but yet admitted to exerting most effort towards not being seen as unreliable. unreliability also moved up to the fourth spot over lazy in the top negative images projected towards professors with an average effort level of 3.99. the findings indicate that avoiding this particular image takes relatively more energy than other negative impressions. the overall trend toward an alignment between image desirability and effort suggests the more individuals want to attain an image the harder they will try to get it. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 76 published by scholink inc. on average students were willing to expend a greater amount of effort on managing the positive impressions presented to their professors than their peers based on an overall average effort of 3.70 toward peers and 3.86 toward professors. the same holds for managing negative impressions with 3.69 toward peers and 4.07 toward professors. in summary, students claimed to spend more energy on managing self-impressions when targeting professors than peers and exerted even more effort on avoiding making negative impressions in front of professors. lastly, gpa was positively related to the effort levels students devoted towards impression management suggesting that students with a higher gpa use more impression management than students with a lower gpa. gender was associated with effort such that women indicated a higher willingness to manage desired impressions in the school environment. 6. discussion & implication for practice the above findings leave us with a number of important implications for teaching and pedagogical research. evidence found in the alignment between average ranking of most items and effort (see table 3) suggests all selected images are actionable and embrace some form of effort. we compared values to students’ desired impressions by integrating value research (rokeach, 1968; braithwaite & law, 1985) which determined two types of values that people hold: instrumental (actively pursued) versus terminal values (static end-state). images that students yearn to project are primarily instrumental in nature. with the exception of intelligence, where one can argue that it carries a certain static or terminal quality, all other attributes are considered instrumental and imply an ongoing activity and effort as part of the image formation. finding for mostly instrumental value-type images among students enriches the motives aspects in the impression management research model (leary & kowalski, 1990) in the context of education. it also offers a practical application for management professors who can inquire about students’ instrumental values, which in turn can shed light into students’ self-presentation motives in class. 6.1 implications for practice overall, we entice faculty to consider impression management motives, goals, and effort levels in observing and supporting students’ interactions in a classroom. suggestions include creating a suitable environment for students to easily attain their desired image goals in order to lessen reliance on impression management tactics and thus enhance their overall experience in class. professors should design class activities that emphasize reliability among students especially in the first part of the semester when first impressions are formed. introductory group projects with small and easy interdependent activities that require students to be dependent on each other could foster a sense of mutual reliability. with regard to the peer impression of being friendly, team activities provide ample opportunities for students to display friendliness. however, caution should be exercised here. working on being seen as friendly may result in students exhibiting excessive agreeableness which has been positively associated with ingratiation tactics (bourdage, wiltshire, & lee, 2015). being too agreeable may hinder teammates www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 77 published by scholink inc. from discussing important controversial task-related issues and undermine ultimate group decisions. professors should design and grade group activities that allow students to display friendliness without jeopardizing group outcomes. on the other hand, professors should also teach students how to portray friendliness while being assertive in contributing on debatable issues. for example, negotiation exercises could be graded on both the end result and attained perception of friendliness. a study of supervisors and subordinates found that witnessing ingratiation can increase one’s positive perception of people involved (foulk & long, 2016; wayne, kacmar, & ferris, 1995). as such, faculty should be aware not to fall prey to this bias when observing students interacting with each other in class. we found that students mostly want to be perceived as hard-working by professors, even more so than as intelligent. therefore, in order to increase student experience and satisfaction, they should be given opportunities to demonstrate working ethics to professors. we suggest assigning relatively small and easy tasks in a way that faculty can notice and evaluate students not only on knowledge or correctness but also on their effort. in addition, one of the reasons students participate in extra credit assignments is to be recognized for their effort by professors (pynes, 2014). we recommend that extra credit participation should be studied as a viable impression management tactic aimed at cultivating students’ hard working image in the eyes of their professors. chiaburu, stoverink, li, and zhang (2013) found that extraverts engage more in citizenship behaviors when motived by impression management. students also may participate more in extra credit assignments when motivated to appear as hard-working. surprisingly, being annoying was the most rated attribute that students avoid in their interactions with peers. in other words, being sensitive to others and following acceptable social norms prevents one from being seen as annoying. in team projects, it is important to establish early on social norms of communication, goals, and expectations. team charters can be used to explicitly outline norm expectations for teammate interactions. professors should also emphasize cultural differences among students that can affect social norms, behaviors, and the perceptions of being annoying. lastly, the most avoided negative impression involves the lack of respect toward professors. students may not express their opinions or contradict professors when fearing to be regarded as disrespectful. for students who avoid disrespect above all other impressions, is imperative to explicitly encourage challenging knowledge-based arguments for the sake of learning. it is also important to have discussions in class about disrespect towards each other and how both groups attribute respect. 7. conclusion this study was designed with the intent of learning about impressions that are most valued by students, and the perceptions about themselves they fear most. we hope that the study would lead to a more effective teaching styles that align educational goals and criteria with desired student impressions. although the study has a number of limitations (i.e., self-reported data) it embarks on a new path of leveraging impression management for enhanced student social interactions and learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 78 published by scholink inc. references adkins, c. l., russell, c. j., & werbel, j. d. 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(2016). how and why do interviewers try to make impressions on applicants? journal of applied psychology, 101, 313-332. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000046 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 58 original paper academically achieving hmong american students in higher education mai s. lee 1 & nichole walsh 2* 1 higher education and administration leadership (heal) program, fresno state, fresno, usa 2 department of educational leadership, fresno state, fresno, usa * nichole walsh, department of educational leadership, fresno state, fresno, usa. orchid id: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1426-0551 received: november 2, 2020 accepted: november 18, 2020 online published: december 1, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p58 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p58 abstract as the largest asian-american ethnicity at one large public institution of higher education in california, undergraduate hmong students as a whole are falling behind other sub-groups in graduation rates. fortunately, a handful of hmong students do find their way through the challenges of their collegiate experiences to attain academic success. this study identified and connected with four high achieving undergraduate female hmong american students at the ihe to explore the factors for a successful academic experience counter-narrative. this qualitative asset-based in-depth, semi-structured virtual interview approach allowed discovery into unique and shared narratives regarding their academic achievements. verbatim transcript analyses in relation to the current literature on hmong american college students and the frameworks of the model minority myth, critical race theory, and microaggressions, illuminated important themes as considerations to cultivate increased undergraduate hmong american student academic achievement. these included aspects of recognizing the mismatch of traditional hmong cultural norms and the individualistic values of the u.s. ihe, supporting student self-advocacy, and increasing awareness of the hmong ethnicity as distinct from other asian groups to dismantle the harmful consequences of the model minority myth on hmong student success. keywords hmong students, higher education, interviews, model minority myth, social justice, academic success www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 59 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction learning to navigate the undergraduate years at an institution of higher education (ihe) is a challenge in itself, and not every student is privileged to have the needed support to succeed (supple, mccoy, & wang, 2010). this paper focuses on one such student ethnic subgroup—hmong american. at one large public ihe in california, hmong students make up 6% of the overall full-time first-time freshmen undergraduate student population, but only 3% of these students graduate within four years (takahashi & nottbohm, 2019). the reflection of performance by undergraduate hmong american students at the ihe served as a basis to start the conversation about how this ihe and others with similar student populations and needs can better support hmong students for social justice. additionally, one researcher, as hmong american, has deep personal interests in advocating for hmong students and families in the community, and the other researcher is a committed ally to the work. this study sought to delve deeper into the experiences of hmong students who, despite the odds, graduated or are on track for graduation in one ihe. these hmong student narratives surrounding their academic achievement are necessary to understand ways to counteract the negative published trends for this subgroup in order to attain an increase in educational attainment and in turn, socio-economic advancement. 1.1 hmong in the u.s. in order to better comprehend challenges faced by undergraduate hmong students enrolled in american ihes, it is essential first to provide the context of the hmong people in the u.s. during the vietnam war. the u.s. became involved in secret military operations in laos by backing local troops, made up of mostly hmong male civilians (yang, 2017), to fight against the pathet lao, an encroaching military communist group (her & buley-meissner, 2012) known now as the secret war. unfortunately, when the u.s. pulled out of the vietnam war, it also pulled its military support supplied to the hmong troops fighting on the u.s. behalf (yang, 2017). this left hmong troops and civilians vulnerable and desperate to escape out of laos. the hmong people fled across the mekong river into refugee camps in thailand (yang, 2017) and then immigrated to various parts of the world, including a large california settlement. 1.1.1 traditional hmong practices over the 40+ years in which a growing number of hmong have resided in the u.s., many traditional practices continue to maintain hmong culture. this includes the practice of animism, a belief in multiple souls working in conjunction for a balance of health, ancestor worship, and interconnectedness between living individuals and ancestors who have passed on (gerdner, 2012), and a firm patriarchal social structure (cha, 2010). the patriarchal practice places emphasis on the development and well-being of sons over daughters in large part due to carrying forward the clan name, whereas daughters will marry, drop their surname in favor of their husband’s, and become an outsider (cha, 2010). in alignment with a patriarchal society, gender roles are crucial to cultural practices as males are expected to complete heavy physical tasks and maintain spiritual practices, whereas females are taught to dutifully complete household chores and childcare (vang, 2013). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 60 published by scholink inc. 1.1.2 valuing u.s. education while working to maintain traditional practices in a new country, early refugee hmong families also pressed upon their children the value and importance of education (xiong & lam, 2013). the vast majority of hmong people led agrarian lifestyles in secluded areas of laos (gerdner, 2012), and while early immigrated hmong parents may not have understood the content of their children’s lessons, they demonstrated faith in the public schools to be an opportunity for children to grow and thrive (xiong & lam, 2013). the findings of xiong and lam (2013) note that this support continued through to college enrollment. likewise, vang’s (2015) interviews of hmong american students highlighted family support as reciprocal—students are motivated to achieve educational success to secure financial stability for themselves and their families. hmong parents, based on their lack of formal education, instilled in their children from an early age that gaining a higher education was a way to a better future (vang, 2015), and hmong students feel a sense of obligation to achieve academic success in order to repay their parents for the ongoing support (supple et al., 2010). 1.2 theoretical frameworks in conducting this research, three theoretical perspectives helped structure the study: model minority myth, critical race theory, and microaggressions. these theories provide better insight and understanding of the experiences of marginalized individuals in general. also, they structure the study by establishing a platform, or starting point, for which someone unfamiliar with hmong students’ experiences can begin to grasp the degree of challenges faced by this student population. 1.2.1 critical race theory critical race theory (crt) introduces the idea that perspectives surrounding our racial realities shape the way we make sense of how we see ourselves (schuh, jones, & torres, 2017). in a classroom setting, marginalized students can experience racial stereotypes and undue pressure to produce academic capabilities exceeding that of their non-marginalized peers, which negatively acts as evidence of their “belonging” in the white classroom space (quaye, griffin, & museus, 2019). as uncovered by depeow (2018), this is no different for hmong students in higher education. after intervention through crt training, the hmong students were able to comprehend the reason for being unfairly treated, resulting in feelings of not belonging in college, and navigated institutional systems to advocate for creating an equal and safe learning environment (depouw, 2018). as institutions of higher education recognize the presence of crt, they can help alleviate the pressure off minoritized groups to have to carve out a space in which they can feel a sense of belonging (quaye et al., 2019). 1.2.2 model minority myth one of the reasons why hmong students feel academically inadequate in comparison to their peers includes the pressure of having to live up to the model minority myth (mmm; her, 2014), which is applied universally that all asians are gifted above other minorities, and positioned as “foreigners” superior to black peers (poon et al., 2016). this unrealistic contrast between two minority racial groups further denies the unique existence and challenges faced by separate asian ethnicities, such as the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 61 published by scholink inc. hmong students in the case of this study, who had been overlooked in this ihe data until disaggregated (takahashi & nottbohm, 2019). when different asian ethnicities are merged into one general group, and high performing asian ethnicities overshadow the struggles of lower socio-economic status individuals, struggles can easily be disregarded—the cornerstone of the mmm (kim & lee, 2014). perceiving all individuals of asian descent as smart individuals who do not require academic support is how the model minority myth is inaccurately applied (her, 2014). inflicting the myth across all asian ethnicities suppresses the dire needs of individuals from lower-performing ethnicities whose voice is drowned out by the brilliant success of their asian peers. for example, disaggregated data enlarges the disparities between high performing asians (japanese, chinese, and koreans) with more financial resources and lower socio-economic asians (cambodian, laotian, vietnamese, and hmong) by casting a shadow on the needs of those living in poverty (her, 2014). it is hard enough for low achieving students to acknowledge their struggles and ask for help; added pressure in the form of this stereotype can suppress the voices of those who cannot live up to an unrealistic myth. 1.2.3 microaggressions the presence of subtle statements or acts made against marginalized groups is how microaggression exists in the higher educational setting across the larger campus culture and climate (schuh et al., 2017). the difficulty with addressing microaggression is that the remarks are not overt, and addressing them can cause fatigue for the victim. the level of fatigue per individual varies, but it can wear on the student enough to impact developmental and academic experiences (quaye et al., 2019). like other minority groups, hmong students have also experienced stigma brought on by their ethnicity through microaggressions (depouw, 2018). the experiences of these students align with the need for institutional engagement of students of color discussed by quaye et al. (2019), in which students of color reported feeling pressure to prove their academic capabilities meet, or exceed, the level of their white peers as evidence of them deserving a seat in the classroom and a place in higher education. proving one’s worth in higher education beyond that of academic merit creates another barrier for academic achievement of minorities, including hmong students. understanding crt, mmm, and microaggressions help center the study’s purpose and connect its importance to hmong students currently navigating the higher education field with less than successful odds. 1.3 literature review of hmong students in higher education though hmong american college students come to ihes with the assets of family culturally valuing education with emotional and financial support as afforded (xiong & lam, 2013; vang, 2015), the literature, albeit small compared to other bodies of ethnic and race studies in education, underscores perpetual low academic achievement for this student population (e.g., supple et al., 2010; xiong & lee, 2011; takahashi & nottbohm, 2019). the complexities surrounding these unsuccessful outcomes www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 62 published by scholink inc. illustrate a mismatch between traditional hmong family expectations and the dominant culture of ihes with little to no university support to meet their unique needs. 1.3.1 mismatched cultural expectations though hmong college students report recognizing and honoring their parents’ sacrifices in support of a continuing education, cultural tensions have also been noted (supple et al., 2010). these tensions created conflict rooted in a mismatch between the hmong parents’ cultural expectations around the communal society and the students’ shift toward the individualistic culture fostered at the ihes (supple et al., 2010). this is even more of a mismatch for female hmong students when considering the deeply rooted patriarchal structure of traditional hmong families (cha, 2010; her & gloria, 2016). the encouragement and support, or lack thereof, offered for a son versus a daughter to pursue higher education (cha, 2016) influences their children’s expectations to earn a postsecondary degree or not (her & gloria, 2016). a hmong woman’s relationship with their parents affects varying aspects of their lives, from selecting an academic field of study or college major, finding a significant other, and establishing individual values (peng & solheim, 2015). additionally, hmong women enrolled in college experiences highlight that gendered expectations to maintain the family household chores regardless of the additional external interests they take on. in this way, attending college is considered an outside interest, not perceived as a necessity (peng & solheim, 2015). whatever support or discouragements a hmong student receives due to traditional customs will affect academic performance regardless of the ihe context (xiong & lam, 2013). hmong men, however, also experience discord between the traditional hmong patriarchal roles and the academic expectations of the ihe. traditional practices are expected to be carried on by the males, whether or not attending school, causing rifts in the family (cha, 2010). in turn, this conflict between cultural expectations has negatively impacted academic satisfaction and performance for southeast asian american (seaa) students, including hmong (truong & miller, 2018). 1.3.2 lacking ihe support with additional pressures hmong students have reported difficulty navigating the ihes as a significant reason for academic struggles (xiong & lee, 2011; xiong & lam, 2015; kwan, 2015). xiong and lee (2011) found a lack of financial support and study time, along with poor study habits, as contributors to their academic woes. also included was the lack of interaction or availability of hmong staff or faculty with whom the hmong students could establish a professional connection (xiong & lee, 2011). additionally, xiong and lam (2013) found that hmong college students felt uncomfortable seeking academic counselors’ advice. as aligned with mmm theory, hmong students noted feeling worried that staff of other ethnicities would not understand their unique challenges because of generalized assumptions made about students of asian descent. furthermore, kwan’s (2015) study on hmong american college student responses to microaggressions in college classrooms found that respondents felt ashamed to identify as hmong due to experiences of being questioned about their ethnicity. respondents reported feeling both objectified when perceived by others as “exotic” and invisible due to the lack of hmong historical presence in their www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 63 published by scholink inc. academic studies (kwan, 2015). these harmful perpetuated beliefs of hmong and other seaa students need to be considered by institutional leaders to make impactful changes in support of these marginalized students towards academic success (xiong & lam, 2013). of course, it is not without hope. kwan’s (2015) study also found that hmong students who experienced more inclusive settings felt comfortable and welcomed to be themselves. xiong and lee’s (2011) study highlighted findings of campus spaces in which hmong american students felt supported for their academic journey. top supports included financial assistance, peer advising, and academic advising with someone who was informative about classes, new events, and career goals (xiong & lee, 2011). as revealed in the literature, there is no easy separation of home life and academic performance, particularly for hmong students navigating ihes. hmong students live with expectations from their parents that may not necessarily positively contribute to their navigation of the higher education system and what it requires of students to do well. furthermore, they are enduring external and internal pressures placed upon them through the model minority myth and microaggressions, which negatively impact their academic performance. on the other hand, there is hope for hmong student success with intentional supports with deepening and differentiating cultural understanding at ihes. 1.4 purpose of the research study this qualitative study explored successful undergraduate hmong students’ experiences using in-depth semi-structured interviews to discover unique characteristics and shared commonalities of this achieving group. the researchers aimed to uncover the degree the noted theoretical frameworks impacted the experiences of successful undergraduate hmong students and uncover perceptions on the ihe’s role in providing a welcoming space to freely share their challenges without fear of criticism due to their ethnicity. 1.5 research questions to better explore how these theories and contexts interact with academically achieving undergraduate hmong students at the research ihe, this study aimed to make connections between literature themes and the participants’ lived experiences to answer the following research questions: 1) what is unique about the collegiate experiences of academically high achieving undergraduate hmong students at one large public ihe in california? a. how do the experiences of achieving hmong students compare with that of their struggling hmong peers? 2) what factors are attributed to this student group‟s academic success? b. what contributing factors arise from on-campus and off-campus sources? 3) how are competing responsibilities as a successful hmong american college student managed to maintain balance for academic achievement? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 64 published by scholink inc. 2. method this qualitative study focused on narratives of lived experiences of high achieving hmong american college students to understand respective social practices allowing the researchers to make sense of the research topic. purposive sampling of these specific individuals using 45 to 60 min in-depth, semi-structured interviews uncovered themes from unique and shared experiences to find impactful ways supporting this student population to graduation at ihes. 2.1 participants and selection purposeful and snowball sampling (lochmiller & lester, 2018) were used to seek participants for this study. specific eligibility criteria were imposed (lochmiller & lester, 2018) to receive insight from hmong students demonstrating academic success in their undergraduate collegiate experiences thus far. the participants were selected from those enrolled at one large, public, four-year ihe with high undergraduate enrollment (indiana university center for postsecondary research, 2017). the ihe is designated as both a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) and asian american and native american pacific islander-serving institution (aanapisi) by the u.s. department of education (takahashi & nottbohm, 2019). the researchers intentionally permitted respondents to determine their own identity, academic level, and academic standing, not influencing whether they met the pre-determined eligibility criteria. the following sections describe the initial connection and invitation and the eligibility criteria for the eventual four in-depth, semi-structured interview participants. 2.1.1 connection and invitation due to the challenges of covid-19, much of the initial recruitment efforts for eligible participants consisted of emailing undergraduate instructors and hmong organization networks within the ihe. the direct researcher emails requested wide electronic distribution to enrolled students and contained information about the study, a survey link, and researcher contact information. when this yielded limited results, researchers personally contacted undergraduate instructors across the university. from there, as students responded to the determination pre-survey, those who were eligible and completed interviews were asked to connect other eligible hmong students to the researcher providing necessary contact information. 2.2 instruments 2.2.1 eligibility criteria and determination pre-survey participants were screened for eligibility using a voluntary self-report electronic interview determination pre-survey (lochmiller & lester, 2018). the 7-question self-report survey included informed consent, contact information, enrollment status, race/ethnicity, academic achievement, campus involvement, and willingness to participate in a later 45 to 60-minute virtual interview. the intent was to pre-identify matriculated, undergraduate achieving hmong students at the ihe who were currently enrolled with full-time status for the interviews. for purposes of this study, matriculation is defined as having gained admission into the institution as a degree-seeking student working toward earning a baccalaureate degree, and academic achievement is defined as holding a minimum 3.00 campus grade point average (gpa) to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 65 published by scholink inc. delimit transfer units based on experiences from a different ihe. those who met the eligibility criteria determined from this self-report pre-survey were invited to participate in a voluntary virtual interview. 2.2.2 in-depth, semi-structured interview eligible respondents were invited to participate in a 45 to 60 minute in-depth, one-on-one, semi-structured virtual interview. the semi-structured style afforded follow-up questions depending on the unique participant responses without compromising the study (lochmiller & lester, 2018). the virtual setting was necessary as the campus community was under mandatory stay-at-home orders per the california governor due to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. the hmong identifying researcher conducted the interviews to develop rapport in consideration of like-ethnicity (atkins & wallace, 2012), which also made the virtual format important to the design instead of phone interviews. the one-on-one style was also intentionally selected for increased confidentiality, and only the audio was recorded with consent for study purposes. the interview consisted of 7 main topical questions with five sub topic questions for a total of 12 structured researcher-developed questions overall. during the virtual interviews, respondents were asked a series of questions that explored their experiences as undergraduate hmong students at the ihe. the researcher permitted participants to respond in their own words and, when necessary, repeated a summary of the response to ensure full understanding was gained. follow-up probing style questions were used in the interview context, dependent upon the responses for further clarification and elaboration as needed. see table 1 below for specific question content. table 1. semi-structured interview questions number question 1 introduce yourself by stating your name and academic level and share what clubs and organizations you are currently involved in on-campus. 2 as of fall 2019, hmong students make up 5.8% (1, 239) of undergraduate students at [this ihe]. i want to share some data collected right here at [your ihe] regarding the retention, graduation, and persistence rate of undergraduate hmong students. let me draw your attention to the columns indicating the total graduation rates within four years (4%) and six years (39.4%). how do you feel about this data and its reflection of you and your hmong peers on this campus? 2a how does this data speak to what you have seen and experienced as a student here on campus? 3 you have self-reported that you currently hold above at least a 3.00 gpa. what campus services/resources do you feel have contributed to allowing you to achieve this? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 66 published by scholink inc. 3a how did you learn of these services, and how often do you use them? 3b is there a campus service you would like to see offered that is not already in existence? 4 what are your study habits, and how do you think those impacted your gpa? 5 what responsibilities do you hold outside of your coursework and extra-curricular activities? 5a how do you maintain a balance of your various competing responsibilities? 6 what challenges have you encountered specifically at this institution? 6a how have you addressed these challenges? if you didn’t, why not? 7 in your opinion, how can [your ihe] better serve undergraduate hmong students to help them remain in college and ultimately earn a bachelor’s degree? why? 2.4 researchers‟ roles the researchers recognize the importance of acknowledging their identities in relation to the study context. researcher one is an academically achieving female hmong-american with academic and professional connections to the research ihe. she has earned both a bachelor’s master’s degree from the ihe and is a current staff member. having been raised in the region and claiming hmong as an identifiable ethnicity also influenced the researcher’s impetus for this study. researcher two and principal investigator is a white female faculty member in the department of educational leadership with longevity in the region for over 25 years as a teenager, student, and working practitioner teaching and leading in local public schools. with her connections to the region, she is an ally working alongside diverse communities to support access and equity in education. these identities are openly acknowledged to enhance trustworthiness. 2.5 trustworthiness data collected from the survey were reviewed for eligibility only. once interview participants were selected and volunteers secured, all file information was permanently deleted from the secure cloud storage. with the participants’ permission, the virtual interviews were audio-recorded for later transcription. verbatim transcription was contracted through an online service to enhance credibility through in-depth data review and collection of exact quotes (lochmiller & lester, 2018). after successful transcription, they were stored in the external thumb drive, and password protected cloud storage. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 67 published by scholink inc. the researchers reviewed the verbatim transcripts for thematic analysis were reviewed using wellington’s (2015) first four stages—immersion, reflection, analysis, synthesis—to move analyses from general ideas to specific emergent themes by codes. this was first completed individually by researchers and then followed a collaborative review process using a coded spreadsheet for convergence and to mitigate cognitive shift for enhanced trustworthiness (lochmiller & lester, 2018). the collaborative coding and member checking process was also essential to mitigate potential cognitive biases due to the first researcher’s close connection to the participant identities, as noted in the previous subsection. on the other hand, the same researcher’s similar background to participants also strengthened rapport during the interview phase increasing dependability of the responses (atkins & wallace, 2012). the ways in which the past personal challenges for this researcher may or may not have been similar to that of the research participants were member checked by the second researcher with intentional effort put forth to understand the unique participant experiences and conduct the research based on information uncovered throughout the study. 3. result four eligible respondents from the predetermination survey were invited for the virtual one-on-one interviews and all accepted. no other participants from follow-up snowballing were found. the four participants were all academically achieving hmong females with gpas at or above 3.00, and their class levels were as follows: one freshman, one junior, and two seniors. each of the participants reported either previous or current involvement in an on-campus club, organization, or program. of the four participants, three different on-campus organizations were represented. 3.1 low first-time freshmen hmong student graduations rates not surprising respondents were shown data of first-time freshmen hmong students’ graduation, retention, and persistence rates. participants were asked to share their reaction to this data and whether it reflected their experiences and that of their hmong peers on campus. none of the respondents were surprised to learn of the low graduation and retention rates, and all expressed a need to increase the numbers for hmong peers. specifically, three out of four respondents connected the data directly to what they already knew of peers, friends, and family who dropped out of college. for example, one respondent said, “it does reflect, you know, the hmong community because i know a lot of...friends and family who drop out”. one respondent even made the connection to the number of high school friends who entered the same ihe at the same time, only to experience most of them drop out within the first two-years—“it is accurate because i did come into school with a lot of my peers from high school and a lot of them have not finished...less than 10 of my peers have finished”. 3.2 campus services and resources utilized for academic success when asked to share what campus services and resources were perceived to have supported the respondents’ ability to academically achieve at or above a 3.00 gpa, there was a common finding of regularly using campus services but did not illuminate one over another. responses ranged from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 68 published by scholink inc. attending a program entitled supplemental instruction—a peer-assisted program which connects current students with an “si leader” who has previously successfully passed that same course (learning center, 2018)—to the student health center, cross culture and gender center, career development center, and the student cupboard. only one of the four respondents mentioned attending a professor’s office hours as a contribution to academic success at the ihe. this particular respondent had previously attended an on-campus tutoring service but found it less personable than desired and preferred one-on-one faculty conversations to clarify academic content. they also added, “you don‟t have anyone necessarily holding your hand or, or encouraging you to...keep on going unless you have good mentors or good role models or good idols that you look up to or connect with”. 3.3 personal study habits highlighted as expected student roles when asked about their study habits, respondents reported a range of habits: completing assignments on time, doing homework as assigned, paying attention in class, taking notes, not procrastinating, setting study goals, and attending study groups. regarding how the respondents viewed these habits played a role in their academic achievement, each saw these habits to be part of what students are expected to do to learn. the responses emerged as nonchalant routines fit into their daily schedule—no more, no less. for example, one noted, “i just go home and just basically, like, do my readings, do my homework, and then just study before the exam. that‟s how it helps i guess”. another shared, “i just go over the materials with myself...i have to teach myself the subject, you know, if i can‟t teach myself then i don‟t actually fully understand”. a further respondent discussed working to avoid procrastination—a “typical thing people do” by “working on things earlier so [they] have more time”. the last respondent eluded to being an active learner in class selecting the style needed at the moment sharing, “sometimes i feel like i need to write it down. sometimes i feel like i just need to listen, but i try to make sense of it, in the class itself. that‟s really just it”. 3.4 family roles and job responsibilities create full schedules alongside school when respondents were asked to share their responsibilities outside of the classroom and campus environment, they all had full schedules, mostly devoted to family roles. three of the respondents reported living at home with their parents and siblings, sharing that their parents expected assistance with either caring for younger siblings, completing household chores, or helping with the family farm. one respondent shared, “there‟s a lot of responsibilities just being a hmong american who‟s also a woman...watching my younger siblings or cooking for them when i have time or cleaning up...a lot of the house duties”. similarly, another illustrated her expected family roles since she lives at home—“i have little siblings who are still in elementary school. i would take them to school...there are times when i have to pick them up from school, or cook for them or read, and help them do homework”. another respondent also shared that her weekends included helping her parents pack and sell their farm produce for all-day farmers markets in san francisco, about 3 hours from their home in the central valley. this respondent noted that she did not have much free time out of school and the weekday and weekend family responsibilities. “for me, i don‟t have weekends...i go and help my mom...and we don‟t get back [home www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 69 published by scholink inc. on sunday] until like 7:00 p.m.”. unlike the others, the last respondent focused on her part-time job as an elementary afterschool tutor as the largest challenge as a full-time student. she reported responsibilities outside of specified service hours to prepare for the following day explaining, “it‟s not one of those jobs where you get to go there, do your work, come back and don‟t have to think about it…you have to plan the next lesson, ...the next enrichment, ...what you need to print out for the students for the next day or the next week”. what each of these academically achieving full-time hmong females had in common were the roles and responsibilities taking up much of their time outside of school hours and studying. as reported by each participant, there was little free-time left for anything other than work, family expectations and school. 3.5 maintaining balance requires communication and setting priorities with the many roles and responsibilities expected of these respondents, understanding how they established a balance in their lives was necessary to understand since they also maintained a successful gpa. the respondents’ narratives illuminated the vital role of honest communication with family and friends while also prioritizing responsibilities. example answers included, “just being very honest with my parents…i‟m just hoping that you guys can be patient with me. you know, i can‟t just be there at the snap of a finger. which is what they were used to before i became even more busy with college”, and, “i know that family is a priority...sometimes it‟s very difficult to even balance things. you just gotta prioritize...…letting friends and my family know…i‟m going to do homework at this time please don‟t bother me”. another noted her mother’s role in supporting the balance, sharing what her mother would tell her: “if you want to do something then you will find the time for it”. thus, the respondent makes family a priority and strives to successfully tackle the school responsibilities she has decided to take on. the participants did not allude to any negative family conflicts due to these critical decisions in pursuit of academic success, as noted in the findings of supple et al. (2010). nothing was detailed regarding affected relationships, but instead, responses emphasized the importance of adequately managing time needed for their success across various responsibilities. 3.6 self-advocacy central to overcoming academic challenges respondents were asked to reflect on their collegiate experiences thus far and share any challenges they may have experienced, as well as how they overcome those challenges. the responses overwhelming pointed to self-advocacy as key for academic success. each respondent discussed the challenges of getting waitlisted for classes. one shared her way of self-advocating by working to get “priority registration...by helping a visually impaired student” in their classes. another shared, “i had to take another class at a different college to make sure that i stayed on track” to creatively advocate for their success. when asked how she learned of this route, the participant replied it was a method followed by many of her classmates. she later confirmed with an academic advisor that the transfer course would be acceptable, but no initial guidance was received from the advisor regarding how to remain on track with course requirements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 70 published by scholink inc. two participants also reported struggling with course enrollment but connected the difficulty with declaring a major. one shared, “i think my biggest challenge is probably deciding on a major and deciding on a career”. this respondent observed that the inability to select a major prohibited priority enrollment into courses, and “it is easy for a student to be lost as to what courses are required without a major”. the other explained that the lack of decision on a major had made her, and others like her, not sure what courses to enroll in after the first 2 years: “i feel like a lot of students come in undeclared and then when...it‟s time for them to declare their major, they just don‟t know. so they‟re just like, „i‟m not going to go to college [anymore] „cause i don‟t know what i want to do with it…‟ that‟s something i face and i have friends who face that”. this participant also knew to access her academic advisor to discuss the course requirements for a selected major and was then referred to the career development center to discuss potential careers. the student admitted never taking the extra steps to explore career options and went with a major at that point. unfortunately, now she feels stuck, sharing, “after exploring the types of careers that i can go into with my [decided] major, i still don‟t really want to pursue those careers”. in contrast to the other participants’ experiences, this individual did not self-advocate by taking steps to get assistance in learning the related career options with specific majors. the impact of this appears as dissatisfaction with prospective future careers linked to their decided major. ultimately, the decision not to self-advocate holds as much influence on a student’s experiences as does taking the self-directed initiative to seek out proper support. one response implied the culturally learned challenges of hmong people in general to self-advocate in the school setting, sharing, “hmong people, they still don‟t have that drive to join [organizations] or to talk about things [to learn about new ideas]. they just come to school and go home...they don‟t have that inside that makes them, openly think it‟s okay to ask for help, but it‟s just more like „i‟m going to go to school and then go home‟”. 3.7 serving undergraduate hmong students to reach graduation with increased awareness respondents were asked for their opinion of how the ihe could better serve its undergraduate hmong student population to assist them in earning a bachelor’s degree. three major themes arose from the responses: increasing awareness of hmong student population on campus; diversifying campus population with hmong faculty and staff; and, continuing to cultivate a welcoming campus environment for cultural traditions and events. increasing awareness of hmong student population on campus showed up in various ways, but centered on work to help faculty, staff, and students understand that hmong are unique from other asian cultures and that the ihe asian population is majority hmong american. it was also highlighted that awareness was needed, not just for others to understand, but for hmong students as well. first of all, they all were not interested in a great deal of singling out, and one shared explicitly, “i don‟t need any sort of, big o recognition and hey, „we need to have a whole movement and all this stuff for this specific population‟…but i think that if we can just have a little bit more...acknowledgment of, hey, this is a big portion of [this ihe], too”. another, with a similar sentiment, added, “maybe making [hmong] students more aware that, hey, you are an important segment of this school and you continuing your www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 71 published by scholink inc. education...does make an impact, and it does make a difference at [this ihe]”. a different response with similar feelings, as previously noted, also added how hmong students should become concretely aware the cultural differences between student expectations and hmong values. “i feel like the [hmong] community is not used to people being so goal-driven and trying to succeed for themselves. but i think it‟s a cycle that we can in a sense break and we can influence other hmong individuals that, hey you know, let‟s keep it up and let‟s continue on succeeding”. each of the responses indicated that a lacking component of the campus community was seeing and interacting with hmong american faculty or staff, the basis for the subtheme on how to serve hmong students more effectively: diversifying campus population with hmong faculty and staff. for example, one respondent noted the problem saying, “[hmong students] don‟t have a place where we can go and we can get to talk to another [hmong] faculty member...we don‟t have that”. the third subtheme was based on the reporting of the already welcoming ihe community in terms of celebrating diverse cultures and experiences. responses illustrated that the ihe should continue to cultivate a welcoming campus environment for cultural traditions and events in order to serve hmong students as well. statements included, for example, “[this ihe] is just a welcoming community, i feel it‟s the most important thing because once you feel welcomed, you also feel more comfortable doing things that you wouldn‟t do”. another response explained the context of what should continue highlighting a welcoming annual experience for hmong students. she shared, “like for example, when we do the, the [hmong] new year at [the ihe], right? it‟s just this is a really small thing we do [as hmong students], but it does make us feel welcome when people do come and watch us [for the celebration event]”. the participants all displayed signs of joy during their responses on feeling welcomed, seeming to stem from the power of the communal experience in a welcoming space for people of various backgrounds to connect. the major takeaway from these responses shows that even high achieving hmong students are not immune to the desire for a sense of belonging on campus. these students have managed to utilize their experiences and formulate ways to navigate the higher education field without the level of recognition on campus that other ethnic backgrounds receive. however, the institution would be remiss to consider these individual achievements as a win for the general undergraduate hmong student population knowing the current data on hmong students. 4. discussion after delving into the lived experiences of the eligible academically achieving hmong american undergraduate student study respondents, connections between the findings, the literature, and the theoretical frameworks were made in relation to the research question. the research questions guide the discussion. 1) what is unique about the collegiate experiences of academically high achieving undergraduate hmong students at one large public ihe in california? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 72 published by scholink inc. a. how do the experiences of achieving hmong students compare with that of their struggling hmong peers? 2) what factors are attributed to this student group‟s academic success? b. what contributing factors arise from on-campus and off-campus sources? 3) how are competing responsibilities as a successful hmong american college student managed to maintain balance for academic achievement? 4.1 what is unique about the collegiate experiences of academically high achieving undergraduate hmong students at one large public ihe in california? throughout the study, participants openly divulged their collegiate experiences with the researcher providing candid responses about their higher educational journey thus far as hmong american undergraduate female students. the study sought to explore unique aspects of this particular student population and their collegiate experiences since this population struggles to make it to graduation. the response findings show that these high achieving hmong american college students do not necessarily perceive their academic achievements as a remarkable feat. the uniqueness of this perception lies in the lack of knowledge about the sizable overall student population for which they hold a critical role. since these participants are attaining academic success despite the dismal overall undergraduate hmong students’ performance, one would expect that they are in a much better position to identify areas of contribution to their success. in comparison to their hmong peers who are struggling, these participants’ awareness mainly lies in their personal connection to friends or family members who have struggled in college. participants have observed peers’ challenges while making connections to their own; identifying mostly successful ways to manage their school and home responsibilities. respondents’ inability to fully recognize the significance of their achievements can be related to the critical race theory (crt). the theory revolves around the idea that an individual’s perception of their racial realities is influenced by surrounding perspectives (schuh et al., 2017). this was evident in the lack of knowledge about hmong students making up the largest undergraduate asian ethnicity at this ihe. furthermore, participants did recognize ways that hmong cultural values did not always align with that of the ihe expectations; however, they used communication and time management strategies to navigate the challenges without creating the negative family tension as illuminated in the work of supple et al., (2010). interestingly, these female hmong american students also did not highlight challenges stemming from their role as a female as found in the work of cha (2010) and her and gloria (2016). they were able to, through what seems like honest dialog with family and honoring their roles when available, respectfully negotiate a balance that worked for everyone in their households as well as feeling encouraged to continue with school regardless of their gendered cultural role. it was noted that there may be value in helping hmong students become aware of this narrative and learn practical ways to balance the challenges with respectful communication of needs at home while still honoring their family roles. this comes back to crt—when hmong american students understand perspectives www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 73 published by scholink inc. surrounding their racial and ethnic realities, it can help them make sense of how they see themselves (schuh et al., 2017). respondents saw this assist in preparing for the cultural negotiations and communication needed to achieve in school while also honoring their hmong family values. the respondents added that ihe has a shared responsibility in student achievement outcomes and should help faculty and staff understand more about the hmong student population to serve these students better. this would imply dismantling the mmm (her, 2014; kim & lee, 2014) in order to truly see and understand the hmong american students in the classroom space. 4.2 what factors are attributed to this study group‟s academic success? in exploring factors that attribute to the study participants’ academic success, it was found that academic success is a result of a combination of several different factors—which are not necessarily the same for every individual. this study illuminated various factors ranging from study habits to engagement with on-campus organizations as contributing to participants’ level of academic performance. the themes that arose from participant responses reflected a sense of self-awareness that engagement with on-campus clubs or organizations is something to maintain as an asset to completing their academic course loads. responses indicated the importance of prioritizing their academic, extra-curricular, and familial responsibilities to maintain balance, and self-advocating for personal academic goals if they, or other hmong students, were to achieve success in school. these narratives illustrate the cultural mismatch of the collective society in hmong culture and the individual achievement for success in the ihe; however, these participants, as previously noted, navigated this with their respective families through what seemed to be open communications. as with vang’s (2105) study findings, there was a shared understanding that these participants’ individual academic work was to ultimately benefit the family’s economic stability, aligning with the hmong cultural values in the shifted context of american schooling. this is not a stretch for current hmong american families when considering the history of the hmong people as refugees in the u.s. and the aforementioned parental desires for success in american schools for a secure future (xiong & lam, 2013). 4.2.1 what contributing factors arise from onand off-campus sources? in exploring specific on-campus and off-campus factors, participants provided specific campus resources, from one-on-one faculty consultation to student health and well-being services, perceived as having contributed to their academic success. however, these experiences indicated recognition of self-advocacy to reach out to the appropriate on-campus supports and find new opportunities if the previous support did not seem to help. one respondent also recognized that her lack of self-advocacy created new challenges for her moving forward in her major. furthermore, the participants illuminated the role a welcoming environment played in their success. this is congruent with the works of kwan (2015) regarding the power of inclusive settings for hmong student comfort and xiong and lee (2011) highlighting the importance of supportive and welcoming campus spaces for hmong american student success. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 74 published by scholink inc. the most notable contributing factor of off-campus support was family. three out of four narratives highlighted family responsibilities, but not once did participants report this as a hindrance. if anything, the responsibility to family was seen as a priority, and their part in contributing to the family was the focus. the role of family responsibility for these participants can be linked to familial-cultural support as a source of motivation as noted by vang (2015). 4.3 how are competing responsibilities managed to maintain a balance? each participant’s narrative highlighted ways they make time to ensure success for what they have decided to do outside of the household, without minimizing the role of family and work in their lives as hmong american women. beyond their academic responsibilities, participants reported family responsibilities that require their time and dedication or employment obligations that require them to prioritize and manage their time carefully. participants are having to spend their time fulfilling various additional commitments in addition to classwork and studies. not to mention, their campus involvement in student organizations adds more responsibilities on top of aca,demic and home obligations. in order to accomplish different tasks, participants have come up with different methods such as time management, prioritizing, and honestly expressing their needs to family and friends to advocate for their academic success. as discussed by xiong and lam (2013), the connection to familial-cultural support is evident in these students’ narratives. they showed an understanding that hard work is required to maintain the academic achievements they have gained through their parents’ support. the critical role of parental support and its impact on their academic achievements were also highlighted, and as xiong and lam (2013) reported, these hmong american students ensure they give back by contributing to the family unit. for example, seeing the value in sacrificing their weekends, as one shared, to help their parents and support their family’s livelihood demonstrates their deep understanding of time spent helping family does not have to come at the cost of their education. the participant responses unearthed an intricate understanding of hmong family roles and how those strong ties are, in actuality, an asset to their educational achievements. 4.4 limitations it is important to consider the results couched in the limitations of this study design and context of the data collection phase. first, the qualitative method framed in one-on-one interviews has strengths in understanding the unique human experiences specific to the study context; thus, the study results are not generalizable beyond this scope (lochmiller & lester, 2018). however, the rich experiences can provide considerations for those supporting academic achievement for students similar to these study participants in undergraduate settings. the second consideration is in reference to the small participant number and short timeline with which the study was conducted. shortly after the study received departmental human subject’s protection approval, covid-19 was declared a pandemic with immediate stay-at-home orders. the ihe made a mandatory pivot to virtual instruction and university-related interactions. personal connections to recruit www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 75 published by scholink inc. participants in classrooms or at student organization meetings were not an option. while the researchers used university and personal network connections to email and snowball recruitment information, as previously noted, interest in the predetermination survey was low. only nine students responded despite the instructors’ efforts to share with students. the confounding challenges covid-19 stay-at-home orders on student well-being due to job loss, shift to virtual learning, and family health is assumed to have greatly impacted willingness to add another responsibility to already difficult circumstances. not knowing the future timeline of the pandemic and the importance of moving this research topic forward, the study continued based on the narratives of the four eligible and willing participants to illuminate topics surrounding the research questions. 5. conclusion exploring the factors successful hmong american undergraduate students perceive as having impacted their academic achievements is a critical counter-narrative to understand in order to break the oppressive hmong drop-out cycle. an ihe that values student success must work towards equity for historically marginalized groups, particularly based on the landscape of students the ihe serves. student voice is the best way to ensure an institution provides a campus climate conducive to understanding the needs of students of color (quaye et al., 2019). in the case of this study, hmong american students make up the largest asian ethnicity at the ihe; however, the overall trends of academic underperformance for this student group demonstrate a need for greater intentional focus on equity. findings underscore that hmong american students are deeply aware of the overall lack of success for their population. to shift this narrative, these students need to also hear and celebrate, as the largest asian ethnic group on campus, the hmong student achievements. in this way, the study participants’ shed light on how hmong american undergraduate students can leverage successful strategies to make graduation a norm and not the exception. through recognition and sharing their academic achievements, these participants provided an essential contribution to the institution, and higher education as a whole. participants’ narratives and thoughts on what changes they wish to see based on their experiences served as a voice for the larger hmong student population at the ihe who require additional assistance to graduate. through these narratives, participants illuminated ways to educate hmong students of their presence and contribution to campus and ways to support staff, faculty, and the community to deepen the sense of belonging on campus. expecting the student population to recognize their performance level alone is not possible without the institution’s contribution. the institution must create a rich environment in which all its students can thrive, and crt provides a foundation in which the institution can reflect and focus on creating the needed space. specifically, for hmong american students, the ihe should invent ways to encourage and teach student self-advocacy for growth and development, especially understanding how this may be viewed as a counter-narrative of the collective cultural values. hmong students will require assistance to learn how to identify their needs and articulate them in a way that will allow for improved www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 76 published by scholink inc. collaboration with the institution and how that ultimately can create success for the hmong community. by addressing and improving the overall academic performance of this student population, families’ economic gain and stability can be a realized goal. beyond the institution, society can benefit from taking the time to listen and learn more about the participants of this research because they, too, are contributing members. like their peers, hmong students have a role in making society better for all, so their success and challenges are deeply intertwined with their ability to contribute. rather than view hmong students’ academic performance as insignificant, society should view this population’s acclamation as an extension of its membership. hmong students bring a uniquely layered sense of self, and the ihe should work to embrace the added value it brings to the university setting. some hmong american students may arrive on campus with a need to continue their self-discovery. in contrast, others arrive with social-emotional development based on previous lived experiences, which critically affect the college-age students who arrive on the university campus. lastly, ihe leaders need to know mmm’s negative impacts on students and their academic endeavors, particularly seaa, including hmong. an institution designed to provide space for gaining knowledge and growth should afford all its students the same opportunity, regardless of race or ethnicity. this should include rejecting the conceptions of student needs based on myths that do not accurately apply to all individuals who make up the larger group. instead, institutions need to take the time and learn about the struggles facing the various ethnic groups on its campus and address their needs accordingly. in doing this, institutions will see that the needs of struggling students, such as the hmong, are not the same as other asian ethnicities. therefore, to address their struggles institutions will need first to learn how the mmm does not apply to all asians; and then look further into how undergraduate hmong students can be supported. 5.1 future research these study responses were obtained from four undergraduate hmong students currently enrolled at one ihe and capture a small-scale account of experiences. additional future studies on this unique student population, with an increased number of participants, would allow for more analysis of student perceptions of campus support at other hmong serving institutions and will continue to add to this body of research. in particular, studies can explore the connection between specific current campus services, its utilization by the hmong american student population, and its impact on student academic performance. more insight into undergraduate hmong students would benefit the students, institutions, and similar communities as a whole. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 77 published by scholink inc. references atkins, l., & wallace, s. (2012). research methods in education: qualitative research in education. london: sage publications, ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473957602 cha, y. (2010). an introduction to hmong culture. jefferson, nc: mcfarland & company, inc. depouw, c. (2018). critical race theory and hmong american education. hmong studies journal, 19(1), 1-40. retrieved nov 25, 2020, from http://www.hmongstudies.org/depouwhsj19.pdf gerdner, l. (2012). shamanism: indications and use by older hmong americans with chronic illness. hmong studies journal, 13(1), 1-22. retrieved nov 25, 2020, from http://www.hmongstudies.org/gerdnerhsj13.pdf her, c. (2014). ready or not: the academic college readiness of southeast asian americans. multicultural perspectives, 16(1), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2014.872938 her, p., & gloria, a. m. (2016). kev txhawb siab: hmong parents’ educational encouragement of their undergraduate daughter/son. journal of family diversity in education, 2(2), 19-34. retrieved nov 25, 2020, from https://www.familydiversityeducation.com/index.php/fdec/article/view/68 indiana university center for postsecondary research. (2017). carnegie classification of institutions of higher education. retrieved nov 25, 2020, from https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=110556&start_page=oo kup.php kim, p., & lee, d. (2014). internalized model minority myth, asian values, and help seeking attitudes among asian american students. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 20(1), 98-106. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033351 kwan, y. y. (2015). microaggressions and hmong american students. bilingual research journal, 38(1), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2015.1017026 lochmiller, c. r., & lester, j. n. (2018). an introduction to educational research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. peng, s., & solheim, c. (2015). negotiating two cultures: hmong american college women’s experiences of being a daughter. hmong studies journal, 16, 1. retrieved nov 26, 2020, from http://www.hmongstudies.org/pengandsolheimhsj16.pdf poon, o., squire, d., kodama, c., byrd, a., chan, j., manzano, l., sara, f., & bishundat, d. (2016). a critical review of the model minority myth in selected literature on asian americans and pacific islanders in higher education. review of educational research, 86(2), 469-502. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315612205 quaye, s. j., griffin, k. a., & museus, s. d. (2019). engaging students of color. in s. j. quaye, s. r. harper, & s. l. pendakur (eds.), student engagement in higher education: theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations (pp. 15-35). new york, ny: routledge. schuh, j. h., jones, s. r., & torres, v. (eds.). (2017). student services: a handbook for the profession (6th ed.). san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473957602 https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2014.872938 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033351 https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2015.1017026 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315612205 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 78 published by scholink inc. supple, a. j., mccoy, s. z., & wang, y. (2010). parental influences on hmong university students’ success. hmong studies journal, 11, 1-37. retrieved nov 26, 2020, from http://www.hmongstudies.org/supplemccoywanghsj11.pdf takahashi, y., & nottbohm, a. (2019). the role of institutional data: a focus on hmong american student success. retrieved nov 26, 2020, from http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/documents/the%20role%20of%20institutional%20data% 20a%20focus%20on%20hmong%20american%20student%20success.pdf truong, n. n., & miller, m. j. (2018). family and social cognitive predictors of southeast asian american college students’ academic satisfaction. journal of career assessment, 26(3), 488-502. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717714543 vang, l. (2015). the impact of culture and acculturation on the academic achievement of hmong american college student (unpublished doctoral dissertation). california state university, fresno. retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/159922 vang, p. (2013). a phenomenological study of hmong women‟s experience with forced marriage in the hmong culture (unpublished master’s thesis). california state university, fresno. retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/105406 wellington, j. (2015). educational research: contemporary issues and practical approaches. new york: bloomsbury publishing. xiong, s., & lam, s. k. y. (2013). factors affecting the success of hmong college students in america. british journal of guidance & counselling, 41(2), 132-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2012.713909 xiong, s., & lee, s. (2011). hmong students in higher education and academic support programs. hmong studies journal, 12, 1-20. retrieved nov 26, 2020, from http://hmongstudies.org/xiongandleehsj12.pdf yang, k. (2017). the making of hmong america: forty years after the secret war. lanham, md: lexington books. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717714543 https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2012.713909 microsoft word grhe-v2n4-p129 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 129 original paper homotransphobia in brazil: from school to society enzo paulo dos santos ribeiro1 & marjorie bernardino2* 1 high school student (colégio gutenberg), mogi das cruzes, brazil 2 teacher at colégio gutenberg and researcher at university of mogi das cruzes, brazil * marjorie bernardino, teacher at colégio gutenberg and researcher at university of mogi das cruzes, brazil received: october 14, 2019 accepted: october 28, 2019 online published: december 4, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n4p129 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n4p129 abstract nowadays, it is evident the presence of patterns that impose heteronormativity, which increasingly increases the numbers of atrocities affected against the lgbtqi + community. recently the federal supreme court attributed the penalty of crime of racism to homophobia, but it is not enough only that laws are assigned. many cases have already been recorded, and despite the progress with the withdrawal of homosexuality from the list of who pathologies years ago; the prejudice towards different individuals of sexuality is rooted in the brazilian nation, which configures brazil as the 1st country in the ranking of lgbtfobia. starting from the brazilian framework, this scientific article seeks to retract from the uncertain origin of the homoaffective relationship, to the present time, and as it has faced several prejudices, from a society installed in standards that culminate to even in the deaths of several individuals in the community. starting from a bibliographic review in applied and exploratory research, we have the objective of identifying the ideological divergences present in citizenship and how these are influenced based on the sociological concept of socialization. it alludes succinctly the criminalization of homophobia and how it has been applied nowadays, the reason why there is still ignorance of a singular sexuality that is impassive to be placed in restrictive parameters. and we also emphasize the uprising of data of the gay group of bahia, which, through annual reports, expresses the atrocities affected by the lgbtqi + community. keywords heteronormativity, homophobia, homosexuality, lphobia www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 130 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction nowadays, it is notorious that homotransphobia is found in several sectors of brazilian society, in which this prejudice is rooted. thus, producing and intensifying its effects on brazilian social relations. prejudice this; based on the repudiation of behaviors contrary to the principles of heteronormativity; which is based on discriminatory precepts such as: machismo and sexism (silva, 2017). in the 21st century, the concept of sexuality is something of different forms of understanding, which results in various ways for its expression. for this issue, this possibility generates in some individuals’ fear/repulses, depending on their ideologies, beliefs, social cycle, etc. (torres, 2017). in view of the above, this article has the bias to demonstrate the brazilian reality regarding lgbtphobia, since every 19 hours in brazil, we have a murder case of a member of the lgbtqi + community, thus allocating the 1st place in the world ranking of crimes against sexual minorities. thus, this article seeks to clearly present the situation of the lgbtqi + community in brazil, in relation to its historical cultural formation, based on a theoretical basis, starting from a bibliographic review and evidencing percentage data collected from groups that host the lgbtqi + cause in the brazilian nation, performing a critical analysis of the data evidenced and the current situation in which the homo affective cause is found in brazil. 2. heteronormativity heteronormativity consists in the establishment of parameters of social frameworks, acting in a conciliated way to segregate individuals who do not fit the parameters imposed. the basic concept is binary logic, which understands that individuals should relate exclusively to the opposite sex, ignoring the existence of a characteristic sexuality of each individual and that it is impassive to be placed between parameters, since sexuality is an extremely broad concept, possible to obtain countless forms of expression of it. within homotransphobia there is a highlight to the one committed by straight men; since currently, there is the understanding that males should be expressed with virility, presenting “crude” characteristics, an unshakable emotional, which should not appreciate literatures or movies of great commotion and that their circle of friendships is sealed to relations with individuals from the lgbtqi + community, since the involvement with the environment would cause the individual to become a member of the same. in view of this, heteronormativity is something toxic, since it ultimately understands the different to its patterns as something abnormal, an aberration. although refutations affirm the return of social standardization, many still believe in them, which implies the need to fight them, since these measures are egocentric, prejudiced and anti-democratic. contextualizing in a historical way, the homoaffective relationship has its roots throughout all historical periods, even though there was not previously a concept formulated about it, because it was a practice considered an “evolution of sexuality”. in the ancient greek empires (500 a. c), it was titled “paiderastia”, a form of sexual intercourse between ephebos and older men. in the twentieth century, homosexuality in the army was a form of vigor, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 131 published by scholink inc. since they went to war to represent the state and to battle for their survival and that of their companion. when it comes to the religious realm, sodomy is focused; biblical term that emphasizes sexual perversity mainly in the sex. according to dourado (1967, p. 18) cited by gomes et al. (2015), the homoaffective relationship is judged by judeo-christian ancestry, since its composers judged sexual issues as necessary for procreation, thus condemned the practices homoaffective generating depreciation and persecution of homosexuals, succeeding directly in the occurrence of “homophobia” (aguinsky, ferreira, & rodrigues, 2013). 3. homophobia the term “homophobia” began to integrate the dictionaries into 1990, characterizing the rejection/hostility against individuals outside the patterns of heteronormativity. widely can be characterized as an irrational rejection; being homophobia (encompassing transphobia) nothing more than a segregationist ideology that creates a prejudiced/pejorative image of another as: abnormal to the majority social standards (borrillo, 2015). the practice of homophobia is based on irrational acts (fact denied by its practitioners), being a fallacy adopted by them, the accusation of mental disorders and psychological pathologies arranged by the members of the community, however in 1973 the association american psychiatry withdrew homosexuality from the list of psychic pathologies; in 1990 the who withdrew from the list of mental illnesses of the icd the “homosexuality” and began to relate the same to sexual orientation and the term as a prejudiced and in 1991 amnesty international now considers homophobic practices a violation of human rights, thus defending the free sexual option for any individual (koehler, 2014). starting from the position adopted by amnesty international, the concept of homophobia, initially tangent, according to (steans, 2013, pp. 1-2) cited by (terto, 2015), to the feminist movement, in which, as highlighted, the author j. ann ticker citing in his book “gendering world politics: issues and approaches in the post-cold war was” the women’s attempt to ascend into the social layer due to asymmetry between social and economic positions, composing several movements that fought for equality between genders in public policy claims. in the face of certain movements, an unremarkable margin was created, focused on the debates about masculinity, and the necessary “force” for the inclusion of the lgbtqi + context in contemporary society. 4. homotransphobia in social relations nowadays, it is notorious that homotransphobia has a direct influence on social relations, which is part of the concept of socialization. socializing is the act of inserting yourself or being inserted into a means of social coexistence, thus becoming a member of it. according to berger and luckmann (1973) cited by ribeiro et al. (2015) there are two types of socialization, the primary that is the first socialization to which all are submitted and the person responsible for the insertion of the individual in society. and it is on the part of those responsible and family, that children acquire the first concepts about “ugly” and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 132 published by scholink inc. “beautiful”, among others. within this socialization, the moral, religious and coexistence values are transmitted, and they are of paramount importance in the formation of ideologies judging the social environment in the individual. secondary socialization occurs when the child comes out of the home, a cycle of forms, usually similar to thoughts, then departing mainly to the student environment, in which they are influenced by different influences of the primary socialization in several individuals, being from a certain socialization that the individual starts to organize and select the primary values, together with the secondary and starts to form his own critical thinking (ribeiro et al., 2015). analyzing the direct influence that socialization exerts on the critical thinking of each individual, it is understood the importance of the family-school-student relationship, being defined as “natural alliance”, being the same responsible for the formation of citizens capable of living with the differences presented by each one. the school environment is one of the most conducive to hostilities regarding the segregation of sexual orientation, so it becomes of great importance the inhibition and alterity of segregationist and homophobic acts, in general, suitable for the school and the home of each individual, following precepts of respect for differences ethically. both strands must act in coalition, that is, in the absence/failure of one, the other must be ready to act (silva, 2017). 5. homotransphobia in the educational environment the brazilian educational environment was formulated based on presumptions of a set of values, norms and beliefs of apathetic characterization towards the other, since in archaic elaboration, the student environment was not formulated thinking about the differences in class, sexuality, etc. what framed, for the most part, a sexist, racist, homotransphobic and lastly axis, setting up a heteronormativity for gender norms, which are bases of “sexual dimorphism”. in a learning environment, heterosexism and homotransphobia act by establishing a regime of control of sexual conduct and of expressions of gender identities (junqueira, 2015). a concept formulated in 1982, is still valid for 37 years; homosexuality seen as a “contagious pathology” causes the exclusion of individuals from the social environment, since their approximation comprises an identification of others with their characteristics, thus reinforcing the decline of the lbgtqi + community for the standardized and biased view of society (souza, 2015). the concept of “contagious pathology” no longer belongs to the role of homosexuality, but when referring to transsexuality, it belongs as a psychiatric diagnosis, framed as “gender dysphoria”, according to the american society of psychiatry: diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. starting from a certain classification, such dimensioning is under discussion for resignification, starting from sociological, anthropological and other areas of knowledge (terto, 2015). in the socio-moral context, the various classifications for sexual orientation and gender identity became a form that was aligned to the subjects belonging to the movement, being understood by richard milskolci: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 133 published by scholink inc. “if in the years 1970 coming out of the closet “seemed necessary to fight the shame and build the homosexual movement, in the following decade, affirming the existence of a gay identity was important for the demand for state policies. from the decade of 1990, however, these two forms of the sexual politics of the past began to show their traps. leaving the closet was revealed not a choice, rather a privilege of those who have material and symbolic conditions for that. it was also noticeable that assuming a socially rejected sexual identity does not only bring advantages, much less for people in rigid and violent moral contexts” (miskolci, 2011, p. 50). according to the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization, it appears that brazil has around 40% of aggressions suffered by homosexuals in the school environment. it is known that bullying by homophobia causes the reduction of school attendance, early school leaving, besides causing adverse effects on the mental and psychological health of young people, increasing the rates of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders which affects directly in education, increasing the propensity of students to commit suicide in general ways. it is also worth mentioning that the episodes of homotransphobic bullying are mostly affected by students with school failure and with low school performance (almeida et al., 2016). “regarding the professionals, when they face the scenes of aggression against homosexuals, of quitting students because they were victims of aggression because they were homosexual, as well as the indifference of the school in the face of this situation, it is still frequent the trivialization of the fact on the part of the teachers, as perceived in the speech of one of these professionals who evaluates this situation in the following way: but it is nothing so serious not” (abramovay et al., 2004, p. 288). 6. homotransphobia in the labor market the labor market is composed of hierarchy relationships and the ideological positions of each company are based on them. fact is that each company has values, ways of acting, etc. and many of them act in a homotransphobic way, working segregationally and even abusive; harassing their employees in a moral and even physical way. certain forms of thought in combination with the hierarchical relationships of power, generate oppression and pre-judgement of individuals. it is evident the existence of pressures to the homotranssexual contractors, as targets (often unreachable), among various forms that cause the risk to their job vacancy, since many companies disregard the professional capacity for simply labeling as the main factor the heteronormative standards stipulated as majority (fonseca, 2014). “considering the brazilian context, a survey conducted in the gay parade of são paulo, in 2005, by carrara et al. (2006), obtained as a result that 16% of the 973 respondents already suffered discrimination at work or in employment. it is important to highlight that the majority group not selected for employment or dismissed because of their sexuality is the one composed by the transvesties and transsexuals (37.5%). next, we have the groups of homosexual men (14.7%) and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 134 published by scholink inc. homosexual women (14.0%). and lastly, bisexual women (2.1%)” (fonseca, 2014). these expressions are not restricted only to the corporate scope of the work environment itself, but also consist in the labor market, that is, in the selection of employees to their positions and forms of work, being of notorious expression the highlight of workers, homosexual men, for example; in branches that do not require so much strength, that is, with less labor, and they are highlights for professions such as: hairdressers, stylists, models, etc. (santos, 2016). 7. transsexuals: the pariahs of the brazilian society a theorization about transsexuals in the current society comprises a link (practically direct) regarding the brazilian social stratification, which acts by setting the status of dominating groups under dominated groups, thus mercantilizing life and regressing social relations; since inequalities weave to everyday social relations. a binary logic, as heteronormativity ultimately generates a “male culture” in the construction of thinking of social relations, leaving excluding ideologies contrary to the supremacy of this rule, thus composing a production disciplined by the judgment of value over the morally “good and correct”. trans people, we obtain an expository omission in governmental conducts regarding the contribution to transforming the obscure image seen in transsexuals, thus reinforcing stereotypes and the dissemination of ignorance (aguinsky et al., 2013). in the case of the transsexual population, it is important to emphasize its fragility, since it is composed mostly in the lower social classes of society, which is directly reflected in the rights granted to them in the system of justice, and security of brazil. from this, we can understand the comparison of the social position of brazilian transsexuals as pariahs due to their social marginalization (junqueira, 2015). it is still advisable to remember the positioning of silva (1993, p. 82), which imposes the conception of the trans identity in a social utopia based on ephemeral contact and the isolation of individuals with the truthfulness of the trans population, since it is understood to be linked to stereotypes encouraged in an ordinary way. starting from an analogy to silva, it is evident a disconnection between the identity of transvesties and transsexuals and what is identified by society, which can be noted in the form of treatment granted, as well as in the policies and affirmative actions aimed at these groups, since these individuals are not recognized based on their identity. in state perception, the same is conferred on the concept of cisgender, which implies that despite policies to sexual diversity, regarding respect, in order to mitigate prejudice/discriminatory behaviors, this aspect fails to measure in which he does not recognize and/or welcomes transsexuals/transvestites in a way with the gender to which they identify, while remaining a discriminatory character omit (aguinsky et al., 2013). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 135 published by scholink inc. 8. program: brazil without homophobia brazil has a public policy program aimed at lgbtqi + population, being created in 2004, through the secretariat of human rights of the presidency of the republic, owned its first national conference in 2008 and in 2013 launched the national system of combating lgbt violence and promoting rights. the brazil without homophobia program was only created due to the outbreak of aids in 1980, in the first instance, during the government of former president lula (2002-2006); but in minutes of the multiannual plan-ppa 2004-2007, the governmental sector would understand the allocation of funds for the adoption of protectionist measures to the lgbtq + movement, but the state is in an idle state and with a lack of responsibility in the execution of actions (irineu, 2014). currently the bsh has its responsibility for ngos of activism, which characterizes the absence of rights lgbtq +, being determined aspect a direct reflection of the mediocre provision of services that the state says guarantee, when in fact position itself in an omission manner (mello et al., 2010). the secretariat of state for human rights in coalition with the human rights program, in 2004, formulated a minute for the brazil without homophobia program to aim to promote lgbtq + citizenship, based on the similarity of the rights they deem to violence and homophobic discrimination. the main objective of the bsh is to implement the program’s strands in the tripartition of the public power, guaranteeing a policy that extends to the international scope the lgbtq + cause, since such a cause is suppressed in a relapsed way by executive power in the formulation of public policies (brasil, 2009, pp. 6-12). in the analysis of a given document, the bsh aims to: guide the construction of public policies for social inclusion and to combat inequalities for the lgbtq + community, since despite the absence of a legal code that decrees the death penalty to the community. the state understands how, even if involuntarily, heterosexuality as a practically unique strand for a healthy acceptance in society (brasil, 2009, p. 10). 9. brazilian social movements and the gay group of bahia from 1970 onwards the social movements against structural and systematic violence intensified, being one of its forerunners the movement of women, which demanded the creation of specialized police stations for women, which influenced the definition of the femicide crime. spending a few years, the anti-racism movement is also intensified, since on january 05, 1989, law no. 7716 is elaborated. the creation of the term “specific violence”, starting from 1990, intensified the homotranssexualmovements, with the creation of groups such as: “the lampião da esquina”, “triângulo rosa”, “grupo gay da bahia (the gay group of bahia)”, “atoba” among others. his expression began to conquer great representativeness, in which he imposed as achievements, rights: legalization of homo affective marriage, and even the promulgation of laws projects, for systemic combat to homotransphobia. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 136 published by scholink inc. “starting from 200 news collected from the newspaper clippings dossier maintained by the group 28 june, from rio de janeiro, carrara and vianna (2001) found 105 records of police occurrence on homicides of homosexuals, which resulted in 80 processes in justice”. of these, they analyzed 57. the results of the investigation were very important because-although not conclusive or statistically representative-for the first time it was possible to examine the hypothesis that the logic of “impunity” predominates in the criminal justice system when the victims are homosexuals (ramos & carrara, 2006). “the gay group of bahia”, the same was founded in 1980, by luiz mott, seeking the dissemination of a pragmatic militancy, attempting to conquer rights and the denunciation of violent acts with institutional registration by annual reports of usefulness public. in analogy to mott (2006) “where explicitly or indirectly, the motive of death was the homosexual condition of the victim” dossiers collected in 1990 newspapers indicate several cases of denunciation for violent crimes against homosexuals, in which the ggb acted in a way to reveal the reality on the subject. in brazil we have as the central station the murder of homosexual and theatrical director luiz antônio martinez correa, in rio de janeiro, in which newspapers began to use the phrase “homosexual murders” to negatively polemize a new character typological of crime, in which still several artists began to act as spokesmen of homosexuals with the aim of highlighting cases of little interest for police investigation (ramos & carrara, 2006). in the year 1992 appears in the media, the expression “homophobia”, presented in a matter of the newspaper o globo, dealing with “horror to the homosexual”, being in the second half of the years 90 released and disclosed statistical data, raised by ggb and grupo atobá, which evidence the growing increase in new cases of homosexual murders (lacerda, 2006). according to the increase in the number of atrocities affected by homo/transsexuals, the ggb began to disclose significantly reports that disclosed cases that would hurt all homosexuals and those who were advises to heteronormativity. however, such disclosure conveyed a sensationalist vision to the press, and that for them, the tragedies occasioned were results of the weaknesses of the community (ramos & carrara, 2006). another group of great expression as the media, is the group somos, which was initially called “nucleus of action for the rights of homosexuals”, possessed as first public act sending a protest letter to the union of journalists in which criticized the form as the press was targeting homosexuals. the relationship with the press did not occur only through criticism, but also to promote the ideals of homosexual militancy (ferreira & sagramento, 2019). according to louro (2003, p. 24): “more homosexuals are killed here than in the 13 countries of the east and africa where there is death penalty against the lgbts”. proportionally, transvesties and transsexuals are the most victimized: the risk of a “trans” being murdered is 14 times greater than a gay, and if we compare with the united states, the 144 brazilian transvesties murdered in 2016 in the face of the 21 american trans, brazilian women have 9 times more chance of violent death than north american trans. according to international agencies, more www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 137 published by scholink inc. than half of the world’s transsexuals’ homicides occur in brazil (michels, 2017). in brazil, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people between 15 and 29 years old, according to research published by the ministry of health. gays, lesbians and bisexuals, due to homophobia, have six times more chances of taking their own life, in relation to heterosexual people, with a 20% higher risk when living in environments hostile to their sexual orientation (michels, 2017). comparing the data collected in the year 2018 with those of 2017, a significant increase in the percentage of suicides occurred to the entire community was evidenced. this aspect becomes alarming in society, since the increase in the number of suicides is the result of heteronormative actions, which afflict from homophobic bullying, even physical aggressions. the cause of the deaths of lgbt + murders recorded in 2018 reflects the same trend of previous years, predominating the use of 124 firearms (29.5%), followed by 99 white piercing guns (23.6%) and 97 deaths caused by physical aggressions (23.1%): beatings, asphyxia, stoning, carbonized body, among others (michels, 2017). the suicide of lgbt persons, especially young people, should be qualified as potentialized by prejudice and discrimination by gender and gender. since 2016, the ggb has started to account for the increasing suicides. [...] of 26 suicides recorded in 2016, increased to 58 cases in 2017 and that last year rose to 100 (23.8%) of the documented cases, meaning an increase of 42% in relation to 2017 of voluntary deaths, accompanying the same national growth, registering brazil 11000 deaths in 2018, 31 cases per day. the global average worldwide of suicides among men is 5\100 thousand inhabitants and 8 among women. in brazil, the total rate is 6.3/100 thousand. while in the most developed countries it is used, above all, firearm to take life, in third world countries predominates the use of hanging and poisons (michels, 2017). crimes against sexual minorities are mostly caused during the night or in the early hours, in remote places or even in residences, thus making it difficult to identify the authors of the acts. in the few cases where there are witnesses, they refuse to testify, due to the lgbt prejudice. authorities of the law, manifest their homotransphobia ignoring certain crimes, denying many of the times without plausible justifications to their homophobic connotation (michels, 2017). the national association of transvesties and transgender has a planning in dossier in which it aims to denounce the omission of the state against the judgments of data of the atrocities affected, in which they ignore the alarming indices, and the very violence with which crimes occur, and as much as the federal government has imposed as a crime of racism homophobia, starting from a polarization of “culture war” as judged by the stf, it also ignores the research and denunciations made by institutions that fight for human rights and the lgbtqi + population; and do not promote actions to combat violence against the community (antra, 2018). it is not enough only that measures are imposed that will criminalize actions, should really be aware of the existence of differences, and how to live with the various forms of thoughts and conducts existing in the 21st century. homotransphobia exists, and it is recurrent in brazilian society and fighting it is a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 138 published by scholink inc. duty of any society that is entitled to be democratic, because there is no greater symbol of setback in the world than to die because of the prejudice of another individual. 10. discussion in view of all the bibliographic data highlighted in the course of this article, the understanding that despite the evolution during a turn of the century, the society began to improve technically and technologically, forgetting the roots of socialization, in which understanding the differences between several individuals living in society, has become more complicated than performing a programming of technological software of modern times. nowadays, it would not be cohesive to affirm that homotransphobia regressed in the brazilian nation, since in the analysis it only altered its way of being performed, since it was formerly taxed as a disease, according to the world health organization, currently the same it is still considered a psychic-mental disorder, according to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. the practice of homotransphobia only altered its form, but remains expressive in society, since the state, rather than condemning the acts of discriminatory practice, acts in a silent and often passive way. homotransphobia is something constituted since its primary socialization, an influence that often comes from the home in which the individual enters, other times it is a teaching acquired in its secondary socialization, expressed mostly in environment student, in which, often in an attempt to enter into a social cycle, the individual becomes “acquiring” discriminatory acts. homotransphobia, currently, is inserted in several scenarios, from the student environment, to the labor market, which causes extreme concern about brazilian critical thinking, since even the judiciary itself acts in a way silent facing the raise of various complaints and cases covering the lgbtqi + community. alluding to the creator of the gay group of bahia, one of the most expressive currently, luiz mott, positions himself in a simple and concrete way, about the eradication of homotransphobia, in which, part of precepts that should be taught since the primary socialization, which it consists in the sexual orientation, understanding and transmission of knowledge about human rights, among others, for example, the elaboration of laws aimed at lgbtqi +. brazil assumes the first ranking of homotransphobia, which does not make it more alarming than the other countries. the judgment by aversion to heteronormativity is a world expression, and unfortunately its combat still does not reach total efficacy, and with raise of the gay group of bahia, and several news, every 19 hours, a case of murder against lgbts is registered, which results in an average of 461 deaths per year. it is not only a direct death that haunts the community, but also the high rates of suicides, which is the second cause of death, being stimulated by several factors that are based on bullying and its aspects, even physical aggressions that cause not only physical damage, but often irreversible psychological impacts. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 4, 2019 139 published by scholink inc. an understanding of the historical past of the uncertain emergence of the homo affective relationship, with data demonstrated by sources such as ggb and an allusion of the current situation of the community in contemporaneity, was carried out, to support a prejudice that is rooted in brazil, and thus, in an attempt to demonstrate that while there is discrimination, while there is standardization to a feeling, the human being will be trying to standardize the human being, as well as program their technologies, but a standardized feeling will never be felt, so an understanding that the concept of heteronormativity, nowadays, is not a viable thing, since it presupposes the intellectual advancement of beings over time, a standardization of beings is nothing more than a time-lock so that we can progress, after all, as long as mankind does not understand the differences it possesses, it will never be able to really advance as civilization. references abramovay, m., cunha, a. l., & calaf, p. p. 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(2017). a diversidade sexual na educação e os direitos de cidadania lgbt na escola. autêntica. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 41 original paper research on promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students under the background of new liberal arts—a case study of educational technology sun yue 1 1 inner mongolia normal university, hohhot, china received: september 11, 2024 accepted: september 19, 2024 online published: october 16, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p41 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p41 abstract the spirit of scientists is the precious spiritual wealth accumulated by scientific and technological workers in the long-term scientific practice, and it is an important driving force to promote national development and progress. normal university students are the promising youth who forge ahead and also are the future educators, who are responsible for the inheritance and dissemination of knowledge and spiritual civilization. only by cultivating the spirit of scientists can normal university students promote the spirit of scientists better, which is profit for the younger generation to cultivate patriotic feelings and strengthen patriotic belief. it is also profit for cultivating the innovative and practical consciousness and gathering strength of enriching the people and strengthening the country. moreover, it is profit for stimulating the spirit of dedication and coordination of the students, gathering strength for realizing the chinese dream of national rejuvenation. only in this way can the spiritual connotation of scientists be sown more deeply and widely in people’s hearts. the new liberal arts initiates that colleges and universities should break barriers between disciplines, deepen interdisciplinary integration, and integrate into modern educational technology. normal colleges and universities should strengthen science education, improve the scientific literacy of normal university students constantly, promote the spirit of scientists throughout the whole process of education. they can break barriers between disciplines in the context of new liberal arts, so that normal university students establish ideals and beliefs, strengthen their convictions, and promote the spirit of scientists better. educational technology, as a normal major, is an emerging discipline that integrates contemporary educational science and information technology science. it contains both theory and technology and aims to improve learners’ information technology literacy and scientific literacy. advanced information technology is not only an important factor to promote the further development of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 42 published by scholink inc. humanities and social sciences, but also an important tool of spreading the spirit of scientists. similarly, the development of educational technology disciplines requires the support of the new liberal arts to avoid falling into the misunderstandings of technology-only theory and application-only theory. this paper takes educational technology, which is a typical interdisciplinary subject of arts and sciences, as an example to explore the path of integrating the spirit of scientists into normal university students’ spiritual blood under the background of new liberal arts. keywords new liberal arts, spirit of scientist, educational technology, interdisciplinary integration 1. introduction since the ministry of education proposed to comprehensively promote the “four news” construction of new engineering, new medicine, new agriculture, and new liberal arts in 2018, the new liberal arts has immediately attracted great attention from the educational and academic circles. on april 29, 2019, the “six excellences and one top-notch” plan 2.0 marked that the construction of new liberal arts and others entered into the policy implementation stage officially. the new liberal arts provides learners with comprehensive interdisciplinary learning. it has the general characteristics of humanities and social sciences, and at the same time shows some new characteristics, such as cross-integration and support of new technologies. promoting the spirit of scientists needs to depend on the new liberal arts. because it contains both humanities, social science and technology, besides the formation of science cannot be separated from two major traditions, namely the tradition of scholars and the tradition of craftsmen. in the context of the new liberal arts, it is more conducive to promote and cultivate the spirit of scientists, stimulate the innovative vitality of all kinds of talents, and integrate the spirit of scientists into the spiritual blood of normal university students. only in this way can we build a global talent highland more effectively. through the construction of new liberal arts, we can fertilize the soil of innovative culture and cultivate a new generation of people in the times who is full of the spirit of scientists. there is no doubt that under the background of new liberal arts, normal university students of educational technology major could promote the spirit of scientists better. the concept of realizing the connotative development of higher education was put forward in the 19th national congress of the communist party of china. as a practical application-oriented discipline major in china, the understanding and development of educational technology require a dual vision of “discipline” and “interdisciplinarity”. the train objective of educational technology major, which is a second-level discipline of pedagogy, consists of the cultivation of scientific literacy, technical literacy, and related spiritual connotations. therefore, taking educational technology major as an example, it is more typical to explore the path for normal university students to carry forward the spirit of scientists in the context of new liberal arts. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 43 published by scholink inc. 2. literature review zhou zongwei (1999) proposed that we should not only advocate technological innovation and pursue efficient modern education, but also pursue high-quality education which integrates humanistic thoughts, promotes each other, develops jointly, and reflects wisdom. we should also ensure the healthy development of education, embody the humanistic spirit and attach importance to humanistic care in educational thoughts. otherwise, we need to promote efficient and high-quality teaching by integrating modern technological means actively, and make educational technology and humanities integrated, so as to achieve a balanced development of science, technology and humanities. the report of the party’s 20th national congress clearly pointed out that education, science and technology, and human resources are the foundational and strategic pillars for building a modern socialist country in all respects. we will continue to give high priority to the development of education, build china’s self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and rely on talent to pioneer and to propel development. we will speed up work to build a strong educational system, greater scientific and technological strength, and a quality workforce. we will continue efforts to cultivate talents for the party and the country and comprehensively improve our ability to nurture talents at home. all this will see us producing first-class innovators. liu tiatian and li peiqin (2024) mentioned that the construction of a powerful country and talents training cannot be separated from spiritual support. the spirit of scientist is a valuable spiritual wealth formed by the majority of scientific and technological workers in the long-term scientific practice, which can encourage college students of new era to have confidence, determination and will to climb the scientific peak. ding yi (2024) believes that the spirit of scientist is the organic unity of scientific spirit and humanistic spirit. through the review of the academic history, it is not difficult to see that scholars have done a lot of researches on various dimensions of the new liberal arts, scientist spirit, and educational technology. however, under the background of the new liberal arts, there are few researches on promoting the spirit of scientist, especially those based on interdisciplinary research are relatively scarce. this paper attempts to take the new liberal arts as background, aiming mainly at promoting the spirit of scientists, by relying on the typical comprehensive discipline-educational technology as an example, to explore an effective path for normal university students to carry forward the spirit of scientists by using interdiscipline. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 44 published by scholink inc. 3. the purpose and significance of cultivating the spirit of scientist among normal university students in all historical periods of revolution, construction and reform, the communist party of china has always attached great importance to scientific and technological undertakings, focused on implementing the workforce development strategy, and created a good ecological environment for talents innovation. in may 2019, the opinions on further promoting the spirit of scientists and strengthening the construction of work style and study style, issued by the party central committee, demands to carry forward the spirit of scientists. the spirit of scientists, with “patriotism, innovation, truth-seeking, dedication, coordination and education” as its core, is the common wealth of the whole society. the connotation of the spirit of scientists embodies the chinese strength and chinese value, and supports the long-term development of china’s scientific and technological undertakings as our spiritual wealth and strength. promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is of great practical significance for carrying out the innovation-driven development strategy, implementing the fundamental task of moral education in colleges and universities, and training top-notch innovative talents to deal with the challenges from great power. figure 1. scientist spirit 3.1 promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is the fundamental requirement for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation. “the spirit of scientists is a valuable spiritual wealth accumulated by scientific and technological workers in long-term scientific practice”. this is an important speech made by general secretary xi jinping at the symposium for scientists in september 2020. the party and the state attach great importance to promoting and cultivating the spirit of scientists among normal university students. normal university students are future teachers who undertake the mission of cultivating talents for the party and the country. only by cultivating the spirit of scientists among normal university students can we promote it further, which is the fundamental requirement for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 45 published by scholink inc. 3.2 promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is an effective path to implement moral education promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is the party’s educational policy, an effective path to implement the fundamental task of moral education, and an important means to promote the development of education connotation of normal university students in the new era. the training goal of normal university students is closely connected with moral education. teaching and educating people is the mission of normal university students who need to constantly cultivate talents for motherland. the scientist spirit covers patriotism, innovation, truth-seeking, dedication, collaboration and education. integrating the systematic and profound spirit of scientists into the cultivation of normal school students can provide theoretical support and practical reference for the continuous and healthy promotion of education work and implement the fundamental task of moral education better. 3.3 promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is an important part of ideological and political education as a value and code of conduct, scientist spirit is an important content and method for implementing ideological and political education. the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation must rely on the development of advanced productive forces which is produced by science and technology. integrating the spirit of scientists into the ideological and political education of normal school students is conducive to cultivating students’ spiritual outlook of scaling great heights and forging ahead, strengthening their ideals and beliefs. integrating the scientist spirit into the ideological and political education of normal university students is conducive to cultivating students’ spirit of climbing the peak and forging ahead, firm ideals and beliefs, filling the gaps in the scientific field with practical actions, and delivering talents with firm beliefs, professional skills and practical ability for the development of advanced productive forces in modern society. 3.4 promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students is an important embodiment of socialist core values the socialist core values are the core, the highly condensed and concentrated expression of the socialist core value system. we should cultivate and practice the core socialist values. focusing on cultivating a new generation of people in the new era who are capable of shouldering the great task of national rejuvenation, we should strengthen educational guidance, practice cultivation, and institutional guarantees. we should integrate the core socialist values into all aspects of social development by producing its effect of national education, the creation of spiritual civilization, and the creation, production and dissemination of spiritual and cultural products, thus turn it to people’s emotional identity and behavior habits. the patriotism, dedication, truth-seeking, collaboration, innovation and education of scientists spirit are also important manifestations of socialist core values. promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students, in other words, is practice of the core socialist www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 46 published by scholink inc. values. 4. the paths and methods the key of educational technology is education and technology. as a secondary discipline of pedagogy, educational technology takes technology as a tool and has a unique theoretical knowledge system in the cultivation of professional talents. it is an interdiscipline which studies educational technology phenomena and their rules. in recent years, with the launch of the “education informatization 2.0 action plan” and the deep impact of emerging technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence on educational practice and innovation, new changes have been promoted in the training direction of educational technology talents. on the one hand, we pay attention to training the theoretical research level of disciplinary talents under the guidance of new media, new technology, new ideas and new method. on the other hand, we pay attention to training the practical innovation ability of disciplinary talents. the development and talents training of education technology should be in keep with the goal of the construction of new liberal arts. meanwhile, relying on advanced means of science and technology and information technology, education technology focuses on the cultivation of the scientists spirit of normal university students. therefore, taking education technology major as an example, this paper explores the paths and methods of promoting the scientist spirit of normal university students from multiple dimensions. 4.1 a triple integrated model of constructing humanistic consciousness, strengthening practical application and strengthening spiritual construction the integration of technology and education is an important part of the construction of new liberal arts. the goal of cultivation of education technology students in normal universities is adhered to moral education, devote to cultivate talents who serves for the cause of socialist modernization and promote the development of education. therefore, the spirit of scientist among normal university students should be promoted from three dimensions—humanistic consciousness, technical practice and spiritual connotation, to build a triple overlapping mode and deeply root the scientist spirit in an all-round way. 4.2 innovating educational methods to promote the spirit of scientists among normal university students, we should focus on innovating theoretical education methods, deepening their understanding of the main connotation of the scientists spirit, and consolidating the theoretical basis for integrating the spirit of scientists into the education of normal university students. teaching design, which is the core course of educational technology major, can find a breakthrough point for promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students, select the teaching content carefully, and integrate the teaching content better. through teaching media and scientific teaching methods, we can transmit the knowledge point of the scientists spirit, enhance its emotional identification, and promote it better. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 47 published by scholink inc. 4.3 establishing multiple evaluation mechanisms to promote the integration of the scientist spirit into the training of normal university students, it is necessary to establish a multiple evaluation mechanism, of which the evaluation should integrate the spiritual characteristics of the scientist spirit. the evaluation of promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students directly affects the results the integration of the spirit of scientists into students. education technology pays attention to the exploration and implementation of evaluation mechanism. therefore, we can establish multiple evaluation mechanisms, fully integrate process evaluation and summative evaluation, formulate targeted evaluation scale, and examine from multiple dimensions such as summary, practice, theory and application. thus, it will be helpful for forming an effective evaluation mechanism and even incentive mechanism, guiding normal university students to cultivate and promote the spirit of scientists deeply. 4.4 using information technology means to open up the education position for normal university students to promote the spirit of scientists the extensive use of information technology has become an important factor to promote the further development of humanities and social sciences. educational technology, which is based on information technology, makes full use of the progress of modern science and technology to promote the development of itself and the modernization of education. it is a necessary way to carry forward the spirit of scientists by using information technology means to create an educational position in line with the characteristics of contemporary normal university students. 5. result the spirit of scientists is the crystallization which is formed in the growth of several generations of scientists and the practice of scientific and technological development of china, and is a concentrated reflection of chinese excellent traditional culture and the spirit of the era of reform and opening up. carrying forward the scientist spirit is an important way for promote colleges and universities’ moral education, cultivate contemporary talents, adapt to the development of the new era and the all-round development of young people. it will be helpful for promoting the development of science and technology in our country, advancing the country’s modernization process, and cultivate new people of the times for the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation. in the context of the new liberal arts, it is of great significance and era connotation for normal school to promote the inheritance and development of the spirit of scientists and cultivate new people of the times with the spirit of scientists. only by building the triple fusion mode of constructing humanistic consciousness, strengthening practical application and strengthening spiritual construction, innovating educational methods, establishing multiple evaluation mechanisms, and using information technology means to open up the education position, can we better promote the spirit of scientists among normal university students under the background of new liberal arts. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 48 published by scholink inc. acknowledgments we acknowledge the support of our various colleagues of the college of education, for their grateful comments and insights in improving the paper. this research work was supported by the tenth batch of teaching research project of inner mongolia normal university “research on promoting the spirit of scientists among normal university students under the background of new liberal arts—a case study of educational technology” (grant no2023sxjszx23906). references chen, l., & wang, l. n. (2017). three major issues in the development of education informatization in the wisdom era. modern distance education research, 2017(6). liao, r. k. (2022). empowerment and transmutation: educational technology in the context of new liberal arts construction. china modern educational equipment, 14, 59-61. liu, t. t., & li, p. q. (2024). analysis on the ingratiation of the scientist spirit into college students’ ideological and political education. journal of shaoxing university of arts and sciences, 44(06), 25-33. xi jinping. (2022). hold high the great banner of socialism with chinese characteristics and work together for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. people’s daily (2022.10.26). zhou, z. w. (n.d.). humanistic reflection on educational technology. audio-visual education research. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 40 original paper research on blended teaching mode of engineering economy based on obe concept xiaoyi liu 1 , yunjiao zhuang 1 & qixiang miao 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: january 8, 2025 accepted: january 17, 2025 online published: january 21, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p40 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p40 abstract the blended learning model focuses on the organic combination of online and offline teaching overcoming the drawbacks of traditional teaching models that only focus on teaching. this paper explains the blended learning models based on the goal of efficient classroom and student-centered teaching. based on the obe concept, this paper elaborates on the ideas and measures of curriculum construction from the aspects of setting teaching objectives, optimizing teaching content, innovating teaching modes, and improving evaluation methods. this research can be applied to other professional courses in universities, providing reference for university teachers to carry out blended teaching reform. keywords blended teaching mode, outcome-based education (obe) concept, engineering economy 1. introduction engineering economy is an interdisciplinary course that combines engineering technology and economics. it includes conducting economic analysis and evaluation of engineering construction or technical activities. its main purpose is to correctly evaluate the effectiveness of engineering projects in order to seek the best combination of technology and economy. its principles can be combined with various engineering disciplines to form various branches of engineering economics. this course is gradually formed with the development of science and technology and the construction engineering industry. it is a course that conducts economic evaluation and analysis of construction engineering policies and technical solutions, emphasizing the application of basic principles and methods in engineering economics to construction and management decision-making. it is closely related to national development strategies, economic and social development policies, and major project decision-making. there are many connotation elements related to value guidance and ideological and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 41 published by scholink inc. moral education. many engineering majors in universities offer this course, which is a core course for the engineering cost and engineering management majors at the school of civil engineering, qingdao city university. the teaching mode of this course has mainly adopted offline methods since its establishment, but the offline teaching method mainly has the following shortcomings: 1) engineering economy is used to study the economic laws and problems in the field of engineering. however, due to the large number of theoretical formulas and close connection with mathematics, many students have difficulty to learning the course and feel bored in actively learning. 2) the traditional indoctrination based teaching model generally consists of several steps such as lectures, example questions, assignments, and exams. the teacher’s lectures are the main focus instead of connecting with actual projects. the students passively receive knowledge and cannot deeply understand the entire process of engineering economic analysis problems, nor do they master the overall economic concepts of the project. 3) the current teaching evaluation mainly focuses on the assessment of students’ academic performance, which is composed of final exam scores and regular grades. the main purpose is to test whether the knowledge taught is accepted by the students. under this exam based system, most students review and memorize knowledge points before exams. this assessment method is not conducive to achieving the teaching objectives of the course and is not conducive to the systematic evaluation of teaching. with the trend of teaching mode transformation and the rapid development of internet technology in recent years, the engineering economy teaching team of the school of civil engineering of qingdao city university has carried out the reform and practice of the online and offline hybrid teaching mode based on the teaching concept of obe and students-oriented teaching method. 2. course objectives based on obe concept outcome based education (obe) is an educational model based on learning outcomes, emphasizing reverse design. its core philosophy is student-centered, output oriented, and continuous improvement, evaluating teaching design and objectives based on learning outcomes. taking “learning” as the center and students as the main body, starting from the demand for talents in today’s society, schools and teachers are required to first clarify learning outcomes, cooperating with diverse and flexible personalized learning requirements, enabling students to achieve self-realization through the learning process, and then using feedback on the results to improve the original curriculum teaching. at present, the obe concept has been widely recognized in the education sector and is also an inevitable trend for future curriculum reform in universities. the courses objectives are formulated based on the educational requirements and graduation requirements of professional innovation and entrepreneurship ability, as well as the ability to solve complex engineering problems, and based on the requirements of employers for talent knowledge www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 42 published by scholink inc. system and practical ability, and drawing on the same curriculum training objectives and teacher-student suggestions of similar universities. the course is required to support graduation requirements in three aspects: engineering knowledge, design solutions, and research. when the course is completed, the students should have a grasp of subject specific knowledge, subject teaching knowledge, and lifelong learning awareness. the teaching syllabus should further clarify specific teaching content, teaching requirements, teaching hours, achievement methods, etc., reflecting support for the course objectives and enhancing the high-level and challenging nature of the course (table 1). table 1. relationship between course objectives and graduation requirements graduation requirements course objectives engineering knowledge: the students should systematically understand the theoretical foundations of mathematics, natural sciences, computing, and engineering science and apply them to the formulation of engineering problems in this professional field objective 1: by studying the overall framework of engineering economics, students are able to explain the overall content and basic ideas of engineering economics, and establish a thinking framework for engineering economy. objective 2: by studying the basic concepts and indicators of engineering economics, students are able to describe the fundamental theories and methods of engineering economics and apply them to pre project decision-making. design solutions: the students should compare and select solutions based on specific structural systems, management techniques, and methods, and complete the formation of solutions objective 3: the students should understand basic economic and management knowledge, and possess comprehensive qualities and abilities for operating and managing in a market economy. objective 4: the students should objective the indicators and methods of project economic evaluation, project funding, project feasibility study, etc., and be able to conduct fair, objective, reasonable, and accurate analysis and evaluation of the project. research: the students should investigate and analyze solutions to complex engineering problems based on scientific principles, through literature research or related methods objective 5: this course is to cultivate students’ economic awareness, so that they can possess economic literacy and awareness. the students should be able to use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the economic value of engineering projects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 43 published by scholink inc. 3. construction of the blended online and offline teaching mode 3.1 optimizing teaching content this course adopts the case (or question) approach for teaching design, selecting teaching methods and designing teaching activities based on teaching objectives and content. the course is mainly divided into three stages: self-study before class; discussion and exploration during class; and deepening and expanding after class. before class, the teacher releases a learning task list, and students complete online learning and testing. in class, the teacher uses a flipped classroom to understand the students’ mastery of knowledge, further answers difficult questions, and then enters the new lesson learning, discussion, and interactive activities. after class, the teacher summarizes the course and uses a learning task list to encourage students to expand their learning. in order to enhance their practical and innovative abilities, the teacher can also guide students to write project proposals. 3.2 reforming teaching methods to truly utilize the blended learning model, the first step is to build a suitable teaching platform. the “xuexi tong” smart platform has been popularized due to its comprehensive functions. under the conditions of uneven class learning conditions and limited teaching hours, traditional offline teaching cannot enable each student to complete personalized pre class preparation. by uploading the talent training plan and curriculum outline of the major to the learning platform in advance, the students can understand the content they are learning. before each class, the principle, operation process, and cutting-edge development of the engineering economy will be released in a task driven form, providing a comprehensive introduction to the operation, operation, and mixed use of the technology with other technologies. students can verify their preview results through pre class testing and group discussions. in the classroom, as teachers have already understood students’ preview situation through online teaching, they can consolidate the knowledge points they have already mastered through flipped classroom format. for difficult knowledge points, case study and situational game methods are used to explain, and functions such as barrage, voting, submission, and word cloud are synchronously activated. after the explanation is completed, students are grouped to start brainstorming. after class, students can connect online and offline at will. while completing resource push, students can independently conduct post class checks, complete assignments pre assigned by teachers, or design a section to upload relevant data or videos. using online platforms as learning platforms, students can learn independently without being limited by time and location, and can listen to teachers’ lectures anytime and anywhere. 3.3 multivariate assessment and evaluation system the assessment and evaluation system of a course is the most concerned point for students, and it is also an aspect that teachers should focus on planning and designing. this course adopts a diversified assessment and evaluation system. the total grade of the course consists of class performance, group tasks, periodic tests, and final assessment (table 2). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 44 published by scholink inc. table 2. student performance assessment no. assessment task description course objectives percentage（%） 1 class performance organizing student grades based on the interaction and communication with teachers in the classroom, as well as the interaction data on the “xuexi tong” platform 1、2、3、 4 10 2 group tasks students are divided into groups to analyze various engineering economy cases, and their grades are evaluated based on the completion of group achievements and individual performance 2、3、4、 5 10 3 daily assignments after each chapter, appropriate thinking and calculation questions are assigned, and grades are evaluated based on the completion and accuracy of the assignments 1、2、3、 4、5 10 4 periodic tests two stage tests will be conducted in total, with a score of 100 points each time. the final average score will be taken 1、2、3、 4 20 5 final assessment conducting a comprehensive assessment of the learned content in the form of a test, and evaluating the grades based on completion and quality 1、2、3、 4、5 50 4. the outcome of the blended online and offline teaching mode following the principles of obe, we practice a “learning centered” approach in all aspects of teaching and construct a blended learning model (figure 1), achieving an organic combination of teaching and learning. through the teaching reform of engineering economics courses, a hybrid teaching mode of online and offline has been basically constructed and applied in practical teaching. most students believe that after implementing the curriculum teaching reform, students’ participation has greatly increased, and their focus during class has significantly improved. as the main body of teaching, they participate in the teaching process and organically integrate the comprehensive application ability of engineering economics into the teaching evaluation of the course. as a result, students’ ability to solve complex problems has significantly improved. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 45 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusion obe, as an advanced educational concept, is the direction of higher education reform. in order to improve the quality of teaching, teachers of engineering economics courses should actively promote educational reform under the guidance of obe education philosophy, clarify course objectives, put students at the center, adhere to the combination of knowledge imparting and value guidance, integrate multiple teaching methods, construct a blended online and offline teaching mode, expand the time and space of teaching and learning, enhance the depth of student learning, and continuously improve the quality of talent cultivation. the case course is student-centered, goal oriented, and guided. the thematic discussion section encourages students to think divergently, actively search for literature, increase their sense of participation, engage in exploratory learning, exercise innovative thinking, and facilitate deep learning and improve learning outcomes. this teaching activity design has certain reference value for the teaching design of other blended courses, and has certain promotability and replicability. references amena, k., rumana, s. m., & fahmida, f. m. (2024). outcome-based education (obe): an empirical analysis of the challenges in implementing obe to improve quality education. asian journal of education and social studies, (12), 119-133. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2024/v50i121680 chen, x. r. (2024). research on blended teaching mode: a case study of floristry. plant diseases and pests, (1). li, l. f., & shi, j. w. (2022). research on the design and practice path of online and offline blended teaching mode in colleges from the perspective of ideological and political curriculum. international journal of new developments in education, (14). miao, z. (2024). exploration and research on online and offline blended teaching mode of practical class courses. contemporary education and teaching research, (5). https://doi.org/10.61360/bonicetr242016230502 o’sullivan, o. e., leitao, s., harney, s., abdalla, m. e., & o’donoghue, k. (2025). introducing outcome-based education in obstetrics and gynaecology training: perspectives of trainees and trainers. european journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology, 6-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2025.01.003 zhou, s. t. (2024). research on blended teaching mode of higher vocational computer education under the background of information technology. journal of contemporary educational research, (8), 70-75. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v8i8.7983 https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2024/v50i121680 https://doi.org/10.61360/bonicetr242016230502 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2025.01.003 https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v8i8.7983 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 48 original paper international perspectives of strategic team and player development in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football contexts harry t. hubball 1* & jorge díaz-cidoncha garcía 2 1 faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada 2 fédération internationale de football association (fifa), zurich, switzerland * harry t. hubball, harry.hubball@ubc.ca received: january 12, 2021 accepted: january 21, 2021 online published: february 8, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n1p48 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p48 abstract despite the significant growth of amateur/grassroots over-60s (60+) small-sided football in diverse indoor and outdoor settings around the world, scant attention has been afforded to related research, coach education, and strategic team and player development initiatives within these unique seniors‘ football contexts. drawing upon case study methodology using multiple-case design, this paper examines whether and how strategic team and player development (stpd) initiatives are implemented in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football coaching contexts. data suggest there is substantial interest among players and coaches for age-appropriate stpd initiatives, which require organization-specific support structures and integrated, progressive, and evidence-based activities customised for the unique needs and competitive circumstances of players/participants. stpd initiatives can significantly enrich participant experiences and maximize program outcomes such as player and team skills and sustained participation. stpd initiatives in these contexts are still in the early stages, both theoretically and practically. while there are many challenges and areas for improvement, strategic organizational support including a commitment to customised football coach education can be the basis for implementing stpd in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football contexts. key challenges and implications for customised football coach education are discussed. keywords amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football communities, game-based learning, strategic team and player development, coach inquiry, customised coach education www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 49 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction as the population has aged, growth of seniors’ participation in a wide range of age-specific (e.g., 55+, 60+, 70+ years of age) amateur/grassroots football programs, leagues, and tournaments for different levels of ability in various formats has occurred on a global scale. seniors’ (predominantly men’s) participation in traditional community-based 11-a-side (11v11) football competition tends to fall off dramatically from the age of early to mid-50s; thus, this growth is predominantly in seniors’ (including men’s, women’s, and mixed/co-ed) participation in customised amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football programs and related competition in local, regional, and international settings (corepal, zhang, grover, hubball, & ashe, 2020; hubball & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2020b). 60+ participants are a unique target group for participation in amateur/grassroots small-sided football for reasons including:  seniors are typically a priority public health population. some countries have identified their 60+ citizens as a priority population for strategic national health goals and support in order to reduce public spending (e.g., for chronic physical disease, mental health issues, and social needs), as well as help their 60+ citizens improve their well-being and active life years (blatter & dvorak, 2014; qatar ministry of public health, 2020; krustrup & associates, 2018);  seniors are typically significant learners and contributors. given their stage of life, 60+ participants are more likely to have the inclination, time, and resources to develop and improve specific team and/or individual football skills, as well as to volunteer and contribute their experience within their football communities. furthermore, sustained participation by 60+ players can inspire other potential participants, as well as younger age groups within their football clubs and organizations (baker, fraser-thomas, dionigi, & horton, 2010);  on a mass scale, the 60+ age group is a relatively new biological age frontier for participation in competitive team football (fifa, 2020b). 60+ participants have significant age-related needs and circumstances for participation in amateur/grassroots small-sided football, which presents a compelling rationale for research and coach education in this field. interdisciplinary sports science research pertaining to seniors’ participation in competitive team sports has addressed physiological (e.g., ageing and fitness for sport, injury prevention, cardiovascular health, strength conditioning, and flexibility), psychological (e.g., theories of motivation, group dynamics, exercise adherence, mental skills, and mental health), sociocultural (e.g., social, cultural, political, economic, and historical participation issues), and educational considerations (e.g., game-based learning, coach education, strategic coach inquiry, program development, and impact assessment). findings from such research provide considerable insight to key influences and cutting-edge strategies that shape and enhance team and player development for 60+ participants. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 50 published by scholink inc. figure 1. spectrum of amateur/grassroots seniors’ football formats customised amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football formats include 3-a-side, 4-a-side, 5-a-side, and 6-a-side futsal and walking football. play may be indoor or outdoor; use modified laws of the game (e.g., without goalkeepers and/or with customised pitch sizes and goal posts); and occur at various, or even overlapping, levels of competition including recreational (e.g., informal community-based “drop-in” games with mixed teams to enhance health and wellness), intermediate (e.g., structured team games and coaching to enhance skills), and advanced (e.g., select masters team tournaments at regional, national, and international settings for high performance competition). the specific benefit of small-sided games for ageing players is that they 1) promote physical fitness while requiring significantly shorter running distances, thus reducing the impact on lower body skeletal and muscular systems; 2) include multiple game breaks and shorter game durations to prevent excess fatigue; 3) involve more dynamic box-to-box football action, including greater goal scoring opportunities and defensive situations; 4) provide more touches with the ball and therefore enhance skill development; and, 5) place more emphasis on team effectiveness and decision-making for fast turnover team defence and team offence transitions (dellal, lago-penas, wong, & chamari, 2011; fifa, 2015; hubball, franks, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018; skoradal et al., 2018). despite significant growth of seniors’ small-sided football competition, scant research attention has been afforded to strategic team and player development (stpd) initiatives within these unique contexts. in addition to the intrinsic joy of playing amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football, stpd in these settings has the potential to enrich participant experiences and maximise participation outcomes (ford & whelan, 2016). grounded in interdisciplinary research, coaching experiences, and case study methodology using multiple-case design, this paper provides a conceptual framework and examines stpd initiatives in amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football. 1.1 theoretical underpinnings for strategic team and player development team and player development is a familiar core concept for coaches; however, it is far from clear whether and how it is enacted in amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football settings. traditional approaches focus on various aspects of technical, tactical, mental, physical, and interpersonal skills training (fifa, 2012; ford & whelan, 2016). for example, traditional technical skills training www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 51 published by scholink inc. activities include ball control, passing, shooting, heading, and tackling; tactical skills training activities include assessment of individual, team, and opposition strengths and weaknesses, as well as particular positional cues and aligned movement responses in order to gain advantage during team offence (with the ball) and team defence (without the ball) situations such as transitions, “open” and “set-piece” plays; mental skills training activities include goal setting, visualization, positive self-talk, and game arousal management; physical skills training activities include aerobic and anaerobic exercise, strength conditioning, and flexibility; and interpersonal skills training activities include cooperative, constructive and positive contributions to team building, group dynamics and intra-squad communications, team roles and responsibilities, and team game plan and debrief sessions. a strategic approach to team and player development in amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football builds on these traditional training activities. however, stpd in this context is dependent on organizational support structures (e.g., program outcome expectations, allocation of resources, and coaching supports) and requires systematic implementation of integrated, progressive, and evidence-based initiatives customised to the unique needs and competitive circumstances of senior players (hubball & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2020a). evidence-based practice here involves situating specific amateur/grassroots coaching programs and initiatives within the relevant research and professional literature; focusing on organization-specific priority coach inquiry objectives; employing appropriately aligned research methodology and ethical inquiry; systematically collecting and analyzing qualitative and/or quantitative data; and disseminating best practices (allison, 2016; hubball & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2020a). qualitative data sources can include relevant team documents (e.g., player recruitment and team selection criteria, sequential game plans, and team debrief meeting minutes); focus group interviews (e.g., of club staff and/or players) in either face-to-face venues or using online videoconference platforms; team performance video recordings and vignettes; formative and summative player feedback surveys; and/ or coaching observations and field notes (cresswell & poth, 2018). in contrast, quantitative data might include team effectiveness ratings; performance analysis variables including effective team defence and offence transitions; and/or physiological measures such as aerobic capacity, anaerobic threshold, heart rate recovery, step counts, and percentage body fat. diverse perspectives of stpd are shaped by macro, meso, and micro context-specific frameworks. these include cultural (e.g., consider brazilian versus german versus chinese versus australian perspectives), football association guidelines (e.g., fifa, national, and regional), strategic organizational priorities (e.g., public health, sports performance, and coach education), and coaching (i.e., signature methods) considerations. for example, fifa (2012, pp. 131-141), the world governing body for football, provides program development guidelines designed to support grassroots football development in specific populations, which include assessment of the local situation, analysis of football needs, medium and long-term planning aims, stages of implementation, and objectives to be achieved. implementing stpd in amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football programs is far from a simple and linear process and involves multiple situational factors. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 52 published by scholink inc. the conceptual framework in figure 2 has been adapted and applied to stpd initiatives for recreational, intermediate, and advanced-level amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football teams. specifically, this integrated framework guides coaches to implement progressive and evidence-based initiatives that are focused on game-based learning experiences and are customised to the unique needs and competitive circumstances of their 60+ small-sided football players/participants. figure 2. framework for strategic team and player development coaching context (cc) strategies. grounded in evidence-based practice and a comprehensive team needs assessment, cc takes into account key organizational and political structures that shape the implementation of stpd initiatives. these include the club/organization’s mission, goals, priorities, leadership personnel, coach education supports, and program budget allocations; access to available club/team facilities and resources; and relevant competition factors such as level/standard, format/rules, player recruitment, and player/team experience (baker & nunes, 2003; fifa, 2012; hubball, & díaz-cidoncha garcía, 2020b; hubball & lopes, 2019; webb, gainey, hill, christensen, & hubball, 2020). these cc factors frame all stpd strategies. team cohesion (tc) strategies. tc attends to small-sided team building processes (hubball, reddy, sweeney, & kauppinen 2018; tuckman & jensen, 1977) and principles of effective teamwork such as positive team dynamics, interpersonal communications, cooperation, mutual support, determination to succeed especially in the face of adversity, and leadership. for example, team practice sessions might include evidence-based team meetings to discuss team goals, game plans, and debriefs, as well as relevant online activity such as team video analysis. team defence (td) strategies. td attends to basic principles of team defence such as delay, depth, balance, communication/support, and composure/discipline/concentration. delay refers to a team’s ability to disrupt and prevent the opposition from moving the ball forward quickly. depth refers to a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 53 published by scholink inc. team’s staggered formation (neither too deep nor too shallow) to prevent an effective opposition attack. balance refers to a team’s formation to provide defensive strength all over the field, while primarily defending the immediate threat posed by the opposing team. composure/discipline/concentration refers to a team’s ability to maintain an effective team shape with anticipation and readiness for changing offence/defence game circumstances (fifa, 2015; hubball & lopes, 2019). team offence (to) strategies. to attends to basic principles of team offence such as penetration, communication, support options, width, mobility, and creativity. for example, penetration refers to a team’s ability to effectively advance directly toward and/or strike on the opposition’s goal. width refers to a team’s ability to provide options across the width of the field for passing and advancing toward an opposition’s goal. mobility refers to a team’s ability to respond with various options to changing game situations and to make rapid transitions for passing and advancing toward the opposition goal (fifa, 2015; hubball, franks, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018; hubball & reddy, 2015). aligned player development (apd) strategies. framed by unique cc, tc, td, and to factors, player development is situated within a team context and goes far beyond generic or isolated fitness and ball skills activities. rather, strategically-aligned player development, including tactical, technical, mental, physical, and interpersonal skills training, is customised for individual players with particular team role-positions in order to maximize their unique contributions toward tc, td, and to (franks, lilley, hubball, & franks, 2019; hubball, dumbrille, & reid, 2010). strategic coach inquiry. this is a flexible and rigorous approach to practitioner research and is particularly useful for amateur/grassroots coaches, often with limited resources, to implement evidence-based cc, tc, td, to, and apd strategies. strategic coach inquiry invites coaches and team leaders to consider which stpd issues are a priority for improvement, how to engage key stakeholders in the process, what data to gather, when and how to collect and analyze these data, how to initiate positive changes to stpd practices, and, finally, to consider how evidence-based findings might be of interest to the broader coaching community. figure 2 provides valuable insight to key influences and cutting-edge strategies to enhance stpd in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football contexts. furthermore, it provides coaches with a reflective diagnostic tool to assess strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements to their current stpd practices. extension activities for stpd include the customised design (using context-specific adaptations, scale, scope, and collaboration) and implementation of intra-squad/group, local, regional, and international tournament/festival competition practices (hubball, reddy, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). grounded in coaching experiences, and drawing upon interdisciplinary research using case study methodology with multiple-case design, this study addressed the research question “to what extent are stpd initiatves implemented in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football contexts”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 54 published by scholink inc. 2. methodology 2.1 case study research using multiple-case design case study research is a systematic in-depth inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life practice context (pearson, albon, & hubball, 2015). case study research methodology internalizes theory and practice by drawing on a wide range of contextually-bound data and engaging with key personnel. accordingly, researchers in this study included the chairperson of the amateur/grassroots 60+ international masters small-sided football world cup, and fifa’s manager for amateur/grassroots and youth football. multiple-case design refers to case study research in which several instrumental bounded cases are selected to understand the similarities and differences between the cases, and to develop a richer and more in-depth understanding of the phenomena than a single case can provide (yin, 2017). thus, case study research using multiple-case design is highly generative in nature and is particularly well-suited to examine whether and how stpd initiatives were implemented over an eighteen-month period (2019-2020) at a purposeful sample of innovative and long-standing amateur/grassroots 60+ football organizations and clubs in canada, usa, england, wales, guernsey, jersey, germany, belgium, denmark, hong kong, singapore, gibraltar, spain, oman, qatar, australia, and new zealand. specific prompts for this inquiry included:  how does the coaching context, with its particular features such as geographic region, organizational structure, strategic objectives, and allocation of resources, shape stpd initiatives? for example: o how is stpd in 60+ small-sided football understood, interpreted, organised, delivered, experienced, and/or institutionalised? o what are the most common best practices and challenges for implementing stpd initiatives? o how can stpd be better supported in these settings? 2.2 data collection integral to this inquiry, a purposeful sample of contextually-bound program data were gathered from the following:  invited on-site coaching sessions, interactive research presentations, and team observations at national/regional football associations and local clubs.  meetings and focus group interviews. mixed focus groups (including coach leaders, administrators, participating players, and football scholars) with members ranging from five to eight stakeholders per locality met in either face-to-face venues or by using online video conference platforms, ranging from two to three sessions in total over a 1-month period.  relevant team documentation pertaining to stpd (e.g., team/program website information, football format, team performance video recordings, participant numbers, team awards, and available organizational team resources). these data were supplemented with longitudinal data from 2001 to 2020 pertaining to participation trends, evolutionary team changes, innovations, challenges, team performance/awards, research contributions, and long-term impact of stpd initiatives in the inter ubc masters small-sided soccer academy program at the university of british columbia, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 55 published by scholink inc. vancouver, canada. qualitative data sources were analyzed using the constant comparative method through categorization, and finally to thematization (coe, waring, hedges, & arthur, 2017). next, member checking was utilized to establish major themes and data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions pertaining to whether and how stpd initiatives were implemented. the use of iterative and multiple data sources established the trustworthiness of the research findings through triangulation. 3. results the integrated conceptual framework shown in figure 2 was applied to collate a wide range of data for this study. each iterative component (cc, tc, td, and to) of the framework was an integral factor for analysing whether and how stpd initiatives were implemented in each setting studied. coaching context (cc) strategies. coaches employed multiple cc strategies focused on three key, inter-related factors to enhance stpd: a) responding to organizational/club needs assessments; b) evidence-based coaching practices; and, c) strategic participant/player recruitment.  examples of responding to organizational/club needs assessment included: a coach’s tacit knowledge of the strategic purpose and vision of their coaching programs/initiatives; how to maximise available organizational/club resources such as facilities, funding, and connections; the motives, ability levels, and expectations of their participants/players; best stpd practices from within the organization, as well as ways to adapt stpd practices from similar programs (e.g., via searching the internet for football association guidelines and club websites and inquiring through word-of-mouth professional networks).  examples of evidence-based coaching practices that focused on stpd included: analysis of integrated and progressive game-based sessions in 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, walking football, and “set-piece” situations for their 60+ players that focused on effective team cohesion, team defence, team offence, or aligned player development skills training.  examples of strategic participant/player recruitment activity, with attention to specific age category, gender, and/or ability-level, included coaches’ contacts with local social media; local veterans football league; national/regional physical education association; workplaces and their retirees, such as former airline staff; embassy and government staff alumni organizations; police, firefighters, and armed forces alumni; former professional players; former club coaches; local football and futsal club alumni; university faculty and student alumni; community/private sports or fitness centre leaders; and ex-pats or guest players visiting from other countries. team cohesion (tc) strategies. based on particular team needs and circumstances, such as level of play (e.g., recreational, developmental, or advanced), coaches employed a range of tc strategies to foster social interaction and progressive team building. social activities were designed to connect 60+ players/participants in frequent and meaningful ways. these included communication through social www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 56 published by scholink inc. media, online and face-to-face meetings, email, and phone calls, as well as social gatherings prior to or following football sessions that often included refreshments. progressive team building activities, such as mixed team selections for internal squad practice games and participation in local, regional, and international tournaments/festivals, tended to be strategically designed to provide variety and/or challenge in order to sustain participation or for effective team preparation for an upcoming competition. for example, in an amateur/grassroots 55-65+ masters-level small-sided soccer academy program held in vancouver, canada, specific team building strategies (and aligned player development activities) focused on facilitating 60+ players through cyclical team stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (tuckman & jensen, 1977): o forming stage: facilitating positive team interactions with continuing and new players; establishing participation and team goals; planning regular team social events; creating an online presence for posting team/participation pictures to establish a “critical mass” team identity and to support optional technology-enabled communications (e.g., use of social media networking and web-based communication tools); o storming stage: dealing with fluctuating participation numbers and mixed abilities; establishing fair intra-squad teams; setting the tone for fun and challenging small-sided and walking football games; identifying tc, td, and to issues for team improvement; and celebrating early team progress, e.g., by sharing team video highlights; o norming stage: setting expectations for the team and players to assist with and self-organize warm-up practices and pitch setups; identifying issues for team and individual improvements; and providing progressively challenging practice conditions with accompanying team debrief sessions and video analysis (hubball, dumbrille, & reid, 2010); o performing stage: engaging players positively in discussing team strengths, weaknesses, and specific game plan strategies in preparation for upcoming competitions; and, o adjourning stage: sharing tournament-related pictures, video clips, and local media reports, and sending email recognition of collective effort, achievement, and future events and participation opportunities. team defence (td) and team offence (to) strategies. based on specific team needs and circumstances, coaches employed various td (when a team did not have the ball) and to (when a team did have the ball) activities. carefully selected coaching interventions during practices maximised emphasis on team effectiveness and decision-making during fast turnover team defence and team offence transitions. notably, three-a-side football sessions provided the smallest tactically-able unit for 60+ players to analyse and effectively demonstrate principles of effective team offence and defence. the repeated intensity of competitive 3v3 football with 60+ peers required continual team problem-solving, decision-making, dynamic intra-team mobility on-and-off the ball, and interpersonal communication skills, which enhanced players’ abilities to deal effectively with successes and failures of authentic game-based situations (hubball, franks, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). further, the 3v3 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 57 published by scholink inc. format with few rules was easily implemented by coaches as part of intra-squad warm-ups or team preparation for competitions. depending on analysis of specific team needs, various td and to strategies were employed by coaches, including:  td warm-up practices with drills focused on shadow-tag with a partner or “player-in-the-middle” games with one player (or two) trying to gain possession of the ball from opposition players in a small passing circle;  td practice simulations of zonal, half-court, or one-to-one full-press marking, depending on the competition circumstances and the individual and collective ability and experience of players. also 1v2 and 2v3 overload and set-piece plays;  to practice simulations with rapid-fire speed shooting drills for individual strikers at random locations within the final third of a small-sided football pitch (without defender present), as well as 3v2, 2v1, and 4v2 overload and set-piece plays;  to and td-focused video vignettes in order to discuss specific strengths, weaknesses, and improvement plans; and,  td game plans with team formations that prioritized a “clean sheet” or “high press” one-to-one marking strategies, or special marking assignments for particularly strong opposition players. aligned player development (apd) strategies. in a few cases, and based on particular needs and competitive circumstances, coaches reported working closely with individual players on personalized skills training activities that aligned with specific team role-positions in order to maximize their unique contribution toward tc, td, and to in small-sided football competition. individualized skills training focused on physical (e.g., interval and fartlek hiking and jogging; lower body, upper body, and core strength conditioning; flexibility and yoga; and injury prevention strategies such as customised warm-up and cool-down routines and strategic rest, exercise, and game day schedules); mental (e.g., goal setting, visualization, positive self-talk, game arousal management, and critical thinking for performance analysis); technical (e.g., 1 st -touch, weighted passing, shooting, and positional and tactical awareness); tactical (e.g., team positional role and effective transitioning from team offence to defence and vice versa); and/or interpersonal (e.g., cooperative, constructive, and positive contributions to effective teamwork and intra-squad communication) factors. these extension activities were facilitated through 1-to-1 mentoring (e.g., around perception of game-based situations, decision-making, and execution of appropriate skills), independent practices, and/or video analysis sessions. 3.1 long-term impact of stpd initiatives in a canadian amateur/grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football program with high quality playing facilities, support for coach inquiry, stpd initiatives, and 1 st place team trophies in 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, and competitive walking football in local, regional, and international tournaments, the amateur/grassroots inter ubc masters small-sided soccer academy program (2002-2020) at the university of british columbia, vancouver canada www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 58 published by scholink inc. (http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/index.html) has evolved and expanded into three related programs:  a monthly indoor recreational program of 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 football for university staff and senior players in the local community;  a stpd program for a select high performance 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 team to compete in age-specific local football competitions, annual regional masters tournaments hosted in locations such as california and british columbia, and the 60+ international super masters small-sided football world cup tournament hosted annually in europe (e.g., fifa, switzerland, 2022); and,  a stpd program for a select intermediate-level walking football team to compete in local tournaments and the 65+ international super masters small-sided world cup football tournament. stpd, including evidence-based cc, tc, td, and to activities, over a 20 year period within this setting has contributed significantly to team and individual player improvements, successful high level team performances (including invitations to play exhibition masters games at english professional football clubs against former professional players), and sustained participation levels. consequently, this amateur/grassroots football organization has gained a reputation for promoting 55-65+ small-sided football and for disseminating best practices within and beyond the community it serves. for example, an extension of successful stpd initiatives within this context led to international coaching and research collaborations for the development of a 2-day international masters small-sided football world cup that has been hosted annually since 2006 at excellent football venues throughout the uk and europe, including fifa zurich, switerland in may 2022. even under supportive cc conditions, however, it was far from easy to sustain stpd initiatives within this setting. 4. discussion in general, coaches afforded substantial strategic attention to organizing and maintaining specific game-based activities with implicit and highly valued team and player development benefits. coaches reported various interpretations and understandings (e.g., knowledge regarding theory-practice applications) about implementing stpd initiatives for their players/participants. in light of these understandings, as well as varying levels of organization-specific support structures, it is not surprising that team and player development initiatives were typically implemented in a fragmented and ad hoc, rather than a strategic (i.e., customised, integrated, progressive, systematic, and evidence-based), manner. tc strategies were by far the most prevalent team and player development initiatives employed by these coaches. nevertheless, coaches acknowledged that each component of the stpd framework was applicable and could be adapted to their particular setting. as a result of these discussions, many coaches recognized their strengths and shortcomings, as well as further opportunities and improvements to their current practices. for example, in recreational team contexts, with a coaching emphasis on play, wellness, and sustained participation, most attention tended to be given to team cohesion initiatives (e.g., team building, social activities, and mixed position and mixed team http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/worldcupmasters/index.html http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/worldcupmasters/index.html http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/worldcupmasters/index.html http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/worldcupmasters/index.html www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 59 published by scholink inc. selections), often at the expense of attention to effective team defence, team offence, or aligned player skills development. in contrast, in advanced level team contexts, with a coaching emphasis on competitive football excellence, although all components of the stpd framework were addressed, most strategic attention tended to be given to player recruitment (e.g., aligned age, position, and ability), often at the expense of explicit attention to high impact tc, td, and to skills development. many coaches reported critical challenges and barriers for implementing stpd, including player commitment issues and lack of available coaching time, key supports, and specific coaching skills. for example, stpd was not deemed a priority by particular coaches or players in some settings. in other cases, coaches reported that 60+ player commitment issues were influenced by the changeable health and fitness condition that occurred with many ageing players, as well as negative perceptions toward repetitive (e.g., same players and game format each session) or changing (e.g., from participation to competitive focus, or from inclusive to streamed ability-level focus or vice versa) program experiences, which significantly impacted continuity of attendance and thus impaired the implementation of stpd initiatives. notably, the 2020 covid-19 pandemic presented significant and unique challenges regarding health, safety, and continued participation in amateur/grassroots small-sided football for the 60+ age group around the world. many programs closed down as a result of the seriousness of the covid-19 threat, and many 60+ participants discontinued playing football for the same reason. however, some coaches reported that the pandemic provided new opportunities to develop holistic approaches to team and player development. for example, close participant/team bonds were formed using videoconference technology to facilitate team/sub-group or 1-to-1 football related meetings, and there was a notable increase in individualised 60+ skills (technical, physical, tactical, and mental) training, such as independent football practice sessions using mobile rebound-boards and modified goal posts, fitness activities, and the use of team video analysis. some coaches reported that they were able to conduct official organizational risk assessments at their facilities and continue with small-sided intra-squad games during non-lockdown periods, albeit in a restricted manner (fifa, 2020a). in these instances, covid-19 restricted-play adaptations and re-start preparations focused on responsive age-appropriate risk assessment and football experiences, and related modifications to facilities, equipment, travel, and enhanced safety protocols for limited contact. for example, intra-squad games were purposely limited to eight invited participants for 4-a-side football; no goalkeepers were used to minimize touches of the ball with hands; multiple soccer balls were used and balls were cleaned every 20 minutes; players brought their own jerseys, came dressed to play, and wore masks if preferred; players were not allowed within 1.5 meters of each other, which was enforced during games using a maximum of three touches with the ball; physical distancing was implemented throughout non-play; and shared drinks and refreshments were prohibited. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 60 published by scholink inc. clearly, the strength of amateur/grassroots coaches lies in their deep understanding of their specific players/participants and organizational contexts and their vested interest in team/program issues and priorities, and their related experience is critical to stpd initiatives. however, preliminary findings from this study suggest that coaches were frequently unfamiliar with evidence-based coaching methods to enhance stpd. they were also typically volunteers, facing heavy and competing coaching priorities and a lack of time and support. given these critical implementation challenges, the importance of strategic organizational support, including customised football coach education and skills training (e.g., access to state-of-the-art customised technology-enabled professional development experiences and expert mentorship) cannot be overstated. coach education can take many forms. it may be individualized or cohort-based, led by internal and/or external coach leaders with appropriate expertise, and offered in flexible and responsive formats including technology-enabled modules to accommodate competing time and coaching priorities, workshops, one-to-one mentoring, networking opportunities to disseminate best practices, and certification options. customised coach education with a focus on amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football might include applied theory-practice topics and learning outcomes as follows: sample topics:  introduction to seniors’ small-sided football; public health and sport considerations;  strategic research methods and evidence-based coaching methods for 60+ small-sided football;  strategic program development, implementation, and impact-assessment for 60+ small-sided football;  stpd for 60+ small-sided football; and,  strategic tournament development in local, regional, and international contexts for 60+ small-sided football; sample learning outcomes: coaches/program leaders will be able to:  think critically and discuss the unique needs and circumstances of 60+ small-sided footballers in diverse contexts, including participation motives, competition and ability levels, injury trends and prevention, active health, training, and performance enhancement;  develop a research-informed and evidence-based approach to strategic development, implementation, and impact assessment of a 60+ small-sided football initiative in their own context;  develop customised 60+ small-sided football team and player development initiatives;  examine customised 1-day or multi-day 60+ small-sided football tournament considerations in local, regional, and international settings; and,  experience customised 60+ small sided football initiatives, e.g., 3v3, 4v4, 5v5/futsal, and walking football, and related coaching implications (practical session). stpd is thus viewed as one part of a larger context of customised coach education and skills training in diverse amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football participants/players contexts. with strategic organizational support, data suggest that customised football coach education can predispose, enable, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 61 published by scholink inc. and reinforce coaches to implement stpd initiatives within their particular settings. 5. conclusion stpd initiatives to meet the unique needs and circumstances of amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football players is a complex and multifaceted process. no one size fits all. while health outcomes and competition in team sport are core participation motives in seniors’ football communities, data suggest there is substantial interest among players and coaches for age-appropriate stpd initiatives. organization-specific support structures were integral to effective stpd initiatives, which focused on integrated, progressive, and evidence-based activities (e.g., game-based learning experiences) customised to the local context. the data also suggest that stpd initiatives can significantly enrich participant experiences and maximize program outcomes, such as team and individual skills improvements, performance, sustained participation, and dissemination of best practices within and beyond the local football community. stpd initiatives in these contexts is still in the early stages, both theoretically and practically. while there are many challenges and areas for improvement, strategic organizational support, including a commitment to customised coach education, can be the basis for implementing stpd in amateur/grassroots 60+ small-sided football settings. acknowledgement the authors would like to express their sincere thanks to all football organizations, coaches, and players around the world in diverse 60+ small-sided football programs for their key insights and critical contributions to this article. references allison, w. 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(2017). case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.18848/2152-7857/cgp/v01i01/53910 https://doi.org/10.18848/2152-7857/cgp/v09i02/1-17 https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13220 https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2015.3.12 https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13081 https://doi.org/10.1177/105960117700200404 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper pediatric mental health treatment and confidence through the lens of the school based occupational therapist’s role stefanie seanor 1 , michelle m. mccraney 2 , patricia tobin 2 & sunddip panesar-aguilar 1* 1 college of health sciences, university of st. augustine, usa 2 riley college of education, walden university, minneapolis, usa * sunddip panesar-aguilar, college of health sciences, university of st. augustine, usa received: november 5, 2021 accepted: november 19, 2021 online published: january 27, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n1p1 abstract given the rise in mental health needs in children and adolescents and the historical roots of occupational therapy in psychiatry, occupational therapists may be well-equipped and well-suited to offer expert contributions on school-based mental health teams. occupation-based assessments and interventions for schoolchildren with mental health conditions are essential but are often overlooked because occupational therapy is traditionally solicited to support children with physical health concerns. the research problem for this study was that it was unclear how school-based occupational therapists perceive pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their preparedness and confidence to offer pediatric mental health treatment. semistructured interviews were conducted through video conferencing. self-efficacy and adult learning theories were used as guiding frameworks. results of thematic analysis exposed five themes: the importance of university and fieldwork education; professional self-directness and intrinsic motivation; readiness to learn and role clarity; collaboration and communication; and advocacy. these findings have significant implications for occupational therapy students as well as their educators and employers. keywords mental health education, occupational therapists, self-efficacy, school-based mental health, professional development, occupational therapy support www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction occupational therapy practitioners support individuals’ successful and independent completion of daily tasks and participation in meaningful activities (american occupational therapy association [aota], 2016). they offer evidence-based interventions to assist adults and children in minimizing barriers to learning and to promote positive behavior and social participation (american occupational therapy association, 2017). examples include independent and group interventions, collaboration with other rehabilitation professionals, and participation in interdisciplinary teams. within the field of pediatrics, occupational therapists evaluate, assess, create treatment plans, and provide interventions for children diagnosed with a variety of disorders and conditions. these conditions include physical and intellectual disabilities, autism and attention disorders, sensory processing inconsistencies, and internalizing symptoms including those associated with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. demand for this role has increased due to a rise in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and other mental health disorders in children and adolescents (llanes et al., 2018). in addition, recent societal changes including disasters, crises, and local or widespread emergencies are contributing to pediatric mental health conditions (malfitano & lopes, 2018). as a result, occupational therapists must remain educated and informed with the most current data and updated information on mental health within the community and school settings in order to provide evidence-based interventions and participate in collaborative care. this work will allow occupational therapists to provide rehabilitation and wellness strategies effectively and efficiently to individuals in need and to restore meaningful activity performance in times of need. the research problem for this study was that it was unclear how school-based occupational therapists perceived pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. due to limited information on this topic, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their preparedness and confidence to offer pediatric mental health treatment. a literature review revealed little research and investigation on occupational therapists’ perspectives of their competencies and confidence levels in the field of pediatric mental health, including services provided within the school setting. within the limited information uncovered, discrepancies existed between: (a) university curricula, goals, and expectations, (b) fieldwork requirements and clinical supervisors’ expectations, (c) job descriptions within pediatric and school-based settings, and (d) occupational therapists’ perceptions of their own mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. this study used a qualitative methodology of semistructured interviews to elicit responses from occupational therapists regarding their own experiences and perceptions relating to training and preparedness in the field of mental health. given the rise in mental health needs in children and adolescents and the historical development of the field of occupational therapy, occupational therapists are well-equipped and well-suited to participate on school-based mental health teams, disaster and emergency intervention squads, crisis committees, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 3 published by scholink inc. and wellness commissions. they can help children and youths in need of occupation-based support. reviewing the current literature and conducting interviews as part of this study uncovered trends and themes in support of initial and ongoing mental health training for occupational therapists. the study’s results emphasized the need for alignment in academic and clinical settings, developing evaluation procedures ensuring competencies in this field, and promoting of occupational therapists as essential members of school-based wellness support teams. within the school setting, occupational therapists provide interventions to children identified with special needs. they address gaps in development, support academic achievement and facilitate social participation (salamat et al., 2016). the aota has promoted the involvement of occupational therapists in addressing mental health and psychiatric needs through prevention, promotion, and intervention (blackwell & bilics, 2017). however, results of recent studies including those conducted by salamat et al. (2016) and ball (2018) indicated that occupational therapists traditionally focused on impairment-based interventions through a one-on-one service delivery model. ball (2018) further stated that the school-based occupational therapy role should include the promotion of mental health in school-aged children and the support of administration in the implementation of alternate delivery models. in addition, occupational therapists need to expand their assessments and interventions to address student social participation (leigers et al., 2016). occupational therapy interventions within the school setting to address mental health needs include providing activities to reduce stress and sensory overload; introducing targeted interventions to support at-risk youths in managing day-to-day activities; incorporating regulation activities into the classroom; collaborating with teachers and other school-based interventionists in providing relaxation strategies and coping skills, and assisting in curriculum and assignment modifications to encourage the just-right challenge (american occupational therapy association, 2017b). additionally, occupational therapists may provide consultation services to parents and outside providers in the collaboration of care between the school, home, and community. educators and therapists may work together to improve student behavior, attention to instruction, independent completion of schoolwork, emotional regulation, social relationships, academic performance, executive functioning skills, maintaining routines, and successful completion of personal tasks or activities of daily living (american occupational therapy association, 2017c). barriers to occupational therapists addressing mental health disorders affecting children and youths in the school and community settings adversely affect fulfillment of the mission of the promotion, prevention, and intervention movement (american occupational therapy association, 2017a). although occupational therapists possess the initial training needed to promote wellness, prevent regression, and provide effective interventions for student success, occupational therapists are not often solicited for their expertise in these areas when the primary disability or effect is in social-emotional development or mental health (salamat et al., 2016). occupational therapists must advocate for their www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 4 published by scholink inc. role on the mental health team within school-based or other pediatric settings (salamat et al., 2016). alignment of academia and clinical experiences, effective training to support competence and confidence, and integrated collaboration with other mental health professionals may enhance effective outcomes. additionally, knowledge of advocacy and legislation supporting occupational therapists in the provision of mental health care will also contribute to overall student health, well-being, and academic success. the need for preventative and early interventions for children and youths in the field of mental health and wellness is significant and can be addressed within the school setting (tokolahi et al., 2016). occupational therapists may provide early intervention in the areas of cognitive support, problem-solving and personal care, and recreation and social functioning. chan et al. (2017), in their integrative review of school-based mental health interventions, suggested occupational therapists should involve themselves in the provision of psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavioral therapy, and psychoeducation interventions. however, this purpose can only be accomplished with the alignment of academic and clinical goals with exceptional mental health training. these changes will ensure occupational therapists have the professional knowledge and confidence to carry out the specific therapeutic program expectations. it was unclear how school-based occupational therapists perceive their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. although occupational therapists complete rigorous training in pediatrics and mental health (psychiatry) at the time of their university training, the fields are very complex and change rapidly (maïano et al., 2018). a focused literature review uncovered a variety of resources, peer-reviewed studies, and articles on occupational therapists’ knowledge and perceptions on confidence and treatment preparedness in each of the fields of pediatrics and mental health. it also revealed that only limited research has been conducted on occupational therapists’ perspectives of their competencies and confidence levels in the combined fields of pediatric mental health, including services provided within the school-based setting (kirby et al., 2019). with roots in psychiatry and mental health, occupational therapists are educationally prepared to implement interventions to address the social and emotional needs of children through occupation-based activities (american occupational therapy association, 2017a). with the education and knowledge needed to address stress management, symptoms of anxiety, emotional regulation, and social skills within the school environment, occupational therapists can work in partnership with the school staff as a part of an interprofessional mental health team to implement occupation-based interventions and programmatic changes and to address children’s mental health needs (ball, 2018). this collaboration with school-based professionals may enhance all students’ ability to succeed (bolton & plattner, 2020). however, there is a lack of research addressing the perceptions of school-based occupational therapists of their preparedness and confidence to offer pediatric mental health treatment. the research problem for this study was that it was unclear how www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 5 published by scholink inc. school-based occupational therapists perceive pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. occupational therapists are integral and essential team members in the provision of community mental health and are listed as credentialed staff that may be included on community health clinic intervention teams (american occupational therapy association, 2017b). the burdens of anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions are increasing in school-aged children (llanes et al., 2018). however, research on the role of the occupational therapist in addressing impairments in function in children diagnosed with mental health conditions is limited (leigers et al., 2016; tokolahi et al., 2016). occupational therapy interventions for schoolchildren with mental health conditions are often overlooked, as services traditionally are solicited to support children with physical health concerns (chan et al., 2017; leigers et al., 2016). egan and cahill (2017) suggested that occupational therapists can be regarded as valuable members of the school-based interprofessional team if other school-based professionals are educated about the therapists’ training, skills, and scope of practice. investigating perceptions of school-based occupational therapists on their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence provided valuable information to contribute to the literature. theoretical framework the guiding theoretical frameworks supporting this study included bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory and knowles’ (1973) adult learning theory. this section describes these theoretical frameworks. additionally, the connection between these theoretical frameworks and the research questions are also presented. self-efficacy theory self-efficacy refers to the belief in the capacity to demonstrate behaviors necessary to produce certain performance attainments and the potential to cope with change or to react to a conflict using critical reasoning (bandura, 1999). self-efficacy supports chosen activities in which a person engages and is measured by the level of effort and limitations involved (venskus & craig, 2017). high self-efficacy has been linked to better academic performance and practical skills in occupational therapy students (opseth et al., 2017). beliefs may contribute to the transfer of skills and confidence from one domain to another. understanding the values of occupational therapists and the field of occupational therapy contributes to the profession and to the professional behaviors exhibited by occupational therapists (drolet & désormeaux-moreau, 2016). values support identity and assist to define not only the therapists but also the role that the therapists play on interprofessional teams (kucharczyk et al., 2019). best practice and evidence-based practice promote collaborative care in addressing the needs of individual patients (gigli et al., 2020). whereas the evidence supports comprehensive and interprofessional teamwork, individual professional and profession-based values and beliefs affect occupational therapists’ practice and their performance on a team (drolet & désormeaux-moreau, 2016). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 6 published by scholink inc. self-efficacy reflects confidence to control motivation, professional behavior, and the social environment through fundamental beliefs and values (kucharczyk et al., 2019). the experiential components of interaction and intervention affect the guided learning by the occupational therapist as a learner and the contributions as a practitioner on a collaborative care team. understanding profession-based values and personal-professional values or beliefs contribute to a healthcare practitioner’s capacity to perform essential tasks as well as to provide skilled contributions on an interprofessional team (gigli et al., 2020). self-efficacy theory provides a framework for this sequential analysis. adult learning theory the perspective of learning by the learner as an adult professional is included as a secondary framework for this study. developed by knowles in 1968, adult learning theory or andragogy posited that adults learn differently than children and require a reason for why they are learning something. adults rely on experience, self-directedness, a need to know, readiness to learn, orientation to learning, and intrinsic motivation (knowles, 1973). adult learners’ perception of education and training, within a university setting, allows not only self-directed learning but also contributions to the transformation (cole & tufano, 2019). after completing a professional program, occupational therapists contribute to the social dimension of occupation through the “contexts of other disciplines” and identify the common global themes of culture and meaning in social relationships within the global community (cole & tufano, 2019, p. 7). occupational therapists learn through understanding the greater meaning in their teachings, including the effect they can make in their future practice. continuing competence is a standard and mandated practice by state and national regulatory boards for occupational therapists postgraduation. however, the strategies chosen to maintain competence can be self-selected by occupational therapists (with few guidelines) following their university training. occupational therapists can then begin to understand the transition and transformation of values from the student experience to their new values and beliefs within the professional arena through engagement in ongoing professional development opportunities (murray et al., 2020). 2. method 2.1 purpose the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their preparedness and confidence to offer pediatric mental health treatment. this research study incorporated open ended, semistructured interviews to gather information for analysis. the target population was school-based occupational therapists employed within the elementary and secondary settings, who were willing to participate in the study and to engage in an interview. this investigation and analysis contributed to the research literature regarding perceptions of occupational www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 7 published by scholink inc. therapists on their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence in the provision of effective interventions. the research questions included: rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? rq3. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of barriers to pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? 2.1.1 sampling because the research design was specific by nature, a limited group of participants were able to partake in the semistructured interview process. the target population included school-based occupational therapists employed within the kindergarten to 12 th grade settings in the northeast region of the united states. this study relied on 10 voluntary participants. purposive methods were used to ensure the reflection of the features of the sampled population (creswell, 2012). therefore, the study used inclusion criteria to ensure relevance to the subject matter and allowed for diversity within the group. for this study, the purposive sampling criteria included graduates of university occupational therapy programs who were currently employed within a school setting in the northeast region of the united states serving kindergarten to 12 th grade students. 2.1.2 data collection semistructured interviews were conducted over four weeks through video conferencing with privacy considerations in place in early march, 2021. participants’ demographics were gathered at the beginning of each of the semistructured interviews. information was collected on participants’ gender, age, highest degree earned, years since graduation, years working in the field of pediatrics, years working in a school setting, and the ages of their current students. after the initial gathering of demographic data, qualitative data were collected from the video conference interviews in the form of documented participants’ responses (brenner, 1994). written researcher notes recorded participants’ answers as close to verbatim as possible and were read back (echoed) to participants immediately following each answer for clarity (dejonckheere & vaughn, 2019). time was allowed following each interview to review notes for accuracy and to ensure transparency, methodological rigor, and consistency. the alignment of the interview questions to the research questions is shown in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 8 published by scholink inc. table 1. alignment of interview questions with research questions interview questions research questions 1. describe your university training and fieldwork experience in the field of pediatric mental health. -how do you feel your university training and fieldwork experience in the field of pediatric mental health impacted your treatment preparedness? -how do you feel your university training and fieldwork experience in the field of pediatric mental health impacted your confidence? rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? 2. describe any specialty or advanced training you have attended in the field of pediatric mental health after receiving your occupational therapy degree. -was the training self-initiated or employer initiated? -how do you feel this specialty or advanced training has impacted your treatment preparedness in providing pediatric mental health interventions within a school-based setting? -how do you feel this specialty or advanced training has impacted your confidence in providing pediatric mental health interventions within a school-based setting? rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? 3. please describe your ability to treat pediatric mental health conditions within the school-based setting? rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 9 published by scholink inc. 4. please describe your perception of confidence in providing treatment interventions in the field of pediatric mental health. -please describe your awareness of pediatric mental health. -please describe your readiness to engage in pediatric mental health treatment interventions. rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment confidence? 5. how would you describe your overall pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence in providing interventions within the school setting? rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment confidence? 6. please describe your current involvement in pediatric mental health within the school setting. rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? rq3. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of barriers to pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? 7. how would you describe your inclusion in a school-based pediatric mental health team? -please describe how you are supported on a school-based mental health team. -please describe any barriers you face for inclusion on a school-based mental health team. rq3. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of barriers to pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? 8. is there anything else you would like to share that you feel would benefit this study? rq1. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? rq2. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of their confidence in pediatric mental health treatment? rq3. what are school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of barriers to pediatric mental health treatment preparedness? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 10 published by scholink inc. 2.1.3 participant demographics all 10 participants identified as females between the ages of 27 to 64 years. one held a doctorate degree in occupational therapy; seven participants had received a master’s degree in occupational therapy, and two of the participants had received a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy. years since graduation ranged from 3.5 years to 35 years, and years working in the field of pediatrics ranged from 3.5 years to 30 years. years worked in a school setting ranged from 3.5 years to 30 years. participants reported ages of students on their current caseloads as young as 3 and up to 21 years old. participant demographics are shown in table 2. table 2. participants’ demographics participant gender age degree years since graduation years in pediatrics years in a school setting ages of current students 1 female 47 msot 18 18 15 8-21 yo 2 female 27 msot 3.5 3.5 3.5 5-10 yo 3 female 40 msot 16 10 10 4-9 yo 4 female 48 bsot 26 14 14 3-10 yo 5 female 36 msot 12 12 12 3-10 yo 6 female 48 msot 20 20 18 3-15 yo 7 female 64 maot 35 30 30 8-11 yo 8 female 52 mot 24 8 8 14-21 yo 9 female 41 bsot, otd 19 19 19 5-10 yo 10 female 44 bsot 22 22 9 3-8 yo notes. msot=master of science in occupational therapy bsot=bachelor of science in occupational therapy maot=master of arts in occupational therapy mot=entry level master’s degree in occupational therapy otd=doctor of occupational therapy degree 3. results responses from 10 participants were coded and analyzed and categorized into themes. five major themes were identified in participants’ responses to the eight semistructured interview questions. the five themes identified in this basic qualitative study aligned with the three research questions and the theories of self-efficacy and adult learning as related to professional occupational therapists and their advancement in their field of practice. components based on codes and responses included perceived self-efficacy, development of self-efficacy, influences of self-efficacy, and barriers to self-efficacy. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 11 published by scholink inc. codes identified based on adult learning theory included the need to know, experience, self-concept, readiness, problem orientation, and intrinsic motivation. the five identified themes as related to codes and participants’ responses are shown in table 3. table 3. themes identified based on participants’ responses and connection to research question theme participant # codes research question university training and experience enhance treatment preparedness and confidence in the provision of intervention in the field of pediatric mental health. 1,2,3,4,5,7,9,10 perceived self-efficacy engagement instruction fieldwork or internship mentorship practice self-assurance confidence readiness self-concept rq1, rq2 self-directedness and intrinsic motivation support ongoing education to meet the needs of socio-environmental changes. 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9, 10 development of self-efficacy existing skills ongoing learning on-the-job training self-initiation critical thinking awareness of change goal achievement rq1, rq2 readiness to learn and relevance support role clarity and contributions within the scope of practice. 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10 influences of self-efficacy proactive strategies reactive strategies scope identification role identification reflective practice exploration of interests design realization skillset considerations rq1, rq2 professional identity and practicality 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 influences of self-efficacy rq1, rq2, rq3 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 12 published by scholink inc. theme participant # codes research question encourage collaboration and comprehensive care within the school-based practice. essential collaboration supportive teamwork comprehensive care relationships matter flexible interactions shared resources shared validation feedback or encouragement inclusion or exclusion reasonable expectations creative opportunity advocacy and organizational change are needed to maintain effectiveness and to limit barriers to effective treatment. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 9,10 barriers to self-efficacy known school climate facing difficult situations lack of experience insufficient exposure lack of administrative support or vision of ot feelings of overwhelm lack of time/space limited materials unknown scope or skillset lack of self-reflection needed assertiveness rq1, rq2, rq3 3.1 theme 1: university training and experience enhance treatment preparedness and confidence in the provision of interventions in the field of pediatric mental health participants were asked to describe their university education in the field of pediatric mental health. in addition, they were prompted to describe training completed as part of any fieldwork opportunities. follow-up questions focused on gaining insight into their perception of how university education and training affected treatment preparedness including providing examples of relevant experiences. common issues identified were the lack of university training and fieldwork education in the pediatric mental health field; the absence of mentorship or effective mentorship; the lack of engagement and supportive instruction; and recognition of the need for continued practice. the few participants who www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 13 published by scholink inc. described their thorough and comprehensive university training and internship opportunities in the field of pediatric mental health indicated they felt prepared to treat children with psychological issues. majority of participants described a lack of comprehensive training in pediatric mental health and therefore did not feel prepared to treat in this field. overall, participants reported that university training and experience enhanced treatment preparedness and confidence in the provision of interventions in the field of pediatric mental health. this conclusion answered the first and second research questions regarding occupational therapists’ perceptions of treatment preparedness and confidence in this field. blackwell and bilics’ (2017) survey research also examined the preparation of occupational therapy students to address mental health within the school setting. the authors gathered the perspectives of graduate-level occupational therapy program directors on the curriculum and the preparation level of their graduating students. results indicated that occupational therapy students received a comprehensive education in the field of general school-based therapy and the role of the occupational therapist working within the school setting. however, participants reported limited training in the areas of mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention in the school setting. the current study’s findings supported those of blackwell and bilics (2017). the results from these studies demonstrate the need for improved education and training of occupational therapy students in the area of school-based mental health and wellness. 3.1.1 theme 2: self-directedness and intrinsic motivation supports ongoing education to meet the needs of socio-environmental changes targeted education should not stop once the occupational therapy practitioner has graduated. all participants stressed the importance of ongoing training and the need for self-initiated training postgraduation and post fieldwork completion to be prepared for the provision of effective treatment interventions. participants were asked questions about fieldwork selection and participation as well as any additional training they had received after graduation. follow-up prompts included whether or not the additional or specialty training in the field of pediatric mental health was self-initiated, or employer initiated. the participants provided insight into how any additional training affected preparedness and confidence in this field. participants identified a gap between university training they received and the knowledge and experience they needed when working in the field to provide effective services. many highlighted the importance of engagement in ongoing educational opportunities, awareness of change, continued practice, critical and flexible thinking, and specific on-the-job training to support preparedness. after they have graduated, occupational therapists continue to develop competencies in current practices, and it is the responsibility of the practitioner to track their continuing education training. coffelt and gabriel (2017) recommended future research on graduate education on current mental health trends and on continuing competencies required by the discipline. adult students can reach a level of expertise and professional competency through engagement in specialized training. this specialized training helps them to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 14 published by scholink inc. develop a professional vision and improves the quality of care they provide to their patients (bair et al., 2019). these highlighted areas all contributed to the second theme: self-directedness and intrinsic motivation supported ongoing education to meet the needs of socio-environmental changes. the current study’s findings supported those of coffelt and gabriel (2017) and bair et al. (2019). this theme answered both the first and second research questions on occupational therapists’ perceptions of pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. 3.1.2 theme 3: readiness to learn and relevance supports role clarity and contributions within the scope of practice participants were asked to elaborate upon their perceived ability to treat mental health conditions within the school-based setting. influences on self-efficacy related to ability included: obtaining and maintaining the skills to provide proactive and reactive strategies; exploration of interests and needs; and design realization. professional scope and specific role identification supported contributions to the interdisciplinary evaluation teams and collaborative groups. coffelt and gabriel (2017) investigated the practices and perceptions of occupational therapists regarding their ongoing education to ensure competencies in the changing fields. in this investigative research study, occupational therapists completed a self-report survey on their participation and engagement in professional learning programs. occupational therapists valued planning professional activities with colleagues and continuing their education. topics emerging from this study included conducting self-assessment and self-reflection exercises, engaging in employment-specific continuing education, and searching for journal articles of interest specific to the occupational therapists’ roles within the institution. challenges were noted in the areas of productivity and meaningful learning. participants highlighted the need for proper identification of personal and professional skillsets and reflective practice to enhance the provision of effective interventions. these answers and highlighted areas contributed to the therapists’ perceptions of the influences of self-efficacy and readiness to learn. relevance of job-specific requirements to continuing education practices supports role clarity and the ability to contribute effectively within the scope of practice. this theme answered both the first and second research questions on occupational therapists’ perceptions of pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence. 3.1.3 theme 4: professional identity and practicality encourage collaboration and comprehension care with the school-based practice participants were asked questions regarding current involvement in school-based mental health teams. probing follow-up questions were used to gain additional insight on the process of referrals, evaluations, treatment planning, and the provision of interventions and collaborative care. by providing examples of the interdisciplinary model, participants emphasized the importance of supportive teamwork and effective collaboration in evaluating, planning, and treating. the analysis uncovered www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 15 published by scholink inc. participants repeated mentioning of relationships, interactions, resources, feedback, and opportunities for creativity. current research indicated that occupational therapists contribute to interdisciplinary mental health teams by assessing and treating atypical neurophysiological responses to both auditory and visual stimuli, deficits in emotional prosody, impaired cognitive performance, deficits in visual perception, and inadequate interactions with the physical environment (brooks & bannigan, 2018; ikiugu et al., 2017). interventions may support occupational performance in areas such as dynamic participation in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, rest and relaxation, academic performance, vocation, play and leisure, and social participation. occupational therapists can also increase meaningful task completion among individuals with mental illness (ikiugu et al., 2017). therefore, occupational therapists should be considered essential contributing members of every school-based mental health team. understanding reasonable expectations and essential components of collaborative care were identified as critical components of treatment preparedness. professional identity and practicality facilitate collaboration and the provision of comprehensive care within the school-based practice. this theme addressed all three of the research questions involving occupational therapists’ perceptions of treatment preparedness and confidence, and potential barriers affecting readiness to treat effectively. 3.1.4 theme 5: advocacy and organizational change are needed to maintain effectiveness and to limit barriers to effective treatment barriers to self-efficacy and feeling prepared were explained by participants through descriptions of unknown or changing school climates, lack of administrative support, and feelings of being overwhelmed. participants were asked about inclusion on school-based mental health teams and any barriers they faced affecting their readiness and confidence to provide effective interventions. participants explained that facing new or difficult situations can be even more challenging without an advocate or an organizational framework to support their contributions to effective interventions. additionally, such a lack of support adversely affects collaboration with other professionals and interdisciplinary care. frequently, other school-based professionals are not informed of the skillset and services that occupational therapists can provide to interdisciplinary teams to support students at risk (leigers et al., 2016). egan and cahill’s (2017) mixed methods study described how the instructional team within a special education setting learned about the role of the occupational therapist within the mental health arena and how their perceptions changed following the occupational therapists’ contributions to the team. results indicated that special education teams learned that occupational therapists could contribute insight and valuable skills and interventions for students in identifying and achieving occupational performance goals. these services are provided in other venues, including hospitals, mental health facilities, and outreach programs. future research would increase awareness of these www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 16 published by scholink inc. services within the school setting. one of the most influential factors contributing to the need for advocacy and organizational change (in response to societal change) is the need for other professionals to know the scope of the profession of occupational therapy and the skillset of occupational therapists. the results from both the current study and those of egan and cahill (2017) demonstrated the need for occupational therapists to self-reflect, promote their strengths to colleagues, and willingly participate in interdisciplinary mental health teams. this final theme identified in the current study is that advocacy and organizational change are needed to maintain effectiveness and limit effective treatment barriers. this observation addresses all three research questions regarding therapists’ perceptions of pediatric mental health treatment preparedness and confidence, and barriers affecting the process. 3.1.5 trustworthiness of the data throughout this study, specific strategies were used to ensure the consistency and reliability of the data collected. credibility and transferability refer to whether the findings accurately and fairly represent the data, and if the findings can be applied to other settings and contexts (dejonckheere & vaughn, 2019). credibility and transferability were established through subject recruitment, peer reviews, triangulation, member checks, saturation, and reflexivity. strategies of variation were used for participant selection to include different genders, ages, locations, student caseload, age range, and roles. although participants included a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, school locations, and student caseloads, all participants were female. peer reviews by an expert panel and professional colleagues supported the alignment of interview questions with the research questions, the applicability of the questions to the study, and ease and appropriateness of the interview process. triangulation of the data was used to increase the trustworthiness of the research and to minimize any misinterpretations that may have been made (merriam & tisdell, 2016). dependability was also addressed, which refers to whether the findings were consistent and sustainable over time (dejonckheere & vaughn, 2019). the different sources of triangulation and dependability included the data from the peer review process, the written notes from the interviews with the school-based occupational therapists, and the data from the member checking process following each interview question. following the presentation of each interview question and the written documentation of the responses, each participant’s answers were read back to check for accuracy of the notes. this strategy was used to strengthen the validity as well as dependability (merriam & tisdell, 2016). confirmability was established through reflexivity and peer review. reflexivity was accomplished through the pause of time following each interview question, and between interviews, during which could be reviewed and reflected on the responses. additionally, the peer review of the applicability of research questions and the piloting of interview questions also supported confirmability to reduce researcher bias (dejonckheere & vaughn, 2019). even though recommendations were solicited from the reviewers and experts, there were www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 17 published by scholink inc. no additional suggestions, and, therefore, changes were not made to the interview procedures. 4. discussion 4.1 research discussion occupational therapists can provide targeted interventions to support at-risk youths. examples include managing day-to-day activities, incorporating regulation activities into the classroom, collaborating with teachers and other school-based interventionists, and assisting in curriculum and assignment modifications (american occupational therapy association, 2017b). however, for occupational therapists to believe themselves prepared and confident in the provision of interventions for children with mental health conditions, they must be appropriately educated; receive ongoing training and mentoring; be self-directed and ready to develop enhanced skills; understand professional identity and role clarity; and receive support from administrators and mental health colleagues within the school-based setting. with this systematic framework in place, occupational therapists and educators may work together to improve student outcomes. alignment of academia and clinical experiences is imperative. effective training to support competence and confidence is essential. ongoing effective communication and integrated collaboration with other mental health professionals are crucial. knowledge of advocacy and legislation supporting occupational therapists in the provision of mental health care is vital. occupational therapists must advocate for their essential and contributing role on the mental health team within school-based or other pediatric settings. their membership in these teams will enhance educational outcomes and student health, well-being, and personal success (salamat et al., 2016). 4.1.1 limitations although qualitative research seeks to provide answers to questions without bias through predetermined procedures, limitations in research design and methodology pertain to transferability and dependability (ritchie et al., 2013). these limitations place restraints on the research being conducted (ritchie et al., 2013). the principal imitations of this study included time constraints and shortcomings in the questions. other limitations included variations in the responses received uncovering unanticipated subgroups within the sample, limited applicability to the population studied, participation bias, and misinterpretation of the results due to researcher bias. measures were taken to address research design factors, conditions, and biases, which could have influenced the study outcomes. these were: identifying a clearly defined purpose with appropriate data collection methods (including participants based on selection criteria), identifying an adequate time frame, and allowing for flexibility (ritchie et al., 2013). additionally, this objective research plan observed fundamental ethical principles, respected the dignity of participants, and allowed for adequate time for collecting, coding, and analyzing data. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 18 published by scholink inc. purposive methods for selecting the study sample were used. the data were gathered from school-based therapists in certain locations and therefore may not be able to be generalized to different populations or regions. additional procedural limitations included scheduling, availability, practitioners’ specific experience, and the familiarity and accessibility of the video conferencing format. video conferencing took between 45 to 60 minutes. within the specific timeframe, practitioners who were willing to participate may have had limited availability to complete the specific guided questions and to answer any follow-up questions. their experiences, values, beliefs, specific job descriptions, or specific affiliation or internship training may have affected their knowledge, perceptions, or confidence levels. due to these effects, the study results may not have provided an accurate representation of the sample. 4.1.2 implications for future research the findings from this research study supported those of similar studies that examined the inclusion of occupational therapists on the pediatric mental health team. the themes provided answers to the three identified research questions. these findings from research study have the potential to expand practitioners’ understanding of how school-based occupational therapists perceive their preparation and confidence in the field of pediatric mental health treatment. the study uncovered perceptions of treatment preparedness and confidence and therefore helped to fill a gap in the literature on these topics (kirby et al., 2019). those who may benefit from the findings include occupational therapists, university training program administrators, program managers, education coordinators and administrators, and other collaborating professionals. this study could also expand practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of how school-based occupational therapists perceived their preparation and confidence in the provision of pediatric mental health treatment. future studies analyzing perceptions of school-based therapists should use a larger sample or a sample inclusive of professionals from other regions. in addition, interviews could be conducted with occupational therapy practitioners holding doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees. the perspectives of certified occupational therapy assistants with associate degrees could also be gathered. the findings of these interviews could be compared and contrasted based upon both training and experience. additionally, interview questions could address job satisfaction and the benefits of employment. finally, this study or a similar study could be expanded using a mixed-methods approach employing both survey and interview components. 4.1.3 conclusion this research study had themes that supported the implementation of coursework and fieldwork that specifically address the field of pediatric mental health. these themes promoted alignment of academic and clinical settings; access to ongoing training (through professional organizations or the workplace) based on relevant socio-environmental changes and current events; development of ongoing evaluation procedures to ensure updated competencies in this field; and advocating for occupational therapists as www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 1, 2022 19 published by scholink inc. contributing experts essential for membership on school-based wellness support teams. this study’s findings expanded practitioners’ understanding of how school-based occupational therapists think about their preparation and confidence in the provision of pediatric mental health treatment. it was designed to contribute to the literature and potentially support occupational therapy-related training, inclusion, and advocacy programs. the study was developed to address the increased need for pediatric mental health intervention and the essential contributions of occupational therapists as 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(2017). development and validation of a self-efficacy scale for clinical reasoning in physical therapists. journal of physical therapy education (american physical therapy association, education section), 31(1), 14-20. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001416-201731010-00005 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00932-w https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2016.020768 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3701-z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.029 https://doi.org/10.1177/0308022619876842 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2017.1406630 https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2016.70s1-po5121 https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212x.2015.1129522 https://doi.org/10.1097/00001416-201731010-00005 microsoft word grhe-v1n2-p132 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 132 original paper similarities and differences of the dam giong epics (vietnam) and reamker (cambodia), ramakien (thailand), phralakphra lam (laos) (note 1) hue hoang thi1* & dung nguyen tien2 1 university of education, hue university, hue city, vietnam 2 gia lai junior college of education, pleiku city, vietnam * hue hoang thi, university of education, hue university, hue city, vietnam received: august 25, 2018 accepted: september 4, 2018 online published: september 12, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p132 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p132 abstract there are a lot of similarities and differences in the dam giong epics of bahnar ethnic in central highlands-vietnam and reamkerepic (cambodia), ramakien epic (thailand) and phralakphra lam epic (laos). although there are some similarities in content and themes, these epics differ in capacity, structure, character system and some other artistic elements. reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam are short independent epics, deriving from ramayana epic (indian). meanwhile, the dam giong epics, about a hero named giong, have a large capacity of hundreds of epics. these epics derive from myths, legends and creeds of bahnar ethnic in the central highlands-vietnam, especially, they are “living” epics. nowadays, the epics of dam giong are still being circulated and they are developing in the lives of bahnar ethnic. currently, in central highlands-vietnam, the epics of dam giong are still composed and the number of these epics is constantly increasing. keywords epic, single epic, reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam, dam giong, “living” epic, hero, bahnar 1. introduction vietnam is one of the countries in the region asean. on the way of formation, existence and development, vietnam-as a member of asean, there have been receptions, exchanges and acculturation in literature with the countries in the region. expressed in the similarity between folk-literary works bearing the characteristic cultural values of asean. that affirms the common ground in the development process of nations. so, the similarity between vietnamese folk literature and laos, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 133 published by scholink inc. thailand, cambodia folk literature ..., shows the similarity between vietnamese culture and culture of the whole region. reamker, ramakien and phralakphra lam are representative epics of cambodia, thailand and laos. these epics and the dam giongepics of the bahnar ethnic in the central highlands of vietnam have some similarities. the reasons for these similarities are the fact that cambodia, thailand, laos and vietnam with the same geographic, cultural characteristic and histories. however, the dam giong epics has some differences from reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam. the dam giongepics does not affect by indian culture, but it has very distinct character of bahnar ethnic, the owner of the central highlands-vietnam. with the analytical method and the method of comparison, this article will discover and discover the factors that affect the artistic characteristics of these epics and acculturation of these epics in southeast asia culture. the article will deal with the origin, themes, basic content, demonstration methods, characters and motif system of the epics. 2. content 2.1 similarities to clarify the similarities, the article will study the themes, the expression forms, the characters, the motifs of the epics. 2.1.1 main themes main themes of reamker, ramakien, phralak, phra lam and the dam giong epics is often about the fights against evil to protect the beautiful girls and the fights for revenge. the structure of epic is usually in the form: the hero-the beautiful girl-the devil. although reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam originated in india, they have been shown in various ways to fit the southeast asian cultural environment and they have the particular art of each nation. 2.1.2 expression forms reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam and the dam giong epics is all performed as folk dance, royal dance, shadow puppetry, drawing, sculpture, singing and worship. these expressions fit with southeast asian artistic types. ramakien is shown with khon (note 2). reamker is shown with lkhonkhol (sachchidan & sahai, 1981), and relief of the cambodian; phra lam phra lam is performed on stage of lao royal dance and lam folk songs; the epic of dam giong epics are performed by h’mon art of bahnar ethnic. 2.1.3 characters main characters in reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam and the dam giong epics are gods or descendants of the gods. audiences think that characters in epics as the guardian gods or their ancestors. the central characters are great talented heroes who have the power defeating devils, beast and villains to protect life and honor of the community. the most quality of the heroes is their morality. he represents for the good, the one who has absolute loyalty to the community and his love. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 134 published by scholink inc. 2.1.4 motifs reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam and the dam giong epics have many similar motifs such as couple-charactermotif, motifs of miraculous weapon, making friends and getting married motif, divine birth and immortality motif and masquerading motif. • couple-character motif in epics, there are usually two characters appearing together including who is a main character who plays central role of the epic and an extra character often adds more details make the main character’s perfect. couple-character is usually two brothers; such as preah ream and praeh leak in reamker, ram and lak in ramakien, phralak and phra lam in phralakphra lam, giong and gio in thedam giong epics. the couple-character can be compared to the ones inthe kavkaz epics and the popolvuh epic of maya ethnic, a typical feature of the ancient latin american culture; they always complement to each other into the best. • motifs of miraculous weapon motifs of miraculous weapon often appear in epics. these are perilous compelling authority weapons which helped the hero to overcome all the fiendish enemies. for example, the miraculous rope in phra lam phra lam and the dam giong epics can tether enemies from afar. boat in phralakphra lam can surf on the sea and fly on the sky. shield in the dam giong epics can carry people flying on the sky. the magic arrow in phralakphra lam epic can burn everything, destroy rocks, etc. • making friends and getting married motif in epics, there are some rites of relationship for making friend and getting married. sometimes, it is making friends as brother or dad, sometimes is marriage. among that, marriage contracts occur most often. in the dam giong epics, the hero dam giong often goes to the neighboring villages to make friends and find beautiful girls as wives. this motif reflects the contract customs of southeast asian nations. • divine birth and immortality motif heroes in epics often have divine birth. they can be gods under human cover or descendants of god or being born very miraculously. nang soudtho (in phralakphra lam) has nine sons, monthly birth, and these sons are immortal; arrows, poison or wildlife can not kill them. giong and gio (the dam giong epics) are spiritually taking the elixir so they are very healthy and immortal. • masquerading motif characters in epics often change in the ugly form or shape of an animal to test loyalty to a loved one or dress up to lurk for the enemies. in phra lam phra lam, phra lam turns into a monkey while looking for her sida. in the dam giong epics, hero dam giong transforms into koi kong (an ugly and dirty person) to test the beautiful girls. in reamker, king monkey hanuman can change into any shape; preah en transforms himself into a water buffalo and leads neangseda to shelter while distress, … in addition, epics also have other motifs such as holy water in the wedding ceremony, eternal water. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 135 published by scholink inc. some characteristics of these epics are the same for the following reasons: cambodia, thailand, laos and vietnam are relatively in geography, in that laos, vietnam and cambodia sharing same border and the annamite mountains. therefore, they have same or near mountainous cultural area, plateau culture, culture of mountain field. in there, a tribe can live scattered in many countries, one can intertwine with other ethnic groups and share same culture of southeast asia. many ethnic groups in cambodia, thailand, laos and vietnam share same language as malaya polynesian, khmer, lao-thai, h’mong-myanmar, tibetan-burmese, … among the ethnic groups, the people have been engaged in marriage, family, economic, culture, military and political exchanges for hundreds of years in historically. similarities of genre of epic. the similarity of the characteristics of these epics is due to the process of self-development in the culture, literature and history of the peoples. similar genres are historically similar. 2.2 differences there are differences in the origin, the historical context, the expression forms and methods, the language, the capacity and structure, the characters and the contents between reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam and the dam giong epics. 2.2.1 about the origin reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lamare all derived from ramayana epic (india) and influenced by jataka (india). most of these epics are about the precursor of the buddha, like jatakar. preah ream in reamker after winning the devil has become a buddha. pra ram in ramakien, the reincarnation of vishnu (one of the principal deities of hinduism), is also the reincarnation of the buddha. contrary to the epics, the dam giong epics is deeply influenced by indian and chinese culture. the epics evolved from fairy tale, legend and belief of the bahnar ethnic. it can be said that the epics is the only and unique creation of the bahnar ethnicnot influenced by epics of other cultures. due to genre characteristics, the epicshave the same characteristics of the world epics as kavkaz epics, the mongol epic, the mayan epic. 2.2.2 about historical context historical context of reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam associated with feudal dynasty in cambodia, thailand, laos. reamker is a product of the angkor era. ramakien was associated with the thai feudal dynasties from the kingdom of sukhothai, the kingdom of ayutthaya to the reigns of rama i (1726-1809), rama ii (1766-1824). the social context in the dam giong epics is primitive social of the bahnar ethnic in the central highlands-vietnam. the social has no social class, no private ownership. in there, tribes in the central highlands are in the trend of forming tribal alliances (dang nghiem van, cam trong, tran manh cat, le duy dai, & ngo vinh binh, 1981). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 136 published by scholink inc. the differences in the historical context make a significant difference in the content, the way of building characters, the artistic elements of the dam giong epics compared to reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam. 2.2.3 about form and expression method reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam are shown in various forms and modes such as poetry, dance, court stage, painting, sculpture, shadow puppetry. these epics have oral or rewritten scripts over time. when the epics were performed on stage, there are many actors, orchestra accompaniment and director. ramakien is shown with khon in court and folk type. king rama i directly supervised and participated in writing a part of ramakien; later, king rama ii continued to adjust ramakien. in the khon, ramakien is performed mainly by choreography, the actor does not have a dialogue, only the narration from the stage. reamker is also performed mainly by folk dances by robam sovann maccha with the old orchestra “pinpeat”. the phra lam phra lam is also theatrical form of royal lao ballet. the dam giongepics is performed by h’mon, the epic performance art of the bahnar ethnic. they are completely folk-style. there is no actor and orchestra accompaniment. there is only one person who narrates the story, sings folk songs and performs rituals. the dam giong epics is often narrated every night or during the festival of the village. in particular, at present, the dam giong epics is passed on by oral, performed and composed new. these epics not only exists in the community, but also have to add or change the content, character, art details to increase capacity, the number of epic. they can capture new elements of modern social life but still admit the characteristics of the epic. therefore, they are called “living epic”. currently, the dam giongepics is still being performed in villages in kon tum province-vietnam. 2.2.4 about language the language of reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam is refined. the language is the words of poetry that reached the pinnacle of verbal art. these epics have been written and supplemented over centuries. many people (monk, king, folk artist) participate in the correction of the narrative, the dialogue of the characters. in addition, they are selected events, details to be staged to suit the court conditions or the folk scene. language in the dam giong epics is common language; it is close to the everyday language of populars and is not polished. the folk artists are extemporized very freely on performance. depending on the mood, health and inspiration of the folk artist, the language of the epic is good or bad. in my experience, when you give artisans good food and good performance space (many listeners, the audience’s concentration, in the festive atmosphere). then, the narrator of the artist is very good (smooth lyrics, melodious music, fluency, many rhymes, idioms, proverbs). 2.2.5 about capacity and structure capacity of reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam is usually short, about 50,000 to 70,000 verses (note 3). the structure of these epics is a single epic which has a distinct structure. all the details of the story are told in an epic. in just one epic, all the qualities of the hero are fully manifested in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 137 published by scholink inc. character, action and virtue. different from the epics, the dam giong epics is serial epic, composed of hundreds of single epics that linked together to tell a hero named dam giong. each single epic has its own structure that describes one or two actions of the hero. it links with other epics through the content, the theme, the way of character building. the quality of hero dam giong is only fully expressed through many epics. the capacity of each single epic is calculated by the time of performance, about 8 to 10 hours. the dam giongepics have two structure types: the concentric structure (all events, characters pointing to hero dam giong) and the narrative frame structure (small stories are connected to each other through motifs, reappear characters). structural style of the dam giong epics is considered to be an open structure, this epic end will start another epic. so, many epics are told in succession. the structure of the dam giong epics resembles cyclical epics type of the world's folklore (note 4). 2.2.6 about the characters main characters in reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lamare virtuous and talented as the gods. they usually are the forerunner of the buddha. heroes’ victories are defeating evil monsters and enemies to win back the beautiful girls, the honor of themselves or the community. preah ream (in reamker) defeats the demon king to become buddha. phralak and phra lam (in phralakphra lam) fight to destroy demon hapkhanasouane. they are heroes on the battlefield. the main character in the dam giong epics is both heroic in battle and heroic in everyday life (cultural hero). hero dam giong has many spells and powers, he can defeat devils, monsters and powerful enemies. after the hero after defeating the enemy, he returns to the village and together with the villagers cultivate, hunt, and making a happy life. in particular, the dam giongepics has many re-appearing characters. these are characters with the same name, origin, personality appear many times, in many epics. these characters link the epics together to form a cycles epic. 2.2.7 about content the main content of reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam epics is the fight between good and evil, the conflict of faith, loyalty in love. in there, the conflict between good and evil is emphasized in the moral conception of buddhist culture. the battle in these epics are the protection of love, truth and morals. the philosophy in these epics is buddhist philosophy. the main content of the dam giong epics is fighting to protect truth, honor and to build a happy life for the villagers. in their lack of food, ethnic groups in the central highlands claim that hunger is also an enemy. thus, the dam giong epics not only praised hero dam giong’s courage and bravery but also praised his hard work and skills in planting, hunting, building the village, … philosophy in the dam giongepics is the simple philosophy of the primordial time, such as animism, totem, … however, today, philosophy of the dam giong epics is influenced by the christian philosophy. some motifs in the dam giong epics show this character very clearly; for example, a christian engagement motif. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 138 published by scholink inc. the difference between reamker, ramakien, phra lam phra lam and the dam giong epics the difference are due to the following reasons: -reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam are works adapted from ramayana (india). these epics deeply influenced by ramayana content, structure of art, characters, philosophy (hindu religions and theravada buddhism). in addition, the history of the three countries of cambodia, thailand, laos have many close relationships and they are influenced by the feudal of southeast asia. -the dam giongepics is a pure product of bahnar ethnic. until the mid-nineteenth century, the bahnar people maintained the routine of the primitive society. they operate in narrow spaces and have little contact with the outside world. so, the dam giong epics is different from reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam. 3. conclusion there are a lot of similarities and differences in the dam giong epics and reamker, ramakien and phralakphra lam. they have a basic similarity about the theme, the expression forms, the characters and some motifs. the proximity of geography, history and ethnic exchanges has created similarities. however, in the epics there are differences in the origin, the historical context, the expression forms and methods, the language, the capacity and structure, the characters and the contents. in particular, the most different is the demonstration mode. reamker, ramakien, phralakphra lam can be called the imperial palace, as they are performed and developed in court. the dam giongepics is the product of popular people; it is composed, performed and enjoyed by popular people. it is a “living epic” genre. in particular, the original performance of the dam giong epics still exist in today’s life. it captures a lot of new and modern content but still captures the epic genre. the volume and number of epics are constantly increasing. understanding the similarities and differences between the vietnamese, lao, thai, cambodian epics, etc., will show the identity of each nation and affirm the common ground of culture and literature asean study. this also shows the cultural similarities among countries in the asean area. it will be very necessary for those who want to learn aboutculture and literature of asian countries in general, asean area in particular. references cadet, j. (1970). the ramakien: the thai epic. tokyo: kokansha international. dang, n. v., cam, t., tran, m. c., le, d. d., & ngo, v. b. (1981). ethnic minorites in gia lai-cong tum province. hanoi: social sciences publishing house. dung, n. t. (2014). christian element in the dam giong epics. folk culture review, 51-59. gia lai provincial party committee. (1996). history of the party committee of gia lai province. hanoi: national political publishing house. hays, j. (2014, march 31). classie thai literature: the ramakien, poetry and folk tales. retrieved march 1, 2018, from http://factsanddetails.com www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 2, 2018 139 published by scholink inc. hue, h. t. (2016). acculturation in vietnamese contemporary literature. international journal of communication and media studies (ijcms), 6(3). hung, n. (2018, january 30). study about thai “khon” art. retrieved march 11, 2018, from https://www.tourthailan.net.vn jame, r. b. (1993). the cambridge guide to asian theatre. cambridge: cambridge university. lewis, s. (1908). the popol vuh-the mythic and heroic sagas of the quiche of central america. london: long acre. luong, n., nghiem, d. v., & dinh, n. b. (1996). laos, history and culture. hanoi: natonal political puhlishing house. sachchidanand, s. (1981). the ramayana in south east asia. bihar: center for south east asia studies. soviet academy of science. (2012). history of world literature (volume 2). hochiminh: literature publishing house & center for international studies. the soviet academy of science. (2014). history of world literature (volume 3). hochiminh: literature publishing house & center for international studies. to ngoc, t., dang, n. v., pham, h. t., & vu thi, h. (1988). folklore bahnar. gia lai-kon tum: department of culture and information of gia lai-kon tum. tuoitrenews. (2011, september 23). vietnam’s backbone: the annamite mountains. retrieved march 31, 2018, from https://tuoitrenews.vn vietnam academy of social science. (2001-2007). central highland eics (volume 1-62). hanoi: social science publishing house. wenk, k. (1995). thai literature: an introduction. bangkok: white lotus. notes note 1. this article science was sponsored by nafosted fund (national foundation for science and technology development fund)-ministry of science and technology, vietnam. code project: 602.05-2016.01. note 2. khon is a kind of traditional thai dance. it is usually performed in court. khon’s script is mainly from ramakien (hung, 2018). note 3. ramakien has about 70,000 verses. note 4. twelve ancient greek epics revolve around two great epics, the iliad and the odyssey. these epics tell of the return of heroes during the trojan war. microsoft word grhe-v2n3-p104 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 104 original paper can formative assessment and corrective feedback improve l2 learners’ performance on english “comparative forms”? the case of low-proficiency level efl learners alqahtani mofareh a1* 1 king khaled military academy, civilian studies, english department, riyadh saudi * alqahtani mofareh a, king khaled military academy, civilian studies, english department, riyadh saudi received: june 20, 2019 accepted: july 1, 2019 online published: july 18, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n3p104 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n3p104 abstract this study aims to examine the impact of formative assessment with corrective feedback as one of the effective tools that improve the performance of students who study english as a second language (l2 learners). more specifically, it contributes to research on the complex relationship between the attitudes and practices of english language teachers and students regarding the way they understand and practice the basics of formative assessment and corrective feedback when checking students’ achievement. in order to achieve this goal, the study investigated this matter in light of the following guiding questions: what are the effects of corrective and formative feedback in improving students who are learning english as a second language level l2 learners? how might teachers provide effective assistance to their students during this stage? to address these questions, a total of 58 subjects were divided into a control group (n=29) and an experimental group (n=29). all the subjects were second-year cadets at a military academy. both groups were given a pre-test prior to the teaching of english “comparative forms”. the purpose of the pre-test was to make sure that the two groups were homogenous. the pre-test was then followed by the teaching of english “comparative forms” in both groups. the experimental group was given a formative assessment where each subject also received one-on-one corrective feedback. finally, a post-test (summative assessment) was given to both groups. after collecting and analyzing the data, it was found that providing a formative assessment and corrective feedback has a positive impact on improving students’ level of accurate understanding accurately and student writing as well as correct reading. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 105 published by scholink inc. definitions of terms ▪ formative: serving to form something, especially having a profound influence on a person’s development. ▪ assessment: the action or an instance of making a judgment about something: the act of assessing something: appraisal. ▪ corrective: tending to correct or rectify generally used to refer to something that is intended to improve a situation. ▪ feedback: the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source. ▪ l2 learners the students learning a second language, non-native language, foreign language, it is a process of acquiring language capacity after another language (or languages) have already been learned natively. ▪ efl learners efl is an abbreviation for (english as a foreign language) this is mainly used to talk about students (whose first language is not english) learning english while living in their own country (for example, a chinese person learning english in china). keywords assessment, feedback, formative, summative, teaching english as a foreign language 1. introduction formative assessments stand in contrast to summative assessments. on the one hand, summative assessments are used to evaluate the achievement of students at the end of a course, program, semester, or school year. that is, the final grade of students is determined based on their performance in summative assessments. formative assessments, on the other hand, are used to help teachers identify whether students have any difficulties or learning needs during the course, program, semester, or school year. thus, formative assessments ultimately aim at improving students’ performance on summative assessments. formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 106 published by scholink inc. the usual goal of formative assessment is therefore to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning while it is happening. what makes an assessment “formative” is not the design of a test, technique, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used—i.e., to inform in-process teaching and learning modifications. 1.1 review of the relevant literature in this regard, a number of previous studies concerning with the subject matter of the current research were examined or addressed, the most important of which are:  maddalena taras (2008) found that there was a general consensus among practitioners on the understanding of the term “formative assessment”. eighty per cent (40/48) of lecturers mentioned it to be “developmental” and/or “for learning” (2 did not reply). the definition of formative assessment also reflected the etymological meaning of assessment, however: only 28 per cent (14/48) mentioned “feedback”. formative assessment is argued, however, to be properly understood as summative assessment plus feedback, such as some form of correction.  ehsan rassaei, ahmad moinzadeh, manijeh youhanaee (2012) carried out a study in which the impacts of two types of feedback-related evidence which are believed to be crucial in second language (l2) development were compared. positive evidence provides learners with the correct and target-like structures or what is acceptable in l2 while negative evidence indicates learners clearly what is unacceptable. one framework for investigating the roles of positive and negative evidence is based on research on their role in corrective feedback in l2 acquisition. corrective feedback is defined as a teacher’s reactive move that invites a learner to attend to the grammatical accuracy of the utterance which is produced by the learner (sheen, 2007), and rassaei et al. (2012) found that corrective feedback giving explicit negative evidence was superior to other types. carroll and swain (1993), studied the effects of four different types of feedback: explicit hypothesis rejection, explicit utterance rejection, modeling/implicit negative feedback, and indirect metalinguistic feedback. findings showed that the group receiving explicit hypothesis rejection outperformed all the other groups, providing evidence again that explicit correction played more a important role in learning correct grammatical generalizations than implicit correction.  lyster and ranta (1997) categorized corrective feedback into six different types when investigating four immersion classrooms at the primary level: explicit correction, recast, clarification requests, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, and repetition. they found that teachers used recast (55%) the most out of the six different types of feedback, followed by elicitation, clarification requests, metalinguistic feedback explicit correction, and repetition of errors (5%). however, recast, which is often positive and implicit, was the least likely to lead to uptake in student responses to feedback, whereas elicitation led to student responses the most successfully. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 107 published by scholink inc. 1.2 objectives of the study i aim to demonstrate the effectiveness in efl teaching of formative assessment with corrective feedback in improving the performance of l2 learners learning comparative forms. objectives are therefore: 1) to determine the effect of using formative assessment on later summative assessment of the attainment of students at the end of a course that has been instructed in a systematic way. 2) to study the effectiveness of the formative assessment in helping teachers to assess the students’ status and whether they need extra help in the classroom. 3) to verify the existence of effective corrective feedback methods to help students improve their performance through formative assessment. 1.3 importance of the study formative assessment is an important process that used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes therefore formative assessment takes place during instruction. meanwhile feedback also focused on the conditions and principles of effective feedback that will have most effect on student learning where it explain how the use of written feedback from lecturers can improve student outcomes and grades from one assessment task to the next one therefore it has been determined by many experts as a very important and vital tool that much helpful for the students to improve their skills and minimize the related errors. 1.4 research hypothesis based upon the above-mentioned arguments, the following hypothesis can be formulated: 1) corrective feedback as a part of formative assessment plays an important role in the final summative performance of efl learners. 2. method a total of 58 subjects were divided into a control group (n=29) and an experimental group (n=29). all the subjects were second-year cadets at a military academy. both groups were given a pre-test prior to the teaching of english “comparative forms”. the purpose of the pre-test was to make sure that the two groups were homogenous. the pre-test was then followed by the teaching of english “comparative forms” in both groups. the experimental group was given a formative assessment where each subject received one-on-one corrective feedback. finally, a post-test (summative assessment) was given to both groups. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 108 published by scholink inc. 3. result table 1. descriptive statistics of the groups’ performances in preand post-tests pre-test post-test group m sd m sd control 1.69 1.92 6.59 4.19 experimental 2.62 2.87 9.17 .97 note. participants in each group (n=29); maximum score on each test is 10. table 1 above shows that the subjects in the two groups performed slightly differently in the pre-test. however, the high standard deviations clearly indicate the wide variation among the subjects in prior ability. furthermore, the difference between the groups on the pre-test was not significant (t(56)=-1.4504, p=.153). results of the post-test however show a clearly better performance in favor of the experimental group. the t-test result indicates a highly significant difference between the groups (t(56) =3.324, p=.002), supporting the efficacy of formative assessment and feedback on the learning of english comparative forms. figure 1 below illustrates the post-test’s mean difference in both groups. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 109 published by scholink inc. figure 1. post-test difference between control and experimental groups cohen’s d effect size was also computed to quantify the effect of formative assessment and feedback on the students’ learning of english comparative forms. cohen’s d is operationalized by calculating the mean difference between two scores and then dividing the result by the pooled standard deviation. the results show a large effect size of formative assessment and feedback on the learning of l2 comparative forms (cohen’s d=.85). according to cohen (1992), a value of 0.8 or greater is a very large effect. 4. discussion as was mentioned above, the current study was designed to determine the effect of formative assessment with corrective feedback on improving the performance of l2 learners learning english comparative forms. after collecting and analyzing the data, it was noted that providing formative assessment and corrective feedback in addition to instruction had a positive impact on improving students’ level of accurate understanding and use of comparative forms. this is therefore consistent with the literature which we reviewed in 1.1 above, and for example with bitchener (2008) who revealed that using various kinds of formative assessment and corrective feedback in student groups can also lead to improvement in writing. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 110 published by scholink inc. students who received formative assessment and corrective feedback in the present study performed better in the post-test than the control group, which implies that greater emphasis should be placed on formative assessment and corrective feedback in the education and training process. on the other hand, however, bitchener and knoch (2009) reported that error correction alone, without additional feedback was just as beneficial as more elaborate forms of feedback (such as explicit explanation). hence the question as to what precise form of feedback is the most beneficial remains to be answered. moreover, we do not know what form of formative assessment and corrective feedback would have the greatest impact on improving the level of students at all levels of learner ability, nor which different types are likely to produce the best improvement in learning over the long term. 5. conclusion and recommendations in conclusion, the results of the present study show that the subjects in the experimental group significantly outperformed the subjects in the control group. this is due to the fact that the subjects in the experimental group received corrective feedback in a formative assessment which ultimately aimed at improving their performance in the later summative assessment. furthermore, the result of cohen’s d revealed a large effect size for formative assessment with systematic corrective feedback on the learning of l2 comparative forms. the pedagogical implication that the findings suggest is that formative assessment and corrective feedback are useful strategies for promoting learning in an efl context, at least with low-proficiency level second language learners. the researcher finally presents a number of recommendations, with the aim of contributing to and strengthening the understanding and use of formative assessment and corrective feedback to improve students’ performance, especially l2 learners, by offering suggestions based on the current study. 1) there should be collaboration between students and teachers to extend the use of formative assessment with feedback to enhance all parts of the efl syllabus, including reading and writing. 2) students have to be given more formative assessment with corrective feedback, either as groups or individually, because effective formative assessment and corrective feedback provide the learner with two types of information: verification and elaboration. 3) l2 learners and teachers must consider formative assessment and corrective feedback as scaffolding: it provides support which enables english learners to do more advanced activities and to engage in more advanced thinking and problem solving than they could without such help. 4) there is an additional effective cognitive mechanism by which formative assessment and corrective feedback may benefit learners. it can signal a gap between their current level of performance and some desired level of performance or goal. resolving this gap can motivate the learner to engage higher levels of effort. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 3, 2019 111 published by scholink inc. references becker, l. j., & seligman, c. 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(2008). summative and formative assessment: perceptions and realities. active learning in higher education, 9(2), 172-192. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 short paper campus population changes in depression severity correlated with the covid-19 pandemic agustina marconi 1 , bjorn hanson 2 , ellie kachel 3 , megan crass 4 & elizabeth c falk-hanson 5 1 university health services (uhs) epidemiologist, university of wisconsin-madison, madison, wisconsin, usa 2 coordinator of quality, data, and informatics, mental health services university health services (uhs), university of wisconsin-madison, madison, wisconsin, usa 3 informatics university health services (uhs), university of wisconsin-madison 4 medical coordinator, university health services (uhs), university of wisconsin-madison, madison, wisconsin, usa 5 nurse practitioner, women’s health and sexual health clinics, uw-madison university health services received: april 8, 2022 accepted: april 26, 2022 online published: may 19, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n2p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n2p1 abstract introduction: mental health consequences during covid-19 pandemic burdened societies. objective: the aim is to assess the average phq-9 in medical visits during pandemic months and compare it with historical data, adapting an existing methodology. methodology: we used average phq-9 score from medical departments, comparing 2020 fall term data to historical baseline. the increase above baseline and threshold was reported as percentage. we compared the observed average for the current period with the expected average and the higher limit of the 95% confidence interval (ci 95%) derived from historical five years of data. also, we analyzed the phq-9 difference between female and male students for the whole period. results: average phq-9 for total sample, females and males increased. difference femalemale in scoring was significant. discussion: in line with national and international literature, our population showed increases in depressive scoring during pandemic months. women had a higher percentage of increase. keywords phq-9, depression, student health services, covid-19 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the severe respiratory syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus (sars cov-2) is described as the greatest global health crisis the world has faced since the influenza pandemic of the early twentieth century (el zowalaty & järhult, 2020). from early stages of this global emergency, it became evident that the mental health consequences that this pandemic caused would burden societies (torales, higgins, castaldelli-maia & ventriglio, 2020). around the world there have been mental health assessments for healthcare workers and for the general population during the lockdown months and afterwards. in the uk, and for the general population, the prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms significantly increased relative to pre pandemic levels based on epidemiological data (pieh, budimir, delgadillo, barkham, fontaine & probst, 2021). the “understanding america study” (uas) showed that in march 2020 around 29% of the us adult population reported deterioration in depression and anxiety symptoms (kämpfen, kohler, ciancio, bruine de bruin, maurer & kohler, 2020). college mental health college years can be distressing during non-pandemic times. the new environment and the study requirements is stressful for most students. in 2018, the national college health assessment (ncha) from american college health association (acha) data showed 17.1% of undergraduate students felt depressed and 18.1% felt overwhelming anxiety in the last 12 months (american college health association, 2018). when assessing college students’ mental health during pandemic months, literature shows almost 50% of the students reported a moderate-to-severe level of depression, 38.48% reported a moderate-to-severe level of anxiety, and around 18.04% had suicidal thoughts. over 70% of the students indicated that their stress/anxiety levels had increased during the pandemic (wang, hegde, son, keller, smith & sasangohar, 2020). the university of wisconsin-madison (uw-madison) is a large public research university in the midwest united states with a total fall 2020 enrollment of 45,540. there are 13 schools and colleges offering multiple undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degree programs (university of wisconsin-madison, n.d.). in 2020, 69.5% of enrolled students were undergraduates, 52.2% were female, 12.9% were international students, and 65% were white (uw-madison data digest, 2021). university health services (uhs) is the medical service that offers primary care, sexual health and mental health services for enrolled students. in the past, uhs has focused their research on mental health issues such as “complete response rates” for phq-9 for uwmadison students (marconi, ranum, orman, hanson, donovan & borenitsch, 2019). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 3 published by scholink inc. 2. participants and settings 2.1 setting the university health services (uhs) is a primary care setting that assists medical and mental health needs of uw-madison students. historically, the medical services unit of uhs completed between 75000 and 95000 visits per fiscal year (university health services (uhs), n.d.). 2.2 data data includes average phq-9 per week during fall semester (8/30/2020-1/2/2021). phq-9 surveys are launched in response to a positive phq-2 score, with the threshold for phq-2 score set at 3 or above. prior to 2020 this procedure was manual, and it was completed by the medical assistants during the patient rooming process. since january 2020 the process was automated through a new self-check-in process linked to the electronic health record. the phq-2 is administered as part of a health screening survey every 90 days. no phi was utilized for this analysis. 2.3 definitions phq-9: the patient’s health questionnaire (phq-9) is a nine-item depression scale of the patient health questionnaire (phq). it is a validated instrument utilized around the world by primary care health workers to screen for the presence and severity of depression (modeled after dsm-iv criteria). it is also used to monitor treatment response (university of washington, psychiatry & behavioral sciences division of population health, n.d.). the phq-9 scale has been widely used and has proved to be reliable to detect depression (sun, fu, bo, et al., 2020; kroenke, spitzer & williams, 2001). the aim of this study is to assess the average phq-9 in medical visits during pandemic months and compare it with historical data, adapting an existing methodology (vital strategies, world health organization, 2020). 3. methods we developed an exploratory analysis of the increase in “average phq-9” for medical visits during fall term 2020 (9/6/202012/26/2020) and its comparison with same period historical data (fall terms 2015-2019) in college students at uhs, uw-madison. for the design and statistical comparison, we adapted the world health organization (who) recommendations for rapid mortality surveillance and epidemic response for a morbidity screening tool, like phq-9. for the analysis we used average phq-9 score total and per week, comparing 2020 fall term data to the historical baseline (i.e., the same period in the past 5 years). we reported phq-9 as the average of all scores collected by medical departments per week. the increase above baseline and threshold was reported as percentage. we compared the observed average for the current period with the average expected and the higher limit of the 95% confidence interval (ci 95%) derived from historical five years of data. if a certain week in 2020 had 3 or less registers, we took a conservative approach and assumed the lower historical value. an institutional board (irb) approved the protocol. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 4 published by scholink inc. we then analyzed the increase “average phq-9” for the total period for female and male students. finally, we analyzed the phq-9 difference between female and male students for the whole period. we determined the observed average phq-9 for both groups, the expected average phq-9 for both groups and then we determined the phq-9 difference between female and male. we define the phq-9 difference as the subtraction of the average phq-9 for femalephq-9 for male for the total period. 4. results table 1 and chart 1 show the analyzed data for the total period and per week and totals by sex. average phq-9 for the entire semester in 2020 was 13.8, whereas historical average phq-9 was 11.3. the excess of average phq-9 for the whole fall term compared to 2015-2019 was 21.4% with a significant increase when compared to the historical upper confidence interval 95% (14.7%). in the weekly analysis we observed a significant increase of the average phq-9 in all the weeks but f1 (9/12/2020), f8, f9 and f10 (10/31/2020-11/14/2020). specifically, f2 (9/19/2020) had a significant increase above 50% of baseline. on the other hand, none of the weeks had a significant decrease in the average phq-9 compared to historical. average phq-9 for female students in the whole fall period 2020 was 14.1, whereas historical average was 11.5. the excess of average phq-9 for the whole period compared to 2015-2019 was 21.9% with a significant increase when compared to the historical upper confidence interval 95% (14.8%). average for male students in the whole fall 2020 period was 12.4, whereas historical average was 10.9. the excess of average phq-9 for the whole period compared to 2015-2019 was 13.9% with a significant increase when compared to the historical upper confidence interval 95% (7%). finally, we observed a fall 2020 femalemale difference of 1.6 with a historical 0.6. this means a significant percentage above baseline of 167.6% and above historical upper confidence interval 95% of 54.4%. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 5 published by scholink inc. table 1. excess of average phq-9 college students and historical comparison. total and per fall term weeks and total per sex. uhs, uw-madison fall term 2020 (september to december 2020) fall week (ending week for 2020) 2015-2019 weekly average (95% ci) 2020 phq9 average % above baseline % above threshold f1 (9/12/2020) 11.6 (9.214) 12.3 6.0 -12.2 f2 (9/19/2020) 10.4 (8.5-12.4) 16.1 54.2 29.6 f3 (9/23/2020) 10.2 (8.9-11.5) 14.0 37.3 22.2 f4 (10/3/2020) 11.3 (10.512.1) 14.0 23.7 15.6 f5 (10/10/2020) 11.1 (10.1-12.2) 14.6 31.1 19.7 f6 (10/17/2020) 11.5 (10.3-12.7) 12.8 10.9 0.5 f7 (10/24/2020) 11.8 (10.513.2) 13.5 14.2 2.6 f8 (10/31/2020) 12.2 (11.6-12.9) 12.2 -0.3 -5.2 f9 (11/7/2020) 11.5 (10.1-12.9) 12.7 10.2 -1.7 f10 (11/14/2020) 11.9 (10.5-13.3) 13.1 10.1 -1.7 f11 (11/21/2020) 10.7 (9.7-11.7) 14.6 36.4 24.3 f12 (11/28/2020) 11.9 (11.3-12.4) 14.3 20.6 15.3 f13 (12/5/2020) 11.5 (10.312.7) 14.4 25.7 13.7 f14 (12/12/2020) 11.2 (10.1-12.2) 13.9 24.6 14.2 f15 (12/19/2020) 11.6 (11.0-12.2) 13.5 16.4 10.4 f16 (12/26/2020) 10.9 (9.9-11.9) 14.3 31.0 20.1 total 11.3 (10.7-12.0) 13.8 21.4 14.7 total female 11.5 (10.8-12.3) 14.1 21.9 14.8 total male 10.9 (10.2-11.6) 12.4 13.9 7.0 difference femalemale 0.6 (0.16-1.05) 1.6 167.6 54.4 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 6 published by scholink inc. figure 1. average phq9 fall term 2020-2021 by week compared to the upper and lower limits of historical data fall terms 2015-2019 (95% ci) 5. discussion we were able to adapt an existing methodology meant to check for excess of mortality during a global health crisis to measure the increase of phq-9 average score in a college population. our study shows a significant increase of the average phq-9 compared to historical data for the entire sample. in line with national and international literature, our population showed increase in depressive scoring during the pandemic (huckins, dasilva, wang, hedlund, rogers, nepal, holtzheimer, 2020). czeisler et al. reported a prevalence of depressive disorder in the general population in 2020, measured with phq-2, four times higher than what was reported in the second quarter of 2019. in the age group 18-24 the same authors report an increase in prevalence of depressive symptoms of over 50% (czeisler, lane, petrosky et al., 2020). also, when comparing preand during-pandemic mental health status in adults in the us, prevalence of depression symptoms was more than 3-fold higher during covid-19 compared with before the covid-19 pandemic (ettman, abdalla, cohen, sampson, vivier & galea, 2020). when referring specifically to the college population, literature highlights college students were more sedentary, anxious, and depressed (jia, ayling, chalder, massey, broadbent, coupland et al., 2020). it is also widely described how mental health issues disproportionately impacted females to a greater degree during the pandemic (xiong, lipsitz, nasri, lui, gill, phan et al., 2020). in our study, although both females and males had significant increases in average phq9, it is women that had a higher percentage of increase from historical data. while it is beyond the scope of this analysis, this could be related to women reporting more pandemic-related distress than men (yan et al., 2021). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 7 published by scholink inc. not only did we observe a significant increase in the average phq-9 for the total period for both females and male, but we also saw a significant increase in the phq-9 difference between sexes, with female students seeing a sharper increase in phq-9 score. 6. limitations due to changes in phq9 data collection unrelated to pandemic, we were only able to assess the fall term and not spring or summer terms of 2020. due to sample size, we could not check for sex per week or for age groups, race groups, gender minorities or any academic variable. references american college health association. (2018). national college health assessment. undergraduate student reference group. data report, fall 2018. retrieved from https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/ncha-ii_fall_2018_undergraduate_reference_group_d ata_report.pdf czeisler, m. é., lane, r. i., petrosky, e. et al. (2020). mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the covid-19 pandemic-united states, june 24-30, 2020. mmwr morb mortal wkly rep., 69(32), 1049-1057. el zowalaty, m. e., & järhult, j. d. (2020). from sars to covid-19: a previously unknown sars-related coronavirus (sars-cov-2) of pandemic potential infecting humans–call for a one health approach. one health, 9, 100124. ettman, c. k., abdalla, s. m., cohen, g. h., sampson, l., vivier, p. m., & galea, s. (2020). prevalence of depression symptoms in us adults before and during the covid-19 pandemic. jama netw open, 3(9), e2019686. huckins, j. f., dasilva, a. w., wang, w., hedlund, e., rogers, c., nepal, s. k., … holtzheimer, p. e. (2020). campbell at mental health and behavior of college students during the early phases of the covid-19 pandemic: longitudinal smartphone and ecological momentary assessment study. j med internet res., 22(6), e20185 jia, r., ayling, k., chalder, t., massey, a., broadbent, e., coupland, c, et al. (2020). mental health in the uk during the covid-19 pandemic: cross-sectional analyses from a community cohort study. bmj open, 10(9), e040620 kämpfen, f., kohler, i. v., ciancio, a., bruine de bruin, w., maurer, j., & kohler, h. p. (2020). predictors of mental health during the covid-19 pandemic in the us: role of economic concerns, health worries and social distancing. plos one, 15(11), e0241895. kroenke, k., spitzer, r. l., & williams, j. b. (2001). the phq-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. j gen intern med., 16(9), 606-613. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 8 published by scholink inc. marconi, a., ranum, n., orman, s. v., hanson, b., donovan, v., & borenitsch, e. (2019). demographic differences in response rates for phq9 in a university student population. journal of american college health, 67(3), 283-289. pieh, c., budimir, s., delgadillo, j., barkham, m., fontaine, j. r. j., & probst, t. (2021). mental health during covid-19 lockdown in the united kingdom. psychosomatic medicine, 83(4), 328-337. sun, y., fu, z., bo, q. et al. (2020). the reliability and validity of phq-9 in patients with major depressive disorder in psychiatric hospital. bmc psychiatry, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02885-6 torales, j., higgins, m. o., castaldelli-maia, j. m., & ventriglio, a. (2020). the outbreak of covid-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health. international journal of social psychiatry. university health services (uhs). (n.d.). annual report 2018-2019. retrieved from https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/uhs_2019_ar_web_lores-1.pdf university of washington, psychiatry & behavioral sciences division of population health. (n.d.). advancing integrated mental health solutions. aims center. retrieved from https://aims.uw.edu/resource-library/phq-9-depression-scale university of wisconsin-madison. (n.d.). about uw. retrieved from https://www.wisc.edu/about/ university of wisconsin-madison (2020-2021). data digest. academic planning and institutional research, office of the provost. vice-chancellor for finance and administrator. retrieved march 2017, from https://apir.wisc.edu/data-digest/ vital strategies, world health organization. (2020). revealing the toll of covid-19: a technical package for rapid mortality surveillance and epidemic response. new york: vital strategies. wang, x., hegde, s., son, c., keller, b., smith, a., & sasangohar, f. (2020). investigating mental health of us college students during the covid-19 pandemic: cross-sectional survey study. j med internet res., 22(9), e22817. xiong, j., lipsitz, o., nasri, f., lui, l. m. w., gill, h., phan, l. et al. (2020). impact of covid-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: a systematic review. journal of affective disorders, 277, 55-64. yan, s., xu, r., stratton, t. d., kavcic, v., luo, d., hou, f. et al. (2021). sex differences and psychological stress: responses to the covid-19 pandemic in china. bmc public health, 21(1), 79. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 69 original paper exploring the emotional impact of bullying: insights from the empty chair technique prof. dr. hakan usakli 1 1 sinop university, sinop, turkiye received: february 5, 2025 accepted: february 14, 2025 online published: february 19, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p69 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p69 abstract bullying in schools is repeated, intentional behavior where a student uses aggression, intimidation, or exclusion to harm, dominate, or humiliate another student. the empty chair technique is a therapeutic exercise used in gestalt therapy, developed by fritz perls. it involves the client imagining a person, aspect of themselves, or situation represented by an empty chair and engaging in a conversation as if the entity were present. this technique is important because it helps clients explore unresolved emotions, gain insights, and develop self-awareness by externalizing internal conflicts. to practice it, the therapist guides the client to speak to the empty chair, then switch roles by moving to the chair and responding from the perspective of the imagined entity. this study investigates the emotional experiences of twelve students who endured bullying during their primary school years, using the empty chair technique as a therapeutic intervention. the research explores participants’ feelings, coping mechanisms, and retrospective reflections on their bullying experiences. the findings illuminate the psychological effects of bullying and offer insights into the potential of the empty chair technique as a means of fostering emotional expression and healing. implications for educators, therapists, and policymakers are discussed. keywords bullying, empty chair technique, psychological effects 1. introduction bullying in primary schools is a pervasive issue with long-lasting effects on victims. it affects the mental, emotional, and social well-being of children, often extending into adulthood (olweus, 1993). despite extensive research on bullying, understanding the victims’ lived experiences remains a critical gap. this study employs the empty chair technique, a therapeutic method rooted in gestalt therapy, to explore the emotional narratives of students who were bullied during their formative years. by www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 70 published by scholink inc. providing a safe space for participants to express their feelings, this research aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on therapeutic interventions for bullying survivors. bullying in primary schools is associated with severe psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and difficulties in forming relationships (hymel & swearer, 2015). victims often lack avenues to articulate their pain and process their experiences. traditional therapeutic approaches may not fully capture the depth of their emotions or facilitate healing. the empty chair technique, which encourages direct emotional engagement, offers a promising alternative. however, its application in addressing bullying-related trauma remains underexplored. this study is significant for several reasons: filling research gaps: it contributes to the scant literature on using the empty chair technique for bullying survivors. practical implications: findings can inform therapeutic practices and interventions for victims of bullying. educational relevance: insights can help educators and school administrators create more supportive environments for students. bullying in primary schools bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior intended to harm or intimidate, characterized by a power imbalance (smith et al., 2004). research highlights its prevalence and detrimental effects on children’s mental health (espelage & swearer, 2003; vreeman & carroll, 2007). psychological impact of bullying victims of bullying often experience long-term psychological challenges, including post-traumatic stress and difficulties in self-identity formation (craig, 1998). peer victimization during childhood is linked to adult mental health issues (lereya et al., 2015). therapeutic interventions therapeutic interventions for bullying victims range from cognitive-behavioral therapy to group counseling. however, these methods may not fully address the emotional depth of victims’ experiences (swearer et al., 2014). the empty chair technique the empty chair technique, a cornerstone of gestalt therapy, facilitates emotional expression by allowing individuals to “dialogue” with an imagined person or aspect of themselves (perls, 1969). it has been used effectively in grief counseling and trauma recovery but remains underutilized in addressing bullying-related trauma. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 71 published by scholink inc. 2. method in this study, interview thematic analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. research design the interview thematic analysis technique in qualitative research is a method used to systematically analyze data collected through interviews. it involves a detailed and often iterative process of examining, organizing, and interpreting interview transcripts to extract meaningful patterns, themes, and insights (creswell, 2013). the technique focuses on understanding participants’ experiences, perceptions, and meanings through their own words, often leading to the development of deeper insights into a specific topic or phenomenon. this approach allows researchers to analyze qualitative interview data in a way that preserves the depth and complexity of participants’ experiences, providing rich insights into the research topic. key steps involved in interview analysis include: transcription: the first step is transcribing the audio or video recordings of interviews into written text. this provides a foundation for further analysis (saldana, 2016). initial reading: researchers often begin by reading through the transcript multiple times to become familiar with the data (creswell, 2013). this helps to get an overall sense of the content and context of the interviews. coding: after familiarization, researchers break the transcript down into smaller units, often called “codes”, which represent key concepts or themes in the data. these codes are typically short phrases that summarize the essence of each passage (saldaña, 2016). theme development: the research groups related codes together to form broader themes. themes are essentially patterns that capture significant aspects of the participants’ experiences or perspectives (braun & clarke, 2006). interpretation: once themes are developed, researchers interpret these findings in the context of the research question and the theoretical framework. this is a crucial step for linking the data to broader theories or concepts. verification: throughout the analysis, it is important to ensure that the findings are credible. techniques such as member checking (where participants review and validate the analysis), triangulation (using multiple data sources), and peer debriefing (consulting colleagues for feedback) can help strengthen the reliability of the analysis (creswell & poth, 2018). this qualitative study employs a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of bullying survivors. data was collected through semi-structured interviews and sessions involving the empty chair technique. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 72 published by scholink inc. 3. participants twelve participants (aged 18-25) who experienced bullying during primary school were purposively selected. inclusion criteria required participants to recall specific bullying incidents and express willingness to engage in the empty chair technique. procedure there are three phases of one session. first one initial interview that includes participants shared their bullying experiences in detail. in empty chair phase, participants addressed an “imagined” bully, teacher, or younger self. the final phase is follow-up interviews which participants reflected on their emotional responses to the technique. 4. data analysis thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and themes in the participants’ narratives. transcriptions were coded and analyzed iteratively to ensure accuracy and depth. 5. results emotional themes anger and resentment: participants expressed anger toward their bullies and the adults who failed to intervene. sadness and loss: many described feelings of loneliness and a sense of lost childhood. empowerment and closure: several participants reported a sense of relief and empowerment after engaging in the empty chair technique. coping mechanisms participants highlighted various coping mechanisms, including seeking support from peers and family, engaging in creative outlets, and pursuing personal development. 6. findings the empty chair technique provided a safe and structured environment for participants to confront unresolved emotions. participants gained new insights into their experiences and developed a greater sense of self-compassion. the technique revealed the importance of addressing bullying from multiple perspectives, including the role of bystanders and educators. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 73 published by scholink inc. table 1. themes, categories, codes and examples of results themes categories codes examples emotional impact of bullying negative emotions fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, loneliness “i was scared to go to school every day”. “it made me feel like i was worthless”. long-term emotional effects low self-esteem, trust issues, emotional numbness “even now, i find it hard to trust people”. social impact of bullying peer relationships isolation, exclusion, lack of friends “they never let me sit with them during lunch”. “i always felt left out”. impact on family dynamics reluctance to share with family, family tension “i never told my parents because i didn’t want them to worry”. coping mechanisms internal coping suppressing emotions, imagining revenge, self-blame “i thought maybe it was my fault that they bullied me”. seeking support talking to teachers or counselors, finding comfort in hobbies “art became my safe space”. “perhaps self-sports are my best friends”. reflections on the empty chair technique experience of expressing feelings relief, vulnerability, catharsis “it felt good to finally say everything i wanted to”. “it was hard to speak, but it helped me let go”. perceived effectiveness emotional release, better understanding of feelings “talking to the chair helped me understand what i was really feeling”. perception of bullies understanding the bully anger toward the bully, curiosity about their behavior, empathy “maybe they were going through something too”. unresolved feelings desire for closure, ongoing fear or resentment “i still don’t know why they did it, and it haunts me”. impact on academic life school avoidance skipping classes, faking illness to avoid school “i’d pretend to be sick just so i didn’t have to face them”. academic performance decreased focus, poor grades “i couldn’t concentrate because i was always on edge”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 74 published by scholink inc. this thematic structure can guide further analysis and help in drawing meaningful conclusions about the students’ experiences and the utility of the empty chair technique in facilitating emotional expression. 7. discussion the results align with existing literature on the therapeutic benefits of expressive techniques. the study discusses how schools can implement similar interventions and the role of emotional literacy in fostering resilience among students (olweus, 1993). implications for therapy the study underscores the efficacy of the empty chair technique in facilitating emotional expression and closure. therapists working with bullying survivors should consider integrating this method into their practice (swearer et al., 2014). educational interventions as vreeman and carroll (2007), stated schools must adopt proactive measures to address bullying, including training for teachers and implementing peer support programs. early intervention is crucial to prevent long-term psychological harm. limitations the study’s small sample size and reliance on retrospective accounts may limit the generalizability of findings. future research should explore the technique’s applicability across diverse populations and contexts. 8. recommendations after the study, recommendations were made for three different groups of experts. therapists can incorporate the empty chair technique into their interventions for victims of bullying. educators can create a supportive school culture that prioritizes emotional well-being. finally, researchers are encouraged to conduct longitudinal studies to evaluate the long-term impact of therapeutic interventions for bullying survivors. references braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa craig, w. m. (1998). the relationship among bullying, victimization, depression, anxiety and aggression in elementary school children. personality and individual differences, 24, 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(97)00145-1 creswell, j. w. (2013). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). sage. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(97)00145-1 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 75 published by scholink inc. creswell, j. w., & poth, c. n. (2018). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). sage. espelage, d. l., & swearer, s. m. (2003). research on school bullying and victimization: what have we learned and where do we go from here? school psychology review, 32(3), 365-383. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2003.12086206 hymel, s., & swearer, s. m. (2015). four decades of research on school bullying: an introduction. american psychologist, 70(4), 293-299. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038928 lereya, s. t., copeland, w. e., costello, e. j., & wolke, d. (2015). adult mental health consequences of peer bullying and maltreatment in childhood: two cohorts in two countries. the lancet psychiatry, 2(6), 524-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00165-0 olweus, d. (1993). bullying at school: what we know and what we can do. blackwell. perls, f. s. (1969). gestalt therapy verbatim. real people press. saldaña, j. (2016). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). sage. smith, p. k., pepler, d., & rigby, k. (2004). bullying in schools: how successful can interventions be? cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511584466 swearer, s. m., espelage, d. l., vaillancourt, t., & hymel, s. (2014). what can be done about school bullying? linking research to educational practice. educational researcher, 43(1), 38-47. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x09357622 vreeman, r. c., & carroll, a. e. (2007). a systematic review of school-based interventions to prevent bullying. arch pediatr adolesc med., 161(1), 78-88. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.161.1.78 appendix annex 1 a sample session session overview: the goal of this empty chair session is to help the young man process and express his feelings related to the bullying he experienced in primary school. he will use the empty chair to either address the bully, his younger self, or anyone involved in the situation. setting: a quiet, private space with two chairs. one chair will be empty, representing the person or part of the situation the individual wants to confront or express feelings toward. introduction: therapist: “today, we’re going to use the empty chair technique. the purpose is to help you express what you were feeling and still may feel about your experience with bullying in primary school. it might feel uncomfortable, and that’s okay. this is a space for you to say things you may not have been able to say back then, and maybe even to say things you haven’t been able to express until now”. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2003.12086206 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038928 https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00165-0 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511584466 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x09357622 https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.161.1.78 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 76 published by scholink inc. step 1: establish the chair focus the therapist will ask the young man to decide who or what the empty chair will represent. this could be: 1) the bully: if the young man wants to confront the person who bullied him. 2) his younger self: if he feels the need to address how he was feeling back then. 3) a bystander or friend: if someone was around but didn't intervene. 4) a parent or teacher: if he feels like an adult figure, he failed to support him. therapist: “who would you like this chair to represent? is it the bully? your younger self? or maybe someone else from that time? whoever or whatever you feel is important to address right now.” step 2: role play and expression once the young man has chosen who or what the chair represents, the therapist guides him through the process of speaking to the empty chair. the idea is to fully embody the role of either the person or himself at that time. if speaking to the bully: therapist: “imagine the bully is sitting in that chair. take a moment to really see them there. what would you want to say to them? what did you feel at the time but didn’t get to express? speak directly to them now. let yourself say what you need to say.” the young man then speaks to the empty chair as though the bully is present, expressing his thoughts, feelings, anger, confusion, or hurt. if speaking to his younger self: therapist: “now, imagine yourself as you were back then—what did you need to hear? what do you wish you could have said to yourself when you were being bullied? talk to yourself as the younger you now, comforting, understanding, or expressing whatever emotions come up.” the young man speaks to his younger self, offering compassion, advice, or even expressing regret or anger over the circumstances. step 3: switch seats (role reversal) after the young man has expressed himself, the therapist will invite him to switch chairs and adopt the role of the person he just addressed. this helps him step into their perspective and understand the situation from another angle. if speaking to the bully, the young man will now sit in the chair and “be” the bully. therapist: “now, switch places and imagine you’re the bully. from this chair, speak back to what the young you just said. what might the bully say? try to respond as they would—this can help us see things in a different light.” if speaking to his younger self, the young man will sit in the other chair and try to step into the mindset of his younger self. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 77 published by scholink inc. therapist: “now, go back to that time. imagine you are your younger self again. how do you feel? what are you struggling with, and what would you have wanted others to know or do for you?” step 4: reflection once the young man has had the chance to express both sides of the conversation, the therapist guides him through some reflection. therapist: “now that you’ve spoken from both perspectives, how are you feeling? what new understanding or feelings have come up for you about the situation or about yourself? do you feel more empathy for that younger version of you? or do you feel more closure or anger toward the bully?” step 5: closing the therapist will end the session by bringing the young man’s focus back to the present moment and guiding him to process any emotions that arose. therapist: “this was a difficult conversation to have, and i want you to know that it’s okay to still feel strong emotions about this experience. you’ve done a lot of work today. take some time to reflect on the feelings that came up and know that this process is part of your healing journey.” global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 58 original paper a survey of entrepreneurial intentions among chinese college students yin zhang 1* & yan wang 2 1 institute of higher education, southeast university, nanjing, china 2 school of biological science and medical engineering, southeast university, nanjing, china * yin zhang, institute of higher education, southeast university, nanjing, china received: august 10, 2023 accepted: august 29, 2023 online published: september 7, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p58 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p58 abstract entrepreneurial intention is a crucial factor that influences entrepreneurial behavior and can largely predict the likelihood of its occurrence. a survey of 321 chinese college students revealed the following findings: 1) the overall level of entrepreneurial intention among chinese college students is at an average level. 2) entrepreneurship education plays a significant role in enhancing the entrepreneurial intention of chinese college students. 3) economic factors are the primary motivation for chinese college students to engage in entrepreneurship. 4) the majority of chinese college students prefer opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. 5) the selection of entrepreneurial fields by chinese college students is mainly based on their interests and expertise. keywords entrepreneurial intention, china, college students, survey 1. introduction entrepreneurial intention is a crucial factor that influences entrepreneurial behavior and can largely predict the likelihood of its occurrence. bird (1988) defined “entrepreneurial intention” as a psychological state in which entrepreneurs focus their attention, energy, and behavior on a specific goal. ajzen (1991) argued that starting a company is considered a rational or predetermined behavior, and there is a close relationship between intention and actual behavior. kruger (1993) stated that “entrepreneurial intention” refers specifically to the degree of commitment to starting a business, and he regards it as the most important indicator of an individual‟s future implementation of entrepreneurial behavior. bagozzi and kimmel (1995) posited that entrepreneurial intention is a prerequisite for implementing entrepreneurial behavior, an intermediate variable between individual and social factors www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 59 published by scholink inc. pointing to entrepreneurial behavior, and an individual‟s subjective attitude towards whether to take entrepreneurial action. although attitudes, beliefs, personality, and demographic characteristics can explain entrepreneurial behavior to some extent, intention is the best predictor of planned behavior. davidsson (1995) argued that entrepreneurial intention is the intention or plan to start a company, but in actual cases, sometimes it does not directly lead to the occurrence of entrepreneurial behavior. therefore, entrepreneurial intention is a prediction of individual entrepreneurial activities, although not perfect, it affects the individual‟s actual entrepreneurial choices. thompson (2009) defined an individual‟s entrepreneurial intention as the belief that an individual plans to start a new business and will consciously fulfill these plans at some point in the future. as one of the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world, china places significant emphasis on fostering entrepreneurship among college students and extensively implements entrepreneurship education in universities. given this context, what is the actual entrepreneurial intention of chinese college students? to address this question, a survey was conducted by the research team to investigate the issue. 2. methods what are the methods for assessing the entrepreneurial intentions of college students? katz and gartner (1986) proposed that entrepreneurial intention can be measured from multiple dimensions, including entrepreneurs, stakeholders, and markets. in recent years, chinese scholars have also studied the issue of entrepreneurial intention from different perspectives. for example, yu (2023) analyzed the factors that affect university students‟ entrepreneurial intention from a social network perspective. xu (2023) studied the mediating effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy between innovation and entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. yang and you (2020) investigated the impact of entrepreneurial role models on college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. this study employs a self-designed questionnaire to examine the entrepreneurial intentions of chinese college students. the survey further breaks down entrepreneurial intentions into several dimensions, including the overall level of entrepreneurial intention among college students, factors that influence their entrepreneurial intention, their motivations for entrepreneurship, their intentions regarding the types of entrepreneurship, and their preferred fields for entrepreneurship. the overall level of entrepreneurial intention among college students is assessed using a 12-item likert scale questionnaire. each item is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents strong disagreement with the statement, 2 represents disagreement, 3 represents neutrality, 4 represents agreement, and 5 represents strong agreement. the maximum possible score is 60 and the minimum is 12. higher scores indicate stronger entrepreneurial intentions, while lower scores indicate weaker intentions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 60 published by scholink inc. table 1. likert questionnaire 12 items about entrepreneurial intentions 1. i am full of enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. 2. within 5 years of graduation, there is a high probability that i will start a business. 3. for me, the appeal of being an entrepreneur is greater than being an employee. 4. i have made detailed plans for starting a business. 5. i actively learn about entrepreneurship knowledge. 6. i actively prepare start-up funds for entrepreneurship. 7. i have carefully considered the direction and products of entrepreneurship. 8. i have seriously considered forming an entrepreneurial team. 9. i actively seek suitable entrepreneurial opportunities. 10. i actively choose courses on entrepreneurship education offered by the school. 11. i actively participate in school activities related to entrepreneurship education. 12. i actively participate in entrepreneurship training organized by the government. as for the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention of college students, including entrepreneurial motivation, preferred types of entrepreneurship, and choice of entrepreneurial fields, the survey designed single-choice and multiple-choice questions respectively and analyzed them through methods such as statistical frequency. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 61 published by scholink inc. 3. sampling a total of 400 questionnaires were randomly distributed in this survey, and 350 were collected, with a total of 29 invalid questionnaires removed, resulting in a total of 321 valid questionnaires, with an actual effective recovery rate of 91.70%. table 2. sample characteristics 4. results 4.1 overall entrepreneurial intentions of college students the results of the analysis of the scores of college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions are as follows: the median score of college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions is 36.0, the mode is 36.0, with a maximum value of 60.0 and a minimum value of 12.0, a standard deviation of 9.187, and a mean of 34.28. the scores of entrepreneurial intentions for 25% of college students are below 28 points, while those for 50% and 75% of college students are below 36 and 39 points, respectively. the majority of students‟ entrepreneurial intention scores are concentrated in the range of 28-39 points. project number of samples percentage（%） gender male 158 49.20% female 163 50.80% major science 23 7.17% engineering 154 47.98% business 45 14.02% art 35 10.90% humanities and social sciences 59 18.38% others 5 1.56% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 62 published by scholink inc. figure 1. histogram of college students’ entrepreneurial intention score 4.2 factors affecting college students’ entrepreneurial intentions in order of the effectiveness of their impact on college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions from high to low, the importance ranking of the four factors affecting college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions is as follows: entrepreneurship education, personal factors, social environment, and family atmosphere. table 3. influencing factors of college students’ entrepreneurial intention personal element family atmosphere entrepreneurship education social environment total percentage 20.20% 8.40% 57.70% 13.70% 100.00% 4.3 entrepreneurial motivations this study used a multiple-choice question format to investigate the entrepreneurial motivations of college students. according to the data in table 4, the top three entrepreneurial motivations are: to raise income (32.80%), to challenge oneself (28.40%), and to address personal employment (23.50%). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 63 published by scholink inc. table 4. multiple choice frequency analysis table of college students’ entrepreneurial motivation respond n percentage (%) percentage of cases (%) main reasons for starting a business a raising income 234 32.8 72.9 addressing personal employment 168 23.5 52.3 meeting family expectations 27 3.8 8.4 getting policy subsidies 67 9.4 20.9 challenging oneself 203 28.4 63.2 others 15 2.1 4.7 amount to 714 100 222.4 a. two groups of tabulations when the value is 1. 4.4 intentions regarding the types of entrepreneurship in terms of college students‟ understanding of entrepreneurship, ranked in order of frequency from high to low, they are: product researching and developing, starting a company, running a small business, engaging freelance, and others. table 5. intentions for types of entrepreneurship frequency percentage (%) starting a company 86 27 product research and development 183 57 running a small business 24 24 engaging freelance 19 6 others 9 3 total 321 100 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 64 published by scholink inc. 4.5 intentions for entrepreneurial fields the survey found that 42.06% of college students chose to start a business in a field they were interested in, while 30.84% chose a field related to their major. the proportion of college students who chose to start a business in an industry with low start-up capital and relatively low risk was about 13%. table 6. intentions for entrepreneurial fields frequency percentage (%) professional related fields 99 30.84 hot economic field 35 10.9 areas of interest 135 42.06 low input and low risk field 42 13.08 be uncertain of 9 2.8 others 1 0.31 total 321 100 5. conclusions from the above survey data, it can be found that: the overall level of entrepreneurial intentions among chinese college students is at an average level. in other words, chinese college students are not fully prepared for entrepreneurship. this conclusion can be corroborated by another survey. a survey report released by 500 global and the innovation and entrepreneurship education center of communication university of china (2021) pointed out that from the perspective of venture capital institutions, only 2.12% of college students are “ready entrepreneurs”. among various factors, entrepreneurship education has the greatest impact on college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. this is consistent with the findings of another study conducted by the kauffman center of entrepreneurial leadership on entrepreneurial education programs. the study revealed that the proportion of business school graduates who had participated in entrepreneurial education programs and started their own businesses or participated in entrepreneurship was more than three times that of students who had not received entrepreneurial education training (charney & libecap, 2000). personal factors come second. contrary to many people‟s perceptions, social and family factors do not have such a significant impact on college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. therefore, strengthening entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities has a positive significance in enhancing college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 65 published by scholink inc. economic factors are the main factors affecting college students‟ entrepreneurial motivations. the combined proportion of improving income (32.80%) and addressing personal employment (23.50%) is more than twice that of challenging oneself (28.40%). obviously, in the context of a dismal global economic situation, motivations to improve income and solve personal employment may become more prominent. even so, realizing self-worth through entrepreneurship is also one of the important pursuits of college students. most college students prefer “opportunity-driven entrepreneurship”. raynolds et al. divided entrepreneurship into “necessity-driven entrepreneurship” and “opportunity-driven entrepreneurship” (raynolds, camp, bygrave, autio & hay, 2001). “necessity-driven entrepreneurship” is entrepreneurship for survival, making entrepreneurship one of the ways for individuals to obtain survival, while “opportunity-driven entrepreneurship” is entrepreneurship activities that create or discover new market opportunities, making entrepreneurship one of the choices for individuals to seek greater development. according to this standard, “necessity-driven entrepreneurship” refers to entrepreneurship in the form of running a small business or opening an online store, while “opportunity-driven entrepreneurship” refers to entrepreneurship in the form of developing new products, developing new projects, or starting a company of a certain scale. in total, 84% of college students chose various forms of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, including product research and development and starting a company. the number of necessity-driven entrepreneurs who choose to run a small business or become a freelancer is much smaller. in selecting fields for entrepreneurship, college students prioritize personal interests, followed by preferences for fields related to their academic major. engaging in fields of interest can enhance creativity and motivation among college students, promoting greater investment and perseverance. selecting fields related to their academic major can facilitate the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities and advantages within a familiar environment, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful and sustainable entrepreneurship. however, a critical consideration for college students is achieving a balance between personal interests and professional expertise. fund project this study was sponsored by “jiangsu provincial education science „13th five-year plan‟ higher education key project integrated entrepreneurship education research in colleges and universities: model construction based on „csi‟” (b-a/2018/01/31). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 66 published by scholink inc. references 500 global. (2021). understand the “2021 china college students entrepreneurship report” in 6 minutes. zhihu. retrieved july 11, 2023, from https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/488186876 ajzen, i. (1991). the theory of planned behavior. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t bagozzi, r. p., & kimmel, s. k. (1995). a comparison of leading theories for the prediction of goal‐directed behaviours. british journal of social psychology, 34(4), 437-461. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1995.tb01076.x charney, a., & libecap, g. d. (2000). the impact of entrepreneurship education: an evaluation of the berger entrepreneurship program at the university of arizona, 1985-1999. ssrn electronic journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1262343 davidsson, p. (1995). determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. rent xi workshop. piacenza, italy. katz, j., & gartner, w. (1986). organization level perspectives on organization creation (vol. 619). working paper. krueger, n. (1993). the impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/104225879301800101 raynolds, p. d., camp, m. s., bygrave, w. d., autio, e., & hay, m. (2001). global entrepreneurship monitor: 2001 executive report. researchgate. retrieved july 21, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273705165_global_entrepreneurship_monitor_2001_e xecutive_report thompson, e. r. (2009). individual entrepreneurial intent: construct clarification and development of an internationally reliable metric. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 33(3), 669-694. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00321.x xu, h. (2023). an empirical study on the relationship between innovative entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention among university students. journal of ningbo polytechnic, (04), 6-12. yang, z., & you, y. (2020). research on the impact of entrepreneurial role models on college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions. pioneering with science & technology monthly, (04), 133-134. yu, m. (2023). factors affecting college students‟ entrepreneurial intentions from the perspective of social networks and the construction of network systems. employment and guarantee, (04), 118-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1995.tb01076.x https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1262343 https://doi.org/10.1177/104225879301800101 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00321.x global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 56 original paper research on the construction and practice of an ai-enhanced blended teaching model for econometrics fanjie fu 1 1 college of finance and economics, sichuan international studies university, chongqing 400031, china received: may 21, 2025 accepted: may 28, 2025 online published: june 5, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p56 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p56 abstract artificial intelligence (ai) has emerged as a key driver of curriculum reform in higher education. for econometrics—a discipline that emphasizes both theoretical rigor and methodological application—the integration of ai into blended teaching models is a pressing issue in contemporary pedagogy. this study investigates the development of an ai-enhanced instructional framework for econometrics, focusing on students majoring in international economics and trade at sichuan international studies university. by incorporating tools such as chatgpt and machine learning into a blended learning environment that combines online platforms with in-person instruction, the course adopts a ―technology integration–project-based learning–practice orientation‖ approach. in the practical process, the course focuses on strengthening students’ comprehensive abilities in data processing, empirical modeling, and economic problem analysis, promoting their transition from theoretical learning to research and practice. research has shown that ai empowerment can effectively enhance the teaching efficiency of econometrics courses and improve students’ practical application skills, providing a viable pathway for curriculum reform. keywords artificial intelligence(ai), econometrics, blended learning, teaching reform, empirical practice 1. introduction in recent years, with the steady advancement of china’s new liberal arts initiative, curriculum reform in humanities and social sciences has entered a new phase characterized by integrated innovation. emphasizing a balance between theoretical literacy and practical competence, this reform advocates the deep integration of technological empowerment with course content. within www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 57 published by scholink inc. the discipline of economics, econometrics—serving as a methodological bridge between statistics, economic theory, and empirical analysis—has attracted growing attention in educational reform discourse. scholars increasingly argue that econometrics instruction should break free from its traditional emphasis on theory over practice, instead prioritizing empirical skill development and pedagogical innovation (bai & chen, 2012; li & zhang, 2013; li, 2019). a variety of reform strategies have since emerged, including case-based teaching, task-driven instruction, and interactive experimentation, all contributing to a broader shift toward application-oriented talent cultivation (jin, 2016; ye et al., 2018; zeng, 2020). meanwhile, the rapid development of artificial intelligence and big data technologies has injected new vitality into econometrics education. under the influence of paradigms such as machine learning and transfer learning, traditional course content, teaching methods, and assessment frameworks are undergoing fundamental transformation. a growing body of research suggests that integrating ai tools into instruction not only enhances students’ capacity for handling high-dimensional data, but also fosters deeper problem-solving skills and greater technological fluency (wang, 2021; zheng, 2024; cheng et al., 2024). hong and wang (2024) further argue that large language models such as chatgpt are reshaping the research paradigm in economics, offering new opportunities for innovation in econometrics pedagogy. nevertheless, these technologies still present challenges in areas such as interpretability and causal inference, which necessitate alignment with economic theory to ensure accurate content renewal and comprehensive skills development. against this dual backdrop of digital transformation and new liberal arts reform, the integration of ai into econometrics curriculum design has emerged as a key focus in teaching research. this study, drawing on the practical context of sichuan international studies university, aims to construct and implement an ai-augmented instructional model for econometrics. the objective is to provide a feasible and adaptable reference for advancing curriculum reform in related fields and respo nding effectively to the evolving demands of talent cultivation in the era of digital economics. 2. challenges in implementing ai-enhanced blended teaching in econometrics 2.1 insufficient integration of ai technology with course content although ai technology holds great promise in educational applications, its deep integration with the content of econometrics courses remains a significant challenge. econometrics involves complex mathematical modeling and advanced data analysis, which current ai-powered teaching tools may not fully accommodate. for example, intelligent question banks may struggle to generate exercises that meet the cognitive rigor of high-level econometric thinking, and ai algorithms often fall short in evaluating students’ logical consistency in constructing economic models. moreover, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 58 published by scholink inc. many instructors lack adequate technical training and institutional support when implementing ai-enhanced pedagogical models, leading to superficial adoption of ai tools that fails to substantively improve instructional quality. therefore, how to meaningfully align ai technologies with the core content of econometrics remains an urgent issue. 2.2 balancing student autonomy and dependence on ai technologies in ai-supported blended learning environments, students benefit from personalized learning pathways, intelligent tutoring, and real-time feedback. however, these advantages may inadvertently foster overreliance on technological support, thereby hindering the development of self-directed learning competencies. for instance, students may depend too heavily on ai-generated answers or solutions, lacking motivation for independent inquiry or critical reflection. others may focus narrowly on ai systems’ instant feedback, at the expense of cultivating systemat ic knowledge and long-term conceptual understanding. furthermore, students unfamiliar with ai interfaces or skeptical of their reliability may experience reduced learning efficacy. hence, striking a balance between leveraging ai for efficiency and fostering student autonomy and critical thinking is a core pedagogical challenge in ai-enhanced instruction. 2.3 challenges in redefining the teacher’s role and enhancing professional competence the ai-enhanced blended teaching model requires educators to transition from being traditional knowledge transmitters to learning facilitators and curriculum designers—a shift that imposes higher demands on their professional capabilities. first, instructors must acquire foundational knowledge of ai principles and applications to effectively integrate these tools into their teaching practice. yet, many educators lack technical backgrounds and may struggle to adapt quickly to this new paradigm. second, teachers must be able to incorporate ideological and value-based education (“curriculum ideology”) into ai-enhanced course design, a task that requires both pedagogical creativity and socio-political awareness. lastly, instructors need strong data literacy skills to interpret ai-generated learning analytics and make evidence-based adjustments to instructional strategies. facilitating this professional transition is essential for the successful implementation of ai-empowered teaching models in higher education. 3. construction of an ai-enhanced blended teaching model for econometrics the construction of an ai-enhanced blended teaching model for econometrics aims to promote deep integration between emerging technologies and disciplinary knowledge, breaking through the limitations of traditional instructional approaches and enhancing students’ data literacy, modeling skills, and comprehensive application abilities. supported by artificial intelligence, this model advances students’ practical competencies and research potential through three key components: restructuring course content, innovating teaching methods, and strengthening practical training. the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 59 published by scholink inc. detailed structure of the model is illustrated in figure 1. figure 1. construction framework of an ai-enhanced blended teaching model for econometrics 3.1 restructuring course content: integrating intelligent technologies with disciplinary knowledge integrating ai technologies into the teaching of econometrics has become a key direction in contemporary curriculum reform. first, it is essential to incorporate ai-related modules—such as machine learning models, natural language processing, and data mining—into the curriculum to strengthen students’ abilities in data processing and model construction in the context of big data. for instance, alongside traditional topics like ols regression and cointegration testing, the course should introduce modern algorithms such as random forests and lasso regression to broaden students’ methodological horizons. second, training in mainstream programming languages such as python and r should be emphasized, enabling students to proficiently apply ai libraries such as scikit-learn and xgboost for tasks including data cleaning, modeling, and prediction. this technical integration not only enhances the practical relevance of the course but also aligns it more closely with current industry and research trends. in particular, ai algorithms can compensate for the limitations of traditional econometric models in areas like economic forecasting and market analysis by improving model accuracy and explanatory power. furthermore, the course should be grounded in real-world economic cases, such as “predicting consumer spending behavior using machine learning” or “analyzing china’s export data with chatgpt,” to help students understand www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 60 published by scholink inc. how ai tools are applied in economic decision-making. by deeply integrating disciplinary knowledge with ai technologies, students are empowered to construct economically interpretable models in real-world contexts, thereby enhancing their cross-disciplinary application skills. 3.2 innovating teaching methods: enhancing interactivity and practice orientation to enhance instructional effectiveness, the blended teaching model combines online platforms with face-to-face classroom activities. in the online component, platforms such as xuexitong and rain classroom are used to release theoretical content, programming tutorials, and ai model demonstrations in advance, enabling students to engage in knowledge preheating and personalized learning. the in-person sessions focus on problem-based learning and case discussions, where instructors guide students through economic data analysis, model construction, and the use of ai tools for empirical modeling and data visualization. project-based learning serves as a core instructional strategy in this model. the course is designed around practical, economically relevant project topics such as “using ai models to predict stock market volatility” or “an empirical study on the impact of macroeconomic variables on household consumption.” students work in groups to complete the full analytical process, including data collection, model specification, selection of appropriate ai tools, and interpretation of results. this approach not only develops students’ teamwork and communication skills but also deepens their understanding of how ai techniques can be integrated with econometric modeling. in addition, a flipped classroom mechanism encourages students to use ai assistants such as chatgpt during pre-class preparation for previewing concepts and self-testing. class time is then dedicated to problem-solving, q&a sessions, and hands-on case analysis. this model significantly increases student engagement and transitions instruction from “knowledge delivery” to “skill development” and “cognitive cultivation.” 3.3 strengthening practical training: enhancing applied competence a critical component of ai-enhanced courses is the development of a structured and robust practical training system. first, a semester-long data lab module should be established, in which students use ai tools to conduct modeling and analysis on real-world economic datasets, such as those from the national bureau of statistics or the world bank. this module should encompass four key stages: data preprocessing, model construction, result validation, and economic interpretation—forming a complete learning cycle that links tools, methods, and real-world economic problems. second, the course can be integrated with enterprise-based projects through collaborations with fintech firms, data analytics companies, or policy research institutions. these “ai + economic analysis” project s are designed to simulate actual business scenarios and enhance students’ ability to address practical challenges. example topics include predicting customer churn rates for banks or forecasting regional gdp growth. such tasks encourage students to apply econometric models and ai www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 61 published by scholink inc. algorithms in complex, dynamic environments. in addition, students should be encouraged to participate in ai modeling competitions and academic writing initiatives, both within and beyond the university. these opportunities help students develop scientific communication skills and improve their ability to present technical results. the accumulation of competition experience and project-based outcomes not only reinforces core competencies but also provides a portfolio of demonstrable achievements that supports future academic advancement and career development. 4. implementation and impact of the teaching model reform to evaluate the effectiveness of the ai-enhanced blended teaching model in econometrics, this study conducted a teaching reform experiment with undergraduate students majoring in finance (undergraduate students of 2023) at sichuan international studies university. the experimental group adopted an innovative model combining ai tools, project-based learning, and blended instruction, while the control group followed a traditional lecture-based approach. the results demonstrated that students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in terms of average course grades, project quality, and classroom engagement. specifically, the average score of the experimental group was 5.5 points higher than that of the control group, and over 80% of students in the experimental group effectively utilized ai tools such as python and chatgpt throughout the course. a post-course survey revealed that more than 90% of students in the experimental group expressed high satisfaction with improvements in learning interest, practical skill development, and the effectiveness of ai integration. the model also notably enhanced students’ ability to construct models and address real-world economic problems. however, it simultaneously posed greater demands on instructional design and technical infrastructure. overall, the ai-enhanced blended teaching model significantly improved teaching effectiveness and offered a viable pathway and practical reference for the transformation of econometrics education under the new liberal arts framework. 5. conclusion and future outlook the ai-enhanced blended teaching model for econometrics has demonstrated significant advantages in both theoretical design and practical implementation. by integrating artificial intelligence technologies with economic modeling skills, the course has successfully overcome the longstanding challenges of outdated content, rigid instructional methods, and insufficient practical engagement inherent in traditional teaching approaches. empirical findings indicate that this model effectively improves students’ data analysis capabilities, learning motivation, and classroom participation, thereby contributing to the development of comprehensive academic competencies. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 62 published by scholink inc. this study not only offers a practical case for the reform of econometrics education but also provides a replicable framework for exploring the pedagogical application of ai technologies in economics-related courses. moving forward, further course optimization should focus on strengthening training in model interpretability, fostering students’ critical and reflective use of ai tools, and promoting the construction of integrated resource platforms and interdisciplinary collaboration. these efforts will be essential for expanding the depth and breadth of the model’s application and for supporting the cultivation of high-quality, interdisciplinary economic talent in the digital era. references bai, x. g., & chen, x. n. (2012). exploration on the reform of econometrics courses. journal of heilongjiang college of education, 31(1), 66-68. (in chinese) cheng, y. h., zou, j., & liang, j. t. (2024). application of artificial intelligence in economic and financial research. think tank of finance and economics, 9(5), 97-116. (in chinese) hong, y. m., & wang, s. y. (2024). what impact will chatgpt and large models have on the research paradigm of economics? journal of econometrics, 4(1), 1-25. (in chinese) jin, h. b. (2016). teaching reform exploration of econometrics course in applied undergraduate colleges. market weekly (theoretical research), (11), 170-171. (in chinese) li, f., & zhang, h. y. (2013). reflection and reform exploration on teaching econometrics in universities. science & technology wind, (21), 181. (in chinese) li, g. q. (2019). exploration on “chain-driven” teaching reform of econometrics. journal of zhejiang wanli university, 32(3), 97-101. (in chinese) wang, p. (2021). application of machine learning technology in econometrics teaching reform. science & technology vision, (22), 82-83. (in chinese) ye, a. z., wu, x. y., & zhu, s. p. (2018). exploring new paths of teaching reform based on problems in undergraduate econometrics teaching. straits science, (3), 75-77. (in chinese) zeng, q. (2020). practice of econometrics teaching reform under the mode of applied talent cultivation. science & technology information, 18(29), 113-115. (in chinese) zheng, x. d. (2024). exploration of econometrics teaching model in the digital era. journal of taiyuan urban vocational and technical college, (6), 95-98. (in chinese) global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 69 original paper distance learning in greece during covid-19 pandemic apostolou george 1* , papatsimpas achilleas 2 , gounas athanasios 1 & gkouna ourania 1 1 international hellenic university, greece 2 ministry of education, greece * apostolou george, international hellenic university, ioannina, 45333, greece received: may 9, 2021 accepted: may 21, 2021 online published: june 3, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n2p69 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n2p69 abstract the purpose of this study is to investigate the reaction of greeks to this new educational reality due to the covid-19 outbreak. since the first restrictive measures were implemented in march 2020in greece, distance learning has become a dynamic part of people’s daily lives with the prospect of remain in gas such in the future. a total of n=170 students, parents, teachers, civil servants, private sector employees who were involved in the distance learning process either as instructors or as students in the period of covid-19 pandemic in greece, were selected with the use of snowball sampling. a questionnaire using demographic and satisfaction related variables was completed by the respondents, namely citizens across greece, based on a likert scale questionnaire which is a useful and multidimensional instrument, to assess satisfaction within the time frame from july 7, 2020 to october 20, 2020; the period when there occurred a loosening in the restrictive measures between the two lockdowns in greece. it was investigated how the demographic factors, specifically gender, age, occupation, and place of residence, influence the attitude of the respondents towards synchronous and asynchronous distance learning as well as their intention to continue using online education services in the future after the lifting of the restrictive measures. additionally, the customers’ preferences concerning the most enjoyable distance learning experience were examined, so that they will be available to the distance learning program designers. descriptive statistical analysis and non-parametric statistical hypothesis tests were conducted in spss and r. most of the respondents had not participated in online courses before the covid-19 outbreak, 46 % did participate in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown while 54 % did not and 34.1% respondents prefer face-to-face learning, while 15.9% prefer e-learning. also, 50% respondents prefer a combination of face-to-face learning and e-learning. hypothesis tests showed that there are statistically significant differences between users’ preferences as well as regarding their demographic characteristics. undergraduate and postgraduate university students continue to participate in online www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 70 published by scholink inc. learning courses and are willing to invest financial resources and time in this new educational process (χ 2 (4)=10.440, p=0.034), unlike high school students who prefer face-to-face learning (p=0.042). the present study will lead to practical implications, such as the formation of e-learning programs which aim for the best user experience and the best learning outcomes. also, private educational organizations can include the results in the key elements to implementing a strategic marketing mix. keywords covid-19, e-learning, face-to-face learning, distance learning, student experience 1. introduction the coronavirus disease (covid-19) outbreak has affected millions of people and threatens their lives all over the world. most countries’ governments have ordered a lockdown and mandated that people to stay at their homes due to the transmissibility of this new virus. therefore, the covid-19 outbreak has brought about major changes in working conditions all over the globe within a month. in the wake of the worldwide pandemic, most sectors, ranging from economy and industries to education, were severely affected. the consequences of this pandemic have been unstoppable and uncontrollable for many industries all around the world including educational institutions. as a result, principals (headmasters), teachers, and educators in many countries have started using e-learning. the management of each educational organization is responsible for providing information for the services and curricula offered by the learning services providers (lsp’s), as well as for designing innovative, cost-effective, and efficacious solutions. the implementation of innovative curricula, management models and processes ensure efficient management methods, quality services, reduced economic waste and optimal utilization of human resources. to be able to design and implement innovative schemes, what should be explored and clarified is students’ needs and the degree to which organizations offering secondary education services in greece today were satisfactory, under the current circumstances. the lsp’s, more specifically tutorial schools, private tutors, and e-learning platforms, are involved in the educational process, as educational institutions, through the academic support that they offer to elementary and high school students as well as to autonomous students. these are provided with the purpose of filling learning gaps, assisting, and organizing the study process, as well as preparing pupils and students for their participation in exams and competitions (papakonstantinou, 2016). 2. market orientation (mo): a key element in educational institutions’ marketing marketing orientation is the extent to which an organization creates and uses information about current and future customer needs. it develops a strategy to meet these needs and implements it for that purpose. mo takes into consideration the influence of competitors and integrates it into interoperable co-ordination. it encourages raising awareness, using data accumulated about competitors and employ in integrated and interoperable processes to form a strategic organizational response to marketing www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 71 published by scholink inc. opportunities (slater & narver, 2000; harris, 2002; helfert, ritter, & walter, 2002). all these activities are oriented towards creating and satisfying customers through a continuous assessment of buyers’ needs. as far as school context is concerned, it is believed that the focus on current and future clients (parents, students) should prevail over the other two mo functions. in our opinion, mo is a set of beliefs that prioritizes customer interests but also increases the willingness of the educational organization to obtain information about its competitors and create cross-sectoral activities to gain a distinct advantage within a hectic and highly competitive environment. 3. distance learning distance learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge and skills using information and instructions provided by means of online material and courses, as opposed to both teachers and students being physically present during the educational process. thus, e-learning is covered under a larger term of technology-based learning through websites, learning platforms, video conferencing, mobile apps, and many types of free available websites for blended learning technologies (bower & hardy, 2004). currently, e-learning is enhancing students’ knowledge and is assessing the skills of academic staff through the internet (adams et al., 2018; chopra et al., 2019). most higher education institutions are providing online courses for their students both within and off university campuses. studies also show a mean growth 7.9% in e-learning annually worldwide. more specifically, the highest growth rate is in asia with 17.3%, followed by eastern europe, africa, and latin america with 16.9%, 15.2%, and 14.6%, respectively (rana et al., 2014). globally, due to the covid-19 outbreak, schools and universities halted their function and most teachers and students are satisfied with the progress of the online education. all faculty members of many recognized universities have begun to get online certifications to deliver online lessons. currently, academic staff members and students are learning how to use the online learning platforms. before this outbreak, mostly face-to-face teaching was used and this shift to the online courses has raised many queries on the quality of education (sahu, 2020). omotayo and haliru (2020) also added that learners must be motivated to acquire digital competency for them to remain up-to-date and not let their education be impeded in times of crisis. 3.1 e learning e-learning not only covers content (nichols, 2003) and educational methods provided via asynchronous material, the internet, or an intranet (benson et al., 2002; clark, 2002) but also includes audio and video material, satellite broadcasting, and interactive television (ellis, 2004). thus, there is some level of interaction in the learning process (moore et al., 2010). 3.2 the importance of online learning in the time of covid-19 crisis the covid-19 effects can be seen in schools, colleges, and universities. subsequently, all these online learning platforms can be viewed as a panacea for the crisis. the covid-19 outbreak has made educational institutions switch from the offline pedagogy mode to online pedagogy. crisis will force www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 72 published by scholink inc. the educational institutions (which had earlier demonstrated reluctance to change) to accept modern technology. internet is the state-of-the-art technology that allows both asynchronous distance learning (two-way communication involving intervals between sending and receiving) and synchronous (direct communication without delay), teleconferencing and online chat, which can be used for student-to-student interaction, among students, teachers, but also within large groups of people. the internet also provides access to digitized educational materials, scholarly articles, books, and current reports. it allows students to take lessons according to their lifestyle and daily schedule, instead of having to compromise with a set time and location. therefore, it allows students who are unable to get an education due to geographical distance, personal disability, or physical disability, to have access to it (inman, kerwin, & mayes, 1999). this crisis will show us the lucrative side of online teaching and learning as with the aid of the online teaching tools, we can coordinate many students at any time and in any part of the world. all institutions must use technology more aptly and many universities around the world fully use their digital operations understanding the imposed need that the current outbreak created. online learning is emerging as something innovative and has increased exponentially after the covid-19 outbreak in the greek universities. during this tough time, the concern is how academic institutions will be able to adopt online learning in such a massive manner (carey, 2020). education today must provide opportunities for a variety of socio-economic, national, and diverse social groups. due to the modern requirements of a changing student population, with a variety of different demographics and increased operating costs, educational organizations are driven to find ways to become more productive in the methods of delivering their courses and educational services (baker & gloucester, 1994; barnard, 1997). technological developments look to distance education to reduce the cost of building new facilities, while still serving a changing student population (bothun, 1997). finally, e-learning has some positive effects on students, it is a crucial platform for extra ordinary circumstances, or even for people who are unable to complete their studies in person (eltayeb et al., 2020). 3.3 educational needs exploring and identifying the needs of students and parents is crucial for the development and improvement of the strategic planning of an educational organization. for that reason, in recent decades there has been a systematic effort to categorize them, with the resulting educational needs of students being divided into 6 types (burton & merrill, 1991; alivizos, apostolos, & paraschou, 2015):  normative needs, the difference between a person’s performance (or a team’s), against a given performance standard.  felt needs, an individual or a group desire for improvement.  expressed needs, that arise from the actions of individuals and are identified in practice.  comparative needs, the differences that exist between a group of people with certain characteristics and another group of people with similar characteristics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 73 published by scholink inc.  anticipated/future needs, a mismatch between the current situation and the expected future situation.  critical-incident needs, that may occur infrequently but can have a significant impact on the operation of a system. 3.4 the main problems of e-learning and solutions the main problems impeding the effectiveness of online instructions are:  the content of some educational material is not suitable for students whose learning ability is weak.  sometimes online courses are hindered by poor network connection and poor lesson planning/student attentiveness.  insufficient teaching resources for online courses.  insufficient (financial) support for teachers’ teaching space, environment, and equipment.  lack of teachers’ enthusiasm in teaching.  it is relatively difficult for teachers to engage students’ attention, maintain classroom order and organize classroom discussions, the way they would in face-to-face learning.  difficulties in addressing different learning styles.  isolation (sanad & el-sayyed, 2020). the solution to those problems is building strong self-motivation skills concerning the online learning environment. additionally, face-to-face communication with the tutors can be substituted with online communication, and online interactive activities between students should be promoted, similarly to the way they would be in traditional schools or in university classrooms. also, solving an e-learning problem with a non-e-learning solution (e.g., taking course materials home to have the student’s husband read them aloud or writing an exam at a different time from the rest of the class) is an alternate format (fichten et al., 2009). both the sentence and the examples in this last period are not adequately explained, further elaboration is needed for them to make sense). 4. research the purpose of this quantitative research was to investigate how the covid-19 pandemic influenced parents’ and students’ preferences over e-learning or face-to-face learning. self-completion questionnaires were distributed online, to achieve receiving answers from all over greece in a short period of time. the population was approximately 7,000,000, i.e., greek nationals, aged 18 to 65. the survey was conducted between 7 july and 20 october 2020. snowball sampling was used and applied when it is difficult to access subjects with the target characteristics. in this method, the existing study subjects recruit future subjects among their acquaintances and sampling continues until data saturation (naderifar, 2017). the 170 questionnaire responses comprised: 56 males (33%), 114 females (67%). the absolute (relative) frequencies of the occupation of the respondents are: 7% civil servants, 4% graduates, 5% secondary school students, 10% high school students, 10% parents, 12% postgraduate www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 74 published by scholink inc. students, 8% private sector employees, 11% teachers and 35% undergraduate university students. as for the educational level of the participants, 48% have a bachelor’s degree, 7% are secondary school graduates, 21% are high school graduates, 23% have a master’s degree and 1% are phd holders. 4.1 results and discussion 4.1.1 descriptive statistics descriptive statistics summarize various aspects about our data, giving details about the sample and providing information about the population from which the sample was drawn. each variable’s type determines the nature of descriptive statistics that one calculates (larson, 2006). an important question of the survey (“have you participated in distance learning before the covid-19 lockdown?”) focused on the information that shows that in greece, e-learning appeared not to have been very popular before the covid-19 lockdown. 46 % did participate in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown while 54 % did not. this comes in accordance with edelhauser et al. (2020) that the e-learning concept appeared to be considered relevant only after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. one other relevant question shows that students (68 % of our sample, table 1) have quickly migrated to online courses after the covid-19 lockdown as well as in edelhauser et al. (2020) and kamal et al. (2020). table 1. participation in e-learning due to access issues to face-to-face learning frequency proportion yes 103 60.9 % no 66 39.1 % several questions were asked to trace out the learning status during lockdown that includes modes of learning, number of students participating in an e-learning course and average time in hours per day that an online course last. table 2. questions to trace out the learning status variables frequency (n) percentage (%) mode of learning face-to-face learning 58 34.1 e-learning 27 15.9 a combination of the above 85 50 replacement of face-to-face learning vs e-learning yes 124 72.9 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 75 published by scholink inc. no 46 27.1 average time (in hours) per day of online courses 0-1 31 19.7 2-15 122 77.7 15 and above 4 2.6 satisfaction with the internet services connection not at all satisfied 9 5.8 slightly satisfied 19 12.2 moderately satisfied 48 30.8 very satisfied 58 37.2 extremely satisfied 22 14.1 table 3. attendance in distance learning courses per day hours per day m sd occupation secondaryschool student 12,86 16,96 high school student 2,86 3,90 graduate 3,33 1,75 undergraduate student 4,46 3,41 postgraduate student 2,61 1,79 parent 2,35 1,66 teacher 4,06 1,98 civil servant 3,67 2,99 private sector employee 1,90 1,60 the respondents prefer face-to-face learning 34.1%, while 15.9% prefer e-learning. also, 50% respondents prefer a combination of face-to-face learning and e-learning. this conclusion comes in agreement with kapasia et al. (2020) where 37.9% respondents were continuing their study through textbook reading and digital e-learning, while 30.6% students opted for self-studying through reading textbooks not participated in e-learning. additionally, in the study of abbasi et al. (2020) it was found that e-learning is perceived to have little impact compared to face-to-face learning as indicated by 86% of the participants. furthermore, 72.9% participants reported that they believe in a potential replacement of face-to-face learning from e-learning, while 27.1% participants do not believe in such a possibility. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 76 published by scholink inc. singh and min (2017) did a study on the effectiveness of conducting digital lectures on gross anatomy. the study investigated students’ satisfaction level towards e-learning, and it was found that most of the students characterized digital learning as efficient. in our study, 40.6 % participants believe that e-learning is moderately effective compared to face-to-face learning, 24.7% slightly effective, 17.1% not at all effective, 14.1% very effective and 3.5% extremely effective. in ana et al. (2020), 51% of the students expressed agreement related to e-learning preparation and 68% expressed their neutrality about the implementation of e-learning. adnan and anwar (2020) found that most of the students 71.4% voted against the notion that online learning is more motivating than face-to-face learning, which agrees (is in line) with our statement. finally, investigated which educational institution offered the e-learning courses.52.1% of the respondents attended e-learning courses from university, 21.8% from tutorial schools, 19.4% from public schools, 16.4% from private lessons and 10.9% from e-learning services providers. in reference to the duration of lessons, 10.7% respondents maintain/contend that an online lesson should last 30 minutes while 34.5% believe that it should last 45 minutes. also, 32.7%, 17.3%, 4.8% respondents believe that an online lesson should have a duration of 60, 90 and 120 minutes, respectively. 4.1.2 inferential statistics the chi-square statistic is a non-parametric (distribution free) tool designed to analyze group differences when the dependent variable is measured at a nominal level. like all non-parametric statistics, the chi-square is robust with respect to the distribution of the data (mchugh, 2013). fisher’s exact test is a statistical test used to determine if there are nonrandom associations between two categorical variables. a fisher’s test was used, to examine if participation in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown differs between participants of different occupation. there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) between different occupations. particularly, postgraduate students, teachers, and employees (civil servants and private sector employees) had participated more in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown (table 3). table 3. participation in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown per occupation occupation participation in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown yes no secondary school student 4 (3%) 3 (1.8%) high school student 6 (3.6%) 11 (6.5%) graduate 4 (2.4%) 2 (1.2%) undergraduate student 13 (7.7%) 46 (27.2%) postgraduate student 17 (10.1%) 3 (1.8%) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 77 published by scholink inc. parent 5 (3%) 11 (6.5%) teacher 13 (7.7%) 5 (3%) civil servant 9 (5.3%) 3 (1.8%) private sector employee 7 (4.1%) 6 (3.6%) a fisher’s test was calculated comparing the willingness of investing time and financial resources in e-learning and the age group. a significant interaction was found (p=0.045). respondents aged 18-30 are more likely to invest in e-learning while respondents aged 45-60 are not open to a distance learning module (table 4). table 4. willingness of investing time and financial resources in e-learning willingness to invest time and financial resources in e learning yes no age under 18 years 13 (7.7%) 10 (5.9%) 18-30 46 (27.2%) 36 (21.3%) 30-45 28 (16.6%) 11 (6.5%) 45-60 8 (4.7%) 16 (9.5%) up to 60 years 1 (0.6%) 0 (0%) a chi square test was calculated to test the relationship between the kind of course implementation that respondents prefer and the participation in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown. there was a statistically significant difference (χ 2 (2)=7.492, p=0.024). supporters of face-to-face learning had not participated in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown while the exact opposite applies to those of e-learning. respondents who prefer a combination between the two kinds, have not participated in e-learning courses before the lockdown. the kruskal-wallis test (kruskal & wallis, 1952) is the nonparametric equivalent of a one-way anova and is used for testing whether samples originate from the same distribution and test the relationship between a nominal independent variable and an ordinal (or numeric) dependent variable with more than three groups. a kruskal wallis test was used to test if the number of financial resources that the respondents are willing to invest per month in e-learning differs depending on which e-learning module they prefer. statistical significance exists (χ 2 (2)=14.457, p=0.001), with a mean rank of 62.67 for the respondents who prefer face-to-face learning, 103.26, for the respondents who prefer e-learning and 73.42 for the respondents who prefer a combination of e-learning and face-to-face learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 78 published by scholink inc. the mann-whitney u test is a statistical test that compares two independent groups that do not require large normally distributed samples (nachar, 2008). mann whitney u test was used to assess if there was a statistically significant difference in the effectiveness of distance education compared to face-to-face learning, depending on the perception that due to the covid-19 outbreak e-learning will gradually replace face-to-face learning. statistical significance exists (u=2264, p=0.031). there is a mean rank score of 90 for the respondents who believe in this transition and a mean rank score of 72.73 for those who do not. conclude that respondents who believe in the replacement of face-to-learning from e-learning believe also that distance education is very effective. the one-sample wilcoxon signed rank test was originally designed to test for a specified median, under the assumption that the distribution is symmetric, but it can also serve as a test for symmetry if the median is known (o-thas et al., 2005). one-sample wilcoxon non-parametric statistical test was used to test if:  the median amount of money that the respondents are willing to invest per month is 55 euros. the test indicated that the median was not significantly different from 55euros (z=-0.225, p=0.823)  the daily median duration of a learning course is 3 hours. the test indicated that the median daily time was not significantly different from 3 hours (z=1.541, p=0.123). 5. conclusions covid-19 outbreak has brought on challenges for all educational institutions and especially in higher education. certainly, like many other aspects of everyday life, covid-19 has had a serious impact on students, teachers, and educational organizations around the globe (mailizar, almanthari, maulina, & bruce, 2020). as a result, a transition from face-to-face learning to e-learning has occurred. e-learning accommodates everyone’s needs, can be used several times, it is a form of quick delivery of lessons, and it has reduced cost. due to the wide set of benefits it gives to students, e-learning has become quite popular a solution in the covid-19 period among students all over the world. in our quantitative research, a sample of 170 from all greek territory was used. many respondents have been diverted to e-learning from the conventional learning and most of them had participated in distance learning before the covid-19 period. however, a combination of the two modes of learning is widely preferred by the sample. concerning the effectiveness of e-learning, it is considered moderately effective besides traditional face-to-face learning. additionally, undergraduate students, postgraduate students, teachers, and employees (civil servants and private sector employees) prefer a combination of e-learning and face-to-face learning while school students and parents prefer mainly face-to-face learning and respondents aged 18-30 are more likely to invest in e-learning while respondents aged 45-60 are not open to a distance learning module. also, followers of face-to-face learning had not participated in e-learning courses before the covid-19 lockdown while the exact opposite appears to be the case with the followers of e-learning. about the investment of time and financial resources in distance education, mainly phd holders and undergraduate or postgraduate students are ardent www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 79 published by scholink inc. supporters. finally, respondents who believe in the replacement/substitution of face-to-learning from e-learning believe also that distance education is very effective. finally, the short period of time available for investigation, was one of the major limitations of this research study. future research should either extend the sample size to a larger time or focus on the preferences of the educational community in the after covid-19 period. a study on the appropriate number of financial resources needed to be invested in e-learning is recommended. references abbasi, s., ayoob, t., malik, a., & memon, s. i. 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(2005). tests for symmetry based on the one-sample wilcoxon signed rank statistic. communications in statistics-simulation and computation, 34(4), 957-973. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610910500308354 https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7541 https://doi.org/10.21608/jrciet.2020.117118 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01028-z https://doi.org/10.3946/kjme.2017.50 https://doi.org/10.1080/03610910500308354 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 22 original paper research on the innovation of the employment assistance mechanism relying on school-enterprise cooperation in private colleges and universities in the new era qiuxiang wang 1* , fuli wang 1 & haiying ji 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china * qiuxiang wang, e-mail: qiuxiang.wang@qdc.edu.cn received: december 21, 2024 accepted: january 6, 2025 online published: january 10, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p22 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p22 abstract this paper focuses on the practical employment problems of students in private colleges and universities, actively explores new paths for employment assistance, and studies the specific practices of establishing industry studios with the help of school-enterprise cooperation. the aim of this research is to deeply integrate enterprise resources and the talent cultivation system of universities, build a practical and communication platform for students that is in line with the actual situation of the industry, help improve students’ employment competitiveness, further open up a new situation for employment assistance in private colleges and universities, and enhance the quality of talent cultivation and employment. keywords school-enterprise cooperation, employment assistance, industry studio 1. introduction the employment problem of college students is a topic of global concern. universities in various countries are constantly conducting research and basically have their own characteristic and relatively mature practices. there is relatively little research on employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation, and there is almost no research on the practice of employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation with the help of industry studios. however, there are significant similarities in the employment assistance for college students, such as improving the service quality of employment agencies, enhancing the education and teaching models, and improving students’ employability. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 23 published by scholink inc. there is a complete system of employment guidance in western universities. this guidance starts as soon as students enter the university and runs through their entire college years. by guiding students to get in touch with and understand the job market in advance, it then helps students discover their own interests and specialties, collect employer information and market demands, and participate in social practices. employment market activities of various scales are held. in this work, the students themselves are the main body, while the alumni who have graduated and the staff involved only play an auxiliary role. this work is mainly carried out through college student employment assistance and employment guidance institutions, which specially provide students with services such as career counseling, prospect prediction, data analysis, employment research, and industry information. it mainly covers two aspects: career guidance and employment services. since the 18th national congress of the communist party of china, the central committee of the cpc has attached great importance to the employment issue and has always regarded employment as the top priority in economic development and people’s livelihood. national leaders have emphasized in many important meetings that “employment is the biggest project concerning people’s livelihood, the project that wins people’s hearts and the foundation project. it is an important guarantee for social stability and must be firmly grasped and well implemented”. regarding the issue of school-enterprise cooperation, all universities in china are conducting it, and each department of every university has a considerable number of school-enterprise cooperation partners. however, school-enterprise cooperation in private universities often remains superficial. especially for school-enterprise cooperation in civil engineering majors, there are two main focuses in the cooperation: first, enterprises participate in the college’s job fair and can provide a certain number of job positions. second, they can provide places for cognitive internships and production internships. when enterprises come to universities for recruitment, often after the job positions are set, due to students’ lack of practical engineering experience, few students are directly qualified for the jobs. as a result, the number of students getting employed is not ideal. students fail to get job opportunities, and enterprises are unable to recruit high-quality employees who are well-suited to the positions. as for the form of cooperation that provides internship sites, due to the time and geographical limitations of projects, the results are also not very satisfactory. in recent years, with the overall decline of the civil engineering and real estate industries, school-enterprise cooperation is facing even more serious difficulties. therefore, it is imperative to incorporate school-enterprise cooperation into employment assistance work. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 24 published by scholink inc. 2. objectives, measures and values 2.1 the main objectives of employment assistance relying on school-enterprise cooperation many private colleges and universities have always adhered to the educational philosophy of “service-oriented and employment-driven”. they have continuously improved practical teaching conditions, paid close attention to employment quality, and emphasized school-enterprise cooperation. however, the employment situation of graduates remains far from optimistic. the main objective of this research project is to take employment assistance as the central link, implement school-enterprise cooperation work throughout the employment process, use the industry studio as a link, explore the construction of a practical training model through cooperation between schools and enterprises, and put it into practice and continuously improve it during the employment assistance process. this is aimed at promoting the continuous improvement of both the quality and quantity of employment for civil engineering majors. ① adhering to the concept of high-quality and precise employment assistance, we establish industry studios. from a macro perspective, the school grasps the objective of cultivating talents through practice. enterprises, in line with their own talent requirements, provide practical cases for talent cultivation. in this way, students can receive practical and effective industry practice training. we aim to explore the path of employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation, with the focus and goal of such cooperation centered on the effectiveness of employment assistance. this enables the organic integration of cultivating students’ theoretical knowledge and practical abilities, thus truly returning to the essence of cultivating applied talents in private colleges and universities. ② develop a new school-enterprise cooperation model for employment assistance. collate job information from cooperation partners, match it with relevant industry studios, and set practical positions and goals. the school and enterprise should agree on talent cultivation and recruitment. once students pass the final assessment, the enterprise must offer them the corresponding positions. this model aims to boost students’ employment effectiveness and secure high-quality employment. 2.2 specific measures for employment assistance relying on school-enterprise cooperation ① establish industry studios based on the needs of disciplines and social industries combined with the needs of enterprises and social industries, and in accordance with students’ employment intentions, students can enter the corresponding industry studios through the dual assessment and interviews of the college and enterprises. for example, there are structural design studios, engineering cost studios, real estate appraisal and house inspection studios, bim studios, engineering surveying studios, etc. in these studios, both the school and enterprises conduct practical training. the practical materials are real engineering cases of enterprises, enabling students to get in touch with the work content of the industry and the enterprise in advance, so as to better cultivate students to be able to smoothly take up their job positions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 25 published by scholink inc. ② in the new model of school-enterprise cooperation, enterprises select talents from the industry studios in this school-enterprise cooperation, the focus is on students’ employment. the new model of school-enterprise cooperation is also explored in depth around this work. this model should be two-way. the school aims to enable students to achieve high-quality employment, while the enterprise aims to recruit high-quality employees. enterprises can regard the industry studios as the incubation base for future talents and carry out specialized and meticulous cultivation in these studios. in this cooperation model, the school ensures the cultivation process of students in the industry studios, and the enterprise provides professional practical training instructors. moreover, both the school and the enterprise should sign agreements on cultivation and recruitment. ③ for students who enter the industry studios, their graduation credits will be mutually recognized according to their performance for students interested in this type of employment, leveraging their professional strengths, they can join the industry studio and engage in corresponding tasks with external partners. upon task completion, based on the quality of work and the feedback from the collaborating units, students can earn internship credit conversions or have credits mutually recognized for relevant courses. this approach aims to boost students’ enthusiasm and facilitate their employment. 2.3 the application value of employment assistance relying on school-enterprise cooperation employment is the foundation of people’s livelihood. the employment issue, especially the employment of college students, is crucial for implementing the scientific outlook on development and building a harmonious socialist society. the quality of employment is a long-term issue related to discipline construction and professional development. the quality of employment is one of the important criteria for evaluating the discipline and professional construction of colleges and universities. the fundamental function of colleges and universities lies in talent cultivation. nevertheless, it is only when the talents cultivated can find precisely suitable employment that the effectiveness of higher education can be manifested. with the construction of socialism with chinese characteristics having entered a new era, the development of various industries in this new era calls for professional talents to take the lead. hence, the primary objective of employment should be to ensure precise and efficient job placement. additionally, it is essential to reshape students’ employment perspectives and facilitate their all-round employment. indeed, the introduction of a series of national policies and documents underscores the pivotal role of college graduates’ employment. ① improve students’ practical skills, shorten job integration time, and bring a win-win for schools and enterprises build an industry studio that matches the job requirements of enterprises, so that students can carry out relevant work on enterprise projects in the studio during their junior and senior years. through training, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 26 published by scholink inc. students’ job competence can be improved and the training time after students enter the enterprise can be shortened, which can bring greater benefits to the enterprise. the industry studio, aiming at improving job competence, runs through the job competence requirements throughout the whole process of studio training, which has practical guiding significance for the employment assistance work of university-enterprise cooperation in colleges and universities. ② guide students in their actual employment work the research on employment assistance in private institutions of higher learning in the new era, which is carried out through school-enterprise cooperation, is instrumental in the practical exploration of employment support for students in such institutions. it facilitates the implementation of employment assistance initiatives for graduates, the establishment and operation of industry studios. this research is conducive to the fulfillment of the training objectives for applied talents in private universities and colleges, and contributes to the enhancement of graduates’ practical capabilities and their proficiency in applying theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios. ③ promote the improvement of both the quality and quantity of employment, thereby contributing back to the construction of disciplines and majors using school-enterprise cooperation to build industry studios as a link, we can strengthen students’ professional education and foster their passion for their majors. this helps students succeed academically. when students work in their favorite professional areas, it positively impacts major and discipline construction. moreover, it cultivates students’ engineering awareness, sense of responsibility, social responsibility, and mission. it also improves their professional qualities, training qualified engineering and technical talents for national construction in the new era. 3. conclusion employment constitutes a paramount concern for institutions of higher learning. the calibre of employment exerts a profound influence on their disciplinary and curricular development. the employment facilitation initiatives, executed through school-enterprise collaboration with industry studios serving as a linchpin, have effectively operationalized the collaborative model and propelled the robust advancement of students’ employment prospects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 27 published by scholink inc. references chen, m. (2023). research on the problems and countermeasures of employment assistance for poor students in vocational colleges. economist, 2023(09), 149-150. gao, w. j. (2021). discussion on the order—based training and school-enterprise cooperation employment model oriented by employment under the new situation. management & technology of sme (first half monthly), 2021(06), 140-141. gu, g. h., & xu, x. j. (2023). research on the reform and practice of college students’ employment and entrepreneurship courses under the school-enterprise cooperation talent training model. health vocational education, 41(24), 46-48. he, s. h., & zhang, b. n. (2023). an analysis of the precise employment assistance work for college students with financial difficulties. modern business and trade industry, 44(23), 87-89. lou, y. (2020). the “internet +” talent training model of school—enterprise cooperation in colleges and universities under the epidemic situation. countryside, agriculture, farmers (version b), 2020(05), 39-40. zhang, l. h. (2023). an analysis of classified employment assistance for unemployed college graduates who have left school—based on a survey of 20 universities in jiangsu province. china university students career guide, 2023(06), 69-76. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 25 original paper research on the communication of traditional chinese medicine culture based on cognitive metaphor zhang ying 1 1 literature college, sichuan normal university, chengdu, 610066, china received: july 10, 2025 accepted: august 15, 2025 online published: september 1, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p25 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p25 this article is research results of the 2023 sichuan normal university graduate education reform research project (2023yjsjg017). abstract the article analyzes the deep logic behind the language of traditional chinese medicine, through concrete examples of entity metaphor, spatial metaphor, and structural metaphor. traditional chinese medicine (tcm) is a profound system with concepts and theories that are replete with cognitive metaphors. in an era of globalization, the dissemination of tcm culture has become a crucial task. while language translation is an essential part, the conveyance of human-centered thinking is equally vital for a comprehensive understanding of tcm. the purpose of this article is to delve into the deep-seated logic within tcm language by examining concrete examples of entity, spatial, and structural metaphors. this is aimed at enhancing the overseas dissemination of tcm culture. the research analyzes real-world examples of entity, spatial, and structural metaphors within the language of tcm. these examples are carefully selected from various tcm classics and contemporary tcm literature. through the analysis, commonalities in human experience have been identified from the cognitive experience and embodied environment. these commonalities serve as the foundation for a shared understanding. in conclusion, by leveraging metaphorical thinking, clear and accessible cognitive paradigms have been provided for non-tcm-familiar audiences. this research thus paves the way for the more effective overseas dissemination of tcm culture. keywords cognition, metaphor, traditional chinese medicine, communication www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 26 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction traditional chinese medicine (tcm) culture constitutes a precious treasure of china’s traditional cultural heritage. the global dissemination of tcm represents a vital endeavor to share chinese medical wisdom with international communities. the translation of classical tcm texts has long been recognized as a critical challenge in the overseas transmission of chinese cultural classics, primarily due to the intricate conceptual system characterized by abstract profundity and terminological obscurity inherent in tcm theory. however, systematic linguistic analysis reveals that tcm discourse contains rich metaphorical phenomena. the internationalization of tcm culture transcends mere linguistic translation, necessitating particular emphasis on the transmission of underlying cognitive frameworks. ancient tcm scholars extensively employed “analogical reasoning based on symbolic imagery” (取象 比类)—utilizing familiar conceptual domains—to construct medical theories and elucidate therapeutic principles. as a fundamental cognitive mechanism, metaphor establishes cognitive associations across linguistic boundaries, rendering tcm concepts and theoretical frameworks comprehensible through universally shared cognitive foundations. effective global communication of tcm should therefore address not merely the “what” of linguistic equivalence in translation, but more crucially articulate the “why” of conceptual reasoning. while translation operates at the linguistic level to convey denotative meanings, the explication of metaphorical mechanisms operates at the cognitive level to reveal underlying rationales. 2. method this article adopts two research methods: theoretical analysis of cognitive linguistics and comparative analysis. in terms of theoretical analysis in cognitive linguistics, lakoff & johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory is used as the framework, and key terms and expressions in traditional chinese medicine classic texts are taken as the research objects. the metaphorical types of the corpus are annotated, and the embodied cognitive theory is combined from the three aspects of “entity metaphor, spatial metaphor, and structural metaphor” for analysis. in terms of comparative analysis, analyze how metaphors in traditional chinese medicine are rooted in the common bodily experiences of humans, and use the “human common metaphors” in traditional chinese medicine to guide precise communication strategies, enabling western audiences to understand traditional chinese medicine culture through shared cognitive experiences. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 27 published by scholink inc. 3. metaphorical interpretation as cognitive science metaphor constitutes a foundational cognitive mechanism predicated on perceived similarities between distinct entities, operating through systematic mappings from simple, familiar source domains to complex, unfamiliar target domains. crucially, this conceptualization transcends conventional understanding of metaphor as mere rhetorical ornamentation, positioning it instead as an essential cognitive modality for knowledge construction. as recorded in xi ci ii of the i ching (book of changes): “in ancient times, when bao xi ruled the world, he observed celestial phenomena above and terrestrial patterns below, examined avian and zoological markings alongside earthly vegetation. drawing analogies from immediate bodily experiences and distant natural phenomena, he formulated the eight trigrams to comprehend divine virtues and classify the dispositions of all things.” this passage elucidates the epistemological methodology of analogical reasoning through symbolic correspondence (取象比类), wherein ancient scholars derived universal principles through systematic observation and cross-domain metaphorical mappings. tcm exemplifies this cognitive tradition, with its practitioners meticulously observing environmental phenomena and establishing correspondences between tangible entities (seasons, materials, organisms) and medical concepts (physiological states, pathological manifestations, therapeutic interventions). the conceptual architecture of tcm thus embodies sophisticated metaphorical systems that interconnect macrocosmic natural patterns with microcosmic bodily processes. the tcm theoretical system employs natural phenomena and quotidian objects as conceptual metaphors to explicate physiological functions and pathological mechanisms. this epistemological approach utilizes simple, familiar, and sensorially tangible domains to cognitively scaffold the comprehension of tcm’s complex, abstract, and hermeneutically dense theoretical constructs. such cognitive progression follows an analogical trajectory characterized by: simplex-to-complex advancement, proximal-to-distal extension, superficial-to-profound penetration, known-to-unknown extrapolation concrete-to-abstract conceptualization, familiar-to-unfamiliar mapping. within this cognitive schema, metaphor serves as a critical cognitive interface, bridging phenomenological observations with theoretical systematization. the ostensibly disparate metaphorical expressions in tcm manifest rigorous internal coherence when analyzed through the lens of conceptual blending theory. these metaphors operate as an implicit network, interconnecting fragmentary medical observations through underlying logical frameworks that mirror cosmic-natural patterns. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 28 published by scholink inc. 4. the phenomenon of entity metaphor in traditional chinese medicine culture 4.1 container metaphor container metaphor refers to treating things that are not containers as containers, which have internal and external boundaries and can hold contents. traditional chinese medicine regards the body and organs as containers, and through container metaphors, concretizes abstract laws of life or pathological processes. if the human body is viewed as a container, the concept of the three burners divides the human torso into three vertical regions: upper, middle, and lower, corresponding to different organ functions. the upper burner, such as the “upper opening of the container” (heart and lungs), the middle burner, such as the “middle part of the container” (spleen and stomach), and the lower burner, such as the “bottom of the container” (kidneys and bladder), respectively undertake gasification, transportation, and excretion functions. for example: (1) “what human beings possess are merely blood and qi.” (su wen tiao jing lun) example (1) conceptualizes the human body as a container, with “possession” emphasizing the container’s holding function that contains blood and qi as bodily substances. (2) “the stomach serves as the sea of water and grains, with its upper transport at qijie (st-30) and lower reaching point at zusanli (st-36).” (ling shu treatise on seas in the yellow emperor’s inner canon) this metaphor employs “sea” as a container image to illustrate the stomach’s capacity for receiving and transforming food and fluids. (3) “the head constitutes the repository of essential clarity.” (su wen discourse on essentials of pulse diagnosis) the term “repository” (府) denotes a three-dimensional spatial entity, conceptualizing the head as a containing structure for cognitive functions. (4) “when fluids flow through intestinal interstices with gurgling sounds, this is termed phlegm-rheum.” (jin gui yao lue on pulse patterns and treatment of phlegm-rheum cough) the spatial marker “interstices” (间) positions intestines as containers where pathological products like phlegm-rheum accumulate as undesirable contents requiring elimination. (5) “the five zang-organs are what store the essence-spirit, blood-qi, ethereal soul (hun) and corporeal soul (po).” (ling shu treatise on fundamental zang organs) the verb “store” (藏) emphasizes the preservative and regulatory functions, framing heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney as physiological containers for psycho-spiritual substances. these canonical examples from traditional chinese medicine texts systematically employ container metaphors to conceptualize bodily structures as: 1) receptacles containing vital substances (blood, qi, essence), 2) transformation chambers for physiological processes, and 3) storage spaces requiring maintenance of content purity. this metaphorical framework underlies tcm’s diagnostic logic of excess/deficiency and treatment strategies emphasizing regulation of containment functions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 29 published by scholink inc. since the body and organs are containers, they have the function of holding objects inside. the contents inside the container change in quantity and state. the occupation and emptying of objects inside the container is one of the basic human experiences. traditional chinese medicine projects the experience of “occupation” and “emptying” in the container onto similar abstract experiences, and applies it to other situations. the concept of “deficiency and excess” in traditional chinese medicine is related to the amount of content in the container. deficiency refers to insufficient content in the container, such as “deficiency of qi and blood, deficiency of qi and blood, deficiency of spleen and kidney”; in fact, the contents of the container are abundant, such as “qi and blood are full, body fluids are abundant, and kidney qi is full”. if there is deficiency, supplement it. supplementing qi and blood is to fill the insufficient contents of the container. for example, the four gentlemen’s soup replenishes qi and the four things soup replenishes blood. in fact, the treatment methods of “sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea” can be understood as expelling harmful substances from the container, repairing the function of the container, and regulating the state of the contents, such as using longdan xiegan tang to clear damp heat in the liver and gallbladder. 4.2 channel metaphor channel metaphor is a metaphorical way of understanding abstract physiological functions or pathological processes through the concrete concept of “channels”. traditional chinese medicine often regards qi and blood, body fluids, pathogenic factors, etc. in the human body as substances flowing in specific “channels”, and explains the occurrence and treatment of diseases through the smoothness of channels. channels have the characteristics of flowing, unobstructed, and path like. channels originate from the initial physical experience, and the body has many channels, such as the esophagus when entering through the mouth, the ear canal when entering through the ears, and the gateway to the throat when entering through the mouth and nose. they are all pathways leading to the internal space of the human body, which is the path to enter the human body space. from the perspective of traditional chinese medicine, there are various internal channel systems in the human body, including the circulation of qi and blood, the flow of body fluids, the unblocking of meridians, and the metabolic processes, all of which have the nature of channels. the metaphor of channels reflects the profound insight of ancient chinese medicine scholars into the dynamic flow of life. the traditional chinese medicine concept of “obstruction of qi and blood, blockage of meridians and qi, qi stagnation and blood stasis, liver depression and qi stagnation, obstruction of qi mechanism, soothing the liver and regulating qi, and regulating the ren meridian” regards abstract physiological or pathological processes as the result of movement in channels. people often metaphorically refer to “qi stagnation” as “traffic congestion” and “blood stasis” as “river siltation”. whether it is compared to traffic congestion or river siltation, they are essentially channel metaphors. there are also sayings related to channel metaphors in traditional chinese medicine classics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 30 published by scholink inc. (6) if the master is unknown, the twelve officials will be in danger, causing the road to be blocked and blocked. (su wen, linglan secret dian lun) in the metaphor of a channel, “communication” is seen as a good thing, while “disconnection” is seen as a bad thing. such experiences are readily available. smooth traffic is a good thing, while traffic congestion is considered a bad thing. the experience in modern society is also the same. smooth network signals are a good thing, while blocked network signals can make people anxious. the purpose of objects moving in a channel is to achieve a state of “communication”, so traditional chinese medicine says that the human body “generally does not feel pain, but when it feels pain, it becomes blocked”, and believes that blockage of qi and blood can lead to illness. the meridians are the channels for the movement of qi and blood. if they are blocked, they will get sick, which is similar to the flood caused by river blockage. therefore, the treatment is to dredge the meridians, such as acupuncture and moxibustion. in short, channels play an important role in abstract and similar concepts, cleverly and appropriately expressing the ideas of traditional chinese medicine. in addition to the container metaphor and channel metaphor listed above, there are countless entity metaphors in traditional chinese medicine, such as the yellow emperor’s inner canon: “the six meridians are rivers, and the gastrointestinal tract is the sea”, which compares the meridians to rivers and the gastrointestinal tract to the sea; the term “fire” in traditional chinese medicine refers to the state of inflammation or overheating; due to its variable flow, “wind” metaphorically refers to the invasion and wandering of wind pathogens into the body, resulting in varied symptoms... and so on, there are countless examples. 5. the phenomenon of spatial metaphor in traditional chinese medicine culture in the process of interacting with the world, people form abstract cognitive experiences, and spatial orientation is the most easily perceived experience, often becoming the basis for understanding other complex concepts. people use spatial schemas to understand abstract experiences, such as “up-down” schemas, “left-right” schemas, “inside-outside” schemas, “front-back” schemas, “center-edge” schemas, closed schemas, open schemas, etc. spatial metaphors are also reflected in many aspects of chinese medical culture. 5.1 “up-down” directional metaphor the metaphors of “up” and “down” are typical spatial orientation metaphors. in traditional chinese medicine theory, the “up” and “down” orientation metaphors map the spatial concepts of “up” and “down” to abstract physiological, pathological, or therapeutic processes. the traditional chinese medicine concept of “fire with heat rising” is related to the orientation of “upward”. the physical characteristics of rising flames are used to illustrate that the “fire” in the body is reflected upwards. “rising flames” are the source domain, while the manifestations of heart fire and liver fire are the target domain. inflammation of the heart fire can cause mouth and tongue sores, and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 31 published by scholink inc. hyperactivity of liver fire can cause headaches and blurred vision. the folk term for internal heat symptoms is commonly referred to as “upward fire”. the reason for using the “upward” orientation is because the flame burns in an upward direction, and the symptoms are similar to the spatial orientation of “upward”. the treatment of “fire induced heat rising” adopts the method of “burning at the bottom of the pot” (using rhubarb to promote internal circulation and eliminate heat), with the aim of reducing, eliminating, lowering, or purging fire. the direction of “reducing, eliminating, lowering, and purging” is downward, that is, through interventions such as medication, diet, and lifestyle, to restore the excessive “fire” to a normal state. the pathology of “dampness descending” in traditional chinese medicine is related to the orientation of “descending”. the natural phenomenon of water flowing downwards indicates that the dampness in the body is descending. “water flowing downwards” is the source domain, while the target domain is the dampness and heat descending to cause symptoms such as gonorrhea and diarrhea. the symptoms and spatial orientation of “descending” are similar. 5.2 metaphor of “inside-outside” orientation the traditional chinese medicine concepts of “cold on the surface and heat on the inside, from the surface to the inside, pathogenic factors on the surface entering the inside, pathogenic factors on the inside leaving the surface, half surface and half inside, invasion of dampness and toxins” are related to the metaphorical orientation of “insideoutside”. the “inside outside” directional metaphor is an important type of spatial directional metaphor. in traditional chinese medicine theory, by mapping the spatial relationship between “inside” and “outside” to human physiology, pathology, and treatment, a systematic understanding of disease transmission, depth of disease location, and treatment direction is constructed. the metaphor of “inner-outer” orientation is closely related to the metaphor of the container. the human body is a clearly defined container, with the interior and exterior forming opposing spaces. the exterior (skin) is the outer boundary of the container, responsible for resisting external pathogens, while the interior (organs, meridians) is the internal space of the container, responsible for biochemistry, qi and blood, and maintaining functions. traditional chinese medicine believes that diseases are invaded by external pathogens, such as wind, cold, heat, and dampness, which enter the body from the outside, causing communication between the inside and outside of the body as a container and causing internal imbalance. “yingwei qi” refers to the protective energy that guards the body surface and prevents external pathogens from invading, which is like maintaining the boundaries of a container. as the gateway of the body surface, the pores control the entry and exit of internal and external substances. the “sweating method” is used to treat superficial symptoms, by sweating and expelling pathogenic factors from the body, achieving a balance between the inside and outside of the container. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 32 published by scholink inc. in the eight principles of traditional chinese medicine (exterior and interior, cold and heat, deficiency and excess, yin and yang), “exterior and interior” is often used to describe the depth of the disease site in traditional chinese medicine. exterior syndrome usually refers to the early stage of external infections, where the disease site is on the surface of the body, such as the skin, muscles, meridians, etc., while interior syndrome is a problem where the pathogenic factors penetrate deep into the organs and belong to internal problems. the core principles for distinguishing the depth of disease location are “surface syndrome” and “internal syndrome”, which determine the direction of treatment, such as “resolving the surface” or “attacking the interior”. for example: (7) from the inside out, adjust it internally; from the inside out, treat the outside out. (su wen: a comprehensive discussion on the ultimate truth) (8) at the arrival of evil winds, diseases are like wind and rain. therefore, those who are good at treating them treat the fur, followed by the skin, then the muscles and meridians, then the six viscera, and then the five viscera. (su wen: the great treatise on the correspondence between yin and yang) example (7) establishing the therapeutic principle of interaction between the external and internal aspects; in example (8), “treating fur and skin” belongs to treating the exterior, while “treating tendons, meridians, six viscera, and five viscera” belongs to attacking the interior, reflecting the process of disease transmission from the exterior to the interior. spatial metaphor is the cognitive logic of understanding abstract life activities through concrete spatial relationships. in order to express abstract concepts, people talk about things and things through analogies, and space is the basis of analogy. in this process, metaphor plays a great role. metaphor is a cognitive tool that allows people to draw analogies and apply them to other non spatial fields to help understand and construct more complex and abstract concepts. with the intricate connections between things, metaphors are constructed to expound the concepts and ideas of traditional chinese medicine. 6. the phenomenon of structural metaphor in traditional chinese medicine culture many concepts in traditional chinese medicine are products of the human environment, arising from the participation of personal experiences. the environment we live in shapes our culture, and culture that is free from environmental constraints does not exist. traditional chinese medicine theory uses structural metaphors to reflect abstract life phenomena with concrete things or processes in nature and society, thus constructing a unique cognitive and diagnostic system. the essence of structural metaphor is to systematically map the structure of a source domain to another target domain, enabling abstract concepts to be expressed concretely. structural metaphor has the characteristic of systematic correspondence. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 33 published by scholink inc. 6.1 the structural metaphor of “yin and yang（阴阳）” yin and yang represent two aspects of the unity of opposites, originating from the observation of natural phenomena. in the alternation of day and night, day belongs to yang and night belongs to yin. during the day, there is ample sunshine, people are active frequently, and yang energy is strong; at night, the moon appears, and people rest and fall asleep, dominated by yin energy. day and night alternate, just like the transformation of yin and yang. when the day is over, the night will come, and after the night is over, the day will come again. yin and yang are constantly changing and transforming. traditional chinese medicine applies this binary opposition structure to human health, emphasizing regular daily living, advocating early sleep and early rise to adapt to the growth and decline of yin and yang, and maintaining body balance. for example, in the changing seasons, spring and summer are sunny, autumn and winter are shady. as the temperature rises in spring and summer, all things grow and thrive; the temperature drops in autumn and winter, and all things are collected, with a restrained vitality. in traditional chinese medicine theory, health preservation in spring and summer should focus on nourishing yang and exercising more, while in autumn and winter, it should nourish yin, nourish yin and moisten dryness, and adapt to natural changes. the natural phenomenon is that mountains are yang, valleys are yin, mountain ranges are towering, solid, and upward, river valleys are low-lying, moist, and downward. traditional chinese medicine corresponds to the human body, with the back being yang, corresponding to the du meridian, and the body being yang qi. the abdomen is yin, corresponding to the ren meridian, and the body being yin blood. the yin and yang of nature (day and night, four seasons, water and fire, etc.) reveal the dynamic balance of energy and matter. the yin and yang of the human body maintain health through similar laws. imbalance between yin and yang can lead to diseases, and treatment is to restore the balance of yin and yang, which is similar to the concept of balance in nature. the theory of yin and yang in traditional chinese medicine is not an abstract symbol, but a reflection of the laws of nature. 6.2 the structural metaphor of the “five elements（五行）” the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) are five visual symbols that use the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements to understand the coordination of the functions of the five organs (liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney). the five elements should be balanced, and the five organs should also be harmonious. mapping the elements and attribute structures of nature onto the human body and health is a typical structural metaphor. there is a systematic mapping relationship between the characteristics of the five elements and the functions of the five organs. the characteristics of wood correspond to the liver, which is responsible for regulating and releasing fluids; the characteristics of fire correspond to the heart, which governs the bloodline; the characteristics of soil correspond to the spleen, which is responsible for transportation and transformation; the characteristics of gold correspond to the lungs, which are www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 34 published by scholink inc. responsible for regulating qi; the characteristics of water correspond to the kidneys, which are responsible for storing essence. the five elements are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. wood generates fire, liver generates heart. the liver stores blood, which helps the heart, just like burning firewood to start a fire. if the liver blood is insufficient, it can lead to palpitations and insomnia; fire generates soil, heart generates spleen, heart yang warms the spleen and soil, just like sunshine warms the soil. if the heart yang is not vibrating, it will be like fire not warming the soil, leading to spleen deficiency and diarrhea; earth generates gold, the spleen generates the lungs, and the spleen transports water and grain essence to nourish the lung qi, just like the earth generates mineral deposits. if there is spleen deficiency, the lung qi will be weak, leading to shortness of breath and coughing and wheezing; gold generates water, lungs generate kidneys, lungs descend and help kidneys absorb qi, just like metal condenses into water. if the lungs are deficient in yin, then the kidneys are deficient in yin, leading to dry cough and lower back pain; water generates wood, the kidneys generate the liver, and the kidney essence nourishes the liver blood, just like moistening plants and trees. if the kidney essence is deficient, the liver blood will be deficient, leading to dizziness and blurred vision. the five elements constrain each other, and the five organs also constrain each other. wood restrains soil, liver restrains spleen, and excessive liver qi can cause spleen deficiency and bloating; soil restrains water, spleen restrains kidneys, and spleen deficiency can lead to edema; water restrains fire, kidney restrains heart, and kidney yin deficiency can lead to excessive heart fire; fire restrains gold, heart restrains lungs, and excessive heart fire can cause lung heat and coughing up blood; jin kemu, lung restrains liver, and lung qi deficiency can lead to dizziness and headache. the five elements have a systematic correspondence with the five organs, emphasizing the importance of dynamic balance, which can be maintained by adjusting the five elements to maintain health. by understanding this metaphorical structural model, one can intuitively grasp the essence of the holistic view and dialectical treatment in traditional chinese medicine. 7. conclusion the article illustrates the metaphorical phenomena contained in traditional chinese medicine concepts and theories from the perspective of cognitive metaphor, using examples from three aspects: entity metaphor, spatial metaphor, and structural metaphor. more than two thousand years ago, ancient medical scholars linked phenomena such as diseases, physiology, and treatment with similarities to nature and daily life when understanding the operation of life and exploring the laws of life, forming a unique metaphorical discourse system of traditional chinese medicine. the metaphors of traditional chinese medicine carry the wisdom of traditional chinese medicine, and the use of cognitive science metaphor methods can help understand and construct the theory of traditional chinese medicine. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 35 published by scholink inc. foreigners are not very familiar with the concepts and theories of traditional chinese medicine, such as yin and yang, five elements, qi, meridians, etc., so they need to use their familiar daily things as an analogy, establish cognitive relationships through familiar things, from concrete to abstract, from known to unknown, provide clear and understandable cognitive paradigm for people who do not know traditional chinese medicine, and explain obscure concepts and theories of traditional chinese medicine to foreigners with easy to understand metaphors. this interpretation not only retains the essence of traditional chinese medicine, but also is much more effective than literal translation. it helps foreigners understand the concept of traditional chinese medicine through similarity in the level of thinking. if the dissemination of traditional chinese medicine culture can change the way of thinking, from the translation of surface language to the interpretation of the operation of deep thinking, establish the awareness of cognitive relevance, seek the commonness of human experience from the cognitive experience and embodied environment, and the cognitive experience based on human commonness can trigger people’s recognition and resonance, foreigners can deeply understand traditional chinese medicine on the basis of understanding, which is like finding the key to open the door to broad and profound traditional chinese medicine, spreading traditional chinese medicine culture, and finding the common way of deep cognition is the shortcut of translation. references jia, c. h. (2008). a conceptual metaphor study on the etiology and pathogenesis of traditional chinese medicine in the context of cognitive science. chinese medical journal, 2008(8). jia, c. h. (2014). a traditional chinese medicine conceptual metaphorical cognitive system starting from water. journal of beijing university of traditional chinese medicine, 2012(3). lakoff, g., & johnson, m. (1980). metaphors we live by. chicago: the university of chicago press. ma, z. m., & jia, c. h. (2010). comparing images and categories: a chinese metaphorical cognitive model. world science and technology—modernization of traditional chinese medicine, 2012(5). qiu, m. t., & wang, l. p. (2024). research on the untranslatability of metaphorical knowledge in the english translation of wei naijie’s “treatise on cold damage” from the perspective of knowledge translation studies. global journal of traditional chinese medicine, 2024(11). shi, y. (2016). research on traditional chinese medicine metaphorical thinking and metaphorical discourse in the context of yin yang and five elements (doctoral dissertation). nanjing normal university. wang, s. z. (2016). research on metaphorical cognition of “traditional chinese medicine channel theory” (doctoral dissertation). beijing university of traditional chinese medicine. xie, j., & jia, c. h. (2011). types and functions of metaphorical language in the “emperor’s inner canon”. journal of traditional chinese medicine, 2011(1). global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 43 original paper the economic dimension of education, educational inequalities and their role in shaping the democratic citizen anastasia dimitrakopoulou 1 1 department of pedagogy, hellenic open university, patra, greece received: may 3, 2023 accepted: may 12, 2023 online published: may 31, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n2p43 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n2p43 abstract in this paper we will deal with the inequalities in the field of education and the way they affect the democratic society. this is a very important issue, especially in our time, because the problem is becoming more intense due to the accelerated economic competition, globalization and the changes taking place in the social fabric of the state’s due to the migration of large parts of the population worldwide. in modern democracy (agamben, 2005) there is a strong criticism, which basically focuses on the fact that the modern state of representative democracy does not realize the goals set by the revolutions of the 19th century and his proclamations of equality and liberty. in today’s societies, education is an important parameter in the formation of the citizen, who will then play an active role in the creation of a democratic society, which will be governed by democratic principles and values. although all citizens and stakeholders recognize the requirement for a democratic education, its realization remains a question. within this context, the question arises whether and under what conditions today’s students can be the emancipated and critical citizens of the future society. keywords education, democracy, citizen, polis www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 44 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction looking back at ancient greek thought, we find that aristotle dealt with the issue of education, just like, of course, his teacher, plato. stagiritis believes that politics, ethics and education are inextricably linked. he perceives man as a political and social being, which is why he also says that education is part of politics. the educated person becomes a good citizen, who will achieve the happy life on a personal and collective level (aristotle, politics, 1337b, pp. 34-35). education, according to the philosopher, must be public, because it strengthens the citizen’s bond with the city by passing on the values of the culture of the given moment to the students (aristotle, politics, h1, 1337a, pp. 21-26). education, that is, is an evolving process, which adapts to the current political and social developments and is connected to the city’s politics (dimitrakopoulou, 2012). for example, the education of the citizens of a democratic state must be consistent with the principles of democracy, so that their lives as citizens are proportionate to the principles of the state and the spirit of the laws (aristotle, politics, 1337a, pp. 27-29, 1337a, p. 22). we must point out that aristotle rejects as the purpose of education the provision of technical and professional knowledge to manual workers, because such an education is illiberal and it is not appropriate for citizens to submit to purposes alien to themselves, because work destroys them physically and mentally (aristotle, politics, 1337b, 1338a). the citizen, according to stagiritis, acts for the collective good and the happiness of the city, without prioritizing his personal well-being, which leads h. marcuse (1985, p. 85) to observe that: “knowing to see the world humanly means to know how to see this reality with the eyes of your fellow man, with the eyes of all other people, from the point of view of their general, collective needs”. aristotle’s views have influenced the younger and modern intellect, at least, as evidenced by the perceptions of the thinkers. the common point of all the references is the fact that the purpose of education is the preparation of citizens for participation in the democratic state, because the way in which the educated person perceives the world differs from that of the uneducated, as the latter acts as arbitrary individuality, while the former as universal, moral and free subjectivity. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 45 published by scholink inc. 2. identify the problem in our time, however, the purpose of education is mainly to promote economic purposes and at the same time, strong contrasts are observed, as education is directed to the middle and upper social class without taking into account the culture and needs of the lower class. our question is the following: is the access of all citizens to education sufficient to lead to the halting of the ever-widening gap among social classes or are other conditions required? eisenberg (2006, p. 9) adds an important dimension to the issue under discussion by saying that the access of all citizens to education or any other public good is not enough to ensure that all people are treated fairly, but simply “the system does its best to ensure social justice”. we would, of course, speak of social justice, as long as cultural differences were recognized in the school or university space (vincent, 2003). educational inequality has a broad field of reference, which includes diversity and multiculturalism, which means that socially just education recognizes cultural differences as valuable (kazazi, 2010). therefore, we understand that universal access to education goes against the imposition of the standards of a particular culture, it recommends the recognition of a range of cultural meanings and at the same time, it perceives as an element of inequality and marginalization the imposition of a given culture. socially just education effectively addresses the problems that concern a society, such as exploitation, marginalization and the practices of cultural imperialism. in addition, it seeks to overcome inequalities related to social origin, gender, national origin, sexual preferences, disability, etc. however, only the above is not enough, but socially just education must strengthen the abilities of individuals, “so that each individual can become and do in ways that are meaningful to his own critical self-evaluation” (sen, 1979, p. 4). 3. social and educational exclusion education is an active activity, which creates social and political reality and, at the same time, is created by it. education offers the ideal of a diverse society and strives to achieve it through students. however, within the educational context, as we have already mentioned, social and educational inequalities are observed, which lead a section of students to educational fixation and subsequently to social exclusion. the question that concerns us is whether, after all, education is not only a derivative but also a producer of inequalities, which would mean that truly equal education is only possible in an equal society. the concept of social exclusion initially appeared in france in the 1960s and had the purpose of describing the deviation displayed by the socially dominant class from those who remained marginalized in the economic field and in earnings (papadopoulou, 2002). this concept attracted objections because it was considered that social exclusion includes a wide range of goods and is not confined to the existence of material goods, but is related to socio-political rights and to the absorption of public wealth, to which not all social groups in the society have access same degree (tsiakalos, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 46 published by scholink inc. 1998). social exclusion, in other words, consists in “preventing the absorption of social and public goods ... the lack of which usually leads to economic poverty and marginalization” (tsiakalos, 1998, p. 184). all citizens of a democratic society must have access to basic goods such as education, participation in social and political life, health care, employment and a decent living. social exclusion is a consequence of social, political and economic data (venieris, 2006) and it is a continuous process, which perpetuates the inequality of citizens in the field regarding social participation and the possibility of social integration. in this sense, individuals are unable to exercise their rights, lack self-confidence and believe that they are incapable of completing their obligations without the help of other persons (kautantzoglou, 2006), with the consequence that social pathology phenomena appear, such as isolation, deviant behavior, social exclusion, stigma, poverty, marginalization, man becoming an indifferent being for the collective good, individualistic and selfish, who does not possess knowledge in depth but superficially (estivill, 2003). in the 1970s, the study of the relationship between education and social inequalities began. cultural heritage has been found to play an important role in school success and, of course, in the ability to access higher education. through the educational system, the cultural inequalities of the social classes are perpetuated, which means that some students are favored by the educational process, while some others are led to educational fixation (bourdieu & parsons, 2014). at the same time, the perception was expressed that the school does not understand the social factors that lead a person to a lower position in the social stratification and the view is adopted that “poverty and inequality ... are consequences of individual choice or personal inadequacy and not a natural consequence of our economic institutions” (boweles & gintis, 1976, p. 26). this practice results in students with high scores being perceived as capable, while the rest are seen as less capable. in this way, the responsibility is transferred to individuals for the social, economic and educational situation in which they have fallen, which serves the ruling class, as through education the hegemony of the ruling class is imposed, so as to maintain state power (sarup, 2006). through the educational system, students are indoctrinated and nurtured in the ideology appropriate to the role they will fulfill as adult citizens. however, the transmission of the dominant ideology through the educational process cannot be accepted, as it is: “a symbolic violence, understood as the imposition, on behalf of an arbitrary power, of a political arbitrariness” (bourdieu & passeron, 1970, p. 19). the aforementioned views, in our opinion, are timely, due to the challenges faced by modern societies, which change the lives of their citizens in a decisive way. giddens (1993) emphasizes that in traditional societies life has a moral character, associated with morals, customs and religion. on the contrary, in modern society the characteristics of the traditional era are missing, which makes the life of modern people monotonous. as a consequence, this fact brings about the transformation of the moral values of the citizens; modern societies are formed on the basis of individuality and at the same time, interest in the collective good is limited. this practice leads to the isolation of the individual and, therefore, to the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 47 published by scholink inc. development of sharp contrasts within the social context, leading citizens to passivity and political apathy. crouch (2006) observes that the post-democracy of contemporary post-modern societies defines the concept of citizen in a different way, setting new parameters. these parameters are the intense movement of populations, whether they are refugees or immigrants, the globalization of the economy, changes in the law of western countries and other elements, which shape the concept of the modern citizen, but also of the democratic state. the modern citizen experiences many problems in his daily life, such as unemployment, the reduction or even the abolition of fundamental rights, the forced migration of young people and in general there are changes that overturn the most basic aspects of human life, the economy, politics, the state, the family. in particular, in the area of education, the dominance of the ruling class is perpetuated and competition between social classes is promoted, which serves the necessity of adapting future citizens, i.e., today’s students, to the prevailing social, political and economic situation. in support of the aforementioned proposal, we will mention the opinion of h. matsangoura, who claims that even the group forms of teaching, carried out during the educational process, do not aim at the development of solidarity within the social context, but at the development of the skills of cooperation, which “the modern socio-economic conditions require” (matsangouras, 2003, p. 28). students as citizens, that is, they will serve the needs of the globalized society and the prevailing economic situation, accepting the situation in a passive way. 4. education, democracy and economy bowles & gintis (1976) in their book schooling in capitalist america, argue that the social relations that are created within the school environment correspond to the relations of the economic environment, which means that education is perceived as a passive reflection of the world of work. in our opinion, this point of view is related to the perspective from which m. nussbaum approaches modern educational systems, in her book not for profit. in this particular paper, the author formulates the proposal for the necessity of redefining the role of education, because now emphasis is given to economic growth and at the same time the other aspects of the human condition are neglected. man needs to be treated as a whole and not in an isolated and fragmented way. the author considers that the situation internationally is hopeless, with reference to the education of the citizen in primary and secondary education, because critical thinking, imagination and empathy are not sufficiently evaluated, with the result that education does not favor the development of individuality and creativity (nussbaum, 2013). in addition, social inequalities are not taken into account or evaluated in a specific way so that all children, on the one hand, experience an interesting educational experience and on the other hand, are prepared to fulfill their role as citizens in a proper way (nussbaum, 2013). the one-sidedness of education consists in the creation of competent employees who will serve the needs of the global economy, which is the stake for democracy, because under these conditions the disadvantages of this www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 48 published by scholink inc. particular state are intensified. the question that arises is whether the existing situation in the field of education could be overturned. first of all, the necessity of changes in the existing educational systems is presented, in order to further support democratic societies and to educate the citizen with the corresponding principles and values of the democratic state (nussbaum, 2013). secondly, it is recognized that education is a “moral and political act”, because it determines individual and social autonomy, as well as the responsibilities of the citizen. this means that all citizens must participate in political, economic and social goods, as well as create citizens who are emancipated and do not simply serve the interests of the upper class. only in this way, society will be led to justice and the safeguarding of citizens’ rights (petrou, 2010). education is the greatest political act and therefore must be the concern of politicians and organized society. the departure from the study of humanitarian objects led to the disorientation of citizens from the purpose of the city, which consists in the prevalence of humanitarian values. humanistic education has been replaced by professional education, which has a difficult effect on the moral and intellectual development of young people. the current situation can be reversed, as long as the reduction in the teaching of theoretical studies stops, because as plato argued: «πᾶζά ηε ἐπιζηήμη τωριζομένη δικαιοζύνης καὶ ηῆς ἄλλης ἀρεηῆς πανοσργία, οὐ ζοθία θαίνεηαι» (plato, menexenus, 347a). societies need citizens who are virtuous, free, have critical thinking and responsibility. 5. conclusion education and democracy are inextricably linked and the breaking of this relationship belongs exclusively to man. for this reason, in recent years, a great debate has begun regarding the political knowledge and learning offered at the levels of education and, in particular, the political and social role, which has been shouldered by the higher education level. education should be democratic and public, serving the democratic state. therefore, it must involve the student in activities aimed at cultivating political competence and a sense of community, motivate them to participate voluntarily and promote the acceptance of the other, equality and loyalty. however, citizens should not attribute responsibility only to factors other than themselves, because everyone is jointly responsible for the situation. as papanoutsos (1984, p. 98) rightly underlines: “man is an imperfect being, moving in an imperfect world. neither, we ourselves nor the society around us as a psychological, economic, political, etc. regime are shaped, as our mind, feeling, desire would like them to be. in this world, which does not obey our claims, which is not subject to our control, we will live and write our small or large history. of necessity, not as we wish but as we can, to attempt, then, the impossible is at least futile. responsibilities will only be asked of us, if we do not exhaust all the leeway that has been given to us, to remain clean in soul and hands. but we will be held accountable if we remain inactive because of fear. the paths of good and evil cross. we must choose the best from the worst, the choice of which will judge our moral quality”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 2, 2023 49 published by scholink inc. references agamben, g. (2005). homo sacer. in sovereign power and naked life (p. tsiamouras, trans.). athens: scripta. badiou, a. (2005). metapolitics (j. barker, trans.). london, n.y.: verso. bourdieu, p., & passeron, j.-c. (2014). reproduction, evidence for a theory of the educational system (g. karabelas, trans.). athens: alexandria. bowles, s., & gintis, h. (1976). schooling in capitalist america. london: routledge & kegan paul. crouch, c. (2006). post-democracy (a. kiupkiolis, trans.). athens: pending. dimitrakopoulou, a. (2012). aristotle’s teaching on education. athens: ennoia. eisenberg, n. (2006). prosocial behavior. in g. g. bear, & k. m. minke (eds.), children’s needs iii: development, prevention, and intervention (pp. 313-324). estivill, j. (2003). concepts and strategies for combating social exclusion: an overview. journal of social policy, 35, 521-523. portugal international labor office. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047279406250037 giddens, a. (1993). introduction to sociology (d. trianataphyllopoulou, trans.). athens: odysseus. karakatsani, d. (2004). education and political education. knowledge, values, practices. athens: metaichmio. karakatsani, d. (2008). the role of the educator in the context of social and political education. professionalism, self-development and teaching strategies. in s. balias (ed.), active citizen and education. athens: papazisi. kavtantzoglou, i. (2006). social exclusion: outside, inside, and under. athens: savvalas. kazazi, m. (2000). educational sociology. athens: ellinas. marcuse, h. (1985). denials (z. sarikas, trans.) athens: ypsilon. matsangouras, h. (2008). collaborative teaching and learning. athens: grigoris. papanoutsos, e. (1984). practical philosophy. athens: dodoni. petrou, a. (2010). education, education, ethics of emancipation. in m. sakellariou, & a. p. zebylas (eds.), ethics and education (pp. 112-152). athens: critique. satup, m. (2006). marxism and education (f. kokavesis, trans.). athens: epicenter. sen, a. (1979). equality of what? in mc murrin (ed.), tanner lectures on human values (pp. 197-220). cambridge: cambridge university press. tsiakalos, g. (1998). social exclusion definitions, context and meaning. in k. kasimati (ed.), social exclusion: the greek experience (pp. 39-65). venieris, d. (2013). european social policy and social rights the end of anthems. athens: place. vincent, c. (2003). social justice, education and identity. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203464939 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047279406250037 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203464939 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 19 original paper business school student deception: tracking and learning from actual behavior stephen b. castleberry 1* & joshua t. coleman 2 1 department of marketing, university of minnesota duluth, duluth, mn, usa 2 department of marketing, missouri state university, springfield, mo usa * stephen b. castleberry, department of marketing, university of minnesota duluth, duluth, mn, usa received: june 24, 2021 accepted: august 23, 2021 online published: september 7, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n3p19 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n3p19 abstract business educators’ mission is to help students develop knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will help them be successful once they graduate. this is certainly true of ethical issues, including the use of deception. this study reports on an assignment that can increase students’ awareness of their own capacity for deceptiveness, self-reflection on what this means for them and the greater business world, and awareness of the different types of deceptiveness that can and do occur. data is provided from 239 undergraduate/graduate students at two universities on three campuses who completed a five-day deception measurement exercise. students measured and categorized their deception behavior and reflected upon the results. results suggest the objectives were met regardless of school location, method of classroom delivery, level of instruction, or whether the assignment was mandatory or not. the fact that this exercise has been used at multiple universities under almost every class modality suggests it can be successfully replicated at other universities for many courses. keywords deception, business school, exercise, lying, self-reflection 1. introduction deception occurs when an individual makes statements and/or engages in behaviors which intentionally mislead another party (gaspar et al., 2019). the definition implies that deception can be informational (e.g., telling a lie) or emotional (e.g., acting angry to achieve a desired reaction from the other party when one is in fact not angry), and that the object is always to intentionally mislead. by contrast, providing misinformation through error is not considered deception. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 20 published by scholink inc. as educators, much of our mission is to help students develop knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will help them be successful once they graduate. this is certainly true of ethical issues, including the use of deception (degen, 2018). there is evidence that college interventions, exercises, and experiences have an impact at various levels, including attitudes about ethics in future work situations (luthar & karri, 2005), skills in evaluating future work-related ethical issues (carlson & burke, 1998), and actual future ethical decisions in work settings (mccabe, 1996). with regard to one’s character, living without deception is often espoused as one of the most important traits in life and in business (jacobs, 2012; kujala, 2004; schwepker, 2015; tanner et al., 2015). organizations value non-deception (castleberry & tanner, 2019), and many have created systems of rewarding it (wang & murnighan, 2017). part of our role as educators is to help students develop a moral compass and live as ethical, non-deceptive business people (natale & doran, 2012). research has demonstrated that college students do engage in deception (e.g., simkin & mcleod, 2010; smith & shen, 2013), and deceptive behaviors by college students can actually continue when they enter into the business world (furutan, 2017). shu and gino (2012) found that engaging in some deception can lead a person to perform more acts of deception. employers have many sources of potential employees, and the pressure is on business schools to adapt to the needs and desires of the marketplace (schlegelmilch, 2020). it is therefore concerning that employers are not always happy with deception found in the students universities are graduating (moosmayer, 2012; robles, 2012). newly minted business school graduates and those entering the business world often engage in deception (coyne & bartram, 2000; jaakson et al., 2017; strategies & tactics, 2020), regularly finding justification for their deceptions. one commonly cited justification is that “everyone is doing it”, alluding that deceit is just one of many tools available for businesspeople to use (chelliah & swamy, 2018). at other times, non-deception is deemed just too hard to achieve, resulting in deception being seen as an acceptable alternative (lee et al., 2019). for many college students and businesspeople, deciding whether to engage in deception is a function of doing the math and seeing if the consequences of non-deception are worth it (balasubramanian et al., 2017; kamat & kanekar, 1990; tang et al., 2018; tseng, 2019). for some, the situation itself helps determine whether to lie as well as the extent of the deception that is acceptable (acke et al., 2011). for example, in one study, students viewed cheating as not only justified but honorable (mckay et al., 2019). deception can also have cultural dimensions, as people from collectivist societies may view and act differently than those from individualist societies (brodowsky et al., 2020). finally, some people choose to be deceptive by delegating the deception; in essence, having others lie on their behalf (gawn & innes, 2019; rottenburger et al., 2019). how can we educate students about deception and prepare them for the business world where employers are hoping for more non-deceptive employees? there are a number of possibilities. as one example, students can reflect upon case studies based upon real world business decisions where www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 21 published by scholink inc. deception occurred. another option is to use simulations which allow students to choose to deceive but then reap the consequences of that deception. and of course, guest speakers can share their experiences with deception and the resulting outcomes. what is missing in these tools is an explicit way to incorporate students’ explorations of their own personal deception practices. do they know how much they actually engage in deception right now in their lives? how many students’ deceptions are premeditated, as opposed to deceptions they choose to employ in the spur of the moment? additionally, do students recognize that deception includes much more than simply lying? there are many aspects of being deceptive, including such factors as intentionality (being deceptive for the benefit of the self or for the benefit of society), the type of deceptive content (deceptive information, the use of deceptive emotions), and the type of activity (a deceptive act of omission, commission, or to act/talk insincerely or misleadingly) (carson, 2001; gaspar et al., 2019). to answer these questions and provide students more information about their own capacity for deception, the following exercise was created and deployed. 2. method 2.1 objectives the primary goal of the exercise is for students to identify the extent of their deception. while people no doubt remember some of the big lies they have told, many have never reflected upon the number of times overall they have deceived others. in other words, people might not realize the extent of their own deceptive behavior. a secondary goal is to have students reflect upon what they have learned from completing the exercise. do they deceive more often than they thought? are there certain times of the day or certain situations in which they practice deception more often? are there certain types of deception they seem more prone to commit? this self-reflection will likely be different for each student and can be influenced by culture, teachings they have received, what others have claimed about their deception in the past, and so forth. a final goal is for students to become aware of the myriad ways by which they might be deceiving others. this will contribute to long-term growth in that, perhaps for the first time, students will become aware that deception can manifest itself in a variety of contexts and through a variety of ways in their own lives. the purpose of the exercise and reporting on its use is to provide an easy-to-adopt tool that educators can utilize to help students achieve the stated goals. educators need assignments that can be used across various modalities (online, live instruction, synchronous web instruction, and so forth), courses with varied content, as well as courses at various levels of education (undergraduate, graduate, executive education). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 22 published by scholink inc. 2.2 administering the exercise to assess deception, students are asked to self-report all types of deception for a period of five days. self-reporting has been used successfully in academic studies of lying (ennis et al., 2008; serota & levine, 2015), although it is possible for students to deceive using this methodology. the use of a five-day period was chosen in an effort to provide enough time for students to potentially exhibit the various types of deception, while also trying to not make the exercise onerous. before recording their deceptions, students first carefully study the document “examples of deception” (appendix). it lists the kinds of deceptive acts in which people often engage and is intended to broaden the students’ perspectives about what constitutes deception. students are told that the assignment will be turned in, but they are explicitly told not to identify themselves in any way when making their list of deceptions. the goal of this instruction is to increase the students’ willingness to share information about their deceptions without fear that the instructor might be able to identify them and, therefore, know their listed deceptions. in addition to listing each and every time they deceive during the period of time, students are also required to code each deception using the following scale: (type 1) = “deliberate, premeditated statement that was not true (a lie). i planned ahead of time to lie in this situation”. (type2) = “deliberate lie, but i didn’t plan ahead of time. it just happened at the moment”. (type 3) = “i deceived, but not by giving a false statement. i either didn’t give all the pertinent facts, or i displayed non-verbal cues or other means that led another to a false conclusion”. the purpose of having the three categories is to try to tweak out various forms of deception (carson, 2001; gaspar et al., 2019). sometimes, one deceives by making a false statement, so one distinction is whether that is premeditated (type 1 in our scale) or not premeditated (type 2 in our scale). but other times, one deceives without actually giving a false statement (hence, type 3 in our scale). for each deception listed, students are asked to provide a reason why they engaged in the deception. they are to compile their results in a spreadsheet consisting of three columns (describe the deception, code assigned, reason why they engaged in the deception). for paper version administration of the exercise, the phrase, “please attach another sheet of paper if you need more room to record entries”, is added to the bottom of the spreadsheet. administration of the exercise in paper copy is rather straightforward. early in the semester students are handed a paper version of the spreadsheet and provided access to the “examples of deception” handout. students are told to choose any five-day period before the assignment’s due date and record all deceptions. when the exercise is due, the instructor passes a 9” x 12” clasp envelope around the room, and students slide their anonymous completed spreadsheets into the envelope. note that until this moment in the semester, students have not been told exactly how their work will be gathered. use of the clasp envelope prevents students from seeing what others have written. after all assignments have been collected, a sheet of paper is passed around, and students are required to provide their written www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 23 published by scholink inc. name and their signature in order to get credit for doing the assignment. at the top of the sheet is this statement of certification: “i certify that i completed the deception exercise exactly as required and turned it in on time.” finally, students are directed to complete an online, anonymous survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the exercise. the exercise can also be administered completely online, via a course management system (cms) like blackboard or canvas, in the following way. the students are provided an electronic version of the spreadsheet, directions on how to complete it, and the document “examples of deception” (appendix) to study before beginning. after they have completed the exercise, they upload the completed spreadsheet anonymously to the instructor in the cms. in a totally separate online assignment, due at the same time/date, students are instructed to indicate that they did complete the exercise, agreeing to the same certification statement described earlier. students are then directed to complete an online, anonymous survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the exercise. 3. results 3.1 learner objective #1: identify the extent of their own deception we report here the results of the exercise of 239 students by two professors at three different campuses across many classes, including undergraduate (fundamentals of selling, advanced selling, principles of advertising, marketing ethics) and mba (selling ideas at work, business ethics, contemporary issues in advertising). approximately 98% of students in classes where the assignment was mandatory successfully completed the assignment, and 32% did so when the exercise was offered purely as an extra credit opportunity. no students turned in blank forms or forms with gibberish. however, there were two instances where the number of students who claimed to complete the exercise (on the certification form) was one more than the actual number of exercises actually turned in. the primary goal of the exercise is to help students identify and measure the extent of their deception. this goal was certainly met, as every student measured and reported their deceptions. the amount and extent of each type of deception can be found in table 1. type 2 deceptions, deliberate lies that were not planned in advance, were the most used, with an average of 3.24 times per student. type 1 and type 3 deceptions were used an average of 1.64 and 1.66 times, respectively, per student. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 24 published by scholink inc. table 1. average number of deceptive actions per student type of deception deceptions per student (mean, sd, range) type 1: deliberate, premeditated statement that was not true (a lie). i planned ahead of time to lie in this situation. 1.64 (1.35, 0-6) type 2: deliberate lie, but i didn’t plan ahead of time. it just happened at the moment. 3.24 (1.89, 0-12) type 3: i deceived, but not by giving a false statement. i either didn’t give all the pertinent facts, or by non-verbal cues or other means, i led another to a false conclusion. 1.66 (1.32, 0-6) all types combined. 6.54 (2.99, 0-17) 3.2 learner objective #2: self reflection another goal of the exercise is to have students reflect upon what they learned from completing the exercise. when asked “what did you learn about yourself?” answers suggest that students took the exercise seriously and that they engaged in appropriate self-reflection. here are representative examples of the type of responses provided:  it was disappointing in a way to learn how much lies and deception are involved in a day of life. it was a great exercise to kind of hold a mirror to our internal selves. no matter how introspective i thought i was, this showed that my subconscious self was almost hidden from my thought process, and it was making subtle deceptive decisions all the time.  i learned that i am good at justifying lying to myself and the people i love.  i learned that most of my lies are done for selfish reasons, like avoiding discomfort. this exercise also made me reflect on my past instances of lying to analyze why i decided to lie in those situations.  the main thing that i have learned is to constantly be in check with myself and create some “me time”, that allows me to reflect on my actions.  this exercise has been eye opening because it shows how much i alter my personality depending on the situation.  after five days of recording this, i have realized that there is a lot of unintentional deceiving that i do on a daily basis. i consider myself an extremely upfront and honest person, so the deception [exercise] was a wakeup call.  i learned that to be honest all the time is really hard. most of the deception i made came naturally and from my subconscious. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 25 published by scholink inc.  i learned that i deceive in ways that can easily be avoided. i’ve always been an honest person, and i’m pretty open with everything, but being straightforward in situations would help me be less deceiving. in all of my situations over these past five days, i realized i could’ve just changed one or two very little things, and i wouldn’t have been lying at all.  i found this to be an incredibly difficult assignment. i’ve been reflecting on it today. i think i found this assignment so challenging because my life is incredibly full of deception, and coming to that conclusion is very difficult. i slowly realized as the days passed that i was missing many deceptions; often these were deceptions to myself. i plan to continue this assignment on my own to try to be more open with myself about the deception in my life. overall, findings such as these demonstrate that students took time to learn about themselves through this exercise. this is especially important in that it has allowed students to learn about deceptive practices through real, personal examples. 3.3 learner objective #3: learn the myriad ways by which they are deceptive a final goal is for students to become aware of the myriad ways by which they might be deceiving others. as indicated earlier, results about the extent of each type of deception can be found in table 1. to further evaluate this and other aspects of the exercise, students provided anonymous evaluations. results (table 2) suggest that the exercise achieved this objective, in addition to providing encouraging indications that the exercise is an effective tool to use in classes. students took the exercise seriously, tried to record all of their deceptions, did not try to purposefully avoid deceiving others during the exercise, and found that the exercise helped them learn about how they deceive others. in terms of whether students found they deceived more than they realized, results were varied, but overall, students did learn this fact. importantly, students expressed strong beliefs that others could benefit from completing the exercise, suggesting that the goal of advancing business education could be achieved if other instructors adopted this exercise. to further understand the results, a series of analyses was conducted to see if differences existed between various groups for each of the six assessment statements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 26 published by scholink inc. table 2. results from post-exercise survey assessment statement findings mean (sd) the exercise helped me realize the many different ways that i might deceive others. 4.3 (.785) i took the exercise seriously. 4.5 (.727) i tried to be complete and record all of my deceptions. 4.4 (.734) i found that i deceive others more often that i realized. 3.5 (1.239) during the recording period, i purposefully tried to avoid deceiving others. 2.8 (1.225) i believe others could benefit from doing this exercise. 4.5 (.707) note. *each item used a 5-point scale, from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1). 3.4 comparing undergraduate vs. mba students while both groups (undergraduate and mba students) felt that the exercise helped them realize the many different ways that they might deceive others, undergraduates felt this more strongly (t = 2.751, df = 287, p = .006). the only other significant difference (t = 3.182, df = 287, p = .002) was with regard to discovering that they deceived more than they realized, with mba students feeling less strongly that this was the case (mean = 3.09) compared with undergraduates (mean = 3.63). both of these results seem to suggest mba students, who have more years of education and are often older in age than undergraduate students, might possess higher levels of self-awareness regarding deceptive practices. 3.5 comparing completely online classes vs. in-person classes an assessment was also conducted to see whether holding the class in a completely online format affects the findings. the only significant difference (t = -2.114, df = 287, p = .035) of the six assessment questions was with regard to taking the exercise seriously, with online students feeling more strongly this was the case (mean = 4.56) compared with non-online students (mean = 4.37). this could be due to some students exhibiting greater self-motivation and independence, which is often required when purposely taking a course solely online (as opposed to having their course converted to online after the fact, as occurred when most courses were transferred to an online modality in some fashion during the covid-19 pandemic). it is important to note that results indicate both sets of students did take the exercise seriously (overall mean = 4.5). 3.6 comparing covid-19 with non-covid 19 the exercise was also used during the semester when covid-19 caused regular live classes to move to a zoom format with synchronous class meetings in a virtual space. it is important that exercises in business courses be robust, even with such disruptive experiences as the covid-19 pandemic (rayburn et al., 2020). the only significant difference (t = -2.063, df = 287, p = .040) of the six www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 27 published by scholink inc. assessment questions was with regard to students believing that others could benefit from completing this exercise, with zoom-format students feeling more strongly this was the case (mean = 4.59) compared with non-zoom-format students (mean = 4.41). however, both sets of students did feel that others could benefit from completing this exercise (overall mean = 4.5). 3.7 comparing across campuses using anova, no significant differences were found in any of the three campuses for any of the six assessment questions 3.8 comparing required assignment with optional extra-credit assignment a series of t-tests were performed, and no significant differences were found for any of the six assessment questions depending upon if the exercise has been used as an extra-credit vehicle for students rather than a required, graded assignment. 4. discussion one of our roles as educators to ensure we develop a proper moral and ethical direction for students to prevent, or at least mitigate, the frequency with which deceptive behaviors occur (natale & doran, 2012), especially since deceptive behaviors can carry over into the real world (furutan, 2017). as lying and deception are rarely researched broadly in the business or business school context (jenkins & delbridge, 2017), finding ways to address these concerns is urgent and important. one method to achieve this goal is the exercise described herein, whereby students are made aware of their own capacity for deception through self-tracking and reflection. bacon (2016) encourages educational researchers to specify the types of learning being assessed. the data presented here includes both indirect assessments of perceived learning (for example, a student’s ratings of whether the various assignment goals were met) as well as direct assessments of actual learning. direct assessments include, for example, actual student work and performance that can be examined directly against stated learning outcomes (elbeck & bacon, 2015). for this exercise, students actually performed the identification of their deceptions and classified them into various categories. additionally, the results across multiple distributions of the exercise demonstrate that both perceived and actual learning occurred in a variety of classroom settings. thus, through both direct and indirect methods of assessments, several learning objectives have been met which contribute to the advancement of business education. by tracking their deceptive behaviors over a brief period of time, students are made aware of their own, personal deceptive practices in a real and tangible way. at times, instances of business deception are presented in the classroom as abstract and highly obvious breaches of confidence, such as embezzlement or whistleblowing. while this approach has merits, its relevance is limited to hypothetical eventualities which may seem inapplicable to many students. such high-profile ethical breaches also do not provide space for an understanding of the more nuanced or gray areas of deception. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 28 published by scholink inc. this exercise allows students to reflect that, in addition to such high impact ethical violations, white lies and omissions of truth can also be harmful, and the continued practice of such behaviors, if left unchecked, will eventually lead to deceptions of greater consequence. the importance of this cannot be overstated, as this exercise moves beyond hypothetical scenarios to advance a more tangible focus on real learning outcomes. additionally, through this exercise, students are given the opportunity to reflect on their own character and capacity for deception. rather than view the potential for moral crises through the lens of someone else, who is most always of worse moral fiber in the eyes of any student (see spake et al., 2007), this exercise allows for students to create their own baseline for deception. based on personal beliefs, family values, and other influential factors, many students are naturally more or less deceptive than others. this exercise reveals that, no matter their upbringing, all students are capable of deception on some level. as students reflect, they are able to understand this truth about themselves in a very personal way. this may even be the first occurrence where they realize certain behaviors and nonverbals are actually deceptive, and it can help lead to the realization that deception unfettered can grow into acts of greater consequence. finally, students learn through this exercise that there is more to deception than embezzlement and fraud. by classifying their deceptive behavior across the three provided categories, students are able to more clearly articulate the multifaceted nature of deception. numerous students who were surveyed reported their surprise at how many deceptive behaviors were not premeditated, as well as the amount that were deceptive by simple omissions of the truth. similar results were found in another study, in that it could be argued most lies were small (white) lies, rather than big lies (serota & levine, 2015). through this exercise, students not only become more aware of their capacity for deceptive behaviors, but they clearly see the many ways these behaviors can manifest themselves in everyday life as well. as business students are increasingly shown to engage in acts of deception (simkin & mcleod, 2010), finding innovative ways to facilitate their understanding of this issue is of utmost importance. this exercise is extremely relevant to today’s world of business, in which everyone has a voice on social media, and where individuals have more power and reach in using their voice than ever before. as educators, we must ensure the communication tactics we are teaching our students are grounded in non-deceptive behaviors. we must ensure they understand that a life of deception begins not in the embezzlements and whistleblowing of which they are often warned in business school, but in the gray areas of deception, the daily interactions they have with friends and family. and we must act toward promoting the discernment that a future life of deception can be halted, and perhaps even reversed, by working to advance a life of non-deception right now. deception practiced by business students is an issue which transcends far beyond the classroom. educators must be diligent to begin making students aware of their own capacities for deceptive behavior now, as well as the long-term implications of the seemingly innocent behavior (the “white www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 29 published by scholink inc. lies”) in which they may be engaged. the exercise described in this manuscript is a valuable tool to make students aware of deceptive practices in personal and tangible ways, overcoming much of the hypothetical and unrelatable limitations of high-profile cases of deception often taught in classes. pedagogically, this exercise is relatively easy to implement, and the results indicate that students take deceptive behavior seriously and learn about themselves. because issues of deception apply to all facets of business, this exercise can be used in any course. furthermore, the results indicate that this exercise can be effective in many types and formats of class offerings, whether undergraduate, graduate, in-person, online, hybrid or synchronous (as in the case of covid-19 class changes), and as extra-credit or required. future work with this exercise could extend its application in a variety of ways. it would be interesting to investigate the role of culture. collectivist societies may have different ethical standards than individualist societies (brodowsky et al., 2020). for some cultures, practices americans perceive as deception, such as failing to report bribery, are tolerated more liberally. the role of culture further illustrates the need for students to develop their own personal self-awareness in terms of deceptive practices, as what is looked down upon or even punishable in one society may have little to no negative ramifications in another. a follow up exercise would help to determine the influence that students’ newfound self-awareness may have on future business practices. after completing the exercise, for example, students could complete a case study involving an ethical dilemma to measure the extent to which their awareness of deceptive practices plays a role in decision making. a more robust activity could even provide a similar case study, if not the exact same one, at an earlier point in the class, thereby measuring the difference between preand post-deception exercise awareness. this would allow students to more readily connect their capacity for deception with its implementation in the business world. this exercise provides educators one more way by which we can train and prepare students to be non-deceptive, ethical individuals as they prepare for the business world into which they will enter upon completing their college educations. since deceptive practices turn exponentially into deceptive habits (shu & gino, 2012), working to change those deceptive behaviors brought to light by this exercise into honest, non-deceptive behaviors may slow, or even reverse, the development of the bad habits. making deception personal by increasing students’ self-awareness of their own capacity for deception can have long-lasting impacts if they are able to take the lessons they learn and, if necessary, change their behaviors accordingly. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global 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(2017). how much does honesty cost? small bonuses can motivate ethical behavior. management science, 63(9), 2903-2914. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2480 appendix examples of deception 1. provide false information 2. make a purposefully vague or unclear statement 3. pretend that something is someone else’s fault 4. gossip, but do so by telling others that you’re only telling them because they have a "need to know" 5. relay information in such a way that you look better than you really should 6. give someone a compliment that you don’t actually believe 7. leave out some important details to make yourself or your product or your company look better 8. say something untrue or make an excuse to try and hide your failures 9. provide untrue facts that you know can never be verified 10. blame others for your behavior instead of accepting responsibility 11. claim that others are deceiving instead of admitting that you are the one being deceptive 12. tell yourself that this lie is an exception and you won’t lie again 13. tell a lie and believe the action is okay as long as you don't get caught doing it 14. if someone has done me wrong then it is okay for me to tell a lie about them 15. if you don’t know the answer to a question, just make something up so you look smarter 16. downplay the truth (for example, telling your parents it was a small party, when in fact it was a huge party) 17. use nonverbals to purposefully mislead the person 18. if you are caught, act like the lie was just a joke, and you weren’t really being serious 19. pretend you have a memory about something, when you really do not 20. convince yourself that everyone lies, so it must be okay to lie https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2942-4 https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2015.1010540 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3723-z https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2480 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 34 published by scholink inc. 21. claim you can’t do something when actually you just don’t want to do it 22. pretend to be sick so you don’t have to do something or be somewhere 23. say something different behind a person’s back than what you actually said to them 24. exaggerate facts or embellish things 25. do not admit that you made a mistake or were guilty of something 26. hide from the truth by avoiding situations or conversations that would bring the truth out 27. pretend to give something as a gift, but actually expect to get something in return 28. take credit for things that others have done 29. pretend to be in pain to get sympathy 30. pretend to not know something for which you actually have full knowledge. 31. claim that your motives are pure even though your words are not honest sources: adapted from examples provided from student assignments; gupta, et al. (2013); http://www.geocities.com/changes1611/ as viewed sept. 9, 2008. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper exploration of teaching innovation path in universities under the perspective of digital transformation jie lu 1 1 beijing institute of technology (zhuhai), zhuhai, china received: november 15, 2024 accepted: december 9, 2024 online published: december 11, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p1 abstract with the development of information technology, digitalization has become a feature of the times, bringing opportunities and challenges to the reform of college curriculum. this paper explores the teaching dilemmas and challenges of college courses in the context of digitization, including the limitation of teaching resources, teachers’ and students’ dilemmas. taking the econometrics course as an example, it proposes innovative paths, such as the application of new teaching technologies and tools such as rainy classroom and mooc platform, the adoption of project-based learning and teacher-student co-construction mode. the study is of great significance, at the same time, the limitations of the study are pointed out, such as the scope of the study is mainly based on econometrics courses, and the methodology is relatively single. in the future, it is necessary to expand the scope of the study, enrich the methodology, and further explore the development and application of digital teaching resources, so as to promote the teaching reform of college curriculum and cultivate talents who can meet the needs of the times. keywords university teaching reform, digital transformation, teacher-student co-construction, pbl 1. introduction with the rapid development of information technology, digitalization has become an important feature of today’s era. new technologies and teaching methods have brought unprecedented opportunities and challenges to the reform of college curriculum. digital technology provides richer resources and more convenient tools for teaching, and at the same time puts forward higher requirements for teachers’ teaching ability and students’ learning style. therefore, it is of great significance to study the teaching reform of college courses under the perspective of digital transformation. it explores the dilemmas and challenges of college curriculum teaching in the digital background, analyzes the current situation and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 2 published by scholink inc. problems in the actual classroom teaching process, and searches for the path of college teaching reform that conforms to the background of the times, with a view to giving full play to the advantages of the digital era to cultivate high-quality talents. 2. pedagogical dilemmas and challenges in higher education programs 2.1 limitations of teaching resources under the wave of the digital era, the rapid updating and explosive growth of knowledge has brought unprecedented challenges to the teaching of college courses. teachers and students are faced with a difficult problem: how to sift and master the necessary parts from the vast amount of knowledge within a limited time. teachers need to continuously update their knowledge system and improve their teaching ability, while helping students to improve their independent learning ability and information literacy, effectively utilize digital resources and enhance their learning efficiency. the development of teaching materials is equally challenging. traditional textbooks have a long development cycle, making it difficult to keep up with the pace of knowledge updating. therefore, the development of teaching materials in the digital era must focus on timeliness and flexibility, and be prepared and updated through digital means to meet students’ learning needs. for example, in econometrics courses, teachers can release the latest teaching materials and research results through online platforms to ensure that students have access to cutting-edge content in the discipline. although digital technology has made teaching resources richer and more varied, the lack of uniform standards and norms for the construction of digital teaching resources has led to uneven resource quality. some teaching resources have outdated content, single form, lack of scientific and systematic, and are difficult to meet teaching needs. this not only affects the teaching effect and quality, but also limits the development of educational reform and innovation in universities. this requires us to strengthen the screening and management of teaching resources, formulate unified standards and norms, and improve the overall quality of resources. as well as optimize the online learning mode. 2.2 teachers’ dilemmas and challenges with the development of digital technology, various new types of digital teaching tools and resources are emerging, and the demand for teachers’ digital competence is increasing. some teachers do not have sufficient mastery of digital technology, lack the ability to develop digital teaching resources, and have difficulty in effectively using new teaching tools and technologies such as online teaching platforms, multimedia software and data analysis tools, thus failing to give full play to the advantages of digital teaching technology and affecting the development of new teaching activities. at the same time, the existing teaching evaluation system appears to be inadequate in digital teaching, with a single evaluation index and unscientific evaluation methods. the evaluation system of the online learning mode mainly evaluates the learning courses, contents and platform functions, and lacks scientific and systematic nature. it neglects the evaluation of learners and teachers, and the evaluation www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 3 published by scholink inc. form mostly adopts the traditional examination. this requires us to establish a more diversified and scientific evaluation system to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of evaluation. in addition, the role of the teacher has been transformed in digital teaching, no longer as a mere transmitter of knowledge, but as a guide and facilitator of student learning. teachers need to guide students to make use of digital resources for independent learning, and promote student inquiry and cooperation by asking driving questions and organizing group discussions and presentations in project-based learning to facilitate communication and learning. at the same time, they pay attention to students’ emotional needs and create a positive learning atmosphere to stimulate students’ interest and motivation in learning. 2.3 dilemmas and challenges for students in the digital age, students face a range of learning difficulties and challenges. the arrival of the information age requires students to have more flexible and diverse learning styles. traditional classroom learning can no longer meet the demand, and students must learn to utilize online learning, mobile learning and other digital means for independent learning, and develop teamwork and communication skills. for example, in the econometrics course, students can learn independently through online platforms and then work in groups to complete projects, thus enhancing their knowledge and skills while developing teamwork skills. some students lack the motivation and self-discipline to effectively utilize online resources. students need stronger independent learning skills and self-discipline to effectively utilize digital resources. it is also crucial to enhance students’ information literacy so that they can accurately access, analyze and utilize information. schools and teachers need to provide guidance and resources to help students develop self-directed learning skills, such as offering courses on learning strategies, providing checklists and guidelines on learning tasks, and encouraging students to actively explore and experiment. 3. pathways to pedagogical innovation: the case of an econometrics course 3.1 new teaching techniques and tools with the development of digital technology, new teaching techniques and tools for econometrics course teaching mode innovation provides a new path to realize the effective integration of the traditional classroom and digital technology means. rain classroom is a tool that deeply integrates modern information technology with traditional classroom teaching. teachers can release practice questions and questionnaires in the classroom, and students can answer them instantly through their cell phones. teachers can see the students’ answers in real time, including the correct rate, the speed of answering the questions, and the proportion of choices for each option, etc., so as to understand the degree of students’ mastery of the knowledge point and correct and explain the students’ errors in time, so as to improve the relevance and effectiveness of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 4 published by scholink inc. classroom teaching. students can send pop-ups on ppt through rain classroom to communicate with teachers in real time. they can ask questions, answer questions, or participate in classroom discussions. this kind of interaction breaks the one-way communication mode of the traditional classroom, which makes the classroom atmosphere more active and students’ participation higher. students can raise their confusion about their understanding of the model through the pop-up screen, and the teacher can answer them in time, while other students can see the questions and answers, which helps to share and disseminate knowledge. the mooc platform brings together high-quality course resources from universities and educational institutions around the world. teachers can recommend relevant mooc courses as a supplement to students’ extracurricular learning, exposing students to different teaching styles and contents and broadening their horizons. compared with traditional online course videos, students are more receptive to sharing video platforms, such as bilibili, and the content output of these types of videos will be more interesting and direct, and the fun and high efficiency attracts more students to choose to watch them, which improves students’ interest in learning. at the same time, teachers can combine online course resources with offline classroom teaching to realize the blended teaching mode. for example, before classroom teaching, teachers can ask students to watch relevant mooc videos or bilibili videos to preview the course content and understand the basic concepts and methods. in the classroom, the teacher can focus on the problems in the students’ preview, and guide the students to think deeply and discuss. after class, students can watch the online video again to consolidate what they have learned and complete related assignments and exercises. this online-offline hybrid teaching mode can fully utilize the advantages of online and offline teaching and improve the teaching effect. 3.2 project-based learning project-based learning is a student-centered teaching methodology that enhances students’ interest and participation in learning and develops their practical and innovative abilities by involving them in the design, implementation and evaluation of actual projects. in an econometrics course, a project-based learning approach can be used in which students form groups and choose a real economic problem to study. students need to collect data, build an econometric model, conduct empirical analysis and write a research report. in this process, teachers can give guidance and assistance to students and guide them to think and explore deeply. for example, students can choose the project of “analyzing the influencing factors of house prices” for research. students need to collect data on house prices and related economic indicators in different cities, set up an econometric model to analyze the relationship between house prices and economic indicators. students can collect data through questionnaires, field research, etc., or use public data on the internet for analysis. when building the econometric model, students need to choose appropriate econometric methods and software tools to estimate and test the model. finally, students need to write a research report to present their findings and conclusions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 5 published by scholink inc. project-based learning can significantly improve the teaching effect of econometrics courses. by participating in the research of actual projects, students can apply the knowledge of econometrics to practical problems and improve their practical ability and innovation ability. at the same time, project-based learning can also cultivate students' teamwork and communication skills, and improve their comprehensive quality. for example, in the process of project-based learning, students need to share the work with their group members and work together to complete the research tasks of the project. in this process, students need to learn to communicate and coordinate, play to their strengths and work together to solve problems. through project-based learning, students can not only improve their econometrics knowledge and skills, but also develop their teamwork and communication skills, laying a solid foundation for their future study and work. 3.3 teacher-student co-construction model teacher-student co-construction is a new type of teaching mode, which emphasizes the joint participation of teachers and students in the design, implementation and assessment of the course to realize the mutual benefit of teaching and learning. in the econometrics course, the model of teacher-student co-construction can be adopted, so that teachers and students can jointly participate in the establishment of the course case database, as well as the construction and reform of the course. for example, teachers can invite students to participate in the formulation of the course syllabus and the selection of teaching content, so that students can make suggestions and comments according to their needs and interests. teachers can adjust the teaching content and methods according to students’ feedback to improve the relevance and effectiveness of teaching. at the same time, teachers can also invite students to participate in the teaching activities of the course, such as self-constructed case bank, class discussion, case analysis, project research, etc., so that students can learn through participation and improve their learning interest and participation. faculty-student co-construction is important for teaching econometrics courses. teacher-student co-construction can improve the teaching quality of the course. through the joint participation of teachers and students, the teaching content and methods of the course are more in line with the needs and interests of students, and the teaching effect is more significant. it can also promote the professional development of teachers. in the interaction with students, teachers can understand students’ learning needs and confusions, continuously improve their teaching methods and means, and improve their teaching level. it can also cultivate students’ innovative ability and practical ability. in the process of participating in the construction and reform of the curriculum, students can utilize their own initiative, put forward new ideas and suggestions, and cultivate their innovative and practical abilities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 6 published by scholink inc. 3.4 the case of an econometrics course adhere to the teaching guiding ideology that gives top priority to moral education, focuses on teaching, and takes educating people as the foundation. establish a modern curriculum concept and build a curriculum system composed of three parts: disciplinary courses, activity courses, and hidden courses. strive to achieve the coordinated development of knowledge and abilities, the close combination of in-class and out-of-class learning, and the close connection between learning and life, so as to stimulate students’ interest in learning and realize the teaching objectives at the three levels of knowledge, ability, and quality in the econometrics course. theoretical teaching is mainly adopted, supplemented by the project-based learning (pbl) teaching method and group cooperation. there are 3 to 4 students in each group, and group learning based on special projects is carried out. a special topic that matches the actual economic life and current affairs hotspots is studied and discussed, and a group research report is generated as an assignment. eviews and stata are used as experimental teaching tools. besides, the multimedia teaching tool-rain classroom is used as an auxiliary to increase the interaction between teachers and students. course materials and reference documents are uploaded before class to remind students to preview. during class, the feedback on students’ mastery of knowledge points can be obtained in a timely manner through the correct rate of practice questions. after class, teaching reflection is conducted by using the statistics of classroom data. combined with the nature and characteristics of econometrics, teaching is carried out according the idea of “online autonomous learning before class → thinking and explanation during class → homework modeling practice after class”. 4. discussion 4.1 research summary digital technology has brought rich teaching resources and convenient teaching tools to the teaching of college courses and promoted the transformation of the teaching mode. the development of digital resources such as online courses and multimedia materials has provided students with richer and more diversified learning options. the application of new teaching modes such as blended teaching and flipped classroom has improved the teaching effect and students’ learning interest. higher education curriculum teaching is faced with the challenges of knowledge explosion and transformation of learning styles in the context of digitization. the increase in the amount of knowledge and the speed of knowledge updating have brought great pressure to teachers and students. at the same time, the impact of deep learning and the transformation of learning styles require students to have more flexible and diversified learning styles. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 7 published by scholink inc. the application of new teaching technology means in colleges and universities has improved the sharing of teaching resources and the interactivity of teaching sessions. application modes such as multimedia teaching and network teaching provide students with a more vivid, visual and convenient way of learning. the practice of teaching methods in the classroom of econometrics has shown that teaching methods such as project-based learning and teacher-student co-construction can improve students’ practical ability and innovation ability and promote teaching and learning. 4.2 research limitations and perspectives although this paper provides a more in-depth discussion on the teaching reform of college courses under the perspective of digital transformation, there are still some limitations. first, the research scope is limited. this study mainly explores the econometrics course as an example, although the econometrics course can represent the general situation of college courses to a certain extent, there are still differences between courses of different disciplines, and it may not be able to completely cover the characteristics and needs of all courses. secondly, the research method is relatively single. this study mainly adopts the methods of literature review and case study analysis, and lacks empirical research and data support for a large number of samples. this may lead to a certain impact on the accuracy and generalizability of the research findings. future research can further expand the scope of the study to conduct a more comprehensive study of courses in different disciplines, including courses in various fields such as liberal arts, science, engineering, etc., in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of college courses in digital transformation and put forward more pervasive reform proposals. meanwhile, research methods are enriched, and a combination of multiple research methods, such as questionnaire surveys and experimental studies, are used to obtain a large amount of empirical data and improve the accuracy and universality of the research conclusions. at the same time, long-term tracking research can be used to understand the effects of teaching reform measures at different time stages, so as to better adjust and improve the teaching reform program. the development and application of digital teaching resources can be further explored in the future. strengthen the construction of online courses, multimedia materials and other digital resources, and improve the quality and quantity of resources. at the same time, explore the mode and method of application of digital resources in teaching to improve the teaching effect. conduct in-depth research on learning modes adapted to the digital era. pay attention to the development of new learning modes such as in-depth learning and mobile learning, and explore learning modes and teaching methods that suit students’ needs. strengthen the integration of new teaching technology means and traditional teaching methods. combine the advantages of traditional teaching methods while giving full play to the advantages of new teaching technology means to improve teaching quality. continuously promote the innovation of teaching methods in the classroom of econometrics. continuously explore the practical application of project-based learning, teacher-student co-construction and other teaching methods, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 8 published by scholink inc. summarize experience and promote successful cases. in short, digital transformation brings opportunities and challenges for college curriculum teaching. the reform of college curriculum teaching in the context of digitalization is a long-term and arduous task. we need to constantly explore and innovate, make full use of the advantages of digital technology, improve the quality of teaching, and cultivate high-quality talents to meet the needs of the times. references fang, y. m. (2023). logic and promotion strategy of teacher education governance under the background of digital transformation. educational academic monthly, 2023(5), 40-46. feng, l. x., li, z. h., & li, r. x. (2023). exploration of building an academic community in teaching under the background of local undergraduate university transformation. higher education forum, 2023(9), 40-44. liu, h. r. (2022). exploration of teacher teaching ability development based on teaching academic community. education and teaching forum, 2022(14), 1-5. xie, p. c., zhang, y. p., & wang, j. h. (2023). exploration of the integrated construction of smart horse racecourse in universities from the perspective of digital education transformation. time report (benliu), 2023(7), 155-157. yan, j. y., huang, s., & guo, j. m. (2022). research on the construction of the mechanism for the development of academic teaching abilities of university teachers, thesis. modern university education, 38(3), 102-110. zhu, r. (2023). research on building leadership of university teachers from the perspective of academic community. journal of jilin university of chemical technology, 40(2), 59-62. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 50 original paper reconstruction and practice of civil engineering materials experiment course under the background of new engineering: integration of virtual-physical fusion and industry-education collaboration airu sun 1 , wenting hua 1 , wenwen xu 1 & zhe yang 1* 1 department of civil engineering, qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong, 266106, china * corresponding author, zhe yang, department of civil engineering, qingdao city university, qingdao, shandong, 266106, china received: september 10, 2025 accepted: september 30, 2025 online published: october 11, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p50 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p50 abstract under the background of new engineering education, which focuses on the talent cultivation goals of “innovation ability, engineering literacy, and interdisciplinary integration”, the traditional civil engineering materials experiment course is faced with the dual dilemmas of “disconnection between virtual and physical aspects, and separation between teaching and industry”. it is difficult to meet the needs of the modern civil engineering industry for high-quality technical talents. this paper proposes a curriculum reform framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration”. by constructing a three-stage experimental teaching process of “virtual simulation preview physical experiment verification industrial project practice”, and integrating the tripartite resources of “colleges and universities enterprises scientific research institutions”, the curriculum reconstruction is realized from four dimensions: teaching content, teaching mode, assessment system, and platform construction. taking qingdao city university as an example, this course is a professional basic course. it mainly covers the basic composition, technical performance, quality requirements, and inspection methods of common civil engineering materials. the course focuses on the properties, preparation, application methods, uses, and testing methods of civil engineering materials. through learning, students can be familiar with the properties of common civil engineering materials, know how to select common civil engineering materials, and understand certain knowledge of storage and preservation; they can reasonably select and correctly use materials according to different engineering www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 51 published by scholink inc. conditions, establish a good engineering awareness, and have the basic ability to analyze engineering quality problems caused by materials and put forward corresponding improvement measures, as well as the skills to conduct performance testing and quality evaluation of common civil engineering materials in engineering; students should have basic professional literacy and a good sense of work discipline, a scientific attitude of being serious and careful in work, a certain ability of teamwork, and be able to reasonably divide work according to work tasks, help each other, and complete tasks collaboratively. this reform plan provides a replicable and promotable practical path for the quality improvement and upgrading of the civil engineering materials experiment course under the background of new engineering. keywords new engineering; civil engineering materials experiment, virtual-physical fusion, industry-education collaboration, curriculum reconstruction; engineering literacy 1. introduction the 2024 china civil engineering industry development report points out that china’s civil engineering field is accelerating its transformation towards “greenization, intelligence, and industrialization”. the annual application proportion of new materials such as ultra-high performance concrete (uhpc), recycled aggregate concrete, and fiber-reinforced polymer (frp) increases by 12% on average. at the same time, new technologies such as “building information modeling (bim) + non-destructive testing” and “digital twin + material performance monitoring” are reconstructing the material testing process. this transformation puts forward higher requirements for the “practical innovation ability, industrial adaptation ability, and technology integration ability” of civil engineering professionals. the “new engineering” education concept, which emphasizes “taking industrial needs as the orientation and technological innovation as the driving force”, provides a direction for solving the above contradictions. “virtual-physical fusion” is not a simple superposition of “virtual + physical”, but uses virtual simulation to solve the “impossibility” of physical experiments, and then verifies the “authenticity” of virtual results through physical operations, forming a closed loop of “virtual preview physical verification virtual-physical complementarity”; “industry-education collaboration” breaks through the limitation of colleges and universities as a single teaching subject, and transforms the real projects, testing standards, and technical equipment of enterprises into teaching resources, realizing the synchronization of teaching content with industrial needs and the matching of ability cultivation with post requirements. based on this, this paper constructs a curriculum reform framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration”, verifies its effectiveness through systematic practice, and provides a new paradigm for the reform of the civil engineering materials experiment course. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 52 published by scholink inc. 2. diagnosis of existing problems in traditional civil engineering materials experiment courses in order to accurately locate the starting point of reform, this paper conducts a survey on the civil engineering materials experiment courses of 8 domestic colleges and universities (including “double first-class” universities, provincial undergraduate colleges, and application-oriented undergraduate colleges) (including curriculum syllabus analysis, teacher-student interviews, and enterprise feedback), and summarizes the following four types of core problems combined with its own teaching practice: 2.1 insufficient coverage of experimental scenarios and lack of virtual-physical linkage the traditional course is dominated by “physical experiments, supplemented by virtual experiments”, and the two are independent of each other. moreover, physical experiments can only cover “basic verification” projects (such as cement soundness testing and concrete compressive strength testing), accounting for less than 40% of the actual material testing scenarios in engineering; while “complex engineering” projects (such as concrete strength attenuation tests under fire and fatigue performance tests of bridge bearing materials) cannot be carried out in university laboratories due to “high risk, long cycle (for example, freeze-thaw tests require 300 cycles and take 15 days), and large equipment investment (the cost of a single concrete freeze-thaw testing machine exceeds 500,000 yuan)”. the existing virtual experiments are mostly “animation demonstration type” (such as the simulation of concrete mixing process), lacking “interactivity” and “data linkage”. students can only “watch the operation” and cannot find problems that may occur in physical experiments through virtual preview (such as insufficient strength caused by wrong mix ratio calculation). 2.2 teaching content lags behind the industry and industry-education resources are separated disconnection of technical standards: the old version of standards before 2019 (such as gb/t 50081-2011 standard for test methods of physical and mechanical properties of concrete) are still used in teaching, and new contents such as “testing methods for impurity content of recycled aggregates” in the 2023 updated technical standard for application of recycled aggregate concrete (gb/t 50743-2023) are not included, resulting in deviations between the testing methods mastered by students and the actual operations of enterprises. lack of industrial projects: most experimental projects are “closed verification questions” (such as “determining the compressive strength of concrete with a given mix ratio”), lacking “open questions” in real enterprise projects (such as “the bearing ratio of a municipal road base material is not up to standard, how to locate the cause through material testing”), making it difficult for students to form “engineering problem thinking”. idle enterprise resources: most of the interviewed enterprises stated that they are “willing to provide testing equipment and project resources”, but due to the lack of a collaboration mechanism, it is impossible to establish a stable experimental teaching cooperation with relevant enterprises, resulting in the failure of enterprises’ “on-site testing data”, “fault cases”, and “new equipment” to be www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 53 published by scholink inc. transformed into teaching resources of the university. 2.3 rigid teaching mode and insufficient student subjectivity the traditional course adopts a linear mode of “teacher explanation → student imitation → report submission”, and students are in a state of “passive acceptance”. the survey shows that 65% of students said that “they did not preview in depth before the experiment and only operated according to the steps given by the teacher”; 42% of students could not independently analyze the reasons (such as material measurement errors and insufficient maintenance conditions) when the experimental data was abnormal (such as concrete strength lower than the design value); 37% of students believed that “the experimental report only needs to organize data and does not need to be related to engineering applications”, leading to “disconnection between operation and thinking, and disconnection between experiment and engineering”. 2.4 single assessment system and one-sided ability evaluation the existing assessment is centered on the “experimental report” (accounting for more than 60%), supplemented by “attendance” (accounting for 30%), and has obvious defects: first, it ignores process evaluation and cannot reflect students’ “standardization of equipment operation”, “teamwork ability”, and “problem-solving ability”. for example, a student who makes mistakes in experimental operations but completes the report by plagiarizing data can still get a high score; second, there is a lack of industry-oriented evaluation, and “whether it meets enterprise testing standards” and “whether it can solve on-site problems” are not included in the assessment, resulting in the mismatch between students’ “experimental ability” and “post requirements”; third, innovation evaluation is lacking, and no incentives are given to students’ “suggestions for improving experimental methods” and “exploration plans for new materials”, which inhibits the sense of innovation. 3. design of curriculum reconstruction framework for “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration” in response to the above problems, guided by the “new engineering” education concept, this paper constructs a curriculum reconstruction framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration”, and realizes the four-dimensional upgrading of “teaching content, teaching mode, assessment system, and platform construction” through the three-stage linkage of “virtual simulation physical experiment industrial practice” and the tripartite collaboration of “colleges and universities enterprises scientific research institutions”. 3.1 reconstruction of teaching content: a dynamic system based on “industrial needs + technological iteration” a “curriculum content reform team” is established by combining “colleges and universities + enterprises + scientific research institutions”, and a three-stage content system of “basic module advanced module practical module” is constructed to realize the matching of “virtual content with www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 54 published by scholink inc. physical content and the synchronization of teaching content with industrial technology”: table 1. assessment system table module type core goal virtual-physical fusion content design industry-education collaboration resource support basic module (40%) master standardized operation and basic principles virtual: bim modeling to preview material testing processes (such as sand and gravel gradation screening) and simulate equipment operation errors (such as pressure machine overloading); physical: verification experiments (cement setting time, concrete cube compressive strength) enterprises provide the latest testing standards (such as gb/t 175-2023 common portland cement) and equipment operation videos advanced module (30%) cultivate the ability to adapt to complex scenarios virtual: digital twin to simulate the performance changes of concrete under high temperature (temperature field strength field coupling) and optimize the mix ratio of recycled aggregate concrete; physical: exploratory experiments (the influence of water-cement ratio on concrete impermeability, frp material tensile performance testing) scientific research institutions provide samples of new materials (such as uhpc and basalt fiber) and a testing data sharing platform practical module (30%) improve the ability to solve engineering problems virtual: engineering case simulation (such as material testing and diagnosis of concrete cracks in a bridge) and virtual deduction of on-site testing schemes; physical: real enterprise projects (such as concrete rebound testing of community garages, road base cbr tests) enterprises provide on-site testing tasks, engineer guidance, and testing report templates (such as construction engineering material testing report) at the same time, a “dynamic content update mechanism” is established: a “industrial technology seminar” is held every semester to incorporate the latest testing technologies of enterprises (such as “drone lidar detection of concrete surface defects”) and the research results of new materials from scientific research institutions (such as “solid waste-based recycled aggregate modification technology”) into the teaching content, ensuring the “timeliness and industrial adaptability” of the teaching content. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 55 published by scholink inc. 3.2 innovation of teaching mode: interactive teaching of “three-stage linkage + tripartite collaboration” breaking the traditional linear teaching mode, a three-stage linkage teaching process of “virtual simulation preview → physical experiment verification → industrial project practice” is designed, and the tripartite collaborative guidance of “university teachers enterprise engineers – researchers” is integrated. the specific implementation path is as follows: 3.2.1 first stage: virtual simulation preview (before class + in class) preview before class: through the “civil engineering materials virtual experiment platform” (independently developed, integrating bim and digital twin technology), students complete “three major tasks”: ① simulation operation (such as previewing the concrete mix ratio calculation and mixing process, and the platform prompts wrong operations in real time, such as aggregate measurement deviation); ② scene simulation (such as simulating “concrete slump testing during rainy construction” and analyzing the impact of environmental factors on experimental results); ③ scheme design (designing a testing scheme on the virtual platform for the “road base material testing needs” provided by enterprises and submitting it to enterprise engineers for review). feedback in class: teachers focus on explaining common problems (such as “wrong calculation of recycled aggregate moisture content”) based on the “operation data report” of the virtual platform (such as students’ mix ratio calculation accuracy and virtual scheme pass rate). enterprise engineers comment on students’ virtual testing schemes online and put forward optimization suggestions (such as “increasing the frequency of aggregate gradation testing”). 3.2.2 second stage: physical experiment verification (in class) virtual-physical linkage operation: students carry out physical experiments in groups (3-4 people) based on the optimized scheme from the virtual preview. for example, in the “compressive strength test of recycled aggregate concrete”, the strength values under different recycled aggregate replacement rates are first predicted through the virtual platform, and then concrete is prepared in the physical laboratory according to the “virtual scheme”. the deviation between the “virtual predicted value” and the “physical testing value” is compared, and the reasons are analyzed (such as the virtual platform not considering the actual moisture content of aggregates). tripartite collaborative guidance: university teachers are responsible for guiding “experimental principles and operation specifications”, enterprise engineers are responsible for supervising “engineering standards and data authenticity” (such as reminding students to “retain parallel samples for on-site testing”), and researchers are responsible for answering questions about “new material properties and testing methods” (such as explaining the “stress mutation phenomenon” in frp material tensile tests). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 56 published by scholink inc. 3.2.3 third stage: industrial project practice (after class + holidays) project undertaking: enterprises release “real testing tasks” (such as “concrete strength rebound testing of a affordable housing project” and “road base material cbr test of a park”), and student groups bid to undertake them, and are required to submit a “testing scheme (including virtual deduction report), division of labor, and time plan”. on-site practice: under the leadership of enterprise engineers, students enter the engineering site and complete the whole process of “sampling testing data sorting report writing”: ① sampling (determine sampling points according to gb 50164-2011 standard for quality control of concrete); ② testing (use the enterprise’s automatic rebound hammer and ultrasonic testing instrument); ③ report submission (write the testing report in the enterprise format, which needs to include “problem analysis and suggestions”, such as “the concrete strength in a certain area is low, and it is recommended to increase the maintenance time”). achievement acceptance: enterprises organize a “project acceptance meeting”, and engineers and university teachers jointly review the report. if the report meets the engineering requirements, it can be used as a “reference document for enterprise engineering quality evaluation”. 3.3 upgrading of assessment system: three-dimensional evaluation of “process + ability + industry” abandoning the single assessment centered on “reports”, a three-dimensional evaluation system of “process assessment (50%) + ability assessment (30%) + industry assessment (20%)” is constructed. the specific indicators and evaluation subjects are shown in the following table: table 2. evaluation system table assessment dimension core indicators evaluation method evaluation subject process assessment (50%) 1) completion of virtual preview (operation accuracy, scheme rationality); 2) standardization of physical experiments (equipment operation, data recording); 3) contribution to teamwork (quality of work division, communication efficiency) 1) automatic scoring by the virtual platform + teacher review; 2) on-site observation and scoring by teachers + group mutual evaluation; 3) mutual evaluation among group members + evaluation by enterprise engineers university teachers, students, enterprise engineers ability assessment (30%) 1) data processing ability (identification of abnormal data, deviation analysis); 1) scoring of physical experiment data reports; 2) review of “problem solutions” university teachers, researchers, enterprise engineers www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 57 published by scholink inc. assessment dimension core indicators evaluation method evaluation subject 2) problem-solving ability (troubleshooting of experimental failures, diagnosis of engineering problems); 3) innovation ability (improvement of experimental methods, exploration of new materials) in industrial projects; 3) defense of innovation schemes (such as “uhpc mix ratio optimization”) industry assessment (20%) 1) compliance of testing reports (whether they meet enterprise standards and engineering requirements); 2) post adaptability (proficiency in on-site operations, collaboration efficiency with engineers); 3) cognition of industrial technology (mastery of new testing technologies) 1) acceptance scoring of enterprise testing reports; 2) on-site evaluation by enterprise engineers; 3) industrial technology written test (including the latest standards and technologies) enterprise engineers 3.4 platform construction: resource support for “virtual-physical integration + industry-education sharing” to ensure the implementation of the reform, a three-in-one teaching platform of “virtual simulation platform + physical experiment center + industry-education sharing base” is constructed. the specific construction path is as follows: 3.4.1 development of virtual simulation platform jointly with the “university school of computer science + enterprise technology department”, the “civil engineering materials virtual-physical fusion experiment platform” is developed. its core functions include: ① bim modeling module: it can construct a full-scenario model of “concrete mixing plant construction site” and support students to simulate the whole process of material transportation, sampling, and testing; ② digital twin module: import the material performance data of actual enterprise projects (such as the strength change curve of a bridge concrete over time), and students can adjust parameters (such as maintenance temperature) to simulate performance changes; ③ data linkage module: connect with the “intelligent testing equipment” (such as automatic pressure testing machine) in the physical laboratory, and synchronize the physical experiment data to the virtual platform in real time, realizing a data closed loop of “virtual prediction physical verification”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 58 published by scholink inc. 3.4.2 upgrading of physical experiment center equipment intelligence: funds are invested to update “intelligent testing equipment”, such as: ① automatic cement flexural and compressive integrated machine (which can automatically record data and generate curves); ② concrete freeze-thaw testing machine (supporting remote monitoring of the experimental process); ③ ultrasonic flaw detector (equipped with bim model, which can locate defect positions), ensuring that the equipment is consistent with the model of on-site testing equipment of enterprises. safety standardization: referring to the standards of enterprise laboratories, a “safety training area” is set up, equipped with eye washers, emergency rescue boxes, and explosion-proof glass, and “equipment operation procedures (including enterprise version)” are posted to cultivate students’ “industrial-level safety awareness”. 3.4.3 construction of industry-education sharing base jointly with 3 large-scale construction enterprises and 2 scientific research institutions, the “civil engineering materials industry-education sharing base” is built to realize “two-way flow of resources”: ① enterprises provide “equipment sharing” (such as large-scale freeze-thaw testing machines and scanning electron microscopes) and “project sharing” (annual testing tasks); ② colleges and universities provide “technical training” (conducting “new material testing technology” training for enterprise employees) and “scientific research support” (jointly carrying out research on “performance optimization of recycled aggregate concrete”); ③ the base opens an “enterprise engineer studio” to students, allowing students to consult engineering problems at any time and participate in enterprise technical meetings. 4. reform practice and effectiveness analysis 4.1 practice objects and schemes taking the 2023-level students of the civil engineering major of qingdao city university as the research object, a “controlled experiment” design is adopted: reform group: 60 students, adopting the curriculum framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration”, and completing the whole-process learning of “basic module (virtual preview + physical verification) → advanced module (digital twin simulation + new material experiment) → practical module (enterprise road base testing project)”; control group: 60 students, adopting the traditional teaching mode, and completing the conventional process of “teacher explanation → physical verification experiment → report submission”. the practice cycle is 1 academic year (2023-2024 academic year), and the effectiveness is evaluated through four-dimensional indicators: “operation assessment, ability test, enterprise feedback, and student questionnaire”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 59 published by scholink inc. 4.2 analysis of practice effectiveness 4.2.1 significant improvement in experimental operation ability through the “on-site operation assessment” (assessment project: concrete mix ratio design and compressive strength testing), the operation standard rate and data accuracy rate of the two groups of students are compared: operation standard rate: 92% of the reform group (only 5 students had “aggregate measurement deviation” and “wrong operation sequence of pressure machine”), and 68% of the control group (20 students had operation errors, such as “not calibrating the pressure machine” and “improper control of maintenance conditions”); data accuracy rate: the deviation rate between the experimental data and the theoretical value of the reform group is less than 5% (meeting the enterprise testing standards), while that of the control group is higher than 12%, mainly due to “failure to find the mix ratio calculation error through virtual preview in advance”. this shows that the linkage mode of “virtual preview physical verification” can effectively reduce operation errors and improve data reliability. 4.2.2 obvious enhancement in engineering problem-solving ability an “engineering problem test” is designed (case: in the concrete strength testing of a community garage, it is found that the strength of 3 areas is lower than the design value, and students are required to analyze the reasons and put forward solutions), and the performance of the two groups of students is compared: reform group: 85% of the students can analyze the reasons from three dimensions: “material mix ratio (learned the relationship between mix ratio and strength in virtual preview), maintenance time (contacted on-site maintenance requirements in enterprise projects), and testing methods (mastered the key points of rebound hammer calibration)”, and put forward feasible suggestions of “increasing parallel testing and extending maintenance time”, with an average score of 82 (out of 100); control group: only 40% of the students can point out the “mix ratio problem”, and no suggestions are put forward in combination with engineering practice, with an average score of 55. this verifies the role of “industrial project practice” in cultivating students’ engineering thinking. 4.2.3 significant improvement in enterprise satisfaction cooperating enterprises are invited to evaluate the “post adaptability” of the two groups of students (evaluation indicators: proficiency in on-site operations, standardization of reports, and problem communication ability): reform group: 89% of the students received an evaluation of “good or above”, among which 30 students were rated by enterprises as “able to directly participate in on-site testing work”. enterprises feedback that “students can quickly understand testing standards, reports meet engineering requirements, and no additional training is needed”; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 60 published by scholink inc. control group: only 52% of the students received a “qualified” evaluation. enterprises feedback that “students lack on-site experience, reports do not include engineering suggestions, and need 6 months of on-the-job training to work independently”. 4.2.4 improvement in students’ learning experience and innovation awareness through the “student satisfaction questionnaire” (120 copies distributed, 120 copies recovered), the feedback of students in the reform group is as follows: course satisfaction: 95% of the students believe that “virtual simulation can avoid operation risks in advance, and enterprise projects make learning more meaningful” (the satisfaction rate of the control group is 62%); innovation willingness: 78% of the students said that they are “willing to participate in the exploration of new materials (such as uhpc performance optimization)”, among which 15 students formed teams to apply for “college students’ innovation and entrepreneurship projects” (only 8 students in the control group have innovation willingness, and no project applications). 5. conclusions and prospects 5.1 reform conclusions the curriculum reconstruction framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration” proposed in this paper effectively solves the problems of “disconnection between virtual and physical aspects and separation between industry and education” in the traditional civil engineering materials experiment course through the “three-stage teaching process (virtual physical industry), tripartite resource integration (colleges and universities enterprises scientific research institutions), and four-dimensional system upgrading (content mode assessment platform)”, and achieves three major breakthroughs: scenario breakthrough: covering “high-risk, high-consumption, and complex” engineering scenarios through virtual simulation, and verifying virtual results through physical experiments, realizing “full-scenario coverage + high credibility”; ability breakthrough: upgrading “operation ability” to “engineering problem-solving ability” through industrial project practice, shortening the adaptation cycle between students and posts; resource breakthrough: integrating enterprise equipment, projects, and engineer resources to form a virtuous cycle of “teaching industry scientific research” and improving the industrial adaptability of the course. 5.2 future prospects although the reform has achieved remarkable results, it still needs to be deepened in the following aspects: intelligent upgrading of the virtual platform: introduce artificial intelligence (ai) technology to develop an “intelligent diagnosis module”, which can automatically identify errors in students’ virtual www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 61 published by scholink inc. operations and push personalized improvement suggestions (such as “pushing real enterprise case analysis for mix ratio calculation errors”); long-term mechanism of industry-education collaboration: establish a “credit recognition system between colleges and universities and enterprises”. the testing projects completed by students in enterprises can be converted into course credits, and enterprise engineers’ participation in teaching can be counted into “vocational skills training hours” to strengthen the cooperation motivation of both parties; integration of international perspective: align with the needs of “the belt and road” civil engineering projects, add experimental modules of “international material standards (such as american astm standards)” to the virtual platform, and introduce overseas enterprise cases (such as recycled aggregate concrete application projects in southeast asia) to cultivate students’ international engineering capabilities. in the future, with the iteration of “digital twin + ai” technology and the deepening of industry-education integration, the framework of “virtual-physical fusion + industry-education collaboration” will continue to be optimized, providing stronger support for the high-quality development of the civil engineering materials experiment course under the background of new engineering. references chen, m., & zhao, j. (2023). dynamic update mechanism of civil engineering materials experiment course content from the perspective of industry-education collaboration. education and teaching forum, 2023(28), 131-134. china civil engineering society. (2024). china civil engineering industry development report (2024). beijing: china architecture and building press, 2024. li, x. y., & zhang, w. (2023). influence of virtual-physical fusion teaching mode on the practical ability of civil engineering majors. experiment science and technology, 21(3), 150-154. wang, j. g., & li, x. h. (2023). dilemmas and breakthroughs of industry-education integration in civil engineering materials experiment courses. journal of architectural education in institutions of higher learning, 32(2), 118-125. wang, s., & li, n. (2024). exploration on the internationalization reform of civil engineering materials experiment course under the background of new engineering. research in higher education of engineering, 2024(1), 162-166. zhang, z. q., & wang, l. (2023). research on the application of virtual simulation technology in civil engineering materials experiments. experimental technology and management, 40(5), 190-194. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 47 original paper teacher burnout: a case study among efl instructors at the english preparatory schools at universities in north cyprus mübeher ürün göker 1* 1 school of foreign languages, canakkale onsekiz mart university, canakkale, turkey * mübeher ürün göker, e-mail: murungoker@gmail.com received: october 17, 2021 accepted: november 9, 2021 online published: december 13, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p47 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p47 abstract the job of being an english language instructor is both demanding and challenging. recently many researchers have been paying attention to determine teachers’ attitudes, burnouts, and self-efficacy towards the subject and to find a relationship between those psychological concepts and certain variables. however, there is not much research done in the field of english language teaching in north cyprus, turkey, and in the middle east regarding efl teacher burnout and self-efficacy. this study aimed to investigate the perceived levels of burnout among efl instructors at the english preparatory schools in girne american university, near east university and the european university of lefke in north cyprus using the maslach burnout inventory-education survey developed by friedman. the study, in which 51 efl instructors participated found that instructors experienced low levels of emotional exhaustion, low levels of depersonalization in relationships with students, colleagues, and others, and a high level of personal accomplishment in their work. an efl instructor’s age, marital status, work experience, weekly teaching hours, job status, native or non-native status do not seem to influence instructors’ responses on each of the sub-scales of the maslach burnout inventory. however, variables gender and the university they work to influence their responses related to emotional exhaustion, but they do not influence their responses related to depersonalization and personal accomplishment scores on the maslach burnout inventory. keywords teacher burnout, efl instructor, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 48 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction people especially learn english because it‟s the most common language spoken in the world. both at a distance and face-to-face, in commerce, tourism, professions, politics, economics and education english is increasingly needed. the rapid growth of the importance of learning english has made the teaching profession one of the world‟s largest educational enterprises. unfortunately, the realities of classrooms have made teaching a stressful environment. it is absolutely one of those jobs that you cannot leave at the school or office. teachers‟ physical bodies, emotions, minds, and spirits are all involved in schoolwork. they may find themselves working, or at least thinking about their work even on holiday. from this standpoint, efl/esl teachers have heavier responsibilities than before, and studies show that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs as compared to other occupations (adams, 2001). recent innovations in the field of education and language teaching have created a rather novel role for teachers. teachers are no longer looked at as the mere transferors of knowledge, but as individuals who need to communicate and engage with students more than before and to care for their inner worlds (arnold, 1999). they are expected to empathize with learners, try to motivate them, and encourage them to participate in classroom activities, and generally speaking, to help facilitate learning. however, in addition to all these roles, they also need to engage in many other tasks such as paperwork, evaluating students, preparing for the class, remaining up-to-date with their teaching area, and preparing their teaching materials. at the same time, they might have positive or negative encounters with parents, colleagues, administrative authorities, and students, all of which can affect them psychologically. as a result, many teachers end up having more negative feelings about themselves, their students, and their profession than they were initially. they start developing feelings of emotional exhaustion and fatigue, negative attitudes towards their students, and loss of feelings of accomplishment in their job. people experiencing these feelings have been described as suffering from „job burnout‟ (maslach & jackson, 1981; maslach & goldberg, 1998; maslach, schaufeli, & leiter, 2001; pietarinen, pyhältö, haverinen, leskinen, & soini, 2021). the concept of burnout occurring in stages was researched by evers et al. (2000), who also encourages the view that burnout is a process that has varying levels and degrees. understanding the extent to which an individual suffers from burnout can be helpful in diagnosing and treating the syndrome. thus, to have a better understanding of the development of burnout, its causes must first be investigated. 1.1 what is burnout? burnout is described as “a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with other people in some capacity” (maslach & jackson, 1981; maslach, jackson, & leiter,1996). there are also different views on burnout. for example, according to längle (2003), it is an enduring state of exhaustion because of work. nevertheless, on another level, burnout must be viewed as a form www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 49 published by scholink inc. of an existential vacuum characterized by apathy, boredom, and a loss of interest in relationships. according to karazman (1994), people displaying symptoms of an existential vacuum seem to have high degrees of depersonalization and emotional exhaustion. burnouts misinterpret the requirements for and components of successful human existence as they lack a sense of inner fulfillment. burnouts view their work as something to serve their own aims and not as something that should be appreciated for its unique value and inherent meaning (längle, 2003). as far as burnout is concerned in the field of teacher education, researchers first studied teacher burnout through the lens of teacher stress (smylie, 1999). according to their findings, special education teachers are the most prone to high stress and burnout (mcintyre, 1983). however, in the 1980s, scholars in teacher education identified the important factors in teacher stress and burnout from demographic information such as age, gender, marital status, work experience, and level of education. in the early 1990s, researchers began to examine the work-related factors, such as teacher-pupil ratio, grade level taught, types of exceptional children taught, and workload. as workload appeared to be the most salient element among the work-related factors, some models were proposed to investigate teacher burnout regarding it. and findings of that studies show that burnout is a syndrome caused by prolonged stress and is certainly in connection with the work environment. recently, maslach‟s work on burnout seems to have emerged as the dominant framework for studying burnout because of the defining psychological constructs she developed. 1.2 three aspects of burnout burnout refers to a cluster of physical, emotional, and interactional symptoms, including emotional exhaustion, a sense of lacking personal accomplishment, and depersonalization of clients. maslach and jackson (1981) argue that burnout comprises three factors: (a) “emotional exhaustion”, which is described as feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted, (b) “personal accomplishment”, which is experienced by teachers as decreased feelings of competence and achievement and a tendency to evaluate oneself negatively with respect to work and (c) “depersonalization” which is the development of negative feelings and attitudes about the profession. 1.3 sources of burnout the sources of teacher burnout are known to have multifaceted factors (maslach et al., 2001). in this study, the studies on teacher burnout were categorized into three groups along with the sources of burnout they identify: individual factors, organizational factors, and transactional factors. demographic variables or personality variables constitute individual variables (e.g., age, gender, years of teaching experience, personality, etc.; burke & greenglass, 1988; friedman & farber, 1992; kashahu xhelilaj, petani, & ntalla, 2021; maslach & jackson, 1981). organizational factors include institutional and job characteristics, e.g., inappropriate work demands, socioeconomic status of the school, and administrative support, etc. (brissie, hoover-dempsey, & bassler, 1988; evers, tomic, & brouwers, 2004; farber, 1984; maslach et al., 2001). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 50 published by scholink inc. on the whole, research studies identifying sources of burnout as individual factors provided the answers to “who” experiences burnout, while studies identifying sources of burnout as social and organizational factors provided the answers to “what” makes teachers burn out. and finally, transactional factors include interactions of individual factors with organizational and/or social factors, such as an employee‟s perceptions of leadership style, teachers‟ attribution of student misbehaviors, and teachers‟ perceptions of exchange of investments and outcomes (bibou-nakou, stogiannidou, & kiosseoglou, 1999; evers et al., 2004; friedman, 1995; van horn, schaufeli, & enzmann, 1999). 1.4 the efl context in north cyprus english as a foreign language is formally taught to cypriot students from nursery school to university education (first year of nursery school, primary eight years of primary school, high school for three years, and another year during the pre-university level and university education). considering the content and priorities of the current efl textbooks used at the english preparatory schools of the universities, it seems that efl teaching at universities in north cyprus is based on the students‟ future need to read, understand their subject area at the tertiary level and sometimes translate english books, journals, and magazines. likewise, reading comprehension, essay and report writing, speaking and translation are the most emphasized skills at the university level, and students study english basically for academic purposes (eap). therefore, in most prep schools, both administrative and teaching staff claim that they are following the procedures of communicative language teaching. however, the traditional way that they are testing the language performance of their students could be a clear indicator of the fact that they might use traditional teaching methodology. a major principle in clt is to use language for a variety of purposes and to convey meaningful messages. the implementation of clt requires efl instructors to be competent in the english language to teach it. it is expected that efl instructors use english with functional ability in communicating across the language skills. in north cyprus most of the teachers are natives or from the country of english speaking as an sla hence, this technique is used in north cyprus universities. the curriculum at north cyprus universities is, for the most part, top-down and product-oriented in all its aspects, directed by each prep school through the monitoring of “educational groups” at various organizational levels. besides, non-native efl students in north cyprus efl have a chance to use english outside the classroom because of the existence of foreign students at the university as well as it is a touristic country. from the standpoint of working conditions, efl instructors at the universities in north cyprus have currently been suffering more and more as compared to the early 2000s. there has been a decrease in the number of university students coming to study in cyprus and this has also decreased the number of efl instructors. and this has had reflections in teacher salaries making them less. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 51 published by scholink inc. there are several common complaints from teachers about their work environments. many don‟t have their office or even their desk to store materials. those who do have their offices often find that the facilities aren‟t adequate to handle their students‟ needs. some don‟t have computers or internet access. others don‟t receive sufficient benefit packages or training hours per year. some schools don‟t have good libraries. on the whole, school staffing is about more than just finding teachers to work in schools. it‟s also important to retain good teachers. constant turnover of new teachers leads to students coping with a stream of novices in the classroom, this contributes to academic breakdowns, failure to notice specific academic problems, and eventually to an environment where the students have to teach as much as to learn. finally, the universities can fire efl instructors regularly for absolutely no valid reason. most instructors have one-year working contracts and they are often underpaid and under-supported in their need for educational resources for their students. poor working conditions can lead to many negative issues for teachers including depression, anger, lack of interest, and burnout. several research studies (e.g., chang & davis, 2009; dussault, deaudelin, royer, & loisella, 1999; fullan, 2001; maslach et al., 1996; maslach et al., 2001; napoles, 2021; saloviita & pakarinen, 2021; woolfolk hoy & davis, 2005) have examined the problem of teacher burnout. since very little research has been done on teacher stress and burnout in the field of efl/esl, and there is not much research done in the field of english language teaching in north cyprus, turkey, and in the middle east regarding teacher burnout and self-efficacy. this study aimed to investigate potential inside and outside classroom sources of burnout among instructors of efl within the university preparatory context in north cyprus. based on the research and problems discussed above, there is a need to examine efl instructors‟ perceptions of their burnout within the university english preparatory context in north cyprus. the study is also expected to have implications for the current attitudes of efl instructors towards their job and professional development. 1.5 hypothesis efl instructors‟ perceived burnout is correlated with their performance and a teacher who is prone to burnout may be inefficacious and have lower competence in his or her capabilities while carrying out instructional activities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 52 published by scholink inc. 2. method as this study aimed to investigate the perceived levels of burnout among efl instructors in north cyprus, the research design of this study was a descriptive survey method. maslach burnout inventory-education survey developed by friedman (1999) was used to determine the frequency of burnout in respondents. the mbi-es is the predominant instrument used to assess burnout in teachers and educational administrators (maslach, jackson, & schwab, 1986). 2.1 research questions four research questions were asked and answered on 1) the extent to which efl instructors experienced emotional exhaustion in their work; 2) the extent to which efl instructors experienced depersonalization in relationships with students, colleagues, and other; 3) the extent to which they experienced personal accomplishment at work; 4) if burnout among them was influenced by selected individual characteristics of gender, job status, native or non-native status, university they work, age, marital status, work experience and weekly teaching hours. 2.2 participants a total of 51 efl instructors working at the english preparatory schools of girne american university, near east university, and the european university of lefke participated in this study. the participants were not selected as participation was voluntary. participants filled out the questionnaires anonymously. table 1. matrix detailing participant demographics particulars variables frequency percent universities where participants work near east university 24 47.1 european university of lefke 14 27.5 girne american university 13 25.5 marital status of the participants single 17 33.3 married 31 60.8 divorced 3 5.9 gender of the participants male 13 25.5 female 38 74.5 age of the participants 21-30 23 45.1 31-40 13 25.5 41-50 10 19.6 51 and over 5 9.8 work experience of the participants 0 2 3.9 0-5 17 33.3 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 53 published by scholink inc. 6-10 14 27.5 11-15 6 11.8 16-20 7 13.7 21 and over 5 9.8 weakly teaching hours of the participants 8-16 9 17.6 17-20 26 51.0 21-24 14 27.5 25-30 1 2.0 job status of the participants full time 47 92.2 part time 4 7.8 native/non-native status of the participants native speaker 16 31.4 non-native speaker 35 68.6 2.3 data collection procedures and instruments the instrument selected for this study was the maslach burnout inventory-education survey developed by friedman (1999) to determine the frequency of burnout in respondents. the mbi-es consists of 22 statements describing the feelings an individual might have as a result of being over-stressed or burned out. it also measures burnout on three sub-scales: emotional exhaustion (ee), depersonalization (dp), and personal accomplishment (pa). the reliability of the questionnaire was also tested, and the cronbach‟s alpha coefficient was found as .731. after selecting the data collection instruments, the necessary permissions were obtained from the directors of preparatory schools of the three universities to administer the questionnaire. as the instructors agreed to participate, the instrument was administered at the instructors' work sites. 2.4 data analysis after the data were collected at the fall semester of 2010-2011 academic year, the researcher used spss (pasw 18.0) to analyze the data collected. 51 questionnaires were coded for statistical analysis with pasw 18.0. the data were examined for reliability over the entire questionnaire and according to the six sub-groups, descriptive statistics, including means and standard deviations, frequencies, percentages were computed to summarize the instructors‟ responses to the items in the questionnaire, and independent sample t-test and anova tests were used to determine whether there was a statistically significant effect of demographical variables. the analyses were done in the order of the research questions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 54 published by scholink inc. 3. result and discussion results gained from this study are given and discussed based on each research question. 3.1 results and discussion of the research question 1 the research question 1 seeks answers as to the perceptions of efl instructors regarding the perceived levels of burnout related to emotional exhaustion-ee. the data for this is seen in table 2. table 2. mean scores of participants on emotional exhaustion-ee item n mean sd i feel used up at the end of the workday. 50 2.14 1.64 i feel emotionally drained from my work. 51 1.29 1.30 i feel i am working too hard on my job. 50 2.44 2.11 i feel frustrated by my job. 51 .86 1.05 i feel fatigued when i get up in the morning and have to face another day on the job. 50 .74 1.12 i feel burned out from my work. 51 .69 1.01 working with people all day is really a strain for me. 51 .57 .72 i feel like i am at the end of my rope. 51 .25 .48 working directly with people puts too much stress on me. 51 .63 1.01 in response to the first research question, the research findings reveal that efl instructors work very hard and they get tired at the end of the day. concerning item analysis to investigate the high and low burnout beliefs among efl instructors, the third item “i feel i am working too hard on my job” (m=2.44) shows the highest mean among the nine items related to emotional exhaustion-ee in the questionnaire. it might be implied that instructors are working very hard and this may lead to burnout over time (dorman, 2003; schwab & iwanicki, 1982). this also shows that the working loads of efl instructors are very high as compared to teaching loads of primary and secondary school teachers in north cyprus working very hard. the first item “i feel used up at the end of the workday” (m=2.14) in the questionnaire shows the second-highest mean among the nine items related to emotional exhaustion-ee. it might give the idea that efl teachers feel used up at the end of the day after high working loads. and this result also supports the fact that they are not happy with the working conditions in terms of weekly teaching hours. however, this might also reveal that efl instructors make a great contribution to language learning development in the efl context in north cyprus. regarding the lowest means, the researcher has identified two items: “i feel like i am at the end of my rope” (m=.25) and “working with people all day is really a strain for me” (m=.57). this result might www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 55 published by scholink inc. reveal the fact that efl instructors are highly energetic and hard-working. as discussed earlier, emotional exhaustion, as the core element of burnout, is considered to be the most obvious manifestation of this complex syndrome. within this framework, efl instructors included in this study are not prone to burnout due to the enthusiasm they feel for their job. as discussed earlier, working conditions play a major role in burnout (cheek, bradley, parr, & lan, 2003; dorman, 2003). concerning our research study context, there might be a wide range of factors involved. from the standpoint of working conditions, efl instructors at universities in north cyprus have currently been suffering more and more as compared to the early 2000s. they get paid less than they used to in the early 2000s. there are still serious problems in terms of their work environments. many don't have their office or even their desk to store materials, whereas instructors teaching at other departments have better work environments. weekly teaching hours of efl instructors at preparatory schools are higher than those of instructors teaching at other departments at the universities and primary and secondary school teachers in north cyprus. it is also worth mentioning that the results are consistent with the previous studies done by (brissie et al., 1988; burke & greenglass, 1993; gold & bachelor, 1988; farber, 1984; maslach et al., 2001). 3.2 results and discussion of the research question 2 research question 2 seeks answers as to the perceptions of efl instructors regarding the perceived levels of burnout related to depersonalization-dp. the data for this is seen in table 3. table 3. mean scores of participants on depersonalization-dp item n mean sd i feel students blame me for their problems. 51 .39 .85 i have become more callous toward people since i took this job. 49 .27 .73 i worry that this job is hardening me emotionally. 51 .63 .97 i do not really care what happens to some students. 47 .70 1.31 i feel i treat some students as if they were impersonal objects. 51 .29 .98 as can be seen in table 3, the research findings reveal that efl instructors have very low levels of perceptions for the items related to depersonalization-dp. it might mean that they are far away from depersonalization and teaching as a profession does not harden them emotionally even though they work very hard. concerning item analysis to investigate the high and low burnout beliefs among efl instructors, the fourth item “i do not really care what happens to some students” (m=.70) shows the highest mean among the five items related to depersonalization-dp in the questionnaire. however, it is so low (m=.70) that there is no need to interpret in a way that efl instructors are likely to be close to depersonalization. this item like the other four clearly shows that efl instructors are far away from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 56 published by scholink inc. depersonalization due to low levels of beliefs regarding depersonalization among efl instructors. regarding the lowest means, as pointed out before, the researcher defined all other 4 items related to depersonalization as having low means at similar levels: “i have become more callous toward people since i took this job” (m=.27), “i feel i treat some students as if they were impersonal objects” (m=.29), “i feel students blame me for their problems” (m=.39), “i worry that this job is hardening me emotionally” (m=.63). as discussed earlier, evers et al. (2004) describe depersonalization as “a negative callous and detached attitude towards the people who one works with, i.e., patients, students” (p. 132). taking the low level of means of the participants related to depersonalization into consideration, this result might reveal the fact that efl instructors in this study are far away from depersonalization because perception level to the item “i have become more callous toward people since i took this job” is very low (m=.27). 3.3 results and discussion of the research question 3 research question 3 seeks answers as to the perceptions of efl instructors regarding the perceived levels of burnout related to personal accomplishment-pa. the data for this is seen in table 4. table 4. mean scores of participants on personal accomplishment-pa item n mean sd i feel exhilarated after working closely with my students. 49 3.63 2.30 i feel very energetic. 50 5.08 .96 in my work, i deal with emotional problems very calmly. 51 4.37 1.66 i can easily understand how my students feel about things. 51 5.25 1.01 i have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job. 50 5.14 1.14 i deal very effectively with the problems of my students. 50 4.86 1.14 i feel i am positively influencing other people`s lives through my work. 50 5.02 1.16 i can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students. 50 5.46 .83 as can be seen in table 4, in response to the third research question, the research findings reveal that efl instructors on average felt rather confident of their competence to perform their job professionally. concerning item analysis to investigate the perceptions of efl instructors regarding the perceived levels of burnout related to personal accomplishment-pa, the eighth item “i can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students” (m=5.46) shows the highest mean among the eight items related to personal accomplishment-pa in the questionnaire. it might be implied that efl instructors are quite able to do perform good classroom management skills. it might also give the idea that most of the instructors feel comfortable with the way they cope with students‟ problems. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 57 published by scholink inc. the second highest item is “i can easily understand how my students feel about things” (m=5.25). it might give the idea that instructors are more interested in listening to the problems of students developing empathy. and the following three high items “i have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job” (m=5.14), “i feel very energetic” (m=5.08), and “i feel i am positively influencing other people`s lives through my work” (m=5.02) might also reveal that efl instructors do not feel exhausted or indifferent toward serving or helping people. although it is not easy to gain a sense of accomplishment, the efl instructors included in this study appear to have gained it. bandura (1997) argues that self-efficacy reflects an individual‟s beliefs in his or her capabilities to pursue a course of action to meet given situational demands. viewed in this light, an efficacious teacher may have higher competence in his or her capabilities while carrying out instructional activities. regarding the lowest means, the researcher identified only one item which was not low at all. “i feel exhilarated after working closely with my students” (m=3.63) might reveal the fact that efl instructors have a high level of efficacy regarding their teaching competence. it is still worth noticing that efl instructors appear to be working very enthusiastically despite their poor working conditions. as discussed earlier in the literature review, burnout is manifested in the following ways: work overload, lack of control over one‟s work environment, lack of community among teachers in the school, lack of fairness in work assignments, and the uneven distribution or absence of rewards (maslach et al., 1996; napoles, 2021). within this context then, one can argue that level of personal accomplishment seems not to have reduced for efl instructors at universities in north cyprus. 3.4 results and discussion of the research question 4 research question 4 seeks answers as to the perceptions of efl instructors regarding the variation according to a) gender, b) job status, c) native or non-native status, d) university they work, e) age, f) marital status, g) work experience, and h) weekly teaching hours. a) gender: to respond to this problem, the researcher made use of descriptive statistics and a “t” test to analyze the collected data. table 5 shows the results of descriptive statistics. table 5. corresponding mean scores for gender gender n mean std. deviation std. error mean emotional exhaustion male 13 10.3846 6.86220 1.90323 female 35 10.8286 9.22747 1.55973 depersonalization at work male 13 1.6923 1.25064 .34687 female 33 2.4848 3.37381 .58730 personal accomplishment at work male 13 36.0769 9.10551 2.52541 female 35 39.8286 5.19890 .87877 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 58 published by scholink inc. as it is seen in table 5, the mean values of female instructors in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are higher than those values of male instructors. however, only this does not indicate that there is a statistically significant difference between male and female instructors. to interpret whether there is a significant difference between them, independent samples “t” test results are illustrated in table 6. table 6. independent samples test for gender levene‟s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df sig.(2 tailed) mean difference std. error difference emotional exhaustion equal variances assumed 2.696 .107 -.158 46 .875 -.44396 2.81694 equal variances not assumed -.180 28.926 .858 -.44396 2.46070 depersonalization at work equal variances assumed 4.865 .033 -.820 44 .416 -.79254 .96612 equal variances not assumed -1.162 43.956 .252 -.79254 .68209 personal accomplishment at work equal variances assumed 11.16 9 .002 -1.791 46 .080 -3.75165 2.09505 equal variances not assumed -1.403 15.004 .181 -3.75165 2.67394 regarding emotional exhaustion, it provides the t value (t=-1.158) and the degrees of freedom (df=46). from the table above, it is also observed that significance was .107, which was higher than .05. consequently, it can be concluded that the difference between male and female instructors in terms of emotional exhaustion is significant. it might be concluded that there are differences between men and women in terms of emotions and expressions of emotions. this fact might have had an impact on the responses of the female participants related to items for emotional exhaustion. however, regarding www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 59 published by scholink inc. depersonalization at work and personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance has been found. in other words, male and female instructors have the same perceived levels of burnout and they have similar beliefs related to items for depersonalization at work and personal accomplishment. b) job status: to respond to this problem, the researcher used descriptive statistics and a “t” test to analyze the collected data. table 7 shows the results of descriptive statistics. table 7. corresponding mean scores for job status job status n mean std. deviation std. error mean emotional exhaustion full time 45 10.6889 8.72255 1.30028 part time 3 11.0000 7.54983 4.35890 depersonalization at work full time 42 2.0238 2.86687 .44237 part time 4 4.7500 2.87228 1.43614 personal accomplishment at work full time 44 38.5000 6.75656 1.01859 part time 4 42.2500 3.30404 1.65202 as can be seen in table 7, the mean values of both full-time and part-time efl instructors in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are very similar. however, this does not indicate that there is a statistically significant difference between the perceptions of both full-time and part-time efl instructors regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment at work. to reveal whether there is a statistically significant difference between the perceptions of full-time and part-time efl instructors, independent samples “t” test results are illustrated in table 8. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 60 published by scholink inc. table 8. independent samples test for job status levene‟s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df sig.(2-tailed) mean difference std. error difference emotional exhaustion equal variances assumed .238 .628 -.060 46 .952 -.31111 5.17269 equal variances not assumed -.068 2.371 .951 -.31111 4.54871 depersonalization at work equal variances assumed .188 .666 -1.817 44 .076 -2.72619 1.50033 equal variances not assumed -1.814 3.594 .152 -2.72619 1.50273 personal accomplishment at work equal variances assumed 1.356 .250 -1.090 46 .281 -3.75000 3.43984 equal variances not assumed -1.932 5.657 .104 -3.75000 1.94080 as it is seen in table 8, it is observed that there is no statistically significant difference between the perceptions of full-time and part-time efl instructors related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work. in other words, full-time and part-time efl instructors have similar beliefs and opinions related to items for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment at work. c) native or non-native status: to respond to this problem, the researcher used descriptive statistics and a “t” test to analyze the collected data. table 9. below shows the results of descriptive statistics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 61 published by scholink inc. table 9. corresponding mean scores for native/non-native status native or non-native status n mean std. deviation std. error mean emotional exhaustion native speaker 14 10.2143 9.20851 2.46108 non-native speaker 34 10.9118 8.44723 1.44869 depersonalization at work native speaker 15 1.4000 2.13140 .55032 non-native speaker 31 2.6774 3.20819 .57621 personal accomplishment at work native speaker 14 40.5000 6.23575 1.66658 non-native speaker 34 38.1176 6.70940 1.15065 as it is seen in table 9, the mean values of both native and non-native efl instructors in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are very similar. however, this does not indicate that there is a statistically significant difference between the perceptions of both native and non-native efl instructors. to reveal whether there is a significant difference between the perceptions of native and non-native efl instructors in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment at work, a “t” test was utilized. the results of the “t” test are shown in table 10. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 62 published by scholink inc. table 10. independent samples test for native or non-native status as it is seen in table 10, regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance was found between the perceptions of both native and non-native efl instructors. in other words, native and non-native efl instructors have similar opinions related to items for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment at work. d) university they work: to respond to this problem, an “analysis of variance” anova was applied. the results of the analysis are given in table 11. levene‟s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df sig. (2-tailed) mean difference std. error difference emotional exhaustion equal variances assumed .319 .575 -.253 46 .801 -.69748 2.75292 equal variances not assumed -.244 22.505 .809 -.69748 2.85580 depersonalization at work equal variances assumed 1.294 .261 -1.396 44 .170 -1.27742 .91499 equal variances not assumed -1.603 39.415 .117 -1.27742 .79679 personal accomplishment at work equal variances assumed .644 .426 1.140 46 .260 2.38235 2.08919 equal variances not assumed 1.176 26.019 .250 2.38235 2.02521 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 63 published by scholink inc. table 11. corresponding mean scores for university participants work anova sum of squares df mean square f sig. emotional exhaustion between groups 499.553 2 249.777 3.794 .030 within groups 2962.364 45 65.830 total 3461.917 47 depersonalization at work between groups 27.888 2 13.944 1.661 .202 within groups 360.982 43 8.395 total 388.870 45 personal accomplishment at work between groups 157.972 2 78.986 1.881 .164 within groups 1889.341 45 41.985 total 2047.313 47 as can be seen in table 11, the mean values of instructors working in three different universities in terms of the emotional exhaustion are different. however, only this does not indicate that there is a statistically significant difference among the efl instructors working at three different universities. to interpret whether there is a significant difference among them, scheffe test results are illustrated in the table 12. table 12. multiple comparisons of 3 universities (scheffe) dependent variable (i) university name (j) university name mean difference (i-j) std. error sig. emotional exhaustion near east university european university of lefke -7.65035 * 2.83834 .034 girne american university -1.34266 2.83834 .894 european university of lefke near east university 7.65035 * 2.83834 .034 girne american university 6.30769 3.18241 .152 girne american university near east university 1.34266 2.83834 .894 european university of lefke -6.30769 3.18241 .152 depersonalization at work near east university european university of lefke -1.86081 1.02251 .203 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 64 published by scholink inc. girne american university -.80952 1.04849 .744 european university of lefke near east university 1.86081 1.02251 .203 girne american university 1.05128 1.15989 .666 girne american university near east university .80952 1.04849 .744 european university of lefke -1.05128 1.15989 .666 personal accomplishment at work near east university european university of lefke 4.14286 2.23568 .191 girne american university .45055 2.28669 .981 european university of lefke near east university -4.14286 2.23568 .191 girne american university -3.69231 2.49572 .343 girne american university near east university -.45055 2.28669 .981 european university of lefke 3.69231 2.49572 .343 note. * the mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. regarding emotional exhaustion, from the table above, it is also observed that significance was .34, which was lower than .05. consequently, it can be concluded that the difference in efl instructors working at 3 different universities in terms of emotional exhaustion is significant. it might be concluded that there are differences among the perceptions of participants in terms of emotional exhaustion, which is quite natural. this might be because all these three universities have different working environments and different organizational structures where relations and interactions between the administrative and teaching staff could be different. however, regarding depersonalization at work, personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance has been found. in other words, all efl instructors working at three universities have the same perceived levels of burnout and they have similar beliefs related to items for depersonalization at work and personal accomplishment. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 65 published by scholink inc. e) age: to respond to this problem, an “analysis of variance” anova was applied. the results of the analysis are given in table 13. table 13. corresponding mean scores for age anova sum of squares df mean square f sig. emotional exhaustion between groups 180.026 3 60.009 .805 .498 within groups 3281.891 44 74.588 total 3461.917 47 depersonalization at work between groups 41.564 3 13.855 1.675 .187 within groups 347.305 42 8.269 total 388.870 45 personal accomplishment at work between groups 118.337 3 39.446 .900 .449 within groups 1928.975 44 43.840 total 2047.313 47 as it is seen in table 13, the mean values of participants of all age groups in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are very similar. in other words, regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance was found between the perceptions of efl instructors from all age groups. f) marital status: to respond to this problem, an “analysis of variance” anova was applied. the results of the analysis are given in table 14. table 14. corresponding mean scores for marital status anova sum of squares df mean square f sig. emotional exhaustion between groups 213.350 2 106.675 1.478 .239 within groups 3248.567 45 72.190 total 3461.917 47 depersonalization at work between groups 5.351 2 2.676 .300 .742 within groups 383.519 43 8.919 total 388.870 45 personal accomplishment at work between groups 14.519 2 7.259 .161 .852 within groups 2032.794 45 45.173 total 2047.312 47 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 66 published by scholink inc. as it is seen in table 14, the mean values of participants of all marital status groups in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are very similar. in other words, regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance was found between the perceptions of efl instructors from all marital status groups. g) work experience: to respond to this problem, an “analysis of variance” anova was applied. the results of the analysis are given in table 15. table 15. corresponding mean scores for work experience anova sum of squares df mean square f sig. emotional exhaustion between groups 91.719 5 18.344 .229 .948 within groups 3370.198 42 80.243 total 3461.917 47 depersonalization at work between groups 21.982 5 4.396 .479 .790 within groups 366.888 40 9.172 total 388.870 45 personal accomplishment at work between groups 145.115 5 29.023 .641 .670 within groups 1902.198 42 45.290 total 2047.313 47 as can be seen in table 15, the mean values of participants of all work experience groups in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work are very similar. in other words, regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work, and personal accomplishment at work, no statistical significance was found between the perceptions of efl instructors from all work experience groups. h) weekly teaching hours: to respond to this problem, an “analysis of variance” anova was applied. the results of the analysis are given in table 16. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 67 published by scholink inc. table 16. corresponding mean scores for weekly teaching hours anova sum of squares df mean square f sig. emotional exhaustion between groups 189.969 3 63.323 .834 .483 within groups 3264.457 43 75.918 total 3454.426 46 depersonalization at work between groups 25.711 3 8.570 .972 .415 within groups 361.533 41 8.818 total 387.244 44 personal accomplishment at work between groups 698.335 3 232.778 7.817 .000 within groups 1280.516 43 29.779 total 1978.851 46 as it is seen in table 16, the mean values of participants who have different weekly teaching hours in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization at work are very similar. however, regarding personal accomplishment, it is observed that significance was .000, which was higher than .05. consequently, it can be concluded that the difference between different weekly teaching hours in terms of personal accomplishment is significant. it implies that different teaching loads might have had an impact on the responses of the over-loaded efl instructors related to items for personal accomplishment. this finding also supports the fact that efl instructors are not happy with the working conditions in terms of weekly teaching hours as they have no time for research or professional development. 4. conclusion and recommendations the researcher‟s goal in undertaking this survey study was to investigate the perceived levels of burnout among efl instructors at the english preparatory schools in girne american university, near east university, and the european university of lefke in north cyprus. this study also aimed to determine the possible impact of the demographic characteristics of the efl instructors on the perceived levels of burnout. based on the results of this study, it might be concluded that efl instructors working at the english preparatory schools of these three universities are not prone to burnout when examining the perceived levels of burnout among efl instructors. as discussed earlier, burnout is a process with different levels and degrees. with the introduction of communicative language teaching, realities of learning and teaching in an efl classroom life have put much more burden on language teachers and made teaching a stressful occupation because efl teachers have heavier responsibilities than before and research studies demonstrate that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs as compared to other professions. understanding the extent to which teachers suffer from burnout can be helpful in diagnosing and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 68 published by scholink inc. treating the syndrome. from this standpoint of view, this study targeting the population of all efl instructors working at the universities in north cyprus aimed to determine the extent to which efl instructors experienced personal accomplishment in their work, the extent to which they experienced depersonalization in relationships with students, colleagues and others, the extent to which they experienced emotional exhaustion in their work and finally if burnout among efl instructors was influenced by selected individual instructor characteristics of gender, age, marital status, work experience, weekly teaching hours, job status, native or non-native status and the university they worked. as we all well know, instructors who exhibit characteristics of being burned out are not effective in the classroom and they believe they can no longer be responsible for the behavior or active learning of the students in their classroom. approached from this angle, burned-out instructors are not effective in the classroom, they provide their students with fewer positive reinforcements, and also they have negative effects on student performance. results gained from this study show that efl instructors are not very satisfied with their institutions, work environment. paradoxically, however, within the context of this study then, the level of personal accomplishment seems not to have reduced for efl instructors at universities in north cyprus. as far as depersonalization is concerned, low perceived levels of mean scores of the participants related to depersonalization might reveal the fact that efl instructors in this study are far away from depersonalization. for example, the perception level of the item “i have become more callous toward people since i took this job” is very low (m=.27). as pointed out before, the other 4 items related to depersonalization were also defined to have low means at similar levels. as discussed before, efl instructors should empathize with learners, try to motivate them to participate in classroom activities, and help facilitate learning. in addition to all these roles, they are also expected to engage in many other tasks such as paperwork, student evaluation, preparation of materials for the class, and professional development. they are also likely to have positive or negative encounters with parents, colleagues, administrative authorities, and students, all of which can affect them psychologically. it is in this way that, many instructors end up having more negative feelings about themselves, their students, and their profession. they start developing feelings of emotional exhaustion and fatigue, negative attitudes towards their students, and loss of feelings of accomplishment in their job. people experiencing these feelings have been described as suffering from “job burnout” (maslach & goldberg, 1998; maslach et al., 2001; norhisham, husain, abas, & haza, 2021). taking the results of this study into consideration concerning emotional exhaustion, which is seen as a personal psychological status that cannot capture other behaviors related to burnout, it seems that efl teachers feel used up at the end of the day after high working loads. and this result also supports the fact that they are not happy with the working conditions in terms of weekly teaching hours. as www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 69 published by scholink inc. discussed earlier, burnout is manifested in the ways such as work overload, lack of control over one‟s work environment, lack of community among teachers in the school, lack of fairness in work assignments, and the uneven distribution or absence of rewards (maslach et al., 1996). when one perceives a threat, a stress response is triggered and a series of physiological and psychological changes occur and stress occurs when that person perceives that he/she is incapable of coping with life‟s demands (eric development team, 2002). what is clear is that teachers face many demands from students, parents, administrators, and peers every day. these demands can lead to stress that, over time, can end in burnout. it is well known that all efl instructors work on a contractual basis at the universities in north cyprus and the universities can dismiss efl instructors from their job regularly for absolutely no valid reason. most instructors have one-year working contracts and they are often underpaid and under-supported in their need for educational resources for their students. poor working conditions can lead to many negative issues for teachers including depression, anger, lack of interest, and burnout. as part of my inductive observation and individual talks with some efl instructors, i have observed that most of the instructors complain about working conditions, work environment, teaching loads, salaries. paradoxically, however, results gained from this study show that efl instructors claim that they are not prone to burnout. 4.1 recommendations for future research as pointed out earlier, very little research has been done on teacher stress and burnout in the field of english language teaching. as this study aimed to investigate the perceived levels of burnout among efl instructors at the english preparatory schools in girne american university, near east university, and the european university of lefke in north cyprus, further research studies could be conducted primarily to investigate potential inside and outside classroom sources of burnout among instructors of efl within university preparatory context in north cyprus. based on the research and problems discussed above, there is also a need to examine the causes of burnout within the university preparatory context in north cyprus. similar studies could also be carried out in other efl settings like primary and secondary schools. acknowledgements this study has been produced from my ma study entitled “a study on burnout among efl instructors at the english preparatory schools at universities in north cyprus” conducted at the european university of lefke in 2011. it was also presented as a poster presentation at the international congress on education for the future: issues and challenges, at ankara university, faculty of educational sciences, ankara, turkey on may 13-15, 2015. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 70 published by scholink inc. references adams, e. 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(2005). teachers‟ sense of efficacy and its influence on the achievement of adolescents. in t. urdan, & f. pajares (eds.), adolescence and education: volume 5: self-efficacy beliefs during adolescence (pp. 117-137). greenwich, ct: information age. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v11-i8/10438 https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2021.1942344 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103221 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511527784.005 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01376.x microsoft word grhe-v2n2-p82 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 82 original paper language, gender and power in chinua achebe’s—there was a country and chimamanda adiche’s—half of a yellow sun lawal m. olusola1* 1 department of english & international studies, college of humanities & culture (ikire campus), osun state university, osogbo, nigeria * lawal m. olusola, department of english & international studies, college of humanities & culture (ikire campus), osun state university, osogbo, nigeria received: february 14, 2019 accepted: march 4, 2019 online published: april 17, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n2p82 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n2p82 abstract the interconectivity of language in the analysis of ideological schemas of gender and power is remarkable. in every piece of texts, language is employed as an expression of ideology. hence, there is no linguistic expression that is ideologically empty. language is inspirable from the gender and power preoccupations of chinua achebe’s there was a country and chimamanda adiche’s half of a yellow sun. in this paper, it is made succinct that both achebe and adichie deploy their english linguistic prowess with their traditional igbo language colorations as an expression of power and gender discourses. indeed, while it is deduced that achebe, through the use of rhetorical and proverbial expressions, pursued a somewhat patriarchal gender and power ideological inclination in his memoir; adichie, in her use of sublime language, exhibited her feminine gender belief in a rather subtle manner. evidently, the two authors’ use of the english language with a heavy igbo language influence is an index to the fact that language, apart from being a powerful means of expression of a writer’s ideological idiosyncrasy, is a source of power on its own; an instrument which both achebe and adichie deployed to show their different gender inclinations and power discourses in the selected texts. keywords chinua achebe, chimananda adichie, language, gender, power 1. introduction language is pivotal to every human activity; and as gender relation is power relation (oloruntoba, 2009), language anchors both gender and power. language is used to state the various forms of ideological expressions. language is connected to our thoughts for it is the mirror through which we www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 83 published by scholink inc. look at the world. thus our world is understood through the mode of language. when it comes to the discourse of language use in relation to gender and power, human beings become enigmas. hence, language is manipulated to suite different ideological blocks. the understanding of the use of language to express, for example, an ideological discourse like gender gives human being an expression of power. language is a social phenomenon. it permeates every aspect of human activities. thus it is an important instrument of power and gender relations. according to ashcroft et al. (1995), language is the fundamental site of struggle for post colonial discourse because the colonial process itself begins in language. one of the most subtle demonstrations of power of language is the means by which it provides, though the function of naming, a technique for knowing a colonized place or people. to name the world, note ashcroft et al., is to understand it, know it and to have control over it. what this implies is that every human engagement, including gender and power relations, involves language. this is understandable because identities are constructed through language. this suggests that language is not as neutral as one may want to assume. writing from a deconstructionist perspective, tyson (2006) asserts that if language is the ground of being, then the world is infinite text, that is, an infinite chain of signifiers always in play. and because human beings are constituted by language, they too are texts. hence, language, from deconstructionist perspective, has implication for subjectivity, for what it means to be human being. beyond the world and humans as a “galaxy of texts” with unending meanings, language is equally an integral part of discourses of gender and power. thus, the whole idea of maleness or femaleness, power or powerlessness is framed by language. in the context of this paper, gender is conceived as a socio-cultural construct that divides people into various categories such as male and female with each having certain characteristics, behaviour or stereotypes. as used in this paper, power is not an element exclusive to a class or institutions of government. according to foucault (1980), power is not something that can be owned, but rather something that acts in certain way; it is more of a strategy than a possession. it is something which circulates, or something which only functions in form of a chain. it is employed and exercised through a net like organization; individuals are vehicles of power, not its point of application. literature cannot be divorced from the language through which it reflects human society and its messages. because literature, according to ngugi (1972), does not develop in vacuum, it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by social, political and economic forces in a particular society. this implies that literature is intertwined with all facets of gender and power relations. against this background, this paper examines achebe’s there was a country and adichie’s half of a yellow sun as they relate to the whole issues of language, gender and power. what are the relationships among language, gender and power in the texts of the two authors? in their use of language and representation of gender and power, whose value are the two authors reinforcing or undermining? do the writers employ language to subvert the patriarchal hegemony or to reinforce it? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 84 published by scholink inc. what are their attitudes to gender and power? through an intra-disciplinary theoretical approach, these are some of the questions addressed in this paper. 2. method the study shall use the purposive sample analysis in appreciating and examining the two texts. the analysis of the texts is anchored to van dijk’s (1998) socio-cognitive model of critical discourse analysis (cda) and halliday’s (1985) socio-semiotic model of systemic functional grammar (sfg). this is as a result of the fact that dijk’s cda critiques the inequalities in man’s endeavors, ranging from gender, socio-cultural issues, economics and politics among others, and so also that systemic functional linguistics has been mostly favored as a model for linguistic analysis by most researchers in cda, and that it incorporates all the units of a language. it also gives explanations to each part of sentence and discourse as a whole. the two texts are critically and contextually examined to reveal their relevance to the discourse issues of the socio-political and economy of the nigerian society and also to exhibit their linguistic, gender and power continuities. 2.1 analytical framework the study adopts and draws projection and insight from van dijk’s critical discourse analysis in connection with fairclough’s description, interpretation and explanation. it is significant to mention that critical discourse analysis was employed to interpret and explain the themes and messages of the authors in the works put under analysis in this study. it is equally important to state that the study is not patterned strictly on the three stages of evaluation, description and interpretation but, however, anchored on halliday’s systemic functional linguistics of 1985. systemic functional linguistics is employed along with cda in this work because of its flexibility in accounting for all levels of grammar starting from the morpheme, word, group, clause, sentence and the whole gamut of discourse, it also constitutes a favorite for many researchers in cda. van dijk’s cda is found veritable and worthwhile for adoption in this study because it critiques the inequalities in human endeavors ranging from gender to power and other socio-economic and political issues. 2.2 statement of the problem every writer is an ideologue. there is the need, therefore, for specific linguistic choice to express their ideology/ideologies. the language choice cum gender and power configurations of the writers are conditioned by their ideologies. a lot of earlier works have focused on the literary and linguistic features of the text under study. these works have, however, not studied the motivations that inform the literary and linguistic premises and ideology/ideologies that lie(s) behind them. the main issue in this paper is to establish the link between language, gender and power discourses employed in the texts under study and the messages and ideologies canvassed in them. there is the need to investigate the motivations for these literary and linguistic features of gender and power for earliest studies have focused on the literary and linguistic features of the texts under study. there is the need to investigate whether or not the features are ideologically based. ideology is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 85 published by scholink inc. explicitly or implicitly expressed in language choice for there is no language that is ideologically empty (birch, 1995). language users demonstrate gender and power relations in particular contexts in their language choices. the relevant question here is how this done specifically in achebe’s there was a country and adichie’s half of a yellow sun. again the work intends to investigate the area of influences and parallels in the achebe’s and adichie’s works to establish if there are thematic cum gender and power ideological continuities and discontinuities between the authors’ works. 2.3 aim and objectives of the study the purpose of the study is to describe the interplay of language, gender and power in the texts in order to explain the gender ideological preoccupations and power discourses of the works. thus, the study intends to investigate the nexus of language, gender and power in there was a country and half of a yellow sun. in specific terms, the study intends to: 1) identify and discuss the messages in the texts; 2) explain the gender ideologies and power discourses behind the messages; 3) describe the linguistic devices used in projecting the messages as well as the gender ideologies and power discourses; and 4) establish the extent to which the devices are effective in projecting the messages of gender and power ideologies. 2.4 research questions the study is premised on the following research questions: 1) what are the major thematic preoccupations of chinua achebe and chimamanda adichie in the texts? 2) what gender and power ideologies inform the thematic preoccupations of the two texts? 3) what linguistic, gender and power discourses are deployed to project the messages of the texts and the ideologies behind them? 4) how effective are the linguistic devices used in the works to project the gender and power messages/ideologies. 2.5 significance of the study this work is significant in that it reveals the gender and power ideological discourses that show the cultural and sociological features and elements of the use of language in the two works. this shows the linguistic relation of gender and power ideologies in the texts. therefore, both there was a country and half of a yellow sun of chinua achebe and chimamanda adichie are purposively chosen for our study. more specifically, the study investigates the realities that are operational in the language, gender and power in the texts. again, the work describes the use of language in the texts, and the gender and power issues exhibited and expressed by the language are explicated. the work also explores the major thematic preoccupations in the texts and relates them to the gender and power ideologies that inform the linguistic devices that are deployed to project the ideologies and messages behind them. in real sense, the texts show a reflection of the society we have in nigeria together with the elements or www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 86 published by scholink inc. features that we experience in the country. also, the work provides us more insight to the significance of gender and power discourses in the texts of achebe and adichie with the intent of improving reader’s appreciation of the works. 2.6 scope of the study the study focuses on achebe’s there was a country and adichie’s half of a yellow sun. the study subjects the texts to content analysis at lexico-semantic and syntactic levels in order to reveal how language relates to the expression of gender and power ideologies in the texts. 2.7 conceptual clarification in broad terms, gender according to adegbite (2009) refers to the sex-role identity employed by humans to enact the differences and distinctions between males and females. encarta encyclopedia (2005) states that despite the fact that the word “gender” and “sex” are often used interchangeably, gender refers to the behaviour associated with members of a particular sex, whereas sex relates specifically to the biological and physical characteristics that make a person male or female at birth. according to kendall and tannen (2001), gender discourse does not only provide a descriptive account or documentation of male and female discourse, it also exhibits and reveals how language performs its roles as a representational or symbolic resources to create and administer personal socio-cultural identities and meanings. gender, in tsaaior’s (2009, p. 25) submission, is a socio-cultural construction and ideological determination, a way of representing and defining “others” contingent on sexual differences. gender, according to him, “is, therefore at the core of power relations and social representations of society such that it becomes imperative in literary discourse”. this makes gender different from sex. in relation to this, goodman et al. (1996, p. vii) maintain that “gender refers to ways of seeing and representing people and situations based on sex differences” while sex “is a biological category: female and male”. based on the above submissions and several others, the opinions of scholars converge on the realm that while sex is mainly a biological configuration, gender is a social construction of people. power can be described as an authority that is based in agreement by majority of the members of a society or group. power entails the exercise of one’s authority in a given circumstance. werber (2007) defines power in the words of michael foucault (1926-1984) who perceives power as a complex strategic situation in “a given society”. power, more generally could be portrayed as the unilateral ability to bring about significant change, usually in the lives of people through the actions of oneself or of others. power exists in a society as exercised by an individual or a group that is authorized by the members of a given community. these are several sources of power. in addition, galbralth (2007) summarises types of power as being “condign” that is, power based on force, “compensatory” that means power through the use of various resources, or “conditioned” which is power as a result of persuasion. he also gives the sources of power as “personality” which is the power from individuals, “property” this means power from people’s material resources and “organizational”, which is power from organization. these are some of the sources of power that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 87 published by scholink inc. abound in different societies. hence, power can be perceived from various perspectives from the exertion of physical use of force, electricity, power as energy, etcetera. however, power in this context refers to the power that exists between the various participants roles in a discourse. power in this paper is perceived as the subtle control of participants in a discourse with the use of language. power here refers to the ability of a user of language to control a discourse with appropriate linguistic choices. power then becomes a weapon of dominance, authority, superiority, influences and governance of the people in the struggle that exists in a society. 3. a short literature review the novels of achebe and adichie exhibit robust engagements with the issues of language, gender and power. these are depicted through various aesthetic elements such as plot-structure, diction, characterization, setting, themes and others. nonetheless, their preoccupations with the issues of language, gender and power have elicited a myriad of responses from scholars. thus, this section reviews some of the extant literatures on achebe’s there was a country and adichie’s half of a yellow sun, especially on the discourse of language, gender and power. interrogating the nigerian-biafran war and the elites’ notion of nation and nationalism in achebe’s there was a country, ekhator (2014) contends that “nigeria’s story and achebe’s personal story were told to inspire in future nigerians the spirit of nationalism, value for where nigerians are coming from”. he notes that “the veritable themes in the memoir are politics of nationhood, ethnic nationalism and national integration”. these according to ekhator, are “the sum of the causes of nigeria—biafra war”. writing further on the depiction of power struggle and its implications in the memoir. ekhator remarks that: achebe creates imaginary scene for traumatic horrors of war. this approach enables the reader to appreciate the themes of the book which appeal to the reader’s sense for caution so that such grievous terrorism will be avoided. barnard and kinggeorge (2014) investigate the ways in which the history and memory of nigeria—biafra civil war and its lessons, as depicted in half of a yellow sun and there was a country, can engender collective purgation and promote national unity. the critics assert that half of a yellow sun “is not just about loss and destruction, it is also a book of self-determination, survival and hope-qualities which ugwu […] endued”. they note that adichie “foreshadows the hope of a new enlightened nigerian through ugwu’s initial encounter with modernity when he first arrives at odenigbo’s quarters to find spacious rooms, wide enough for him to walk around the house up and down, touching books, curtains, furniture and plates”. the observation of barnard and kinggeorge refers to the transformative power of western modernity on ugwu. in spite of transformative power of western modernity, especially on ugwu; the novel shows that western modernity also possesses some destructive elements. the war situation depicted in the novel serves to justify this point. the critics further contend that “the historical fact of ethnicity and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 88 published by scholink inc. race as bane of nigeria’s unity is projected in the novel through incidents that resonate with the failure of the leadership to indentify and harness the positive aspects of nigeria for national unity”. on the representation of the war in the novel, barnard and kinggeorge assert that “the war creates an opportunity for unlikely friendship to be forged. kainene and olanna rise above their difference and communicate freely”. this assertion shows the paradoxical power of war. war as depicted in the novel, not only destroys people, but it also unites them. in the analysis of there was a country, barnard and kinggeorge observe that achebe “has succeeded in preventing our collective memory and history from sinking into atrophy and amnesia, thereby facilitating the process of exorcism”. this is one dimension of power of literary art. it boosts national memory and enhances a nation’s history. in her reading of half of a yellow sun makokha (2014) contends that the novel depicts the myriad of challenges being faced by the african woman in her struggle to carve a niche for herself in the post colonial african society. she argues that the african woman, as portrayed in the novel, suffers double colonization, the first time the british, and the second time by the nigerian man in postcolonial nigeria. while contending that the patriarchy configuration of the post colonial nigerian society and, by inference, the african continent marginalizes and oppresses educated women, like olanna, makokha calls for the urgent need for african men to solve “the problem of patriarchy and domination of women by treating women as their counterpart, and not as second class citizens , both in domestic and formal set-up”. despite the fact that makokha alludes to the conflicts between mama and olanna in her analysis, her submission that the already mentally colonized women should decolonize their mindsets tends to suggest that the colonization of women is exclusively perpetrated by men. the validity of makokha’s analysis is, thus, hampered by its failure to recognize the intra-gendered colonialism that engenders the suppression of women in the novel. the character of “other woman” like amala shows that the “african woman” is plural. the manipulation and suppression of amala by mama in order to advance her interest of having a grandson signifies that women are also involved in colonizing their fellow women. azuike’s (2009) exploration of purple hibiscus and half of a yellow sun focuses on women’s struggle to overcome marginalization and oppression in sexist and patriarchal society. she contends that “the novels are populated by psychopaths, rapists, religious fanatics and ruthless rulers; all of whom terrorise women”. azuike, thus submits that adichie uses the novels “as instruments of self-discovery and healing for the abused women in nigeria who may have undergone traumatic experiences”. although azuike makes a passing reference to jaja’s ordeal in the hands of papa, her radical feminist interpretation of purple hibiscus and half of a yellow sun seems to suggest that women are the only victims of tyranny and other forms of political violence prevalent in contemporary nigeria. azuike’s radical feminist perspective tends to oversimplify the various dimensions and complexities of power and their abuses depicted in the novels. apart from the fact that azuike’s reading falls short of realistic representation of adichie’s gender consciousness, her critical judgments engendered by radical feminist orthodoxies, undermine the novels’ complex thematic focus. as the novels show, both the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 89 published by scholink inc. female and the male are victims of abuses of power, oppression and human rights violation. for instance, in purple hibiscus, jaja (a male child) is a victim of papa eugene’s brutality. ade coker, an ace (male) journalist and editor of the standard newspaper, is assassinated through a parcel bomb by the military junta. similarly, papa-nnukwu, an old man, is humiliated and ostracized by his son papa eugene. in half of a yellow sun, mama oppresses amala. she also insults and humiliates olanna. mrs ozobia conspires with her husband, chief ozobia, in order to use their daughter, olanna, as a sex bait to secure a contract from the minister of finance, chief okonji. ugwu a male teenager, is also forced into fighting in the war he knows little or nothing about. all these instances and others show that both the male folk and the female folk are perpetrators and victims of political and domestic violence. thus, power and its abuses in the novels are not limited to the male as azuike’s analysis seems to suggest. 3.1 contextualisation of there was a country and half of a yellow sun 3.1.1 there was a country divided into four parts with a postscript, there was a country a personal history of biafra narrates achebe’s personal experience—his memoir of the nigerian—biafran war. as shown in the text, the author’s upbringing coincides with the birth of the country in 1960. recalling the era of colonialism which affords him and other members of his generation the golden opportunity to acquire western education with little or no financial cost, the author chronicles the evolution of the struggle of nigeria’s independence by nigerian nationalists and the various inter-ethnic intrigues that influence the struggle. in a detailed account, the text recalls the colonial factors, and other inter-personal, inter-ethnic and inter-regional acrimonies that engender political violence, including the coup de’tat and the counter coup of january 29, 1966, which engender the civil war. the fallout of those coups and the attendant power struggle among members of political elite, principal among whom were ojukwu and gowon, coupled with the contending forces failure to abide by the “aburi accord” degenerate into a civil war between the nigerian state and the igbo people. however, ojukwu’s declaration of republic of biafra, as a sovereign state, on may 30, 1967 is captured as the last straw that breaks the camel’s back as the federal government’s “police action” to quash the secessionist agenda is met with stiff resistance from the biafran forces. consequently, this results in full-blown civil war. the war which is known as the nigeria biafran war was fought between 1967 and 1970. hence there was a country, achebe’s personal history of biafra, offers a detailed account of the war. 3.1.2 half of a yellow sun like there was a country, half of a yellow sun deals with the nigerian—biafran war from a “factional” perspective. set in the early 1960s and late 1960s in nigeria, the novel recounts the various dimensions of intrigues and bloody violence such as the coup and counter coup of january 15 and july 29, 1966 which lead to the civil war. in the first part of the novel which covers the early 1960s, the major characters—ugwu, olanna, kainene, odenigbo and richard—are introduced to the reader. in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 90 published by scholink inc. this part, the interpersonal and inter-ethnic rivalries leading to the civil war are also presented. the events in the 1960s, as presented in the novel, record the various dimensions of brutality that characterize the war. starvation, homelessness, economic dislocation and mass death are among the consequences of the war on the people, especially the igbo. beyond the war, however, the novel also centers on various form of amorous and platonic love. these are captured through the characters of odenigbo, ugwu, olanna, mama, susan, richard and kainene. 3.2 major thematic preoccupations in there was a country and half of a yellow sun for practical considerations and because of the identical realities and preoccupations of themes, setting, time and locale of the two texts—there was a country and half of a yellow sun—the discussion of their major themes and messages shall be intertwined in this paper. power struggle: power struggle is one of the themes of the texts. as shown in the two texts, the nigerian political elite who inherit the rein of power from colonial masters are engaged in inter-personal war of supremacy. for instance, achebe shows how the nigerian nationalists—nnamdi azikwe, obafemi awolowo, sir ahmadu bello, aminu kano and others—through their various political parties and newspapers contribute to the nationalist struggle with a view to liberating their country from colonial masters as well as appropriating power to themselves and their various tribes. the text-achebe’s memoir—also depicts the intrigues and hostility that define party politics in the early years of nigerian independence. the reader is told that “elections were rigged, the national census staged-managed; and the judges and magistrates manipulated by politicians in power” (p. 51). similarly, adichie’s novel also alludes to the political intrigues and power struggle that characterize the post-independence era in nigeria. for example, the reader is informed by odenigbo about the outbreak of violent protests in lagos and ibadan which is generated by cooked election results and electoral malpractice. inter-ethnic conflicts: intertwined with the theme of power struggle is the issue of inter-ethnic conflicts. power struggle among members of political class is exacerbated by inter-ethnic hostilities. led by kaduna nzeogwu, the january 15, 1966 coup which claimed the lives of prominent nigerian politicians such as ahmadu bello, samuel akintola, okotie ebo and others was perceived by some northerners as “igbo coup”. the coup is not only followed by a counter-coup by soldiers of the northern extraction, a number of attacks are also carried out against the igbo. as narrated by achebe, “it is a desperate time. soldiers […] used by elements in power to commit a number of crimes against the igbo, nigerian citizens” (p. 67). in half of a yellow sun, adichie alludes to a similar event when the bbc reports that “[…] they are killing igbo officers in kaduna”. the killing of olanna’s auntie and uncle by some violent youths in the north also shows the inter-ethnic conflicts that characterize the power struggle in post-independence nigeria. secession and war: secession and war constitute salient preoccupations of the two texts. the reader is presented with the struggle of the igbo political elite to break away from the nigerian state owing perhaps, to their sense of insecurity and perceived marginalization from power. the biafran www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 91 published by scholink inc. secessionist agenda is met with “police action” by the gowon led federal government of nigeria. this eventually results in bloody civil war. although achebe and adichie, as depicted in the texts, share the notion that the igbo people are victims of the aggression of the nigerian state owing to the monumental tragedies they suffer in the war, the secession and the war are integral parts of power struggle used by various members of political elite to pursue their private political agenda. political corruption: the thematic import of political corruption, which engenders resentment, coup and counter-coup, is equally foregrounded in the texts. while achebe appears to blame the occupiers of power, especially the northerners, for the pervasive corruption and abuses of power that engulf the country in the early phase of nigerian independence, adichie shows that political corruption and abuses of power in that period transcend ethnic boundary. this is reflected in the characters of chief ozobia and okonji, both of whom are igbo. chief okonji is a finance minister who uses his position as a public servant to advance his personal interest and that of his cronies. his intention to offer olanna a position in the ministry of finance authenticates this point. olanna’s assertion that her father, chief ozobia, and “his politician friends steal money with contracts, but nobody makes them kneel to beg for forgiveness. and they build houses with their stolen money and rent them out to people” (p. 221) shows that political corruption and abuses of public offices are not limited to politicians of the northern region. literary arts as tools of emancipation: the tropes of literary arts as tools of socio-political and cultural emancipation are also evident. achebe contends that african literature and african writers, from the colonial era, have been actively parts of socio-political, cultural and ideological struggles to liberate the african continent from colonial domination. he submits that the objective of an indigenous african literary renaissance that emerges during colonial period in africa is “to challenge stereotypes, myths and images of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories—prose, poetry, essays, and books for children” (p. 53). in an attempt to achieve this objective, achebe notes, many african writers engage in “politics of representation” by “writing back” to the western colonialists order to subvert their unicentric notion of african people as uncivilized. similarly, he indicates that writers are enlisted in the nigerian—biafran war. this is captured in the text through the characters of soyinka, okigbo and achebe himself. in half of a yellow sun, okeoma’s involvement in the war and richard’s book: the world was silent when we die, show how literary arts and writers are implicated in the contest for political power. this further signifies that literary arts and writers are not neutral in the discourse of power. influence of western powers: another theme that is evident in the works is the overbearing influence of western powers on modern african states. the independence of many african countries notwithstanding, they are still being controlled by the world powers. there was a country, for instance, claims that the war is not fought and lost without the influence of the united nations. achebe alleges that the silence of the united nations on the human tragedies suffered by the igbo is a kind of complicity with the atrocity of the gowon-led federal government. achebe equally argues that when www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 92 published by scholink inc. ojukwu reaches “desperately to the united nations” for mediation, he met with “a defeating silence” while “u thant turned to nigerians for direction” (p. 212). also, in half of a yellow sun, the first military coup is labeled an “igbo coup” (p. 125) by the bbc. similarly, during the counter coup of july 1966, the same media reports that the igbo are being killed by the northern officers abound. the instances show the influence of western powers on african countries. destructive nature of war: the works also thematise the destructive nature of war. in both texts, war is depicted as a human engagement which inflicts incalculable suffering on human beings. “by the beginning of the dry season of 1968”, for example, “biafran civilians and soldiers alike were starving” (p. 210). achebe recounts. human “bodies lay rotting under the hot sun by the roadside, and flapping wings of scavengers could be seen circling, waiting patiently nearby” (p. 210). a similar gory picture is painted by adichie through the character of ugwu. when ugwu gets to the hospital, after he is helped escape by deserting soldiers, he sees “many bodies littered around him on mats, on mattresses, on the bare floor” (p. 293). apart from starvation, eminent and ordinary citizens, including children and women are also killed in the war. for example, the war claimed the life of a prolific nigerian poet christopher okigbo (okeoma in half of a yellow sun) are also instances of the destructive nature of war. gender conflicts: intra-gendered and inter-gendered conflicts are also themes that permeate the texts. as depicted in there was a country, the political crises, including the secession, coups, “the police action” and war, are a kind of intra-gendered conflicts among the male folk. because virtually all the principal characters in the conflicts are male, the civil war is an enactment of patriarchal power tussle. it shows the patriarchal character of the nigerian state. this instance is equally seen in half of a yellow sun. however, intra-gendered conflicts are not limited to the male folk. the wrangling between mama and olanna on the one hand, and the malice between olanna and kainene on the other reveal the extant intra-gendered conflicts among the female folk. linked to this is the inter-gendered discord between mama and her son, odenigbo. mama succeeds in manipulating odenigbo to sleep with amala against his wish. richard is also manipulated by susan. similarly, chief ozobia not only cheats on his wife; he also uses his daughter olanna, as a sex bait in order to secure contracts from the minister of finance, chief okonji. love affair: the theme of love, both amorous and platonic, is depicted in various ways in the texts. although, there was a country mainly focuses on the war, a deeper reading of the text reveals that it also deals with love. unrestrained love for power is illustrated in the text through the failure of ojukwu and gowon to reach an accommodation on the various national issues that eventually lead to the war. as achebe puts it, “both are blinded by ego, […] obsessed with interpersonal competition and petty rivalries” (p. 123). buttressing this point further, achebe aptly observes that “there was an obsessive tendency by both belligerents—ojukwu and gowon—to seek position of strength and avoid looking weak throughout the conflicts” (p. 125). this irrational, patriarchal love (or it is lust?) for power by the two soldiers results in a civil war and irredeemable tragedies for the country. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 93 published by scholink inc. beyond patriarchal love for absolute power, adichie demonstrates the ways love serves as means of confronting violence, especially in a period of war. this is illustrated through the love affair between odenigbo and olanna. the love affair between kainene and richard further signifies how love serves as means of liberating an individual from emotional estrangement. richard, who has been lonely for many years, becomes liberated from his emotional alienation when he finds true love in kainene. cultural solidarity: achebe illustrates and demonstrates a fervent socio-cultural affinity of the igbo people in there was a country; for instance, a substantial number of the lgbo people solidarise with ojukwu both socially and culturally in his secessionist bid and in the three-year spanned war. this theme of support and solidarity is demonstrated by adichie in half of a yellow sun through the language barrier that is broken by a white man-richard-speaking the igbo language almost with an unclogged-wheel frequency. indeed, richard eats the igbo meals, marries an igbo woman-kainene and socialises with the igbo people and imbibes their culture in every ramification. the cultural solidarity deployed by adichie here is enough to qualify richard as an igbo-white entity. 4. syntactic clues to gender and power relations in the texts 4.1 materials processes the materials process, under the transitivity system, is the branch of the syntactic clue used for a brief analysis in this study. fowler and kress (1979); simpson (2004) maintain that materials processes are highlighted by the agent-action-affected semantic structure. in the materials processes an entity (actor) is construed which acts on another entity (goal, patient, beneficiary or maleficiary). this anchors or depends on the type of action, varied degrees and kinds of power that are signified as would be shown in the analysis of the texts under study. indeed, materials processes are “doing” processes. the notion that some entity “does” something is expressed by materials processes which evidently may be done to some other entity. in the processes, two participants are involved in the role; they are: actor and goal. in the analysis below, the use of material processes both by achebe and adichie in the texts selected for this study have some gender ideological orientations and power relation identities and implications as evidenced in the following excerpts, first, from achebe’s there was a country. excerpt 1 marauding northern youths armed with machetes, knives and other instruments of death attacked unsuspecting civilians, mostly igbos (pp. 80-81). in the excerpt above, the powerful, who are also the actor is the “marauding northern youths armed with machetes, knives and other instruments of death” who are poised to vent their spleen on the powerless; the word “attacked” happens to be the materials process which shows the virulent action of the agent on the malevolent and defenceless goal, the “unsuspecting civilians, mostly igbos”. the igbos as demonstrated here by achebe are being oppressed by the powerfully armed northern youths who discriminate against their poor country men. the author uses another materials process as we have in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 94 published by scholink inc. the following excerpt. excerpt 2 the nigerian air force shot down a swedish red cross plane carrying humanitarian supplies and medicines to the sick and dying in biafra, killing all aboard … (p. 101). in the excerpt above, “the nigerian air force” is the powerful and at the same time the actor, while “shot down” is one of the materials processes in the excerpt; “a swedish red cross plane …” is a defenseless goal in the excerpt, again, the materials process, “killing” exhibits the power relations of the actor, “nigerian air force” over the malevolent rather than the benevolent goal “all aboard”. achebe paints the picture here that the igbo citizens were seriously demoralized by the nigerian army and were also grossly dehumanized by the nigerian military might. in adichie’s half of a yellow sun, a lot of feminine gender power relations are foregrounded. in other words, adichie subtly makes more prominent, in the materials transitivity system, her gender preoccupation than the masculine one. this is made evident in the following excerpts below from the text. excerpt 3 her lips were still against his and her words suddenly took on a different meaning and she moved back and pulled her dress over her head in one fluid gesture. she unbuckled his trousers. she did not let him take them off. she turned back and leaned on the wall and guided him into her, excited by his surprise, by his firm hands on her hips (p. 344). naturally and expectedly, the man takes the leading and active role in love making. however, adichie, in her intricacy and subtlety, through the materials transitivity pattern, makes olanna, the woman take the active role over odenigbo, the man. in another words, olanna the female, is the actor throughout the act of love making here while odenigbo, the male, is the passionate but subdued benevolent goal. in the expression, “her lips were still against his …”, we realize that “her lips” is the active/agent, while “were still against” is the materials process, “his” takes the role of the goal. the woman did not let the man take off her dress for her but “she moved back and pulled her dress over her head”. she is the actor, “moved back” and “pulled” are the materials processes, while “her dress” is the goal. again, the woman did not let the man unbutton his trousers by himself, but “she unbuckled his trousers”, “she” is the actor, while “unbuckled” is the materials process, “his trousers” becomes the goal. lastly here, the woman also takes the leading role again as “she did not let him take them off” then “she turned her back and leaned on the wall and guided him into her, …”. “she’’ is the actor here and the materials processes are “turned”, “leaned” and “guided” while the goals are “the wall” and “him”. incidentally and interestingly as well, the woman takes the more active role in love making here as she guided the man into her in lieu of letting the man take the most active and manly role in love making of guiding himself into the woman; but adichie takes the role the other way around. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 95 published by scholink inc. another transitivity pattern that demonstrates the materials process in the same text by adichie which is an exhibition of power relation is expressed below: excerpt 4 “what is there to buy in biafra? they have blockaded us kpam-kpam” (p. 357). there is nothing to buy in biafra for, during the war, the nigerian contingents of the army who are the powerful actor “they” “have blockaded” (materials process) “us” becomes the goal. the nigerian contingents blockaded the biafran people from getting food and medical supplies within and outside the country so that the biafrans can be suppressed and be easily defeated in the war. again, there is another gender relation materials process in the same text by adichie where the female takes the active role of cuddling the man like a baby while she sobbed. excerpt 5 “she held him close to her and sobbed” (p. 391). “she”, olanna, is the active actor, “held” is the materials process, while “him”, odenigbo, becomes the goal. the materials process in the following excerpt in the same text has a close likeness to the penultimate instance both in gender and power relation preoccupations. excerpt 6 “olanna cradled him closer” (p. 402). “olanna”, the woman, takes the actor’s role; “cradled” becomes the materials process, while “him”, odenigbo, the man, is the submissive goal. in adichie’s text, half of a yellow sun, the author subtly presented women as the actors in the materials processes while the men are cast in the positions of the goals. 5. conclusion achebe’s memoir, there was a country, and adichie’s “faction”, half of a yellow sun, have both explored the issues of the nigerian civil war stressing mostly the pogrom and the excruciating suffering and subjugation of the igbos during the conflict. the two texts share almost the same notion both in context and theme; again the linguistic configurations of the authors share the same easy, free-flow and reader friendly premises. there is, however, a sort of discontinuity in the gender and power relation preoccupations of the authors, for while achebe pursues a masculine gender power predilection through the use of igbo proverbs and clichés in the text, adichie subtly and intricately represents women as the actors in the materials processes as the men take the submissive position of the goal. this represents adichie’s feminine gender affinity. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 96 published by scholink inc. references adegbite, w. (2009). language, gender and politics: a general politics, a general perspective. in odebunmi et al. (eds.), language, gender and politics: a festschrift for yisa kehinde yusuf. ashcroft, b., griffiths, g., & tiffin, h. (eds.). (1995). the post-colonial studies reader. new york: routledge. azuike, m. a. (2009). “women’s struggle and independence in adichie’s. purple hibiscus and half of a yellow sun”. african research review, 3(4), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v3i4.47548 barnard, c. d., & kinggeorge, o. p. (2014). history, memory and politics of national unity in adichie’s. half of a yellow sun and achebe’s there was a country. international journal on studies in english language and literature, 81-89. chimamanda, n. a. (2014). half of a yellow sun. india, manipal technologies ltd. chinua, a. (2012). there was a country. great britain, clays ltd. ekhator, o. g. (2014). “there was a country”—the reminiscence of nigeria-biafra civil war and elites’ perception of nation and nationalism. historical research letter, 12, 13-25. encarta encyclopedia. (2005). gender. microsoft standard. foucault, m. (1980). power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writing 1972-1977. london: harvester press. fowler, r. k. g. (1979). critical linguistics. in r. fowler et al. (eds.), language and gender (pp. 185-213). london, rontledge and kegan paul ltd. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436215-10 galbraith, j. k. (2007). an anatomy of power (electronic version). wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. retrieved june 21, 2015, from http/www.goggle.wikipedia goodman, l. et al. (eds.). (1996). literature and gender. london, routledge. halliday, m. a. k. (1985). an introduction to functional grammar. london: edward arnold. kendall, s., & tannen, d. (2001). discourse and gender. in d. shiriffin, d. tannen, & h. e. hamilton (eds.), the handbook of discourse analysis. maiden, oxford and victoria: blackwell. makokha, g. a. (2014). portrayal of african woman in half of a yellow sun. journal research on peace gender and development (jrpgd), 4(6), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.14303/jrpgd.2014.041 ngugi wa thiong’o. (1972). homecoming. london, heinemann. oloruntoba-oju, t. (2009). language and gender performatives in the nigerian context. citation and de-citation in yoruba and “nollywood” films in language, gender and politics. in o. akin et al. (eds.), a festschrift for yisa kehinde yusuf. concept publications press, lagos, nigeria. simpson, p. (2004). stylistics: a resourse book for students. london and new york routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203496589 tsaaior, j. t. (2009). language, gender and politics. in odebunmi et al. (eds.), a festschirft for yisa kehinde yusuf. lagos, nigeria, concept publications press. tyson, l. (2006). critical theory today. london, routledge. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 97 published by scholink inc. van dijk, t. a. (1998). critical discourse analysis. in t. deborah, s. deborah, & h. heidi (eds.), handbook of critical discourse analysis. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584194.ch22 werber, m. (2007). power (sociology) wikipedia: the free encyclopedia (electronic). global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 35 original paper from affect to spontaneity hakan uşakli 1* 1 sinop university education faculty, sinop, turkey received: february 1, 2020 accepted: february 13, 2020 online published: february 25, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n1p35 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n1p35 abstract purpose: this article aims to make a comparison between two profound thinkers, educationalist, jewish one is spanish origin northern european baruch spinoza (born 1632, died 1677) and the other is mid europe psychiatrist, jacob levy moreno (born 1889, died 1974). method: qualitative research methods were used to prepare this manuscript. two main books and thirty-six scientific articles which are relevant to this study were scrutinized carefully to find out why their study domains are so crucial in modern daily life. content and thematic analysis were used to draw a general look for two theorists. maxqda computer program used for analyses. findings: from math studies to explain the universe, optical illustrations to make near objects in distance are the main concerns of spinoza. starting in medical help especially psychiatry to cue psychology mall adaptive behaviors and psychodrama to understand behaviors of routine in everyday life are the concerns of moreno. both philosophers are studied for understanding the interactions of objects to help people. this is also the modern life’s societies not only in research places such as in academics but also to rise modern people in schools. implications for research and practice: comparison between spinoza and moreno is the main aim in overall. it is recommended that all of the subjects, objects related to human interactions should carry onboard human interaction. affection based interactions should be done in all settings. all people should be taken part in such intense human interactions to make a more meaningful life not only in intuitions such as school but also in daily life such as any meeting such as in public building corridors. it is concluded that spinoza means affection and moreno means spontaneity. how our affection and spontaneity affecting our daily life, expectancy from life and life from us can be a starting point for investigations. keywords spinoza, moreno, affection, spontaneity www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 36 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction encounters and interactions have been shaping our lives. this is not new as old as humans and will be brand new as first lights of the sun. spinoza, the dutch philosopher, still is young although four centuries passed away. there are many writings which were written, have been writing and will be written upon him. his life philosophy still affects all over the world of ideas. his ideas are not only structural issues on math but also in other disciplines such as art, sociology, psychology and educational science. the other character of this manuscript is moreno. although he is not popular as spinoza, he shares the same destiny with him. moreno is more mobile than spinoza. from romaine to vienna, he visited a good deal of land in the world such as africa and the united states. he is the founder of sociometry that is the backbone of modern sociology and psychodrama is the art of group therapy. math studies to explain the universe, optical illustrations to make near objects in distance are the main concerns of spinoza. having a medical degree and so on works, especially psychiatry to help psychology mall adaptive behaviors and psychodrama to understand behaviors of routine in daily routine life are the concerns of moreno. both philosophers made studies for understanding the interactions of objects to help people. this is also the modern life‟ educational psychologists not only in research places such as in academics but also to rise modern people in schools. this study is important for opening intens comparsison between spinoza and moreno like prälemenory studies (usakli, 2019; azevedo, 2017). 2. literature review affection is an intense feeling of love or like. spinoza devoted a good deal of his life to get a clear explanation of affect, affection, and emotion. baruch spinoza (1677/1876 cited from mandler, 2003) broke the still popular view of the emotions as bothersome intrusions and insisted that they can be seen as natural and lawful phenomena. he is one of the major expositors of the notion that the passions are essentially conative, that is, derived from motivational forces, just as aristotle and hobbes had asserted before him. for spinoza the passions—pleasure, pain, and desire—are all derived from the drive to self-preservation, to maintain one‟s own existence (mandler, 2003, p. 158). this manuscript compares those main characters. naturally great historic characters make this study important and valuable. that is why there is no paper issuing those characters. the limitation of the study is handing the study only in the frame of educational psychology. so it is better to start the definition of the main terms. these are educational psychology, psychodrama, and art. the art as an umbrella term for all affectional forms of all encounters is not the main concern of this manuscript. that is why from dramatic expression (arts of stages) to musical existential or from paint that is imprinting of being in future to dance all poses of the whole of the body are all expressions of the being. as baker (2015) indicated, works of spinoza addresses arts in all subjects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 37 published by scholink inc. psychodrama or spontaneity theater founded by moreno (1985) requires participants, stage, techniques, and manager. psychodrama is a therapeutic process of daily conflicts. perhaps the most handicap of this group therapy is that it has been mentioning with only the founder. turnover, absenteeism, smoking, bullying, sarcastic seem to be a normal way of nowadays‟ school life. contemporary researchers and prevention projects draw the apparent attention of policymakers in education to the new approaches for school interaction life such as social-emotional learning or self-determination. the importance of this study is to arouse different aspects of school life in terms of two great philosophers spinoza and moreno. spinoza is still alive from the 15 th century to today. he is in every aspect of life not only scientifically but also layman‟s life. in politics celermajer (2019), post-modern social life of encounters sagredo aguayo (2019), political theology robbins (2018), theology in general (ţăreanu, 2019), philology touber (2018), pragmatist way of philosophizing fabbriches (2019), modern philosophy (segovia, 2019), history of science (nadler, 2019; monaco, 2019), political thought (field, 2019, sided from skeoff, 2018); mathematics (usó-doménech, nescolarde-selva, gash, 2019), and his works in general (di popa, 2018). all these papers are only in the first two decades of the 20 th century. millions of references are apparent testimonial for the magnificence of spinoza. only three centuries later form spinoza, moreno is one of the most powerful medical doctor, therapist, psychodramatist, sociometry test specialist and is still alive in the name of him by institutes in all over the world. the subject specialist knows him by the conversation with other folk but the founder of modern psychology sigmund freud “… you analyzed their dreams, i try to give them the courage to dream again …” (marineau, 1989, p. 30); “that is freudian perspective reminiscence people their past, whereas morenoin view forced to live people‟s memories and what they desire …”. this open entry shows that the modern world has no time to devote long hours to consolidate the dichotomous process that analyzes; action in front of others is much more than to grasp and therapeutic recovery. wieser and ameln (2014) investigated his personal life. scherr (2013) conducted research on social life in refugee camps. sociometric structure in ww i (scherr, 2014). an interesting study in positive psychology orkibi (2019). psychotherapy for patients in many aspects such as infertility, hospitalized, addictions, interpersonal skills (terzioğlu & özkan, 2018; takis, 2018; kress & kern, 2018; aas et al., 2018). spinoza is in every aspect of our emotional way of life mainly including in family (parker et al., 2012). motivating our life (serrano, losada, & martin, 2016) his attempt to develop a vision of ethics in his work ethics, demonstrated according to geometric order. from antic word to today people are in and within the theater, artistic, esthetic expressions. moreno formulated his method drawing from the theater. he named it as psychodrama to separate from the theater. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 38 published by scholink inc. the aim of this paper is to get cues between spinoza and moreno. therefore two main books about those philosophers were investigated. the author deuluetz who is a philosopher, artist, and spinoza specialist in the book “spinoza: practical philosophy” scrinused carefully., moreno‟ colleagues and the book “psychodrama since moreno” that was written with moreno is a counter source that was investigated in this article. there is no work on a deep investigation between spinoza and moreno. this paper lays out how these two chief human engineers should be investigated in terms of emotion and spontaneity. garber (2019), compares social and natural science in respect need to well be of societies from the 16 th century‟s profound researchers. one of them is even spinoza. educational psychologist‟s work should be as garber (2019) indicated exploring man‟s external and internal worlds, respectively. 3. method the qualitative research method was adopted in the research; comparative scanning method was used. while collecting data for research, attention was paid to use various sources and keep them up to date. among these resources; scientific articles, books, web sites of philosophy and psychotherapy were used. after the data was collected, the analyzes and comparisons were made by using the document analysis method. the document review includes the analysis of all written materials containing information about the fact and case investigation. there is no need to make observations and interviews while collecting data in document analysis. the data were analyzed by following the steps of: (1) accessing documents, (2) checking authenticity, (3) understanding documents, (4) analyzing data, and (5) using data. to ensure validity and reliability, the data obtained from the documents was kept up to date. the data was interpreted, tabulated and objectively approached, and personal opinions and interpretations were not reflected in the study. in this study, content and thematic analysis were used by cutting across data and searching for patterns and themes. content and thematic analysis are totally two different qualitative data gathering methods. their main difference lies in the possibility of quantification of data in the content analysis by measuring the frequency of different categories and themes, which cautiously may stand as a proxy for significance vaismoradi, mojtaba and snelgrove, sherrill (2019). 4. results this study compared spinoza and moreno in the context of affection and spontaneity. in content analysis, two different sources were used. one is “spinoza: practical philosophy (delueze, 1988) and the other one is psychodrama since moreno innovations in theory and practice (holmes, karp, & watson, 2005). table 1 at appendix illustrates most common words frequential distribution to aim for content analysis. the result indicates that affect, emotion, perspective, and spontaneity are the main nodes or codes in other words concepts. according to table 1, 318 repeated words are affected. here examples from three pages at deleuze, 1988: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 39 published by scholink inc. in page 27 there are 12 word of affects repeated: …affections. an individual is first of all a singular essence, which is to say, a degree of power. a characteristic relation corresponds to this essence, and a certain capacity for being affected corresponds to this degree of power. furthermore, this relation subsumes parts; this capacity for being affected is necessarily filled by affections. thus, animals are defined less by the abstract notions of genus and species than by a capacity for being affected, by the affections of which they are “capable”, by the excitations to which they react within the limits of their capability. consideration of genera and species still implies a “morality”, whereas the ethics is an ethnology which, with regard to men and animals, in each case only considers their capacity for being affected. now, from the viewpoint of an ethnology of man, one needs first to distinguish between two sorts of affections: actions, which are explained by the nature of the affected individual, and which spring from the individual‟s essence; and passions, which are explained by something else, and which originate outside the individual. hence the capacity for being affected is manifested as empower of acting insofar as i; is assumed to be filled by active affections, but as a power of being acted upon insofar as it is filled by passions. for a given individual, i.e., for a given degree of power assumed to be constant within certain limits, the capacity for being affected itself remains constant within those limits, but the power of acting and the power of being acted upon vary greatly, in inverse ratio to one another. … page 49 was consisted of the most frequent affects: “… these states, these affections, images or ideas are not separable from the duration that attaches them to the preceding state and makes them tend towards the next state. these continual durations or variations of perfection are called “affects”, or feelings (affectus). it has been remarked that as a general rule the affection (affectio) is said directly of the body, while the affect (affectus) refers to the mind. but the real difference does not reside there. it is between the body‟s affection and idea, which involves the nature of the external body, and the affect, which involves an increase or decrease of the power of acting, for the body and the mind alike. the affectio refers to a state of the affected body and implies the presence of the affecting body, whereas the affectus refers to the passage from one state to another, taking into account the correlative variation of the affecting bodies. hence there is a difference in nature between the image affections or ideas and the feeling affects, although the feeling affects may be presented as a particular type of ideas or affections: “by affect i understand affections of the body by which the body‟s power of acting is increased or diminished, aided or restrained …” (iii, def. 3); “an affect that is called a passion of the mind is a confused idea, by which the mind affirms of its body, or ofsome part of it, a greater or lesser force of existing than before …” (iii, gen. def. of the affects). it is certain that the affect implies an image or idea, and follows from the latter as from its cause (ii, ax. 3). but it is not confined to the image or idea; it is of another nature, being purely transitive, and not indicative or representative, since it is experienced in a lived duration that involves the difference between two states. this is why spinoza shows that the affect is not a comparison of ideas, and thereby rejects any intellectualist interpretation: “when i say a greater or lesser force of existing than before, i www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 40 published by scholink inc. do not understand that the mind compares its body‟s present constitution with a past constitution, but that the idea which constitutes the form of the affect affirms of the body something which really involves more or less of reality than before” (iii, gen. def.). an existing mode is defined by a certain capacity for being affect ...” in page 99 only one paragraph contains 18 affect: “just as the capacity for being affected (potestas) corresponds to the essence of god as power (potentia), an ability (aptus) to be affected corresponds to the essence of the existing mode as a degree of power (conatus). this is why the conatus, in a second determination, is a tendency to maintain and maximize the abilityto be affected (iv, 38). concerning this notion of ability, cf.ethics, ii, 1 3, schol.; iii, post. 1 and 2; v, 39. the difference consistsin this: in the case of substance, the capacity for being affectedis necessarily filled by active affections, since substance produces them (the modes themselves). in the case of the existing mode, its ability to be affected is also realized at every moment, but first by affections (affectio) and affects (affectus) that donot have the mode as their adequate cause, that are produced init by other existing modes; these affections and affects are therefore imaginations and passions. the feelings-affects (affectus) are exactly the figures taken 1;>y the conatus when it is determined to do this or that, by an affection (affectio) that occurs to it. these affections that determine the conatus are a cause of consciousness: the conatus having become conscious of itself under this or that affect is called desire, desire always being a desire for something(iii, def. of desire)”. it is apparently seen that “affect” is the main concept that stants for spinoza. affect, emotion, perspective and spontan also scimmed for moreno in the book holmes, karp, watson, 2005. 237 times word of spontan repeted. here some examples from pages: the word “spontan” 12 times repeted at the page 35: “… one participant found it helpful to connect with her shadow self. as she searched for what was blocking her spontaneous expression, removing each doll brought her nearer to her interior self. „if i am spontaneous i show my vulnerability, i show fear; if i show fear i show need, and if i show need i may become spontaneous, and if i am spontaneous i will be annihilated‟. annihilation was a common block to spontaneity in this group. it led to a discussion of the need to draw on the light and dark sides of oneself for the fulfillment of spontaneity. but the fearful business of risking the dark and potentially destructive parts of ourselves seems to create intense fear of disappointment and therefore the self closes up or disappears. in the moment of fear, one is reminded of childhood attempts at spontaneity which were punished or not rewarded. the parental statement, „i want, doesn‟t get‟ can be an example of this dampening effect. we need to use both joyful and dark energies in spontaneous production. another participant who connected with her shadow self later reflected: in psychotherapy, while it is important to touch and understand the personal/historical origins of one‟s own angst, it is also essential to accept and own one‟s „shadow‟ for this provides life-giving energy towards creativity and wholeness and liberates us from the continuing need to blame others or „life‟ for our insufficiencies. to live creatively, then, is to live with paradox—to embrace the two sides of oneself mirrored in joy and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 41 published by scholink inc. despair, life and death (elizabeth ash, 1989, unpublished manuscript). a later use of this technique is to start with the largest doll already empty and go down in size with each revelation. for example, i will be spontaneous because i won‟t be annihilated. i won‟t be annihilated because i won‟t show fear; and so on, up the dolls as each is put together again. the most common answers as to why „i won‟t be spontaneous‟ were: i won‟t belong. i might be annihilated. i might not be liked. i might be a nuisance. i might not be loved. i don‟t trust myself. many people felt that the original message given by a parent figure was: „be careful not to react naturally because that will cause trouble‟. the message later in life after entering therapy, becomes the opposite of that: trouble exists because natural responses have been aborted. be yourself‟. it is interesting to note that the single most sought-after state for people asking for psychological help is „to just be me‟. to „just be me‟ takes courage and confidence. courage and confidence can be trained in people, with the support of a group. this curious conflict between being yourself in one situation and not being yourself in another situation restricts many people throughout their lives. training for spontaneity, a seeming contradiction in terms, helps people reverse the negative dictum, „do not be you‟, to the positive one, „be you‟. they learn both adequacy and appropriateness of a given response. where spontaneity has been severely prohibited, the person may become anxious or hyperactive. he or she learns to do anything, just to be doing something. the opposite may also occur. the individual may close down entirely and be fearful of doing anything at all …” 13 times at the page 38: “been there before and would be again. these were „token‟ paintings, that is to say each painting was a copy of what had been done before. for example, a rose-covered cottage, a token seascape, a token still-life—none very interesting or having a feeling of inspiration. ken then gave a talk about the importance of using stories as a basis for their paintings. a farmer‟s wife, who lived near us, asked if she could tell a story. excitedly, she told us about the drunken sale of a pig. one night her husband had arranged to sell a pig. the buyer arrived and the two farmers began to chat and drink. after much drinking, at one o‟ clock in the morning, by moonlight, the two farmers tried to push the pig into the back of the buyer‟s car so that he could take the pig home. both farmers, and their wives, laughed and shoved the pig into the back of the car. margaret, the teller of the story, said she‟d never forget the sight of squashing a pig into the back seat of a car by moonlight. what an idea for a painting! this idea became the basis for her new work and the spontaneity level entered her creation at last. spontaneity prepares the subject for free action. if the warm-up to an act is achieved and the person fails to complete the act, it is like being in labour forever without a birth. anxiety occurs when the full state of readiness is aborted. when anxiety is high, spontaneity is low and when spontaneity is high, anxiety is low. it is suggested by paul holmes that the presence of anxiety is the cause of a loss of spontaneity: „it is increasing anxiety, associated with physiological changes needed for an adequate physical response to danger which reduces spontaneity and the ability to find creative solutions‟ (holmes, 1992, p. 143). „spontaneity is the state of production and is the engine that drives the creative act‟ (moreno, 1953, p. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 42 published by scholink inc. 334)”. the creative act—four characteristics in morenian theory there are four characteristics (referred to as characters) in the creative act (moreno, 1977, p. 35). the first character is its spontaneity. the spontaneity prepares the subject for free action. the second character is a feeling of surprise, the unexpected aspect of the act. the third is breaking the existing reality in some way. and the fourth character of the creative act is acting sui generis or in a one-of-a-kind state. in order that the moment is sui generis, a change must take place in the situation, the change must give a feeling of novelty, and the perceived novelty involves activity from the subject, an act of warming-up to a spontaneous state (moreno, 1977, p. 104). margaret‟s story of the pig illustrates the four characterists of a creative act. the novelty of pushing a pig into the back seat of a car in the moonlight creates an excitement to impart the tale. producing the story is allowing it to call out and be released from the person who experienced it. this raw immediacy forms a process that demands telling. when that must-tell phenomenon is allowed to unfold, spontaneous expression occurs. the feeling of surprise is evidenced throughout the story. no money for the sale was ever mentioned, for example. the manner of selling the pig, the drinking and the socialising were the key surprise elements. the actual sale of the pig happened at the end of the story. it broke existing reality because one‟s eyes see an illusion. it is hard to contemplate pig sales at this hour or in that light. it certainly was a one-of-a-kind state (fourth characteristic) as the business interreaction came as an aftermath of an evening‟s enjoyment. the sale of the pig was a small detail in the larger backdrop of acres of farmland, farmhouse, cars, tractors, all drenched in moonlight. brueghel‟s paintings of flemish scenery have the same quality of spontaneity and surprise that break existing reality and create novelty. in the fall of icarus you see the foreground taken up with a farmer ploughing his field and in the very background of the painting is the small figure of icarus falling from the sky. i like this painting enormously. it speaks of the most important subjects in life appearing as detail. in the novel work of brueghel, his spontaneity allows him to take a huge subject—icarus falling from the sky—and set it in perspective among the significant everyday acts of the flemish peasants. each act of theirs is”. in page 42 there are also 13 times repeted word of spontan: “the above are my observations. it is easy to recognise when the climax of expression is over. in act hunger, usually the level of spontaneity enables a creative result. the level of spontaneity enables a creative result recently i worked with a protagonist who had been severely abused by an alcoholic father and emotionally abandoned by a domineering mother. in setting up the scene of her present bedroom she reversed roles with the most significant object in the room, her teddy bear. „i‟ve been with you thirty-two years. i‟ve never betrayed you like they have. i will be with you during this next difficult period, as i always have been‟. the protagonist looked rather shocked to think that this bit of worn fur was the most loyal and fiercely supportive member of her family. in later scenes, when she needed to trace the origins of her own drinking pattern, a fearful confrontation with her father was needed. she www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 43 published by scholink inc. felt she hadn‟t the strength to stand up to him. „who could?‟ i asked her. she then took the role of her bear, bared her teeth at father and went to a scene where he beat her. in the role of the bear, she finally ventilated some of the rage pent up inside her and spoke of the gross indignity of her treatment by him. it was the first time a full-blown confrontation could occur and her hunger to act was completed. her spontaneity in life had been blocked by her real fear and anxiety of further abuse. this new response to an old situation with her father was just what was needed to break through her role boundaries. the phenomenon of spontaneity has effects in the body. the life energy that is created during the force of the spontaneous act can alter the mind/body state. spontaneity is the factor animating mental phenomena to appear fresh, new and flexible. this intense feeling of novelty seems to be the result of cognitive restructuring. the actor/thinker replaces known solutions with newly recognised behavioural possibilities. spontaneity lies at the fountain of this transition. leonard laskow, a pioneering physician working on mind/body medicine, states that the physical body is a field of energy that has taken a particular form and by restructuring energy patterns through focused intention and imagery we can ameliorate or even cure (laskow, 1992, p. 189). the relationship of spontaneity: creativity and how it fits into psychodrama directing spontaneity is the engine that drives the creative act. the process of psychodrama involves the movement from cultural conserves with stereo-typically prescribed roles to an increased role repertoire borne out of spontaneity. protagonists develop greater role-taking skills and are released from their old frozen attitudes and roles, becoming more authentic and open. it seems reasonable to assume that as protagonists experiment with new roles in the psychodramatic situation, they begin to change feeling and thought in their new roles. subjects report beginning to see their world differently and look at their own lives from a new perspective. psychodrama presents an array of novel situations which require the total attention of the protagonist and group members for the production of adequate responses. the opportunity for the emergence of spontaneity is maximised in creating new behaviour. the lead person in creating new behaviour is the director. the director should be a model of spontaneity for group members to emulate. just as the protagonist sets the role of the „other‟ in the session, the director sets the role of „the spontaneous group member‟. though issues of transference are minimised rather than maximised in psychodrama, the role of good parent or bad parent exists for many directors with a particular group member. it may be a conscious effort for a director to play a good parent for a damaged protagonist. this necessitates responsibility and…” moreno means that affect, emotion, perspective and spontan. this study compeard two ideolog spinoza and moreno the belowe figure ullustrates two thmes connections between nodes. when spinoza is affect moreno is spontan. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 44 published by scholink inc. figure 1. spinoza’s nodes figure 1 illustrates most repeated words by spinoza and taken into accound as nodes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 45 published by scholink inc. figure 2. moreno’ nodes figure 2 illustrates most repeated words by moreno and taken into accound as nodes. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 46 published by scholink inc. figure 3. spinoza versus moreno in figure 3 ilustretes the main concepts of spinoza and moreno cross with each other. 5. discussion, conclusion, recommendations 5.1 spinoza in forty five years of his life, baruch spinoza gives works that made him one of the most influential philosophers in times. spanish or portuguese extraction jewish family spinoza lived most of his life in the two nederland cities amsterdam and hague. spinoza published first and second parts of the principles of the philosophy of rene descartes, demonstrated in the manner of the geometers, metaphysical thoughts and the theological-political treatise. in addition to these, he wrote the manuscript although he didn‟t manage for publication (deleuze, 1988). later in the seventeenth century, baruch spinoza (1677/1876) broke with the still popular view of the emotions as bothersome intrusions and insisted that they can be seen as natural and lawful phenomena. he is one of the major expositors of the notion that the passions are essentially conative, that is, derived from motivational forces, just as aristotle and hobbes had asserted before him. for spinoza the passions—pleasure, pain, and desire—are all derived from the drive to self-preservation, to maintain one‟s own existence (mandler, 2003, p. 158). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 47 published by scholink inc. maidansky (2018)‟s article retraces the fate of spinoza‟s ideas in cultural-historical psychology from the late works of lev vygotsky to evald ilyenkov. following spinoza, vygotsky considers affect to be the alpha and omega of all psychic development. the central problem both of ethics and vygotsky‟s last manuscripts is the way to freedom through the rational mastering of affects. vygotsky died before he could carry out his project of a “new psychology” based on spinoza‟s idea of man. his students were not able to continue his work. fabbriches (2019) combined spinoza, emerson, and peirce in the perspective of, pragmatism to rich, how power would-be preparedness to act. celermajer (2019) points to the works of spinoza in the context of a political manner. according to celermajer (2019), drawing on spinoza, the article considers the affective impediments to the uptake of understandings and their correlate practices that require moving beyond agent-centric explanations for grave wrongs. so long as anger, indignation, and blame colonize the individual and broader institutional spheres, they will almost inevitably bind us to a particular type of inadequate causal analysis and make other types of preventative responses appear as derelictions of our duty to hold wrongdoers responsible for their acts. nicolás and johnson (2019) underline the importance of emotional education. educational psychology‟ great issue is respecting, responding emotional uniqueness of objects in an educational environment. as strom et al. (2018) stated our work should prepare educational society from students to parents even education itself to think different. from the facts and fictions, nadler (2019) states that there is a light difference between that is the lowest grade of cognition, grounded in the senses and imagination (p. 554). according to monaca (2018), not only spinoza by his life but also his works as in the case of ethic‟ spanish poet misconceived. robbins (2018) investigated theological look to heresy between spinoza and famous rock singer prince (born 1958, died 2016). he concluded out that heresy today is the supreme example of futility. and it is precisely such waste, expenditure, and nonproductively that we most need. failure is our only option. even more, it is our only hope. 5.2 moreno jacob levy moreno was born in bucharest in 1889 and died in new york in 1974. moreno, the pioneer of interpersonal relations in the fields of sociometry, group therapy, psychodrama, and sociodrama, entered the domain of family therapy when he published “inter-personal therapy and the psychopathology of inter-personal relations” (farmer, 1995). the concept of spontaneity was first introduced to psychotherapy by moreno (1953) who considered it a major contributor to well-being. his theory and the kind of group therapy (psychodrama) he created are based on the notion that a spontaneous person is a mentally healthy one. moreno‟s (1953, 1964) theory held that the process leading to well-being begins with a spontaneity that triggers creativity that ends in action. interestingly, both moreno (1953), an opponent of psychoanalysis, and fiumara (2009), www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 48 published by scholink inc. a psychoanalyst, are in agreement on one point, that is, the importance of spontaneity and its relation to creativity (stadler, wieser, & kirk, 2016). spinoza‟s word of “affect” and “effecting” human geography (curti et al., 2011). orkibi (2019) investigated moreno and his works as a positive psychodrama in the frame of practice and research. garber (2019) explained moreno by compeering galileo and newton in a glance to in the social and humanitarian sciences is the sociometry. affections of body geography as curti et al. (2011) indicated and it‟s the individual universe as spinoza wrote before moreno‟s psychodrama and sociometry is encounters of universes. spinoza also drew attention to how teacher education should be (shann, 2014). education is taking part in perspectives. all the crucial studies of spinoza to rich morality in the perceiving immortality. as dahlbeck (2015) claims (1) the imitation of effects is key to understanding spinoza in an educational setting and; (2) that teaching, in a spinozistic context, involves the act of offering the right amount of resistance. the interrelation of ethnicity and geographic place affects people (kraftl, 2015). like perspective, spontaneity another is a key concept in both parties. spinoza firstly indicated spontaneity as a philosopher whereas moreno emphasized it more as a medical and social scientist (christoforou & kipper, 2006). all those findings are chorent with previous studies (usakli, 2019; azevedo, 2017). baruch spinoza and jacob levy moreno were compared in this study. affection and spontaneity are the main themes in both thinkers. affection is the motive that urges us to do what any organism acts. affection is the love, respect, see, being and making goodness for any matter. spontaneity is life as itself. references aas, b., schiepek, g., stöger-schmidinger, b., aichhorn, w., & goditsch, h. 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(2018). spinoza and biblical philology in the dutch republic. new york: oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198805007.003.0001 usakli, h. (2019). the base for school folks fall in interaction. international journal of education and science, 2(3), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.26697/ijes.2019.3.2 usó-doménech, j. l., nescolarde-selva, j. a., & gash, h. (2019). ontological argument and infinity in spinoza‟s thought. foundations of science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-019-09627-2 vaismoradi, m., & snelgrove, s. (2019). theme in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. forum: qualitative social research, 20(3). wieser, m., & ameln, f. v. (2014). vorwort der herausgeber: jacob levy moreno revisited—ein schöpferisches leben. z psychodrama soziom, 13, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11620-014-0244-y appendix table 1. the words affect, emotion, perspective, spontan distribution in spinoza and moreno page number spinoza moren o page number spinoza moren o page number spinoza moren o page number spinoza moreno 1 2s 66 a 131 a2i, pi 196 3e, p 2 2s 67 s 132 a3ii 197 p 3 a 68 2s 133 aiii, p 2p 198 s 4 69 a2* 134 rp 199 5 e, s 70 a* 135 2rp 200 ar, s 6 71 4a p 136 201 2p 7 72 137 s 202 8 73 4a e 138 203 9 2s 74 3a 7s 139 e, s 204 4a, e 10 a a, 4s 75 2a s 140 s 205 a, s 11 s 76 3a e 141 s 206 e 12 77 e, 2s 142 2s 207 a, p, s 13 p 8s 78 143 a, 2s 208 14 7s 79 e 144 2s 209 e 15 5s 80 e, p 145 a, 2e, 7s 210 e 16 81 a 146 s 211 a, s https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-017-9514-8 https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198805007.003.0001 https://doi.org/10.26697/ijes.2019.3.2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-019-09627-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11620-014-0244-y www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 52 published by scholink inc. 17 2s 82 7a s 147 4s 212 a, p 18 a 83 a, p 148 213 a 19 a e, s 84 s 149 s 214 20 85 150 215 ar 21 3a 86 151 s 216 22 87 4a 152 3s 217 23 s 88 3p 153 218 24 89 e 154 219 25 90 a 3e 155 a, 2p 220 5esi 26 91 a 2e, p 156 s 27 13a a, 7s 92 e, 2s 157 p, s total spinoza moreno 28 3ad 93 158 p affect 318 34 29 e, 4s 94 a e 159 emotion 0 77 30 2s 95 160 p perspect ive 5 45 31 e 96 a6 e 161 spontan 1 237 32 4s 97 4a 2e, 2p 162 33 9e, 2s 98 3a a,e 163 p 34 ad, s 5s 99 18a 164 e 35 12s 100 4a 165 36 a 11s 101 12a 2e 166 37 a 9s 102 9a a, e 167 38 4a p, 13s 103 2a 168 3p 39 6ad p, 7s 104 6a 169 40 2e, 3s 105 170 p 41 9a 3e, 7s 106 s 171 2e, 2p 42 8a e, p, 13s 107 172 p, s 43 4ad 2e, 5s 108 6a 173 p 44 109 a, e, s 174 p, 2s 45 6a p 110 e, p, 3s 175 s 46 3a 111 176 s 47 3e, 3s 112 177 s 48 14a* 2e 113 178 s 49 26a 114 s 179 2s 50 15a 4s 115 a 5a, 2e, 180 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 53 published by scholink inc. s 51 5a 3s 116 2a 181 s 52 a a 117 2e 182 s 53 2a, e 118 2a 183 54 e, s 119 2a 184 e, s 55 2a 120 185 e 56 7a 121 p 186 57 p 122 ad e 187 a, 2s 58 2a 123 6a 188 59 4a 2s 124 18a e 189 s a affect 60 9a p, s 125 10a 190 a,e, s e emotion 61 3a p 126 2a s 191 2e, s p perspective 62 127 a e, p, s 192 s spontan 63 a p, s 128 3a a, e 193 e, s d footnote 64 a s 129 2a a 194 p, 2s * definition 65 3s 130 4a e 195 r reference microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p1 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper language teachers improving their practice and generating knowledge through action research fernando peralta-castro1* & pedro j mayoral-valdivia1 1 school of foreign languages, universidad de colima, villa de alvarez, méxico * fernando peralta-castro, school of foreign languages, universidad de colima, villa de alvarez, méxico received: november 8, 2018 accepted: november 19, 2018 online published: december 5, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p1 abstract this study aims to investigate a group of language teachers who seek to improve their general english syllabus through action research. action research offers practitioners possibilities to address syllabus issues through thoughtful inquiry. because the study requires the researcher to comprehend the subject of study, research techniques allowing participants express their beliefs, and opinions about the syllabus are entirely appropriate. thus, it is unlikely that other research methods allow action researchers understand the contextual reality as qualitative methods do. interviews are conducted as they are widely used in action research studies and are suitable techniques to gain insights into the practitioners’ collective reflective enquiry. the study shows that action research is a valuable tool to improve a language syllabus, an additional element action research offers to the process of syllabus improvement is that teachers can take responsibility for themselves and their actions thus by improving the syllabus they follow, they are able to emancipate themselves from the controlled situation they can find themselves in. keywords teachers, improve, knowledge, action, research 1. introduction perhaps the most recognized reference of action research (ar) is that ar is a well-known tool for change and improve (burns, 2010; mcniff, 2013), several studies validate this (yuan & lee, 2014; cabaroglu, 2014; talandis jr & stout, 2014; wang & zhang, 2014). this study also confirms that ar is a way of looking at one’s practice and take action to improve it. this investigation has also found that ar supports the development of teachers, involving them in a research process. additionally, ar www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 2 published by scholink inc. can serve as a method to help teachers becoming more confident and knowledgeable. the study presents the case of a researcher who involved a group of language teachers in a process of reflection upon a prescribed language syllabus they have followed. throughout enquiry, teachers became aware of the changes necessary to make to the syllabus. they also realised that conducting research is not a restricted activity for them, and that ar research could generate grounded theory. the paper develops a theoretical framework following three main premises: ar can be conducted by practitioners, language teachers, ar can help improve a problematic situation, and ar generates knowledge grounded in practice. a section about critique given to ar is also included. the methodology of the study is mainly qualitative, using interviews as the main source of data. results of the investigation produce a rich description of the involvement of the teachers in the process of syllabus renewal as well as the knowledge they gained during their participation. 2. theoretical framework according to burns (2005) ar is seen as a method used to generate “meaning and understanding in problematic social situations and improving the quality of human interactions and practices within those situations” (p. 57). ar is a methodology that encourages teachers to ask questions about theory and practice and to evaluate their teaching through systematic inquiry (cabaroglu, 2014). ar is a form of collective reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out (kemmis & mctaggart, 1988). the above definitions coincide that ar identifies a problematic situation which needs to be solved within a work environment. reflective inquiry needs to be conducted by practitioners across the ar process. through inquiry practitioners understand the problematic situation and the possible causes of the problem. action is taken in order to improve the initial problem that has been found. there is literature which also suggests that ar can be conducted by practitioners, and generates grounded theory. 2.1 action research can be conducted by teachers adelman (1993) claims that through ar participants can undertake systematic inquiry in search of greater effectiveness through democratic participation. for glassman, erdem and bartholomew (2012) ar is a form of social inquiry through which members of social groups interact with one another, engage in open dialogue about their intergroup relationships, and collectively participate in a learning process to create social change within their communities. ar has become increasingly popular around the world as a form of professional learning, specifically in education. one of the reasons why teachers started to participate as researchers was because traditional educational researchers have a tendency to impose abstract research findings on schools and teachers with little or no attention paid to local variation (anderson, 2002). as mertler (2014, p. 14) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 3 published by scholink inc. reports “i believe that, due to this continued imposition of more traditional research findings, there is a real need for the increased practice of teacher-initiated, classroom-based action research”. the process goes through ontological moments in which practitioners critique their practice, recognise what it is good and build on strengths, as well as understand what needs attention and take action to improve it (mcniff, 2013). producing insights about their own teaching practice is through a process of developing lessons or assessing students learning with careful consideration of education theory, existing research, and practical experience, along with the analysis of the lesson’s effect on student learning (parson & brown, 2002). according to mcniff and whitehead (2010) ar has become increasingly popular around the world as a professional learning tool for practitioners. it has also been recognised as a model for professional growth. furlong and salisbury (2005) found that taking part in ar often led to teachers becoming more confident and knowledgeable, collecting and using evidence, and learning about their own learning. some educational researchers claim that teachers who conduct ar are better informed about their field (bennett, 1993). the participation of teachers and even students in ar has been widely documented. wang and zhang (2014) report on a collaborative ar project carried out by a group of university researches with a group of senior secondary school english teachers in an attempt to promote teacher autonomy in the chinese context. by joining the project, teachers were able to move beyond their routine teaching and critically reflect on their practice, which enhanced their understanding of educational context, making them more active participants of the reform. the main impact of the project on teachers includes their changes of views about students as ways of working with other colleagues. halai (2011) describes a case study conducted by the ministry of education in pakistan aiming to develop understanding of how teachers become action researchers. within the research results, researchers found that teachers who engaged in the ar found that there were many benefits to be obtained from this process; it provided them with opportunity to gain an understanding of conducting research in their own classroom, to become aware of the ways they can study and change their own practice. hong and lawrence (2011) present insights gained from a review of eighty ar projects completed by classroom teachers. the gathered data revealed ar impacted on literacy instruction, something which teachers had struggled with. 2.2 ar generates knowledge grounded in practice mcniff (2013) claims that traditional scientific and social scientific researchers usually see knowledge as a single or detached element found in literature. “knowledge therefore becomes separated from the people who create it” (p. 28). according to johnson (2008) there is a gap between what researchers find and report as a result of their investigations, and what really happens within the field of work. for instance, what occurs every single day in school classrooms, or teacher’s points of view, the teaching-learning process, or the practical challenges are not often reflected in research findings. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 4 published by scholink inc. support comes from whitehead (2009) who received responses from a group of local teachers he had been working with, after presenting them with a research report about local curriculum development based on current theories. whitehead explained to the teachers what they had been doing in regards to curriculum innovation, teaching and learning process, and evaluation. teachers agreed the report might be satisfactory to whitehead’s academic colleagues, “(…) but they could not see themselves in the report. they could not recognise the explanation in terms of the explanations they gave for their practice in working to improve their pupil’s learning” (p. 91). whitehead (2008) claims that it is a misapprehension to think that the disciplines of education, individually or in combination, could explain sufficiently an individual’s educational influence in their own learning and in the learning of others. hirst (1983) argues that many of the educational theory’s operational principles “(…) will be of their nature generalizations from practical experience and have as theory justification the results of individual activities and practice” (p. 18). this argument has a resonance with what johnson (2008) acknowledges about ar in the way that ar creates knowledge based on enquiries conducted within specific and often practical contexts. somekh (2006) also recognizes that knowledge that is produced through ar “in collaboration with practitioners is grounded in practice (…)” (p. 94). in addition crawford (1995) introduces the concept of actionable knowledge which is defined as knowledge that can “change professional practice or social institutions through the active and transformative participation of those working within a particular setting” (p. 239). sexton and lu (2009) suggest that actionable knowledge is produced in “nature and is generated by, and for, a particular social setting” (p. 686). according to elliot (1989) developing self-reflection about teaching experiences can turn an ar process into an exercise in “ideological deconstruction” (p. 3). this means that the teachers’ experiences of class research can be grounded in trying to facilitate their professional development and not in theoretical inputs by teaching experts. support comes from ahmad and sajjad (2011) who state that native anglophone writers lead the elt community in research for innovations and improvements in teaching english and their findings tend to be universal; but “it is not possible for such studies to have universal application” (p. 1766) due to local constraints. sano, takahashi, and yoneyama (1984) present a case in which participants gained knowledge after adapting the clt concept into their own needs and contexts. the efforts of a group of japanese teachers resulted in a manifesto where they captured their local vision of what communicative competence was; building on the principle that “for most of [their] learners, english [was] not and [would] never be an instrument to do something with” (p. 170). the knowledge generated through the research conducted by the japanese teachers agrees with what mcniff (2013) believes about the knowledge produced by ar. mcniff thinks that “(…) knowledge is never static or complete; it is in constant state of development as new understandings emerge” (p. 28). the emergence of new knowledge was reported by mcdonough (2006) during the conduction of ar at the university of illinois in the division of english as an international language. the study www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 5 published by scholink inc. investigated whether carrying out ar as part of a graduate seminar affected the professional development of graduate teaching assistants who were teaching in foreign and second language departments. findings reveal that through a process of inquiry participants gain knowledge in three different areas: their conception of research, which broad at the end of the semester, their appreciation for peer collaboration and the application of knowledge obtained by doing ar to improve their l2 teaching practice. 2.3 ar can help improve the work environment it has been repeatedly mentioned above that one of the main reasons why ar projects are undertaken is because they help improve the work environment of participants. this has been confirmed by several scholars. glassman, erdem, and bartholomew (2012) suggest that ar is essentially a social-education-based intervention for communities dealing with difficult, deep-rooted problems. carr and kemmis (1986) also claim that ar is seen as a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices. mctaggart (1994) mentions that a distinctive feature of participatory ar is that those affected by planned changes have the primary responsibility for deciding on courses of critically informed action which seem likely to lead to improvement. meyer (2000) maintains that ar’s strength lies in its focus on generating solutions to practical problems. winter and munn-giddings (2002) state that action reach represents the study of social situations carried out by those involved in that situation in order to improve both their practice and the quality of their understanding. somekh (2006) affirms that participating teachers could improve their own practices and contribute to the larger educational system. carver and klein (2013) comment that ar is a useful tool for supporting continuous improvement in teaching programmes. borko, liston, and whitcomb (2007) point out that through ar unique opportunities for reflection and improvement of the practice are created. ar offers opportunities for teacher learning. in johnson and button’s ( 2000) study, teachers noticed the links between their own learning and the learning of their students, affirming that the principles of good learning that they used with their own students applied to their own classroom by using ar, they began to appreciate their own ability to increase knowledge through their own projects. several case studies confirm that ar is the motivation for changes in teaching. yuan and lee (2014) document a case where chinese teachers felt dissatisfied with the quality of teaching and learning in their classroom. this motivated them to participate in an ar project to solve these problems and “improve the effectiveness of their teaching” (p. 3). after observing the students’ classroom behavior and interviewing some students about their learning needs, and different moments of reflection. teachers began to implement actions to solve the problems found, and with this contribute to their professional growth through ar. cabaroglu (2014) reports on a case study which explored the impact of ar on turkish english language teacher candidates’ self-efficacy beliefs. after attending a 14-week course, where an inquiry-based approach to learning and teaching was adopted aiming to help prospective teachers www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 6 published by scholink inc. understand and improve their classroom practice. according to cabaroglu participants experienced growth in teaching efficacies, increased self-awareness, improved problem-solving skills and enhanced autonomous learning. talandis jr and stout (2014) describe an ar project conducted with students at a japanese university during a school year. the researchers faced different problems concerning the japanese students’ conversation skills. thus, their primary aim was to help them improve their speaking skills via an intervention, developing a syllabus featuring spoken interaction around social topics, pair practice activities, and frequent oral assessment. through three cycles of enquiry, researchers evaluated their intervention aiming to understand how it could help them address the problem. talandis jr and stout stated that not only did the ar project help students become aware that conversing in english was possible, but it also helped the researchers to develop into more reflective teachers “guided by the multiple perspectives that collected data could provide” (p. 21). schratz (1992) presents a case in which the faculty members of the university of innsbruck (austria) improved their teaching by becoming more reflective about what was occurring in the interaction between the students and the teacher. this happened after a senate commission was established at the university to deal with the issue relating to the lack of value lectures placed on their activities in the classroom. the study was based on previous findings showing that university staff was generally motivated to improve their teaching competences even though their main interest laid in their disciplinary fields of scientific research. in summary, ar participants are able to undertake systematic inquiry in the search of a learning process to create social change within their communities. ar often leads to teachers becoming more confident and knowledgeable, collecting and using evidence, and learning about their own learning. teachers who conduct ar are better informed about their field. ar can be conducted by practitioners and not only by researchers whose research findings leave a gap between what they find and report as a result of their investigations, and what really happens within the field of work. on the other hand, ar creates knowledge based on enquiries and grounded in practice conducted within specific and often practical contexts. as a result of all this ar is seen as a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve their practices, generate solutions to practical problems. 2.4 critiques of ar one of the main risks of understanding ar as an educational policy is that the institutional policy makers or managers may want to maintain control, which would make this a centralised initiative (chun, 1999). perhaps one of the principal arguments against ar is that it should be left for specialists who have the training and capacity to utilize it effectively (burns, 2005). jarvis (1981) emphasizes that ar is without academic reputation, and should therefore be left to academic specialists who have the experience and aptitude. according to burns (2005) ar: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 7 published by scholink inc. has not developed sound procedures, techniques and methodologies, [it] is small-scale and therefore not generalizable (has low external validity), [it] shows low control of the research environment and therefore cannot contribute to causal theories of teaching and learning, [it] exhibits string personal involvement on the part of participants and therefore is overly subjective and anecdotal, [it] is not reported in a form that conforms to a recognizable scientific genre (p. 67). elliott and sarland (1995) provide a list with several criticisms of teacher research related to “the dominance of description over analysis in many accounts [and] the tendency in many accounts to adopt a narrowly technicity stance to the problems of pedagogical change” (p. 373). other arguments also raise concern about the quality of the research being conducted. for instance foster (1999) criticizes the reports written by teachers engaged in the teacher research grant pilot scheme and evidenced that some of the reports looked more like personal descriptions of, or justifications for, their own practice; or explanations of their attempts to improve pupil achievement. foster found problems with validity because “in nearly all the reports insufficient evidence is presented to support key claims (…) there are significant doubts about the validity of evidence actually presented (…) causal claims (…) are central to at least 10 of the projects, but in most they are unconvincing” (p. 388). according to hodgkinson (1957) teachers as well as other stakeholders like administrators, and supervisors lack familiarity with the basic techniques of research. ar presents different challenges and limitations. for example teachers do not understand what it is, or they do not seem familiar with it. also, funding and workload can be limitations. halai (2011) presents a study to illustrate how teachers became action researchers. after analyzing twenty ar theses written by pakistani med students, the research found ar was “complex and messy” (p. 201). according to halai the most challenging situation for teachers was the fact that they needed to understand what ar was, but at the same time they were grappling with the improvement of practice and change in the classroom. one of the ideas difficult to assimilate was that that ar is seen as a cyclic process where it is expected that one process follows another, but “(…) the cycle did not mean that linear steps have to be followed, (…) in action cycles there were continuous small cycles within” (p. 205). simonsen (2009) claims that conducting ar projects can lead to challenges. ar projects must be initiated, established and carried out before you have empirical data for your research. one has to prioritize, allocate the needed resources for the ar project. all of this is time consuming (crookes & chandler, 2001), which makes it very challenging, especially for teachers whose schedules are already overloaded from teaching, who are usually not granted time to do the research (block, 2000). the challenges that ar presents are not only related to the lack of familiarity, or the capacity of participants to conduct it, but also to financial issues. involving teachers in ar usually requires teachers to participate in meetings “(…) during school hours to discuss their research, then the problem becomes financial as well as temporal, as substitute teachers must be hired. again the quality of present www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 8 published by scholink inc. education is diminished” (hodgkinson, 1957, p. 142). gebhard (2005) pointed out that focusing on the solution of problems might limit the potential of teachers to explore other possibilities. “although the ar process makes sense and is certainly worth doing, we can go beyond this process by exploring a variety of other avenues to awareness outside the problem-posing one ar” (p. 64). ar does not necessarily lead to change (cain & milovic, 2010). this was confirmed by haggarty and postlethwaite (2003) who claimed that a group of teachers involved in ar did not clearly understand the relation between ar and change, in other words; the new knowledge gained and “classroom practice were separated—they had not altered or even confirmed their practice as a result of their new understanding who were conducting ar did not necessarily ar limited understanding” ( p. 435). dissemination of educational ar has also been problematic. the group reported in haggarty and postlethwaite disseminated their findings within the school, but the researchers report that this was “rather ad hoc” (p. 435), partly because teachers preferred to focus on the process of changing their own practice, rather than changing other people’s practice. also, although their own change in understanding and practice had taken place through engagement in ideas over a significant amount of time, “they assumed that other teachers’ practice would change simply by being given the results of that process” (p. 436). besides the challenges and limitations presented above there are further arguments against ar that should be addressed. for example hammersley (2004) suggests that frequently in ar the value of research is associated with an instrumentalist view as well as “the only legitimate kind of educational inquiry” (p. 156). inquiry certainly emerges from a problem, and is concerned with resolving it hammersley asserts, the value of knowledge does not only derive from the solution to practical problems, but also from “its own right in solving intellectual problems, and perhaps even in stimulating new ones” (p. 170). according to hammersley in greek thinking praxis and theoria are treated as different ways of life; therefore to link research to action would be to confuse two different ways of life, “as well as betray the higher nature of theoria” (p. 168). borg (2010) provides a critical analysis of language teacher research, and found that: many inspiring examples of language teachers engaging in research are available (together, of course, with methodologically-flawed examples and instances of pseudo-academic inquiry masquerading as teacher research); overall, though, there are whole populations of language teachers worldwide whose understandings of teacher, at best, are that it is something that might be done to them by others. it is likely, too, that there are many other teachers who, despite a genuine interest in becoming research-engaged, find it difficult to translate this interest into practical and sustainable action (p. 421). concerning teacher research in language teaching, dörnyei’s (2007, p. 191) view is that “there is one big problem with ar: there is too little of it”. the lack of engagement might be probably encouraged by several challenges teachers must face when involving in ar projects. making reference of ar www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 9 published by scholink inc. block (2000, p. 138) claims that “the entire enterprise is strong in theory but very difficult to carry out in practice”. according to block, it is because in most teaching contexts teachers receive no compensation for the extra work that engaging in research involves. additionally block feels that the lack of impact on the field of the results of ar discourages teachers from engaging in it. regarding quality ellis (2010, p. 189) says that “the methodological limitations that are evident in much teacher-research may make its findings of little value to the academe”. 2.5 the study the study is predominantly qualitative aiming to produce a rich description of the use of ar introduce improvement. the data source was interviews with the participants. ar offers practitioners possibilities for understanding syllabus from a comprehensive perspective, as it is the local concerns and problems of the research, allowing them to address syllabus issues through thoughtful inquiry (zohrabi, 2014). ar seeks to provide practitioners with the support and resources to do things in ways that will fit their own cultural context and their own lifestyles, allowing them and not only experts determine the nature and operation of the things that affect their lives (brydon-miller, greenwood, & maguire, 2003). 3. research questions this study aims to investigate the use of ar to improve a language syllabus involving language teachers in the process of decision making. the aim is formulated in the research questions below.  how engaged were language teachers?  how did the process of improvement of the syllabus occur?  how did they become aware of new knowledge? answers to the first question will provide information about the degree of involvement of a group of language teachers within the project. answers to the second question will contribute to a better comprehension of how ar can change a language syllabus. data will also reveal how ar generates knowledge grounded in practice. 3.1 research context and participants the context chosen to undertake the research was mexico. the educational level chosen to conduct the research was higher education. the faculty chosen for this study was the faculty of economics at the university of colima (uc). the group of teachers was selected based on their ability to provide rich and varied insights into the research problem under investigation. language teachers were selected due to their relevant experience of the teaching situation. it was a homogeneous group of mexican teachers who have a ba in english from the uc. as an action researcher, the investigator stood with and alongside the group of teachers, not outside as an objective observer or external consultant. his role as researcher and teacher provided a unique possibility to explore the social and cultural context in which teaching is delivered. the active involvement of the researcher was not a threat, but something that produced more insight. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 10 published by scholink inc. although most of the decisions about the study were taken as a group, which implied that teacher participants were critically involved in the decision making process, the project continued to be a research, which implied that participants’ involvement was on a voluntary basis, and it was made clear that they could withdraw from the study at any time. 3.2 data gathering methods and analysis the data gathering methods employed in the study were personal and group interviews. all the interviews were conducted in different moments and dates, according to the agenda of the participants. the reasons for choosing interviews were mainly because interviews are suitable techniques to gain an insight into the practitioners’ collective reflective enquiry taken place during the improvement of the syllabus (richards, 2003). 4. results and discussion 4.1 teachers’ participation in the project the participation and interaction of teachers throughout this project relates to what glassman et al. (2012) believe about the nature of ar, ar is a form of social inquiry through which members of social groups interact with one another, engage in open dialogue about their intergroup relationships, and collectively participate in a learning process to create social change within their communities. participants of this investigation engaged in a process of analysis and reflection leading them to take decisions and change based on local needs. interviews revealed that participants followed a process of analysis and reflection, understanding their teaching situation and change. this is in the line with mcniff and whitehead (2010, p. 19) who state that ar is “a process that helps you as practitioner to develop a deep understanding of what you are doing as an insider researcher, so it has both a personal and social aim”. teachers expressed their opinions, experiences and feelings about their participation in the project. the following comments were made by participants in regards to analysis and reflection: “i believe i actively got involved in the project. for example from the moment it was discussed about the advantages and disadvantages of modifying the english syllabus, and from the moment we had reflection upon the process, i think we all got involved”. (teacher 1, english translation) “being involved in the project made me have reflections upon the way i was working, and becoming aware about the fact that i could involve learners in the decision making process of the class, and it is not only what i think”. (teacher 3, english translation) “having reflections about the process is a prove that we participate, if we remain in silence there is no participation”. (teacher 4, english translation) “what i really liked the most was the collaborative work, my colleagues’ accompaniment was very important. it was not the work of only one person, but everybody’s work. another way i felt involved and felt i was part of the project was in relation to the syllabus. the syllabus i was using was designed by another person; it was not designed to meet the needs of my students. in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 11 published by scholink inc. contrast, this new syllabus was designed according to the needs of my learners and it was designed by me”. (teacher 1, english translation) practitioners engaged in dialogues about the current situation of the syllabus made them develop an understanding of what they were doing, and reflect upon their situation; reaching greater effectiveness through democratic participation, providing opportunities to participate in collective research on common troubles through discussion, decision, and action (adelman, 1993). the extract below illustrates that as a result of the process of analysis and reflection practitioners took decisions to improve their existing situation: “i think we got involved from the very beginning. it was something that we wanted and needed to do. there were several moment of discussion that made us freely express our opinions, and also several sources of data emerging from the school which made us make decisions”. (teacher 3, english translation) “data revealed by the questionnaire of beliefs helped me realise that it was necessary to modify the syllabus of the class. getting involved in the research project, know the data gathered through the analysis helped me to modify what i was teaching”. (teacher 2, english translation) this coincides with the views expressed by meyer (2000) stating that ar’s strength lies in its focus on generating solutions to practical problems, and winter and munn-giddings (2002) who state that ar represents the study of social situation carried out by those involved in that situation in order to improve both their practice and the quality of their understanding. 4.2 action research can help improve the syllabus one of the main reasons why ar is undertaken is because it helps improve the work environment of participants, improve both their practice and the quality of their understanding (glassman et al., 2012; bat & fasoli, 2013). ar has been used to improve the syllabus (mckernan, 1991). evidence of curriculum improvement has been provided by nason and whitty (2007) who included ar as an essential component of curriculum development, entering a process of inquiry understanding, and improving their own professional practice. the two interviews with the groups of participants revealed that practitioners believed the project had a positive impact over the language syllabus and it helped to improve it in some areas; for instance, in the content. two participants confirmed that: “for me identifying what the needs of the students were helped me to modify the content of the syllabus, because they were studying content which they felt it was too heavy, and they expressed it like that. modifying the content of the syllabus impacted the attitude of learners. they demonstrated greater willingness to learn”. (teacher 2, english translation) “it impacted over the selection of the materials; the book has appropriate content meeting the needs of learners. the book helped standardized the teaching method, the content and the language skills to be developed”. (teacher 4, english translation) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 12 published by scholink inc. the same feeling that teacher 2 and 4 above, expressed in regard to his confidence about what and how to teach was also expressed by trainee teachers participating in an ar project. trainee teachers felt “more confident about what to teach, how to teach, and why to teach” (thorne & qiang, 1996, p. 259) after participating in ar project. thorne and qiang also reported that the implemented changes enhanced the quality of teaching. teachers interviewed also indicated that the project also helped them realise that change should be supported with the systematic collection of data, the analysis of such information and its presentation in a formal way, for example through a report. as stated below: “for me the largest contribution the project had was the importance of conducting an analysis, because we had not done it before. the analysis produced hard data, providing a guide about what we need to know to improve the process of teaching and learning”. (teacher 3, english translation) “there was something formal, written, it was not only useless information. thus, from the moment when there was evidence, the data gathered through the analyses, from that moment there was something tangible, something to support what the needs were”. (teacher 1, english translation) carver and klein (2013, p. 174) confirm that the systematic collection of data and the application of findings “support transformed practice innovation and continued inquiry”. carver and klein noticed this after conduction an ar project to examine the content and outcomes of their university programme. they found out that ar was a functional strategy for program renewal and instructional development. identifying learning outcomes has been frequently related to systematic analysis of the learners’ communication needs. in the particular case of this project, as it has been argued, data helped teaches to make decisions about different areas of the syllabus, such as content, teaching materials, teaching activities. according to another participant the project also helped him to realise that the aims of the syllabus did not coincide with the learners’ communication needs as learners expressed that they needed to learn more general content and not content related to business. as revealed by a participant quoted below: “students feel they are learning, and the modified syllabus helped, as learners are not going to do business, thus the fact of changing the content of the syllabus to general has given them confidence. i believe they have gained more confidence to be able to communicate themselves orally”. (teacher 2, english translation) mcniff (2013) claims that during the last decade ar has suffered changes, one major shift the field has suffered is in relation to the generation of knowledge. according to mcniff what practitioners investigate within their field of knowledge creates knowledge grounded in practice. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 13 published by scholink inc. 4.3 action research facilitates the creation of knowledge grounded in practice according to elliot (1989) teachers’ experience of class research can be grounded in trying to facilitate their professional development and not in theoretical inputs by teaching experts. this was acknowledged by teachers participants when they responded about the knowledge generated through the project. they became aware that the process of curriculum design through ar should be underpinned by a systematic research process and decision making should be based on the generation of hard data. as illustrated in the extracts below: “the first thing i learned is that to conduct research one needs to follow steps. time should be taken to let things happen. there should be moments of reflection to analyise to see how we are. the investigation you are conducting we can also do it, i mean, we can not only get together to talk about what is happening, but also to reflect and think how things can be done, how they can be changed. it is important to do analyses, this is what i have found that i learned most”. (teacher 2, english translation) “it is important to obtain results, to know how to plan based on those results and to take them into account. questionnaires are instruments which provide information to be taken into account, because information needs to be taken into account, we can gather data and based on that take decisions. this is very important to take decisions”. (teacher 4, english translation) “another important point is related to the formality of interpretation of results. i didn’t think it was important. that was something that i learned. results need to be interpreted and they need to be treated formally”. (teacher 3, english translation) quotations above have a resonance with what johnson (2008) acknowledges about ar in the way that ar creates knowledge based on enquiries conducted within specific and often practical contexts. teachers learned that research has to be systematic to provide valid data useful to take decisions to improve practice. as claimed by a teacher below: “now we are doing it that way with the exams we have administered, i am learning, but i think it should be done that way, through graphics in a formal way”. (teacher 3, english translation) another important finding emerging from the work field was the topic of reflection, a key area in the field of ar. the interview revealed that through reflection teachers were able to evaluate their work and make changes to the course and the way it was run. as one participant claimed: “the process of reflection was very important as our work is flawed and we don’t see ourselves from a different perspective as outsiders. in my particular case, it was like a dash of cold water “look this is the way you are running the course, and there are other ways of doing it. i have been teaching this same level of english for some time, and reflecting about it gave me a very different understanding of what i am doing, and of the direction towards my course should be running to”. (teacher 1, english translation) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 14 published by scholink inc. the extract above corresponds closely with two ar definitions provided by mcniff and whitehead (2010) ar is “a process that helps you as practitioner to develop a deep understanding of what you are doing as an insider researcher, so it has both a personal and social aim” (p. 19), and mcniff (2013) affirming that “ar is a name given to a particular way of looking at your practice to check whether it is as you feel it should be (…) if you feel your practice needs action in some way, you will be able to take action to improve it, and produce evidence to show how the practice has improved” (p. 23). as a result of the enquiry teachers were able to address important concerns related to the importance of collaborative work. one participant commented about this: “well, the most i liked was collaborative work. the feedback provided by my colleagues helped me. we don’t have enough opportunities to meet, because we all have very heavy workloads, thus working collaboratively is a good chance for me to keep learning and to share problems, concerns about specific situations of the class. the work sessions when we designed the syllabuses were enriching for me. collaborative work is important. the groups view was fruitful and varied. it is always better to address the problems as a group, solutions are better”. (teacher 1, english translation) the extract above highlights the importance of collaborative research. collaborative ar “encourage participants to share common problems and to work cooperatively as a research community to examine their existing assumptions, values and beliefs within the sociopolitical cultures of the institutions in which they work” (burns, 1999, p. 13). the advantages of collaborative ar were broadly promoted by stephen corey (somekh & zeichner, 2009), an advocate of projects to improve the work environment identifying solutions often requiring teachers to work with other teachers in the school, making ar a cooperative endeavor. 4.4 action research faces challenges and limitations despite the volume of claims presented above findings revealed that teachers have also experienced a lack of time to plan and reflect in order to develop the syllabus, lack of expertise knowledge, and understanding skills. they were not familiar with either with the concept of ar or with the basic techniques of research. this was acknowledged by hodgkinson (1957) who claimed that teachers as well as other stakeholders like administrators, and supervisors lack of familiarity with the basic techniques of research. ellis (2010) also suggests that much teacher-research has methodological limitations. halai (2011) presents a study to illustrate how teachers became action researchers and found that the most challenging situation for teaches was the fact that teachers needed to understand what ar was. this confirms what the interviews revealed concerning language teachers becoming action researchers. interviews revealed that teachers would not begin an ar project by themselves because they did not feel confident to do so due to their lack of knowledge. they stated that they could do it, but it would probably take more time than someone who only dedicated his or her time to do research because they did not know ar and research methodologies. this implies that they do not feel capable of doing ar www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 15 published by scholink inc. because they are not prepared to do so. this can be confirmed with one of the answers they provided stating that it is different to teach english than to conduct a research project; therefore they needed to be trained for that particular purpose. perhaps one of the major arguments against ar is that it should be left for specialists who have the training and capacity (burns, 2005). as jarvis (1981) emphasizes ar is without academic reputation, and it should be left to academic specialists who have the experience and aptitude. another teacher said that it was better that a researcher conducted the project because practitioners, such as the case of language learners would be more confident while providing answers. another reason is that a research project like this needed formality especially in the way of producing evidence, such as the report presented to them; in this regard foster (1999) criticizes the reports written by teachers claiming that “in nearly all the reports insufficient evidence is presented to support key claims (…) there are significant doubts about the validity of evidence actually presented (…)” (p. 388). time is another limitation. teachers repeatedly expressed that language teachers like them, with a workload such as theirs did not have enough time to do research. the issue of lack of time was discussed in chapter four as one of the main challenges to teacher involvement in ar. chan, ching, and cheng (1997) revealed that the great majority of teachers involved in an ar investigation were worried about the amount of time spent on meetings and about the workload attached to the involvement of the project, especially for teachers whose schedules are already overloaded from teaching, who are usually not granted the time they spend doing the research (block, 2000). the challenges that ar presents are not only related to the lack of familiarity, or the capacity of participants to conduct it, or the lack of time but also related to financial issues. involving teachers in ar usually requires teacher to participate in meetings “(…) during school hours to discuss their research, then the problem becomes financial as well as temporal, as substitute teachers must be hired” (hodgkinson, 1957, p. 142). 5. summary and conclusions three key theoretical concepts of ar are examined with the purpose of informing this study. ar foster the participation of people (teachers) who are not researchers, ar leads to work environment improvement and ar promote the production of sound knowledge. the evaluation of claims made by scholars is illustrated with the analysis of several empirical studies, which broaden understanding and serve as a foundation for the data collection and analysis phases of the study. the study demonstrates that ar provides practitioners, teachers for example, with opportunities to reflect on problematic situations that affect their work environment, and collectively participate in learning processes to create change within their communities. the study also confirms that teachers can produce knowledge grounded in practice, and not only based on what experts propose. despite the positive results concerning the involvement of teacher on an ar process, and the improvement of a language syllabus based on data gathered in the teaching context, the study also demonstrates that teachers face some www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 16 published by scholink inc. challenges and limitations. for example, lack of time to plan, lack of expertise knowledge, and understanding skills, lack of familiarity with either with the concept of ar or with the basic techniques of research. further research on teachers conducting ar by themselves could contribute to the understanding of this method, and probably suggest possible routes of development. references adelman, c. 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(2008). using a living theory methodology in improving practice and generating educational knowledge in living theories. educational journal of living theories, 1(1), 103-126. whitehead, j. (2009). generating living theory and understanding in action research studies. action research, 7(1), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750308099599 winter, r., & munn-giddings, c. (2002). a handbook for action research in health and social care. london: routledge. yuan, r., & lee, i. (2014). action research facilitated by university-school collaboration. eltj, 69(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccu031 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 20 published by scholink inc. zohrabi, m. (2014). promoting teacher development through an interactive approach to curriculum development. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 98, 2025-2034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.638 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 18 original paper research on the mode of improving the employment ability of college students by practicing education of business major in sichuan international studies university under the background of new liberal arts xian jingchen 1 & xu xinpeng 1 1 college of finance and economics, sichuan international studies university, chongqing, china received: june 13, 2023 accepted: july 24, 2023 online published: august 22, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p18 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p18 abstract under the goals of the new liberal arts construction, the concept and connotation of practical education should be sorted out, the path of practical education in business majors should be summarized, and a practical education model should be established to integrate practical education into professional construction, effectively increasing the depth and breadth of practical education, improving the comprehensive quality of college students, and promoting national economic development, finally, reasonable suggestions were put forward on how to correctly treat the innovative practice education model in universities to enhance the education system of college students’ employability. keywords business major, practice, innovation, education, and employability model www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 19 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction on december 20, 2018, the joint meeting of the chairmen and members of the economic and management education guidance committee of the ministry of education and the first plenary session of the business administration professional education guidance committee were held in suzhou. the meeting focused on “new era, new humanities, new management”, and deployed the construction of new humanities and the cultivation of outstanding top management talents. in april 2019, 13 departments including the ministry of education and the ministry of science and technology jointly launched the “six excellence and one top” plan 2.0, which clearly proposed the comprehensive promotion of the construction of new engineering, new medical, new agriculture, and new humanities, aiming to effectively improve the ability of universities to serve socio-economic development and achieve the connotative development of higher education. 2. concept and connotation in november 2020, the new liberal arts construction work conference was held in shandong university, and the ministry of education made a series of important discussions on the new liberal arts construction and other issues. the declaration on the construction of new liberal arts has constructed the theoretical system of the construction of new liberal arts in systems science, pointing out the fundamental direction and providing an important basis for promoting the construction of new liberal arts in the new era. in china, the humanities are generally referred to as philosophical and social sciences. the construction of new humanities focuses on the changes in connotation, extension, boundaries, and other aspects in the new era and is implemented accordingly. therefore, the construction of new humanities in the new era has significant practical and profound historical significance. 2.1 concept proposal the concept of “new humanities” was first proposed by hillam college in october 2017, mainly integrating new technologies into courses such as philosophy, literature, and language, providing students with comprehensive interdisciplinary learning conditions. it was first proposed at the suzhou conference of the ministry of education mentioned earlier in china. china has expanded the connotation of “new humanities”, which refers to a series of construction projects and work related to the intersection and integration of philosophy and social sciences with the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, forming interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary new humanities; the main construction project is the “new humanities research and reform practice project”-“notice of the general office of the ministry of education on recommending new humanities research and reform practice projects” (jiao gao ting han, 2021, no. 10). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 20 published by scholink inc. collaborative innovation is a complex organizational form of innovation, with the key being to form a network innovation model with university enterprise research institutions as the core elements and government financial institutions as intermediary organizations, innovation platforms, non-profit organizations, and other auxiliary elements. through deep cooperation and resource integration between knowledge creation entities and technological innovation entities, a systematic superposition of nonlinear effects is generated. the concept of “synergetics” at its core was first proposed by german physicist haken in the 1970s. he believed that “synergy” is the fusion and linkage of major factors in a large system that transcend individual individuals. afterwards, “collaborative innovation” was proposed by peter gloor, who emphasized that collaborative innovation requires the formation of network interaction between entities, exchange of ideas, technology, and information, and ultimately achieve the goal (hu & shen, 2013). 2.2 key connotation 2.2.1 connotation of the new liberal arts construction goals the most common view at present is that the new humanities should undergo interdisciplinary integration, expand and form new knowledge fields at the disciplinary boundaries, especially when combined with technology, to achieve the intersection of humanities and science, and thus promote the construction of the new humanities. the connotation of the construction of new humanities should mainly revolve around the understanding of china’s modernization process. the construction of new liberal arts seeks incremental knowledge construction in knowledge production, rather than the reorganization of existing knowledge. secondly, the construction of new humanities should attach importance to the cultivation of people. the cultivation of people is the fundamental purpose of higher education, and in modern society, this cultivation is mainly knowledge oriented and practical, so the importance of practical education is highlighted. 2.2.2 implementation effect objectives of “integration of industry, education, science and education” it is not enough for ordinary higher education institutions, especially application-oriented undergraduate institutions, to only teach through theory. an effective and comprehensive practical teaching system must be supplemented to achieve teaching objectives and tasks. the traditional practical teaching model lacks an organic integration between production, schools, and research institutes, making it difficult to fully reflect the relationship between the three and has poor adaptability. the integrated education model of industry, education, science and education enables students to participate more in enterprises, absorb knowledge from corresponding positions in enterprises, and feed back the theoretical needs in the production practice process into the school’s learning plan, thus achieving the goal of cultivation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 21 published by scholink inc. 2.2.3 the practical goal of “practical education” the new era has put forward new requirements for universities to cultivate talents, that is, universities should strengthen cooperation with similar universities and enterprises. as a highly applied major, business majors can only adapt to the high standard requirements of society for business graduates by placing equal emphasis on theory and practice, improving course offerings, building a strong teaching team, establishing a systematic practical teaching system, and vigorously cultivating students’ business operation skills. therefore, the practical teaching of business majors cannot be separated from the collaborative cooperation between universities and other similar universities, as well as the collaborative cooperation between universities and enterprises. 3. elements driving practical education talent cultivation in universities should adhere to integrating the concept of “practical education” into the entire process of talent cultivation and various teaching links, as well as into students’ scientific research and social practice. to build a higher level talent cultivation system, it is necessary to establish a teaching system that focuses on curriculum and textbooks, including industry, education, science, and education. it is necessary to further strengthen the construction of an education and teaching quality assurance system, strengthen daily management, internal control, and dynamic monitoring of teaching practice quality, pay attention to the comprehensive evaluation of graduates by employers, and promote the comprehensive improvement of talent cultivation quality. 3.1 innovation driven, national needs the construction of “new liberal arts” is a major development strategy in the field of education for the current country, an important support for building an innovative country, an important means to break through the siege of the western scientific and technological circles and economic circles, and also one of the sources of strong impetus for the high-quality development of future education. innovation and entrepreneurship education is one of the sources of the integration of industry, education, science, and education. innovation resources and forces need to have a foundation and transmission in order to solidly integrate innovative products and results into higher education teaching. in the context of the new liberal arts, high-level applied universities can only actively adapt to the new guiding principles of educational development, focus on comprehensively improving students’ comprehensive qualities, break through traditional educational forms, explore new models for cultivating practical talents, establish a relevant and complete practical education and teaching chain, promote the scientific and systematic development of practical education and teaching, and stimulate college students’ practical abilities, provide practical talent support for the construction of an innovative country. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 22 published by scholink inc. 3.2 internally driven education, social needs as a form of education, practical education and teaching in universities are an important part of the construction of new humanities. only by actively adapting to market demand, scientifically and reasonably positioning practical education, optimizing the practical education and teaching system, and combining with the needs of economic and social development in the new era, can high-quality practical education and teaching work be carried out to promote the full integration of human, intellectual, and material resources in universities with industries, industries, and enterprises, only in this way can we provide intellectual driving force for driving high-quality education and social development, so as to realize the education reform of colleges and universities themselves. as china’s economic development enters the new normal, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and high-quality economic and social development has become the main theme of the development of the current era. and this development trend will inevitably put forward higher requirements for the reform and development of higher education and the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents in universities. it is urgent for universities to implement the transformation and development of education and teaching, strengthen the market-oriented and demand-oriented talent cultivation, and enrich the practical oriented talent cultivation mode. this is the historical mission entrusted to universities by the development of the times, and also one of the directions of the new liberal arts education reform, promoting the supply side reform of talent cultivation in universities, cultivate practical talents who adapt to new liberal arts education and enhance the comprehensive strength of universities. 3.3 quality driven, the needs of the times the practical innovation and education under the concept of integration of industry, education, science, and education is the expectation of educational reform in universities and the requirement of the development of the times. it is also an important driving force for improving the quality of talent cultivation in universities in the new era. practical education, as an educational model for universities to improve the comprehensive literacy of talents, can greatly improve students’ hands-on ability, while also optimizing the targeted and timely nature of talent cultivation, responding to the strong demand for innovative, applied, and composite talents in economic and social development, and deepening the supply side reform of talent cultivation. the value pursuit and goal of “integration of industry, education, science, and education” education can help change the current difficulties in talent cultivation, transform traditional talent cultivation models, achieve an organic combination of theoretical knowledge education and practical hands-on ability cultivation, improve the quality of talent cultivation, and promote the realization of connotative development and social value in universities. as an important breakthrough for the construction of new liberal arts to improve the quality of talent training, practical education can integrate professional education, entrepreneurship education, liberal education and other penetration depth, and gradually www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 23 published by scholink inc. deepen the cultivation of college students’ innovative spirit quality and entrepreneurial awareness, so as to meet the urgent needs of high-quality economic and social development for innovative and entrepreneurial talents (yuan, jiang & liu, 2020, pp. 67-70). 4. practical education construction path 4.1 path to the integration of industry and education the integration of industry and education is a deep cooperation between industry and education, and is one of the chosen means for universities to improve the quality of talent cultivation under the goal of achieving new liberal arts construction. to promote the integration of industry and education in cultivating talents, it is necessary to adhere to the unity of industry demand orientation and education goal orientation, promote deep cooperation between universities and industry enterprises in cultivating talents, and focus on improving students’ comprehensive quality and adaptability. we should integrate the concept of industry education integration and collaborative education throughout the entire process of talent cultivation, achieve integration channels of on campus experiments and on campus bases, achieve resource sharing and platform co construction, and promote cross disciplinary integration and interactive development across colleges and disciplines; on campus, foreign exchange gathers various social resources, expands educational space, and achieves cross-border integration and collaborative innovation with multiple entities such as government, industry, and users. it deepens the reform of teaching content and curriculum system in response to industrial needs, and updates teaching content with the latest development achievements of disciplines, industries, and technologies. from the three dimensions of theory, practice, and application, we will create a platform for joint training of talents between schools and enterprises, jointly develop courses, write textbooks, jointly build professional internship and training bases, and modern industry colleges. we will organically embed training content and results into professional teaching plans, establish a professional system that closely connects with the industry chain and value chain, improve the concentration of characteristic and advantageous majors, and create a group of industries that are urgently needed and have outstanding advantages a distinctive application-oriented profession. we need to build a practical teaching platform that connects internal and external internship and training bases, and establish a batch of shared and specialized practical platforms for industry university research cooperation and collaborative education, promoting cooperation and development between schools and enterprises. we need to strengthen the construction of a “dual teacher” teaching team, hire technical and management experts from industry enterprises to teach part-time in universities, and serve as practical internship mentors for young teachers. at the same time, we encourage enterprises to actively provide temporary internship training positions for young teachers, and enhance their practical ability to implement the integration of industry and education to cultivate talents. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 24 published by scholink inc. 4.2 the path of integrating science and education the close combination of high-level technological innovation and high-level talent cultivation has become a law of university education and teaching; the exploratory learning community composed of teachers and students has become the intersection of knowledge innovation and inheritance. the essence of the integration of science and education is to innovate, impart, disseminate, and inherit knowledge in the process of scientific research teaching learning, enabling teachers and students to engage in interactive academic exploration in the academic community, learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and forge ahead. in the process of integrating science and education to cultivate talents, teaching and scientific research always promote and complement each other. to promote the integration of science and education in cultivating talents, it is necessary to focus on student development, strengthen the integration of scientific research and teaching, promote deep cooperation between universities and research institutes to cultivate talents, promote close integration of scientific research and teaching within universities to cultivate talents, transform high-quality scientific research resources into educational resources and advantages, transform scientific research facilities into teaching innovation platforms, and transform scientific research achievements into teaching content, transforming the “density of scientific research” into the “concentration of teaching innovation”, making student participation in scientific research an effective teaching form, and through institutional arrangements, enabling students to become teachers’ research partners, jointly carry out research activities, and engage in effective autonomous and innovative learning. teachers and students learn from each other and improve together in the process of exploring, integrating, applying, and disseminating knowledge, truly achieving research-based teaching and exploratory learning. we need to create a learning atmosphere that encourages exploration and independent innovation, build a platform for students to conduct scientific research, support students to participate in various scientific research activities through early research projects, laboratories, and research teams, support teachers and researchers on campus to introduce the latest scientific research achievements into talent cultivation, offer more research-oriented courses, provide research-oriented learning conditions, and focus on cultivating students’ innovative thinking and ability, supporting high-quality talent cultivation through high-level scientific research (wu, 2020, pp. 1-5). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 25 published by scholink inc. 5. suggestions on the cultivation mode of college students’ employability in response to the problems of relatively independent and separated research, education, and industry in the process of talent cultivation in high-level applied universities, such as the separation of research and teaching, and the lack of deep integration between industry and education, which leads to weak students’ application research and practical abilities, relevant suggestions are proposed to build a long-term mechanism for scientific and technological innovation and education based on the integration of science and education, as well as a long-term win-win mechanism for schools and enterprises. 5.1 the long-term mechanism of science and education integration, innovation, and education in secondary colleges first, the secondary colleges set up a leading center for scientific and technological innovation under the leadership of the college leaders. in combination with the needs of discipline and professional development, they built a progressive scientific and technological innovation platform at different levels, such as scientific research assistants, class mentorship, students’ scientific research projects, scientific research training courses, discipline competitions, social practice, etc., and promoted the common development of “four levels of progressive” teaching, scientific research, experiment, practice, etc. through integration in and out of class, hierarchical cultivation, key cultivation, etc. realized the “comprehensive integration” of teaching and research. the second is to link various technological innovation activities through a “project based” approach. clarify the theme of various competition projects, conduct training and guidance; the experimental course is based on real projects as case studies. with clear and authentic projects, students’ interest in learning is stimulated; through project training, students’ applied research abilities have been improved. the college has gradually formed a teaching method of promoting learning through competition. the college adopts a centralized training and group guidance organization method for subject competitions. students design their own solutions, with guidance provided by the college supervisor, with “student-centered and mentor-centered”, and competitions to promote students’ initiative in learning and enhance their ability to solve complex engineering problems. the third is research feedback teaching, where teachers bring their own research projects and competition cases into the classroom. the course content is more diverse and popular among students. after these courses are included in the training plan, they effectively cover all students in relevant majors through scientific research project training and subject competition training, providing basic guarantees for the cultivation of students’ applied research and innovation abilities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 26 published by scholink inc. 5.2 building a long-term mechanism for win-win cooperation between universities and enterprises one is to innovate institutional mechanisms and build a governance structure suitable for the integration of industry and education. encourage secondary colleges and industry enterprises to jointly establish science and technology service centers, liaison stations, and other small institutions based on disciplines and major categories, increase the utilization rate of human resources and equipment resources in universities, expand interaction with society, enhance the vitality and social service capabilities of secondary colleges, and enhance their social influence and social service capabilities. the second is to serve the regional economy and build a research and service platform for win-win situation between schools and the local area. facing regional modern industrial clusters, combined with the school’s disciplinary and professional directions, focusing on the core common issues of industrial and economic development in the industry, and building an application research and technical service platform to support local industries. encourage secondary colleges and enterprises to jointly build industrial colleges, enterprise studios, industrial technology laboratories, and cooperate to establish local research institutes, providing comprehensive scientific and technological services for enterprises. utilize secondary college equipment and talent resources to carry out social training, and build the school into a training platform that serves the industry and major enterprises. the third is to build an industry education base and a comprehensive application platform base for industry education integration based on secondary colleges. build the platform into a practical teaching and innovation and entrepreneurship base for students majoring in related fields, an information distribution center for internship employment and enterprise technology needs for students majoring in related fields, an application research center for related disciplines, a technology service platform for related industries, an application oriented teacher training center for related fields, and a social training institution for technical personnel in related industries, forming a long-term win-win mechanism for school enterprise cooperation and improving students’ practical application abilities. 5.3 building an off campus practice platform to expand employment opportunities for college students in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship for college students, application-oriented universities should actively seek industry support, closely contact industry associations, build off campus practical platforms, provide more flexible and convenient platforms for college students’ employment, expand student internship employment opportunities, and ensure that application-oriented undergraduate graduates can not only master the necessary professional knowledge and skills, but also adapt to the development of society, industry, and enterprises, becoming a solid foundation talents with strong practical ability, ability to adapt to social development, and excellent comprehensive qualities. to achieve such a goal, school enterprise cooperation is an inevitable choice. only through school enterprise cooperation can students integrate their knowledge with the real society. in this regard, schools should have foresight, constantly understand the needs of enterprises, grasp the current www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 27 published by scholink inc. situation and future development direction of the industry, actively build off campus practice bases, expand channels for student employment, and guide the direction. taking the school of international finance and trade as an example, based on its own professional characteristics, the college has signed strategic cooperation agreements and industry university research cooperation agreements with multiple securities companies and fund institutions in chongqing, and has always maintained a close and integrated cooperative relationship with them. in june 2022, the college signed a strategic cooperation agreement with china citic construction investment futures co., ltd. chongqing branch, forming a new model of industry university research strategic cooperation and collaborative development guided by “collaborative education, collaborative education, and collaborative innovation”, relying on the advantages of financial and insurance education research and financial and insurance industry resources of both parties, and creating a school enterprise joint collaborative innovation service platform with advanced domestic and international levels, cultivate high-quality application-oriented professionals with innovative and sustainable development capabilities in the new era. the college has signed 17 internship bases to provide a solid internship platform and a good space for employment development for college students studying on campus and those who are about to embark on social career choices. 5.4 tracking and revisiting employers and college students, updating employment guidance methods applied universities should always pay attention to the first-hand feedback of society’s demand for talent in the process of docking with the industry. therefore, it is necessary to regularly communicate information with the industry, truly understand industry hotspots and industry needs, and strive to keep up with the times and seamlessly connect with the industry. therefore, the insurance college regularly contacts the human resources head of the insurance company or department head with recruitment authority to communicate information and master first-hand employment information. in addition, a special internship recruitment fair for finance majors is held every year to communicate job information with employers for internships in lower grades and employment issues in higher grades, making early plans and taking precautions. for talent cultivation, actively absorb suggestions from industries and enterprises, and strive to cultivate competitive and application-oriented qualified talents suitable for the development of industries and enterprises. in recent holidays, the college has organized teachers to conduct follow-up visits and research on the units that hire graduates from our college, and widely listened to the opinions of employers on how to improve the quality of employment for college students and cultivate application-oriented qualified talents that meet the conditions of the employer. in the survey, special attention was paid to the evaluation of the work attitude, work ability, and work performance of the college graduates by the employer. information on the job control ability, job competence, and career prospects of graduates who have already worked in financial companies was collected, as well as valuable first-hand suggestions and information on the college’s next employment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 28 published by scholink inc. measures and development plans, this has pointed out the direction for the college to plan development ideas and directions in the future, and to create application-oriented qualified talents that meet the conditions of employers. funding: the 2023 chongqing higher education teaching reform research project: research on higher education teaching reform from the perspective of digital transformation (233306), the humanities and social sciences project of chongqing municipal education commission: innovative research on the precise governance model of party building leading communities from the perspective of co construction, co governance, and sharing (21skgh134). references duan, y., & cui, y. q. (2020). theoretical connotation and practical direction of new liberal arts construction. journal of yunnan normal university (philosophy and social sciences edition), 2020(2), 149-156. ministry of education the “six excellence and one top” plan 2.0 was launched and implemented [eb/ol]. (march 4th, 2019). retrieved march 25, 2021, from http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2019 04/30/content_ 5387710.html the new era calls for the joint meeting of chairmen of the economic and management education instruction committee of the ministry of education of the new arts and sciences construction and the first meeting of the industrial and commercial administration professional education instruction committee. (2020). the ministry of education of the people’s republic of china. wu, y. (2020). bravely setting the tide and empowering the future-leading the reform of higher education with the construction of new engineering courses. research on higher engineering education, 2020(2), 1-5. yuan, k., jiang, z. l., & liu, c. y. (2020). new era, new demand, new liberal arts—exploration and practice of new liberal arts construction in shandong university. china university teaching, 2020(7), 67-70. zhou, j., & lin, w. c. (2019). constraints and paths in the construction of new liberal arts majors in local universities. education review, 2019(8), 60-65. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 48 original paper reform of structural mechanics course oriented by engineering practice and integrated with interesting mechanics experiments qun liu 1 , zheng wang 1 , shuo li 1* , qingchi zhang 1 & huaken zhang 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao 266106, china * shuo li, qingdao city university, qingdao 266106, china received: may 20, 2025 accepted: may 27, 2025 online published: may 30, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p48 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p48 abstract under the background of engineering education accreditation and the development of new engineering disciplines, traditional structural mechanics courses are confronted with problems such as the disconnection between theory and practice, a monotonous teaching mode, and low student engagement. this study proposes a reform framework for structural mechanics courses that integrates interesting mechanics experiments. by reconstructing teaching content, innovating teaching methods, and optimizing the evaluation system, a “theory-practice-political ideology” teaching model is constructed, providing strong support for better cultivating applied talents. keywords structural mechanics, engineering practice, interesting mechanics experiment, curriculum reform, obe concept 1. introduction 1.1 research background with the advancement of the construction of new engineering disciplines and the implementation of engineering education accreditation, higher engineering education is facing a paradigm transformation from “knowledge imparting” to “ability cultivation”. structural mechanics, as a core basic course for civil engineering, intelligent construction and other majors, plays a “bridging” role in connecting theoretical mechanics, material mechanics and subsequent professional courses such as the design principles of steel structures. its teaching effect is directly related to the cultivation of students’ ability www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 49 published by scholink inc. to solve complex engineering problems. however, the traditional teaching mode has problems such as the disconnection between theory and practice, insufficient classroom interaction, and low students’ learning motivation. although some universities have attempted to carry out teaching reforms through multimedia teaching or case introduction, it is still difficult to break through the predicament of low students’ classroom participation and weak knowledge transfer ability. this contradiction has become increasingly prominent under the background that engineering education emphasizes practicality and innovation, and it is urgent to explore new teaching paths through systematic curriculum reform. 1.2 research significance this study proposes a framework for the curriculum reform of structural mechanics integrating interesting mechanics experiments. its significance is reflected in the following three aspects. by introducing engineering cases and applying pkpm engineering design software to drive teaching, students’ ability to apply mechanics theories to practical problems is strengthened, which is in line with the core requirement of “outcome-oriented” under the obe concept. the integration of interesting mechanics experiments can stimulate learning interest through life-like scenarios, break the deadlock of “one-way indoctrination” in traditional classrooms, and enable students to truly experience the principles of mechanics through hands-on and brain-stimulating activities. at the same time, it can enhance the team’s innovative awareness through group collaboration. by combining ancient architectural wisdom with modern engineering achievements, a library of ideological and political elements is constructed. engineering ethics and social responsibility are integrated into professional education to achieve an organic unity of knowledge imparting and value guidance. this research not only provides an operational practical path for the curriculum reform of structural mechanics, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the collaborative innovation of interdisciplinary courses under the background of new engineering, which has important academic value and significance for the promotion of engineering education. 2. analysis of problems in traditional structural mechanics teaching 2.1 summary of teaching pain points structural mechanics, as a theoretical course supporting the major, is closely related to engineering practice. its core objective lies in cultivating students’ ability to solve practical engineering problems by applying the principles of mechanics. however, in the current teaching, there is a widespread tendency of “emphasizing theoretical derivation while neglecting practical application”. for instance, although students can proficiently calculate the bending moment and shear force of statically and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 50 published by scholink inc. precisely structured structures, when it comes to the design of complex structural models, they often have no idea where to start and find it difficult to transform abstract formulas into engineering design logic. traditional classrooms mostly adopt the linear model of “teacher lecturing-students listening and taking notes”. even though teaching reforms have been carried out, “teacher lecturing” still occupies the vast majority of class time, and there is a lack of teaching interactivity and innovation. the teaching method mainly based on “blackboard derivation + example problem explanation” is difficult to stimulate students’ awareness of active exploration. studies show that one-way indoctrination structural mechanics requires theoretical mechanics and material mechanics as the prerequisite foundations. however, among the student group, it is inevitable that there is a phenomenon of not firmly grasping the prerequisite knowledge. some students are unable to proficiently draw the force analysis diagram of the structure or establish the equilibrium equation, which hinders the subsequent learning of the internal force analysis module of the structure. this fundamental difference further exacerbates the imbalance between teaching progress and effect. at present, ideological and political elements in teaching are mostly limited to the mention of scattered cases, lacking systematic design and in-depth integration. the separation of value guidance and professional education makes it difficult for students to form a profound understanding of engineering ethics and social responsibility, and there is a gap with the educational goal of “cultivating virtue and nurturing talent”. 2.2 root cause of the problem the traditional teaching mode is teacher-centered, and students have become passive recipients. this concept ignores the differences in individual learning needs and inhibits the cultivation of critical thinking and innovation abilities. the assessment overly relies on closed-book written tests and fails to reflect the teamwork and problem-solving abilities required in engineering practice. with the rapid development of emerging fields such as intelligent construction and green buildings, the update speed of the content of structural mechanics courses lags significantly. the textbooks still mainly focus on classic structural analysis, and rarely cover cutting-edge technologies such as structural health monitoring. furthermore, the teaching evaluation system fails to align with the assessment requirements for “the ability to solve complex engineering problems” in engineering education accreditation, resulting in a disconnection between talent cultivation and industry demands. there is a lack of organic connection of the knowledge system between structural mechanics and the prerequisite courses as well as the subsequent courses. the correlation between “force analysis of objects” in theoretical mechanics and “solving internal forces of structures by section method” in structural mechanics has not been made explicit, making it difficult for students to construct a systematic cognitive framework of mechanics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 51 published by scholink inc. 3. the core concept of the curriculum reform of structural mechanics 3.1 student-centered the inertial thinking of “teachers dominating the classroom” in the traditional teaching mode urgently needs to be broken through. this research adopts the concept of “student-centered”, emphasizing the reconstruction of the teaching process through the intelligent empowerment of knowledge graphs and autonomous inquiry-based learning. based on the learning theory, the knowledge points of structural mechanics are visually presented by using knowledge graph technology to help students establish a systematic knowledge framework. the group cooperative learning and flipped classroom models are adopted to shift the classroom time from one-way lectures to problem discussions. in the teaching of internal force analysis, a situational task of “failure of bridge bearings” is set up. the group is required to propose solutions through model construction and mechanical derivation, and the teacher only participates in the discussion as a guide. the practice of this concept not only conforms to the goal of cultivating cognitive ability, but also effectively alleviates the chronic problem of “scattered attention” in traditional teaching by enhancing the sense of classroom participation. 3.2 oriented towards engineering practice to bridge the gap between theory and practice, curriculum reform needs to closely align with the demands of engineering practice and build a teaching ecosystem that integrates learning and application. select typical engineering problems as teaching carriers, and combine the case of the “harbin yangmingtan bridge accident” to guide students to apply the basic principles of statics to conduct in-depth analysis of the causes of the accident, achieving the expansion training of “mechanics theory-engineering practice”. in accordance with the standards of the college students’ structural design competition, organize the load-bearing design competition of truss bridges within the course. students are required to comprehensively apply knowledge such as the mechanical properties of materials, geometric structure analysis, and force analysis of truss structures to complete model design and loading tests, and to hone their abilities in structural optimization and teamwork in real engineering scenarios. this orientation not only strengthens students’ engineering thinking, but also promotes the transformation of knowledge into ability through the “learning by doing” model. 3.3 the obe (outcome-based education) concept based on the obe concept, the curriculum reform needs to reverse design the teaching system starting from the learning outcome goals. according to bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, the ability requirements are decomposed into three levels of objectives: “memorizing the characteristics of statically determinate structures-analyzing statically determinate structures-designing and optimizing complex systems”, and corresponding teaching activities are matched. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 52 published by scholink inc. abandon the single closed-book examination and adopt a diversified evaluation model of “process performance + practical achievements + comprehensive written test” to ensure that the assessment content is consistent with the ability requirement of “solving complex engineering problems” in engineering education accreditation. the implementation of this concept shifts teaching from “knowledge coverage” to “ability achievement”, providing quantifiable quality assurance for engineering education accreditation. 4. reform strategies and implementation paths 4.1 reconstruction of teaching content in order to achieve the coordinated improvement of the knowledge system and engineering practice ability, the teaching content is systematically reconstructed and divided into the basic knowledge module, the structural system module and the computerized analysis module. integrate the core concepts of theoretical mechanics and material mechanics in the basic knowledge module, and enhance the ability to analyze geometric structures and draw calculation diagrams. by comparing the constraint conditions of trusses and rigid frames, guide students to understand the engineering significance of “degrees of freedom” and “constraints”. the mechanical characteristics of different structural systems such as beams, trusses, arches, rigid frames and frames are analyzed hierarchically in the structural system module. for instance, in the teaching of “arch structure analysis”, the case of catenary arch bridge is introduced. combined with the derivation of differential equations and numerical simulation, students’ understanding of the distribution laws of axial force and bending moment is deepened. the pkpm application training is embedded in the computer analysis module, requiring students to use pkpm to complete the load combination calculation of the steel structure factory building and improve the structural economy through parameter optimization. 4.2 innovation in teaching methods adopt a blended teaching mode combining online and offline. relying on the chaoxing learning pass platform online, we have developed a dual-driven online resource system of “micro-lesson videos + exercise banks”, creating micro-lessons such as “force analysis of objects” and “calculation of internal forces of trusses by node method”. students can watch and study at any time and self-test their learning effects with exercises. teachers can prepare lessons in a targeted manner through data analysis in the background. offline, case-based teaching is relied on. typical engineering cases are selected as the teaching entry point to guide students to analyze the failure mechanism from the perspective of mechanics and propose solutions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 53 published by scholink inc. to break the dullness of traditional classrooms, this study proposes to deeply integrate life-related and interesting experiments into teaching and visually reveal the principles of mechanics through simple experiments. for instance, when explaining the balance of force, students are required to build a support system with matches and suspend mineral water bottles to test the load-bearing limit. through the experimental data, they can infer the law of force analysis. 4.3 optimization of the assessment and evaluation system change the traditional evaluation method mainly based on the final exam, strengthen the process assessment, and divide the assessment content into three parts: learning process evaluation, practical ability assessment and the final comprehensive test. the process assessment accounts for 25%, covering online learning activity, classroom interaction performance and phased tests. the assessment of practical ability accounts for 35%, including competition achievements and computerized analysis reports. the final comprehensive test accounts for 40% and is conducted in a “semi-open-book” format. self-made knowledge cards are allowed, with a focus on assessing the comprehensive analysis ability of complex engineering problems. real-time tracking of learning data is achieved through the chaoxing learning pass smart course platform, and personalized learning reports are automatically generated by ai teaching assistants. for students with weak mastery of certain knowledge points, targeted supplementary exercises and micro-lesson resources are pushed. establish a three-level feedback channel of “teacher-teaching assistant-student”, and solve common problems through weekly learning salons to ensure that problems are not left overnight. 4.4 implementation of ideological and political education in courses taking ancient buildings such as zhaozhou bridge and yingxian wooden pagoda as examples, this paper analyzes their mechanical principles and the spirit of craftsmanship, guiding students to appreciate the engineering value of “striving for excellence”. analyze the technological innovations behind super projects such as the shanghai tower and strengthen the sense of mission of “serving the country through science and technology”. in the chapter of “structural stability”, combined with the two collapse incidents of the quebec bridge, the social responsibility and professional ethics of engineers are explored. in the truss bridge design competition, a “sustainable development” scoring item has been added, requiring students to demonstrate environmental friendliness from dimensions such as material selection and construction techniques, and cultivating the awareness of green engineering. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 54 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusions and prospects 5.1 conclusion this research takes the cultivation of engineering practice ability as the core goal. through systematic reconstruction of teaching content, innovation of teaching methods and optimization of the evaluation system, a three-in-one curriculum reform framework of “theory-practice-ideological and political education” for structural mechanics has been constructed, and the following core achievements have been made: (1) guided by the obe concept, through strategies such as “engineering case-driven” and “integration of interesting experiments”, the chronic problem of the disconnection between theory and practice in traditional teaching has been effectively solved. students are not only capable of analyzing complex structural problems based on mechanical principles, but also demonstrate remarkable engineering practice abilities in the operation of computer tools and the optimization design of structures. (2) enhancement of learning motivation and innovation ability. the implementation of the blended teaching mode and group collaborative tasks has effectively enhanced classroom participation. students performed outstandingly in the discipline competition of intelligent building structure design, verifying the effectiveness of the “learning by doing” concept. (3) deep integration of ideological and political education in courses. through the multi-dimensional infiltration of ancient architectural wisdom, modern engineering achievements and the spirit of scientists, students’ sense of social responsibility and engineering ethics have been significantly enhanced. 5.2 future directions to further deepen the curriculum reform, continuous exploration is needed from the following dimensions: (1) cross-curriculum collaborative reform to promote the integration of the knowledge systems of structural mechanics with prerequisite courses and subsequent courses. the reconstruction of course knowledge has been integrated into the core contents of statics and mechanics of materials. in subsequent professional courses such as steel structure design, structural mechanics optimization algorithms can be introduced to construct an integrated teaching chain of “analysis-design-verification”. (2) artificial intelligence technology empowers teaching. based on the chaoxing learning pass smart course platform, a personalized learning path recommendation system is constructed. (3) deepen the integration of industry and education, promote the entry of enterprise real questions into classrooms, cooperate with design institutes, construction enterprises and building technology enterprises, transform practical engineering problems into course tasks, and invite engineers to participate in the review of achievements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 55 published by scholink inc. references bao, e. h., jiang, h., liu, b., & chen, y. h. (2016). teaching reform and discussion of structural mechanics course. journal of higher education, 2016(20). jia, s. z., & xu, n. x. (2018). discussion on the combination of structural mechanics teaching and engineering practice in civil engineering major. higher architectural education, 27(4), 126-130. xie, h. p. (2017). comprehensively deepening educational and teaching reform guided by innovation and entrepreneurship education. china higher education research, 2017(03), 1-5. zhang, x. c., & wang, y. l. (2021). teaching reform of structural mechanics course centered on students’ learning. university education, 2021(1), 72-75. zhang, x. y., lu, c., zhang, d. m. et al. (2017). context creation of structural design in structural mechanics teaching. mechanics and practice, 2017(4), 392-395. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 35 original paper exploring the teaching reform of civil engineering construction song ming-zhi 1* , zhao yuan-yuan 2 & liu yang 1 1 intelligent construction department, qingdao city university, qingdao, china 2 department of accounting and finance, qingdao city university, qingdao, china * song ming-zhi, e-mail: 1207483490@qq.com received: may 12, 2025 accepted: may 21, 2025 online published: may 26, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p35 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p35 abstract in this paper, for the current “civil engineering construction” course teaching process exists in the theory from practice, knowledge fragmentation and insufficient student participation and other issues, from the perspective of teaching content, teaching methods, etc. put forward a few suggestions for peer reference. keywords civil engineering construction, teaching reform, practical skills under the background of new engineering, the talent cultivation objectives of applied local universities are more specific and pay more attention to the ability to find problems, analyze problems and solve problems (zhang, l., zhang, w., & gao, banana, 2022, pp. 234-235, p. 243). as a core course of civil engineering, civil engineering construction is the foundation for students to study subsequent specialized courses and to engage in design, construction and other related work in the civil construction industry after graduation (li, j., cai, k. k., & wen, s. d., 2017, pp. 131-133). the knowledge structure of the course contains two major course modules: building construction technology and building construction organization. the former systematically analyzes the construction process and control elements of sub-part projects; the latter covers the basic principles of construction organization design, network planning technology and flow construction. currently, there is a common problem of theory being detached from practice in teaching, which seriously restricts the cultivation of students' engineering practical ability. the purpose of this paper is to explore the teaching content and teaching methods of the civil engineering construction course, to improve the quality of teachers’ teaching and students’ practical ability, and to help students to be competent in construction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 36 published by scholink inc. management related work in the future. 1. problems in teaching civil engineering construction courses the practice of students utilizing cell phones in college and university classrooms has been prevalent for quite some time. in the early days, cell phones mainly served the communication function and the entertainment function was relatively single, and the frequency of students using cell phones in the classroom was relatively low. as science and technology advance, smartphones have rapidly expanded their functionalities, including games, novels, short videos, and shopping, all accessible at a touch. while enhancing convenience and entertainment, this has posed a significant challenge to classroom instruction. 1.1 construction process construction technology refers to a variety of technical methods and operational steps used in the process of building construction. the current teaching mode presents multi-dimensional evolution characteristics: textbook level using text narrative combined with two-dimensional schematic static presentation, the introduction of bim modeling, vr virtual simulation and other digital technologies to build three-dimensional visualization scenes, the teacher level to form a “traditional textbook + multimedia courseware + virtual reality technology” composite teaching path. under this teaching framework, students are able to achieve instant mastery of construction technology in the classroom through model deconstruction, virtual operation and other figurative cognitive construction processes, and strengthen procedural memory through simulation practice. however, the cognitive load theory shows that there is a significant fading effect of this surface cognition, which is manifested in the lack of knowledge transfer ability, and it is difficult to cope with the variable management needs of the construction site. in essence, the teaching process favors the mechanical reproduction of operational representations and neglects the deep analysis of construction logic, resulting in students only obtaining discrete technical fragments and failing to build a transferable engineering thinking system. 1.2 control elements the construction process control element system covers three dimensions of progress control, quality control and safety supervision. from the analysis of the course system structure, the progress management module is mainly integrated in the construction organization design course module, while the quality and safety control is throughout the construction technology professional course module. in the current teaching practice, teachers are in the main position of unidirectional knowledge transmission, relying on multimedia presentations and case studies and other teaching means to complete the knowledge transfer, and students are in a passive state of acceptance. it should be especially pointed out that, although this traditional didactic teaching can guarantee the efficiency of teaching information transfer, the lack of teacher-student interaction mechanism leads to insufficient participation in the classroom, which is manifested in the following way: learners are difficult to realize www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 37 published by scholink inc. knowledge transfer through active construction, which ultimately leads to poor internalization of knowledge, and it is difficult to form a systematic cognitive structure. 1.3 construction organization after the systematic study of building construction technology course, students have initially mastered the construction process and control points of sub-parts of the project. however, due to the fragmentation of the course content, the lack of systematic connection between the knowledge modules, resulting in students have not yet formed a complete engineering logical framework. specifically manifested as: difficult to establish the time logic relationship between the sub-projects, unable to accurately judge the starting and ending nodes of the sub-projects, and thus do not have the ability to prepare construction progress plans. 2. some suggestions for teaching reform in civil engineering construction courses 2.1 for the construction process-thinking backwards it is recommended to use reverse thinking teaching method in the teaching of construction process, and reverse the process from the engineering results. taking the teaching module of reinforcing steel engineering as an example, it can be implemented according to the following steps: (1) results display stage: present the results of the reinforcing steel skeleton before concrete pouring, including beam-column nodes, reinforcement spacing and other physical samples. (2) problem-guiding stage: through the question of “how to realize the structural form”, students are guided to think systematically about the pre-process of reinforcing steel engineering. (3) process deconstruction stage: analyze the technical chain of processing (material calculation) installation (positioning control) acceptance (testing standards). (4) knowledge construction stage: combine with bim model to dynamically demonstrate key construction links such as tying sequence and connection process. this method effectively cultivates students’ systematic engineering thinking through the teaching path of “result-oriented process tracing”. it is recommended to use construction simulation animation and process decomposition atlas to help students establish three-dimensional process logic and deepen their understanding of the correlation between specification provisions and construction programs. 2.2 for control elements-switching roles realize the role transformation from “observer’s perspective” to “stakeholder’s perspective”. based on the theory of situational cognition, we have constructed a “three-dimensional role immersion and four-dimensional process analysis” training system: in the main dimension, students are required to simulate the multiple role cognitive modes of the construction unit’s technical director, the construction unit's project director, and the supervisory unit’s professional engineers; in the process dimension, we have set up practical scenarios, such as the value engineering analysis of the construction preparation stage, the conflict coordination mechanism of the construction management and control, and the quality traceability system of the finished product protection period. in the process dimension, value www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 38 published by scholink inc. engineering analysis in the construction preparation stage, conflict coordination mechanism in the process control, quality traceability system in the finished product protection period and other practical scenarios are set up; in the element dimension, multi-dimensional control indexes such as technical feasibility validation, economic rationality assessment and regulatory compliance review are integrated. through role-playing driven dynamic decision-making, students are prompted to master the construction process control elements in depth. this “holographic engineering situation simulation” teaching method breaks through the limitations of traditional flat knowledge transfer, transforms abstract control elements into perceivable engineering decision-making constraints, and effectively cultivates the engineering system thinking of students to grasp the essence of craftsmanship in the balance of multiple objectives. 2.3 for construction organization-control the whole situation the course should focus on the system engineering attributes of engineering projects, and its teaching should break through the traditional fragmented cognitive mode and build a three-dimensional teaching system of “holistic view interface management dynamic coupling”. based on the theory of system dynamics, the implementation path of this course includes: firstly, constructing “double-base reinforcement” cognition deconstructing the course module of building construction technology through the process logic network diagram, and using memory coding strategy (e.g., building construction limerick) to reinforce the memory of the process parameters of the sub-projects; and then carrying out the “virtual-reality mapping” engineering experiments. --relying on the bim collaborative platform to build a digital twin model, synchronize the implementation of the construction projection of the physical scale-down model, focusing on the analysis of the temporal and spatial coupling mechanism for the division of construction segments and the principle of dynamic balance of resource flow. in this process, students need to complete the “micro-process → meso-process → macro-system” of the third-order cognitive leap, through the simulation of the preparation of the construction schedule covering construction, construction layout, the main construction program and other elements of the “construction organization design” documents, and ultimately form the whole life cycle perspective of the engineering coordination capabilities. this dual-track teaching mode of “figurative-abstract” effectively solves the cognitive fault problem of “local cognition and global control” in traditional teaching, and enables students not only to master the logical arrangement of construction time sequence, but also to understand the non-linear interaction between process interfaces. the students can not only master the logical arrangement of construction time sequence, but also understand the non-linear interaction between process interfaces. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 39 published by scholink inc. 3. conclusion this paper focuses on the teaching reform of the civil engineering construction course, and builds a theoretical framework of reverse thinking teaching, role-immersion simulation, and system dynamics to address the problems of theory divorced from practice, fragmentation of knowledge, and insufficient student participation in the current teaching. it should be noted that this study still has certain limitations: (1) the reform program has not yet been empirically tested in multiple rounds of teaching cycles, and its long-term effects need to be further tracked and evaluated; (2) the application of technological tools, such as bim and vr, is dependent on the institution’s hardware resources, and its promotion in resource-limited environments may face challenges. in summary, this study provides a systematic solution through innovative teaching methods and integration of digital technologies. it is expected that subsequent studies will further broaden the dimensions of engineering education reform and deliver technical and managerial talents with more practical and innovative capabilities for the high-quality development of the construction industry. references li, j., cai, k. k., & wen, s. d. (2017). reform and exploration of practical teaching of civil engineering construction course based on obe concept. education teaching forum, 2017(52), 131-133. zhang, l., zhang, w., & gao, banana. (2022). research on the effectiveness of teaching reform of civil engineering construction course. sichuan building materials, 48(12), 234-235, 243. note(s) note 1. first in line is ichisaku, and so on. microsoft word grhe-v2n2-p98 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 98 original paper research on the influence of mobile media on college students’ ideological and political education ma xiaoshuang1* 1 academy of marxism, jiangsu university, zhenjiang, china * ma xiaoshuang, academy of marxism, jiangsu university, zhenjiang, china received: july 8, 2019 accepted: july 15, 2019 online published: july 15, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n2p98 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n2p98 abstract with the rapid development of information technology, the form of mobile media has been continuously updated, and its social penetration rate is rapidly increasing. as a fashion leader, college students are keen to follow new things and show high enthusiasm and dependence on mobile media. mobile media has been used in the continuous innovation of information technology, opening up new teaching methods in the field of education and becoming a new carrier of ideological and political education. at the same time, mobile media is also a double-edged sword, bringing many challenges to ideological and political education. it is an important research direction of ideological and political education in colleges and universities to put forward practical and feasible implementation plans to make full use of the advantages of mobile media to promote the development of ideological and political education and to guide college students to form a correct outlook on life and values. keywords mobile media, college student, ideological and political education 1. introduction with the continuous updating of mobile phones and the rapid development of mobile applications, mobile media has more and more prominent advantages in the process of network interpersonal communication, so people prefers mobile phone as a convenient and fast way to access the internet. college students are new followers and fashion leaders. they also represent young social groups. learning to accept new things is relatively strong compared with other groups. it has become the initial experience group of mobile media. they like mobile media to learn. and bring convenience services in life, not only entertainment, socializing on the mobile media, but also understanding the current realities, understanding the political affairs of the country, various social news, they can relax www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 99 published by scholink inc. themselves in the network and express their ideas, release your own pressure and learn a lot of books without knowledge. but for most people, looking down on mobile phones has become their habit and has changed their lives. many examples have shown that over-reliance on mobile phones can cause neglect and even serious consequences for themselves and their families. although the negative impact of mobile media has existed in reality, in the ideological and political education of colleges and universities, how to use the advantages of mobile media to carry out ideological and political education is the focus of research. 2. mobile media overview 2.1 the presentation form of mobile media with the continuous development of society, people’s needs are increasing, and the form of mobile media is constantly diversified. from the initial single text message, it has been extended to the current life of reading, reading, news, shopping, etc. every morning, people only need to turn on the mobile phone, and in five minutes, they can know everything, shopping and then there is no need to go to crowded markets, expensive shopping malls, shopping software to present all goods and prices in front of people, people choose, when we travel, we only need a mobile phone, a navigation software can go to any of us where to go, no longer afraid to get lost. the quality of people’s lives is constantly improving, and the form of mobile media will be more abundant. 2.2 characteristics of mobile media (1) portability in recent years, the appearance of mobile phones has changed to lighter and thinner, making them more portable. people can use the mobile phone network to connect with others, play mobile games, read news information, etc. anytime, anywhere. it breaks the drawbacks of large size, slow start, and limited networking of computer terminals. nowadays, the appearance of alipay and wechat wallet has made the mobile phone replace the traditional wallet. the stores around the school have opened an online payment platform. when college students forget to bring their wallets, they can use the sweep function to complete the payment. (2) immediacy the mobile phone has a fast transmission speed, a wide range and strong timeliness. due to the large number of mobile phone users and the scattered scale, the news spreads more quickly. the mobile phone can know what is happening at home and abroad in the first time, and pass it to the user at the first time. news facts. when there is an emergency and the traditional media is lacking, the mobile media can play its role in collecting and communicating information on the spot. (3) multi-directionality mobile media has impacted the traditional mode of communication of traditional media, and its emergence has made the “self-media” era come quickly. everyone is a reporter, and everyone can publish information. users can share their own events and express their opinions on weibo and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 100 published by scholink inc. wechat platforms at any time. they can also share their photos and video chats while communicating with others. mobile media users can accept information and publish information. whether they are strangers or friends, they can participate in discussions and interactive interactions on topics of interest on social networking sites. 3. the impact of mobile media on ideological and political education for college students 3.1 mobile media challenges the authority of ideological and political educators with the emergence of mobile media and the increasing use of its applications, the authority of teachers has been weakened. first of all, the equality of the mobile media communication platform has narrowed the gap between the real social identity and status, effectively reducing the tension in the face-to-face communication between students and teachers, and the teacher’s identity authority is largely weakened. secondly, the openness and comprehensiveness of the mobile media communication platform broaden the channels for college students to acquire knowledge, improve the enthusiasm of college students to learn independently, and students acquire more knowledge information, which weakens the teacher’s knowledge authority. at the same time, college students are generally more proficient in using mobile media than teachers. they can browse information through mobile media and build a huge amount of knowledge reserves, which has greatly challenged the authority of ideological and political education. 3.2 mobile media challenges the literacy of ideological and political educators educators are the leaders of ideological and political education in colleges and universities. the level of literacy determines the overall degree of specialization of the education team and directly affects the implementation of education. the comprehensive literacy of the main body of the education team includes political literacy, moral literacy and ability literacy. the openness of the mobile media communication platform makes it provide a large amount of knowledge and positive information for college students. it is also used by various domestic and foreign utilitarian forces to disseminate reactionary remarks, trying to distort the beliefs and values of college students through the platform. at present, the complicated social situation puts forward higher requirements for the political literacy of ideological and political education workers. it must have a firm belief and political stance, always keep a clear head, and then guide college students to correctly treat the relevant opinions of the mobile media, in a complicated situation. establish the correct socialist core values. at the same time, noble moral literacy is also an indispensable quality for ideological and political educators who “build human soul engineers”. ideological and moral educators infect and lead college students to improve their moral cultivation through their own noble moral qualities and personality charm, consciously resist bad information in mobile media, overcome the problem of network moral anomie, and need to continuously improve new knowledge and new skills. active learning and exploration skills to ensure smooth communication and efficient teaching with college students. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 101 published by scholink inc. 3.3 mobile media influences the outlook on life and values that college students are forming the university stage is a crucial period for students to explore the meaning of life through learning and practice, and to determine the goals and values of life, that is, to establish a outlook on life and values. the content of traditional college students’ ideological and political education has been checked through layers, filtering bad information, and creating a positive and positive environment and atmosphere for students. the emergence of mobile media has changed the atmosphere of traditional universities. college students can receive a huge amount of information and complicated information through the platform. there are some reactionary speeches and bad information, which will undoubtedly bring the students’ outlook on life and values as the certain impact. the diversification and generalization of mobile media platforms make every college student a media person, the lack of appropriate restrictions and constraints, making college students who are not deeply involved, lack of judgment and discernment more likely to be lost in a highly open and free environment. the self, and thus the deviation between its outlook on life and values. on the other hand, over-reliance on mobile phones will increase the inertia of students, reducing or even losing the ability to think independently. in addition, mobile media has also brought test to the integrity of college students. the portability and privacy of mobile phones and the extensiveness of mobile media resources facilitate the cheating of exams, further affecting the development and effectiveness of ideological and political education in colleges and universities. 4. suggestions on using mobile media to promote ideological and political education for college students 4.1 paying full attention to the construction and innovation of mobile phone carriers in college ideological and political education colleges and universities should fully raise their awareness of mobile media. mobile media has played an irreplaceable role in the study and life of college students, affecting the formation of students’ outlook on life and values. college students lack life experience and social experience, and are easily misled by the bad information in the mobile media network, which makes the three views of college students distorted and even become the object of being used by hostile elements. therefore, colleges and universities must fully strengthen their attention to mobile media, thoroughly understand this new thing, and make it a force to promote college students’ ideological and political education. first, increase investment in educators and ideological and political platforms. the speed of mobile media update is fast, colleges and universities should ensure that ideological and political educators keep up with the pace of college students, and are familiar with the various functions of mobile media, so as to ensure that they can communicate freely on the same platform. secondly, increase the investment in the training of relevant technical personnel. building the campus weibo, wechat public account, and increasing the training of technical personnel, can timely respond to problems in the use of mobile media. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 102 published by scholink inc. 4.2 play the role of mobile media construction campus culture environment the impact of the environment on people cannot be ignored. a good campus environment plays a key role in the growth of college students. mobile media plays a key role in mobilizing the enthusiasm of college students and enriching campus cultural activities in the construction of campus cultural environment. actively carry out campus theme activities based on mobile media as a medium platform, which can promote the improvement of college students’ creative ability and enrich campus life. using mobile microblog and wechat platform to enhance the introduction and promotion of advanced figures is conducive to enhancing the ideological realm of college students and enriching the spiritual life of college students; using mobile media as an aid to ideological and political education courses, mobile media can turn some boring theoretical text into vivid video and animation forms, improve the enthusiasm of college students, and become a mediator of ideological and political education courses. colleges and universities can establish a special wechat and weibo platform so that college students can watch and learn in their spare time. summing up experience in continuous exploration, making mobile media play a more powerful role in the ideological and political education of colleges and universities. 4.3 college students should improve their use of mobile media (1) improve their ideological and moral qualities and resist the bad temptation of mobile media improve your mind. college students must adhere to the correct political direction, consciously resist the misleading of hostile forces in the mobile media, do not believe in the reactionary remarks in the network, and always keep a clear head and consciousness. sticking to your own outlook on life and grasping the direction of life can improve the ability to distinguish between good and evil, identify useful information and spam in mobile media, and avoid being affected by bad information. strengthen ideological and moral cultivation. in the process of using mobile media, college students are responsible for their own speech, using a civilized network language, not defamating the national image, and not infringing on the overall interests for personal gain. do not use mobile media as a tool for cheating in exams, regulate your behavior, and consciously abide by the basic ethical standards of citizens. (2) dialectical treatment of mobile media in the process of using mobile media to obtain information, college students should use a dialectical view of mobile media, take the initiative to use mobile media to find useful information, and take advantage of mobile media. when choosing information, we must take the essence and go to its dregs. the right channel, the regular website browsing information, pick the content that suits you, and download the security software to intercept the spam if necessary. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 2, 2019 103 published by scholink inc. references chen, y. l. (2019). the construction of the main position of ideological and political education in colleges and universities in the new media era. audio visual, 2019(2), 231-232. liu, q. (2019). research on the difficulties and countermeasures of college students’ ideological and political education in the new situation. studies in contemporary education and teaching practice, 2019(04), 207-209. qin, c. x. (2019). challenges and countermeasures of college students’ ideological and political education in the age of media. think tank age, 2019(27), 65-75. ren, h. y. (2019). reasonable use of mobile media in college students’ ideological and political education. jincheng vocational and technical college, 12(3), 16-18. wang, j. (2019). practical exploration of developing college students’ ideological and political education from the age of media. education and teaching forum, 2019(13), 132-133. yan, y. x. (2019). analysis of college ideological and political education strategies in the new media environment. decision-making exploration, 2019(6), 53. yue, y. (2019). research on college students’ ideological and political education in the age of media convergence. journal of chongqing radio & tv university, 31(1), 9-14. zhang, x. y. (2019). study on the countermeasures of college students’ ideological and political education under the influence of mobile media. education and teaching forum, 2019(20), 28-29. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 46 original paper the impact of smartphones on effective classrooms and control measures zhao yuan-yuan 1* , song ming-zhi 2 & liu yang 2 1 department of accounting and finance, qingdao city university, qingdao, china 2 intelligent construction department, qingdao city university, qingdao, china * zhao yuan-yuan is the first author, song ming-zhi is the second author, and liu yang is the third author. received: january 8, 2025 accepted: january 20, 2025 online published: january 21, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p46 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p46 abstract in recent times, smartphones have increasingly been incorporated into college classrooms as educational instruments. however, they represent a “dual-edged weapon”, offering ease in teaching while simultaneously contributing to a rising trend of students using their phones improperly during class. therefore, how to reasonably control the use of smartphones in college classrooms is an issue worth exploring. keywords smartphone, college classroom, control countermeasures 1. introduction the practice of students utilizing cell phones in college and university classrooms has been prevalent for quite some time. in the early days, cell phones mainly served the communication function and the entertainment function was relatively single, and the frequency of students using cell phones in the classroom was relatively low. as science and technology advance, smartphones have rapidly expanded their functionalities, including games, novels, short videos, and shopping, all accessible at a touch. while enhancing convenience and entertainment, this has posed a significant challenge to classroom instruction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 47 published by scholink inc. 2. the impact of smartphones on classroom instruction smartphones are a general term for cell phones with independent operating systems that support users to expand, install, and have the autonomy to uninstall applications and achieve wireless internet connectivity via mobile communication networks. by connecting to wireless networks and installing applications independently, users can choose to access external information, where educational content positively influences efficient classrooms, whereas non-educational content may have adverse effects. 2.1 positive influence the positive impact is mainly reflected in the use of intelligent mobile learning software. taking “super star learning app” as an example, the teaching resource library provided by the learning software greatly enriches the content of lesson preparation; in the course of the lesson, the classroom activity controls such as signing in, selecting people, voting, questionnaires, accompanying exercises, grouping tasks, etc., can increase the interaction between teachers and students, and improve the efficiency of the course statistics; after the lesson, through the software, assignments and exams can be issued to better understand students’ mastery of knowledge. after the class, the software can be used to distribute homework and exams to better understand the students' mastery of knowledge. 2.2 negative influence the negative impact lies in the use of entertainment software as well as some communication software. for most people, learning is boring, and compared with the games, chatting, short videos, online shopping, etc. on the cell phone, there is no attraction, which makes the students who already lack self-control become the “low head” in the classroom, and the smartphone has a serious impact on the students' concentration on classroom learning. 3. reasons for the negative impact of smartphones on classroom instruction 3.1 external causes 3.1.1 teaching paradigm shift the current “internet +” environment, cell phones into the classroom to assist teaching is in line with the trend of the new era of network wave. network technology has revolutionized the way knowledge is acquired. the traditional teaching model has struggled to keep pace with these changes, necessitating proactive adjustments to classroom teaching methods. the integration of network technology with traditional teaching offers significant convenience to both students and teachers. in this evolution, smartphones have become indispensable. students’ use of cell phones in the classroom has shifted from being covert to overt. however, it remains unclear whether they are using their phones to process learning-related information or merely using them for entertainment purposes, often under the guise of “learning”. in the name of “learning”, the practice of “play”, not a few. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 48 published by scholink inc. 3.1.2 changes in the learning environment in high schools, there is typically a ban on cell phones on campus, fostering a strong learning environment. students tend to exercise restraint with their phone usage, even during weekends at home, where parents often remind them verbally to focus on studies and limit leisurely phone use. after stepping into the door of the university, students independently arrange after-school time, whether in class or out of class, no one will be forced to prohibit or reduce the frequency of playing cell phones. as time goes by, students find that just playing with their cell phones after class is no longer enough to satisfy their fun-loving nature, so using their cell phones to chat, play games, and swipe short videos during class time becomes commonplace. since no one asks questions in class, and since they can get by without listening to class, students certainly do not value classroom teaching, and playing with their cell phones in class becomes a common occurrence. 3.1.3 network technological advances time is developing, society is progressing, the function of cell phone is also more and more colorful. from single-player games to online games such as king’s glory and peaceful elite, from single communication software to the current chatting and dating apps such as wechat and qq, and then the short videos such as jitterbug and shutterbug that have sprung up in recent years, etc., the colorful functions of cell phones have greatly occupied students’ time after school, or even in class. external causes teaching paradigm shift changes in the learning environment advances in network technology smartphones negatively impact classroom instruction figure 1. external reasons for the negative impact of smartphones on classroom instruction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 49 published by scholink inc. 3.2 internal causes students generally lack self-discipline. throughout their growth from kindergarten to high school, students remain under their parents’ supervision. given their limited life experience and discernment, they often rely on their parents’ advice or adhere to their parents’ arrangements for most daily decisions. after entering university, students are largely free from parental management, but their ability to manage themselves is seriously lacking. it is precisely during this period that students begin to use smartphones on their own, and the various tempting functions inevitably make students lose themselves and eventually rely heavily on their cell phones. 4. reasons for the negative impact of smartphones on classroom instruction 4.1 strict control of the classroom first of all, in the classroom, cell phone vibration or ringing can easily attract the attention of students, affecting the overall quality and progress of teaching, so you can ask students to turn their cell phones to silent mode in class, and at the same time to remind the students who play with the cell phone; secondly, to enhance interaction with students, teachers should integrate their own work or life experiences, or link book knowledge with real-life scenarios during the teaching process. this approach not only aids students in deepening their memory but also stimulates their enthusiasm and concentration; lastly, increasing the utilization of smart mobile learning software can decrease the opportunities for students to engage in leisure and entertainment activities within the classroom setting. this will help students to deepen their memory and at the same time mobilize their motivation and concentration; finally, to increase the frequency of using smart mobile learning software, so as to reduce the opportunity for students to use cell phones to relax and entertain themselves in the classroom. 4.2 teaching according to the ability of the student each student has his or her own specialties, such as language, politics, writing, etc. teachers can tailor their instruction to each student based on their unique characteristics and the course content, making it more accessible for students to grasp the knowledge presented in textbooks. this personalized approach necessitates a thorough understanding of each student by the teacher. consequently, to ensure that teaching aligns with students’ needs and to achieve a high-quality education, some colleges and universities have adopted small class sizes. some researchers believe that small class teaching is conducive to the full mobilization of the “teacher-student” double subjective role, to stimulate students’ learning initiative, creativity and inner potential. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 50 published by scholink inc. 4.3 the essence of learning the vital mission of higher education is to nurture high-caliber talents for the nation. for many students, enrolling in university aims to secure a fulfilling job upon graduation, with the necessary skills and knowledge for that occupation typically acquired through daily studies on campus, but unfortunately, most students do not understand the jobs that they will probably be engaged in in the future, and therefore do not recognize the importance of classroom learning. based on the current situation, it is recommended that colleges and universities set up a full-time career counselor, from the beginning of enrollment on a regular basis to introduce students to the current state of the industry after graduation will probably be engaged in the workplace. to ignite students’ internal drive for learning, it’s crucial to transform the mindset from “they want me to learn” to “i want to learn!” by doing so, students will undoubtedly become more engrossed in classroom activities, thereby significantly mitigating the adverse effects of smartphones on their learning. strict control of the classroom teaching according to the ability of the student the essence of learning lower higher figure 2. control countermeasures against smartphone influence on college students’ classroom learning 4. conclusion as a product of the times, smartphones have long been a “part” of our lives and are inseparable. however, in the classroom, students’ energy is limited, and the presence of cell phones will inevitably occupy them. in order to ensure the quality of teaching, teachers should reasonably control the use of cell phones, and improve the attractiveness of the knowledge taught, stimulate students to learn the internal motivation, help students learn better, and realize high-quality teaching. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 51 published by scholink inc. references kong, c. x. (2012). comparison and inspiration of large and small classroom teaching in chinese and canadian universities. journal of shanghai youth management cadre college, 2012(1). liu, f. (2014). the adverse effects of college students’ cell phone dependence on classroom teaching and response. heihe journal, 2014(1), 171-173. sun, s. l. (2014). can’t control yourself, or can’t control your cell phone? education and career, 2014(7). xu, l., yuan, h. j., & meng, j. l. (2014). the impact of smartphone popularization on college students’ classroom learning. china adult education, 2014(14), 61-63. note note 1. first in line is ichisaku, and so on. microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p10 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 10 original paper native perspectives about coupling indigenous traditional knowledge with western science in geoscience education from a focus group study wendy f. smythe1*, judi brown clarke2†, rebekah hammack3 & christie poitra4 1 affiliation american indian studies, and earth and environmental sciences, university of minnesota duluth, duluth, usa 2 affiliation michigan state university, beacon center for the study of evolution in action, east lansing, usa 3 affiliation montana state university, bozeman, mt, usa 4 affiliation native american institute, michigan state university, east lansing, usa † currently chief diversity officer at stony brook universitym, stony brook n.y. * wendy. f. smythe, affiliation american indian studies, and earth and environmental sciences, university of minnesota duluth, duluth, usa received: march 3, 2020 accepted: march 13, 2020 online published: april 8, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p10 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p10 abstract traditional knowledge (tk) from native american/alaska native (na/an) communities is often met with dismissive attitudes due to its perceived qualitative nature, however, careful examination of what tk represents, and how it formed, leads to the realization that tk is a mixture of qualitative, quantitive, and spiritual knowledge utilizing the same rigor as western science. tk represents knowledge about place, historical insight, and spiritual beliefs with a longstanding and tested understanding about terrestrial and aquatic systems. theoretical positioning of this study supports the ideology that providing na/an students with culturally aligned educational opportunities creates equitable and inclusive learning environments, thereby increasing sense of identity and belonging. we present focus group data collected from two national conferences focused on success of na/an students in geoscience. using a small discussion group format respondents were asked to consider: (1) how do you define science?, (2) how do you define tk?, and (3) what does coupling tk and science mean to you? our findings revealed a holistic definition of science using typical (e.g., biology, geology, etc.) and atypical (e.g., social science, cultural identity, equity) descriptors. these findings emphasize the importance of developing culturally www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 11 published by scholink inc. aligned curriculum across all education levels to support na/an students. keywords native education, traditional knowledge, stem education, geoscience education 1. introduction this study examines, through a focus group format, the perspectives of native students, native and non-native mentors, faculty, and professionals in geoscience research and education, about their opinions of how or if tk and western science knowledge systems are interrelated and complimentary. a review of current literature makes a strong argument for the benefits of using both knowledge systems for all students—while also addressing the difficulties encountered in blending these two distinct systems into geoscience research and education (chatterjee, 2019; ragavan, 2001). to better elucidate perspectives, we conducted two focus groups (n=50) at two national conferences that focused on native student success across all western science or science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) disciplines. to gain a better understanding of the perspectives of natives, from various tribal nations, on the importance of providing culturally aligned and ethical geoscience education, and the impacts respondents thought coupling these knowledge systems would have on their self-efficacy as a native scientist. research questions discussed in focus groups were: (1) how do you define science? (2) how do you define tk? and (3) what does coupling tk and science mean to you? this study is grounded in the theory that providing students with opportunities to couple tk and stem will lead to positive outcomes in self-identity as a scientist and increase the pursuit of and retention of native students in geoscience disciplines. native students’ values and beliefs about themselves, in relation to their culture and community, span a spectrum of diversity within the classroom. hence, post-secondary institutions often struggle to create equitable and inclusive spaces that meet the needs of each of these diverse students. historically, academic institutions have failed to acknowledge that native students come with unique life and cultural experiences and self-perceptions about their culture that influence and define their world view. this can lead to native students struggling to reconcile these two worldviews (guillory & wolverton, 2016), making it difficult to connect stem to their cultural identities, and resulting in decreased self-efficacy and failed retention rates. the belief that western science is universal knowledge, accepted by all, is a longstanding obstacle for native students with higher educational aspirations, especially due to the dismissive perception that undermines tk (bressan, 2017). 2. traditional knowledge tk varies at the community level by virtue that there are 573 federally recognized and 66 state recognized tribes, with each community having distinct protocols, histories, and broader community cultural practices. the idea of combining the identities and realities of individuals from unique communities into a single understanding of tk is neglectful and harmful. in fact, it is more reasonable www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 12 published by scholink inc. to assume there will be a spectrum of beliefs, values, and perceptions of what constitutes tk. generally, tk refers to local and/or regional knowledge embedded in cultural traditions by native peoples, in one or more forms of collective abstracts, intuited, and diverse understanding, including, but not limited to, language, art, dance, music, names, medicines and remedies (berkes et al., 2000; cema, 2015; downes, 2000; hoagland, 2017; ragavan, 2001). tk encompasses multiple disciplines from geoscience, social science, spirituality, and health into a single body of knowledge. this ideology is in stark contrast to typical stem ideologies, where information is seemingly compartmentalized and disconnected (berkes et al., 2000; durie, 2004; iaccarino, 2003; martin, 2012). the way in which tk is practiced between communities inform lifestyles and environmentalism from a specific community context. the root difference between tk and stem is that stem is grounded in a western perspective, and is disconnected from the values, culture, and perspectives that inform tk. this difference makes it difficult for mainstream society to understand and value tk. when the significance of tk is understood and perceived as equal in value to western science, only then will we realize the power of coupling these two knowledge systems as an innovative tool providing powerful solutions to complex scientific problems by creating a hybridized and holistic stem education experience (aikenhead & ogawa, 2007; hoagland, 2017; smythe et al., 2017). the coupling of these two knowledge systems is challenging, due to the difference in evaluation procedures, difference in ways of knowing, and in the understanding of what constitutes intellectual property and the required protocol of obtaining permissions to discuss and share tk. coupling of these two knowledge systems presents great potential to create a new means for stem research and education with an increase in diversity and innovation (durie, 2004). native students who have been exposed to both knowledge systems have an advantage in developing critical thinking skills with the ability to contemplate multiple knowledge systems as possessing value (cobern & loving, 2001). robin kimmerer (2002) provides a descriptive definition of tk, where he states that tk is the: “knowledge, practice, and belief concerning the relationships of living beings to one another and to the physical environment… born of long intimacy and attentiveness to a homeland and arise wherever people are materially and spiritually with their landscape”. 2.1 literature review here we distinguish between the cultural identity of native students as numerous distinct cultures bound together and their tk systems, which represent more than a way of life or body of knowledge that cannot be fragmented into discrete ideologies (weaver, 2001). historically, tk has been manipulated and taken out of context to coincide with western concepts thereby misinterpreting its intended purpose and cultural meaning. cobern and loving (2001) contend that if tk were to be incorporated into western science, it risks being assimilated by the “dominate” science discourse, thus misconstruing the intended purpose. menzies and butler (2006) caution that using tk as a tool to enhance western science may result in scientists inferring that tk is less valuable and lacks the rigor of western science. this does not mean that tk and western science are incompatible but emphasizes the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 13 published by scholink inc. benefit of using both knowledge systems to enhance our understanding of the world through stem education. barnhardt and kawagley (2005) proposed a call to action to enhance native students’ understanding of stem by developing a hybridized tk-stem research and science education model. one challenge was the preservation of tk, culture, and language while providing stem instruction. by implementing a hybridized educational model that incorporates cultural and western perspectives, native students would be more successful in pursuing stem disciplines than when taught from only a western perspective. coupling tk and western science and infusing traditional ways of knowing into western pedagogy is an effective strategy to engage native students in stem disciplines, an area in which native students have historically had little success compared to their non-native counterparts (price et al., 2008). in addition, teachers with an understanding of tk especially from the community where they teach, will allow them to have a better understanding of the worldview of their students, and thus allowing them to engage with their students on subjects such as science in an meaningful way, as they adopt a culturally relevant science pedagogy (kawagley et al., 1998). according to snively and corsiglia (2001), only 3% of students enroll in stem programs, as they view science as “inaccessible and culturally irrelevant”. native students may find science content inaccessible if tk does not co-exist with stem in their classrooms (aikenhead, 2002), and students cannot engage in meaningful science learning until conflicts between what is taught and their cultural experiences are resolved (mckinley & gan, 2014). using a both/and approach in teaching rather than an either/or approach enables students to become fluent in multiple ways of knowing and thinking (abrams & hogg, 2004; aikenhead & jegede, 1999) better preparing them to become native scientists and leaders. despite the benefits, ontological differences between tk and stem can challenge efforts to bring the two knowledge systems together (mazzocchi, 2006), as there is a fundamental disconnect between the tk and stem with regard to: 1) ways of knowing, 2) protocol for collecting and using tk, 3) interpretation of knowledge, and 4) the ethics of using and sharing tk (chatterjee, 2019; ragavan, 2001). this disconnect is often reflected in the history of the u.s. which has extracted from tk for science instruction, where few educators understand native worldviews and its effect on student learning (snively & corsiglia, 2001; kawagley et al., 1998). to this end, it has been suggested that western science may be functionally distinct from tk and these distinctions could contribute to the disconnect between native worldviews and western science (durie, 2004), resulting in western scientists being skeptical as to the value of tk because western science is considered objective and generalizable focusing heavily on technical skills, experimental design, and explanatory power of the data, whereas these attributes are not the focus of tk which is grounded in a particular culture (abrams & hogg, 2004). despite ontological differences, these two worldviews possess similarities in that they both involve making observations and inferences about natural systems of understanding of the natural world (hoagland, 2017; martin, 2012). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 14 published by scholink inc. 2.2 methods this case study was conducted using a dual moderator focus group format, in which moderator one posed discussion questions, and moderator two recorded all responses and ensured that all discussion questions were addressed by the group. we applied the indigenous traditional knowledge framework (itkf) guidelines when posing questions, recoding, and analyzing data. itkf emphasizes respect, protection, and the ethical use of tk systems, by reducing environmental, social, and cultural risk associated with the development of resources, by improving relationships, and strengthening public trust in environmental decisions driven by policy. itkf is based on the following guiding principles for tk such that; tk is an important body of knowledge providing insight of the natural environment and is unique to the communities bearing the knowledge, that it is valuable and should be considered and acknowledged alongside western science; that tk belongs to the native community who bears the knowledge and is under the authority and control of the community; that permission is required to collect, analyze, and disseminate knowledge; and tk will be discussed in a constructive manner building an atmosphere of mutual respect between stakeholders (cema, 2015). 2.3 study structure and focus group questions this is a collective case study of two focus groups from two stem conferences focused on native students and scholars. the focus group a took place at conference a, a three-day gathering of tribal mentors, college students, faculty, research centers, elders, and tribal community members. the mission of the conference was to promote participation of native students in the applied science disciplines with the purpose of encouraging students from largely two-year institutions such as community or tribal colleges, to consider transitions to four-year institutions while build peer and mentor networks. additionally, conference a focused on supporting native students on developing their identities as native scientists. conference b, while similar to conference a, focused on increasing representation of native students, scientists, and professionals in stem disciplines. conference b brought together native college students, pre-college students, faculty, professionals, and industry partners working in stem disciplines. students who attended conference b were primarily from 4-year universities and graduate programs with fewer tribal college students and faculty represented. conference b provided professional development opportunities for students by providing mentors and resources for resume writing, onsite job interviews, information for academic scholarships, and providing students an opportunity to present research in a culturally aware welcoming environment. for this study, convenience sampling was used as respondents (n=50) self-selected to participate in the focus groups as advertised at both conference programs as an opportunity to discuss their perspectives on the relationships (if any) between stem and tk. the composition of respondents covered a broad range of professions, undergraduate through postdoc, faculty, cultural practitioners, and elders, and thus a broad age range, 18 to 64 years reported. gender composition was skewed towards females (66%) over males (34%). the structure of the study was a series of open-ended questions designed to maximize the opportunity for respondents to discuss the questions among their peers. questions www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 15 published by scholink inc. discussed were: (1) how do you define stem? (2) how do you define tk? and (3) what does coupling tk and stem mean to you? focus groups were divided into small groups of five to ten, to ensure that each participant had an opportunity to participate in the discussion questions and ensured respondents remained engaged. 2.4 data sources and analysis qualitative data for this study was collected from focus group responses to a series of three discussion questions (wilkinson, 2004). namely, each group was provided with materials with which to record both individual and group responses as data sources (duggleby, 2005). data collected was used to construct an open coding schema organized into a matrix that was organized according to each question and conference (a or b). constant comparison method (glaser, 1965) was used to analyze the focus group responses from the matrix. the first round of coding consisted of open coding as described by saldana (2013). next, axial coding was used to sort data into sub-category topics within the context of each question. finally, line-by-line coding was used to develop themes. the frequency of each theme was determined by tabulating the of responses falling within each theme (glaser, 1978, 1992; glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss, 1987). 3. results and discussion through our coding schema, we developed a matrix to address the manner in which focus groups made sense of discussion questions (onwuegbuzie et al., 2009). the first discussion question examined how respondents defined science (table 1). responses to question one (how do you define science?) were provided by 82% of respondents. these respondents described science using both traditional disciplines (e.g., biology, geology, chemistry, etc.) in addition to disciplines and concepts not typically considered when describing science, such as social justice, equity, social science, politics, and cultural identity, resulting in a more holistic definition of science (barnhardt & kawagley, 2005; hart, 2010). responses demonstrate the importance of community cultural practices and knowledges to defining stem. focus group respondents from conference b appeared to utilize expected discipline specific (e.g., biology, geology, etc.) terms to describe stem. a number of respondents from both conferences described stem through social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, public health, political science and education), discussing stem through the lens of social justice and equity. respondents from conference b interpreted question one through the lens of stem work impacting tribal sovereignty in positive ways. additionally, responses from conference b also included coupling of tk with stem. this illustrates that a subset of respondents viewed a relationship between tk and stem knowledge systems. the responses to define what science is and/or means display interdisciplinary notions across science and social science. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 16 published by scholink inc. table 1. categories and definitions of stem illustrating themes present in the data and the frequency of the cited themes across conferences a and b responses to question two (how do you define tk?) were provided by 82% of respondents, in which a majority of respondents from both conferences (a and b) discussed a definition of tk as related to practices, beliefs, histories, customs and values of their community, as it relates to individual identity (table 2). there were a number of respondents from conference b that discussed knowledge sharing as important to defining tk. it is somewhat unexpected that the concept of sharing knowledges outside of the community would be part of this defining (brush, 1993; coombe, 1998; iseke-barnes, 2006). responses from conference a did not discuss sharing tk across communities, with only one participant discussing sharing knowledge. this difference in the opinion of exchange of and assimilation of tk with stem may be attributed to life experiences and alterations in worldview of participants from each conference. keeping in mind that respondents from conference a were from 2-year tribal colleges, cultural practitioners, and tribal members and likely to have had limited experiences in mainstream culture, relative to respondents from conference b who were from 4-year university, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and stem professionals who spend more time in mainstream culture. the other significant theme that emerged from question two was the role of collaboration to couple tk with stem education. the desire to couple tk with stem was present across both conferences. conference b respondents are trying to reconcile their two worldviews into a coupled knowledge system that allows them to utilize two distinctive and equally important knowledge systems. question #1—what does stem mean to you? a b category definition stem disciplines refers to stem being defined as different stem disciplines 14 27 social science disciplines refers to social sciences 7 7 social justice/equity refers to social justice activist issues and actions related to native american/alaska native communities’ wellbeing, capacity building, and positive outcomes 3 6 tribal politics, governance, policy refers to tribal sovereignty, exercising tribal sovereignty or the impacts of external policy on tribal communities 0 3 native american/alaska native cultural identities and practices. refers to the native american/alaska native histories, beliefs, practices, customs, values, and knowledges 0 5 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 17 published by scholink inc. table 2. definitions of tk outlines the different ways focus group respondents thought about how to define tk and the frequency of the cited themes across conferences a and b question #2—what does tk mean to you? a b category definition cultural identities and identity practices refers to the native american/alaska native histories, beliefs, practices, customs, values, and knowledge that contribute to individual identity. 19 22 community knowledge sharing refers to the practice of sharing native american/alaska native cultures, beliefs, knowledges, etc. with another group and/or community. 1 19 efforts and/or perspectives to bridge tk with stem collaborations, meetings, workshops, classes, curriculum to couple tk with stem. 6 10 finally, responses to question three (what does coupling tk and science mean to you?) were provided by 44% of respondents (table 3). the significant decline in response was notable and suggests a variety of reasons as to why respondents chose not to respond. respondents may not have been comfortable coupling knowledge systems due to fear of knowledge being misinterpreted, theft of intellectual property, or loss or engulfment of knowledge to mainstream ideologies, or respondents simply never considered coupling tk and stem knowledge systems and may have needed more time to consider the question (barnhardt & kawagley, 2005; brush, 1993; cobern & loving, 2001; coombe, 1998; iseke-barnes, 2006; menzies & butler, 2006). however, of those who did respond, we noted positive views on the importance of coupling tk and stem knowledge systems in which respondents viewed tk as equal to stem, without the typically imposed hierarchy. however, there were notable differences between conference a and b between the number of respondents highlighting this theme, again this may be due to life experience and alterations in worldview. a second major theme identified was in the desire for youth to reclaim tk to support their identity and leadership in stem disciplines, and respondents discussed the importance of sharing tk with others, as found from question two. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 18 published by scholink inc. table 3. views on coupling tk and stem outlines the themes and the frequency of the cited themes across conferences a and b question #3—what does coupling tk and stem mean to you? a b category definition view tk as equal to stem refers to (1) recognizing the benefits of bringing the two knowledge systems together; (2) viewing tk as a valid and valuable knowledge system in the same way as stem 6 14 collective understanding and/or communication refers to communicating and sharing knowledge with others 3 4 becoming a change agent refers to power structures at play, or desire to reclaim power to ignite change. how respondents view themselves as taking a stand, sharing their ability to be change agents, how to claim and maintain tk power statements. self-identity and leadership. surviving standing in two worlds 16 7 analysis of focus group responses revealed several findings and themes around the perceived interdisciplinary potential of geosciences education, the potential impact of western science on native communities, and the need to share knowledge across cultural groups and communities to support the betterment of education for all. themes represented here highlight the interconnected nature of stem identities to cultural identities. respondents highlighted the differences in worldviews seen between these two cultures, where tk was described as observations of the natural world and learning how to adapt for survival, and where stem was described as a field that was an addition to what was already known by elders in the community. the acknowledgment that tk and stem are relevant knowledge systems and necessary to survive was a theme that repeatedly emerged. respondents from both conferences (a and b) stated that they felt their tk was marginalized in academia and agreed that coupling of these two knowledge systems would be positive for native students, with the idea that integration would result in increased pre-college graduation rates, and an increase in post-secondary degree completion in stem disciplines (dee & penner, 2017). brayboy and castagno (2009) have shown how a culturally responsive education model is successful in improving student self-efficacy, as “culturally responsive education recognizes, respects, and uses students’ identities and backgrounds as meaningful sources for creating optimal learning environments”. when the importance of tk is understood and weighted as possessing value, stem education can create a learning community that is supportive of native students and valuing of two knowledge systems which are truly innovative, problem solvers capable of providing powerful solutions to complex scientific problems through the creation of a hybridized and holistic stem education experience (hoagland, 2017; smythe et al., 2017). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 19 published by scholink inc. 4. conclusion this study conducted with two focus groups (n=50) at two national research conferences focused on supporting native student success in geosciences fields. our study examined how respondents defined science and tk, and the potential of coupling tk with geoscience research and education. we found that respondents across the two conferences defined science through traditional science disciplines (e.g., biology, geology, etc.) but also through nontraditional disciplines such as social science. definitions of science also included strong social justice, equity, and community-centered themes. in regard to definitions of tk, respondents focused on concepts of knowledge sharing across culture and communities, cultural identity, and sense of belonging with in geoscience. there was a strong desire expressed to couple tk and western science knowledge systems to foster the betterment of tribal communities and na/an students. finding of this focus group study presents us with a snapshot of perspectives of na/an students, mentors, and geoscience professionals. while this is a small study which cannot be broadly generalized, the findings are valuable and suggest a need for additional research. for example, the differences identified between the responses from participants at the two conferences related to sharing tk across communities indicate a need to further explore this areas. in particular, it will be important to explore how the life experiences of these different respondents contribute to their views on sharing tk across communities. references abrams, d., & hogg, m. a. 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(2004). focus group research. in d. silverman (ed.), qualitative research: theory, method, and practice (pp. 177-199). thousand oaks, ca: sage. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 37 original paper soft skills needed by marketing majors upon graduation katryna m. johnson 1 1 department of marketing, supply chain operations management, international business and business law, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, u.s.a. received: august 15, 2022 accepted: august 26, 2022 online published: september 13, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n3p37 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n3p37 abstract are marketing students graduating with the skills business professionals demand? this paper will examine the soft skills needed by marketing majors upon graduation. a literature review was performed of 51 studies from recent years analyzing key skills mentioned in literature by marketing professionals. this study found that the most frequently mentioned softs skills included adaptability, analytical reasoning, collaborating with diverse individuals, communication (written and verbal), critical thinking, creativity, detail orientation, interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving, professionalism, public speaking/presentation skills, resilience, teamwork and time management. this paper will discuss the major skills needed by marketing students and will make recommendations for future research on hard skills and digital marketing. keywords marketing soft skills, collaborating, communication, creativity, professionalism, teamwork 1. introduction for decades researchers have questioned whether the content and skills we teach marketing and business majors reflect the skills demanded by business and marketing professionals. chonko et al. (1996, pp. 54-55) indicated that “business complains that business graduates:  do not perform adequately in the areas of oral and written communication.  are not people-sensitive and, therefore, find it difficult to get along with others who have different needs, goals, and workstyles.  do not know how to recognize common themes in business situations.  have not learned how to see the relationship among things that seem very different.  cannot tolerate ambiguity and bring order out of seeming confusion.  are not capable of the type of thinking that comes from the many ways to look at the world”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 38 published by scholink inc. it seems as if things have not changed much since the 1990s. the national association of college and employers (nace) has for years indicated that we need to train students in career readiness. career readiness consists of the workplace skills gained through educational experiences (nace, 2022). in the nace 2022 report they indicated that students upon graduation should be competent in: ability to generalize, analytical skills (qualitative), analytical skills (quantitative), asking questions, competence in a discipline, communication skills-written and verbal, global/cultural awareness, creativity, critical thinking, cross-functional competence, decision making leadership, team-based decision making, learning to learn, understanding process versus fact, translating the general to the specific, organization basics, and technological competence. nace (2022) lists communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork and technology as the top career readiness competencies. furthermore, the chronicle of higher education in july 2022 indicated more job postings have cited specific soft skills such as writing, communication and attention to detail over having a college degree (blumenstyk, 2022). in a recent article, linkedin indicated that in a cnbc survey 93% of employers want to see soft skills listed on a resume (malinsky, 2022; “the most valuable soft skills”, 2022). while it is desired that marketing students obtain these general skills, they also should have specific skills desired by business professionals. “from the education institutional perspective, work readiness ensures that all marketing graduates have achieved at least a minimum standard in specific business-related learning goals including effective skills in communication, teamwork, ethics, and the ability to integrate the various business disciplines” (greenacre et al., 2017, p. 67). clearly, marketing students need experiences with these skills before they graduate. this paper will examine the question, “what soft skills should marketing students have upon graduation”. 2. method this paper will conduct a literature review focusing on soft skills needed by marketing majors in 2022. fifty-six articles from 2017-2022 were analyzed to determine the most common skills that are mentioned in literature from academics studying desired skills and from practitioners from sources such as marketing education review, the journal of marketing and the journal of marketing education. linkedin articles were assessed as well as articles from popular business press such as forbes and harvard business review to ensure that construct validity was established. popular job posting sites such as monster.com and indeed.com were also analyzed. five of the articles/papers were eliminated due to lack of relevancy (e.g., one paper focused on courses needed by marketing students versus skills) leaving 51 articles in the review. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 39 published by scholink inc. 3. soft skills soft skills are core skills that are relevant to all professions. soft skills are common, non-technical skills that relate to how a person works (anderson, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021). “soft skills are more about behavior and thinking, personal traits and cognitive skills. they’re typically more difficult to measure, but they can also help a person thrive in a variety of roles and industries” (anderson, 2020, p. 4). this definition will be used in assessing soft skills required of marketing majors. 3.1 marketing graduate desired soft skills the most frequently mentioned softs skills (mentioned in at least 5 pieces of literature) included adaptability, analytical reasoning, collaborating with diverse individuals, communication (written and verbal), critical thinking, creativity, detail orientation, interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving, professionalism, public speaking/presentation skills, resilience, teamwork and time management. (see table 1). table 1. most frequently mentioned soft skills  adaptability/flexible (bortz, 2022; champlain, 2022; delong & elbeck, 2018; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; goodman, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; malinsky, 2022; steimer, 2019; van nuys, 2020; yeoh, 2019)  analytical reasoning (anderson, 2020; bortz, 2022; doyle 2020; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; graham et al., 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; malinsky, 2022; nace, 2022; raska & keller, 2021)  collaborating with diverse individuals/multicultural awareness (david et al., 2021; goodman, 2022; hartley et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; steimer, 2019; yeoh, 2019)  communication. (blumenstyck, 2022; champlain, 2022; delong & elbeck, 2018; garner et al., 2019; goodman, 2022; graham et al., 2020; doyle, 2020; duggal, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; malinsky, 2022; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; riley & nicewicz, 2022; rohm et al., 2018; singh, 2022; smith, 2022; yeoh, 2019)  creativity (chen, 2022; david et al., 2021; dollar, 2017; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; garner et al., 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; mccoy, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; steimer, 2019; sy, 2021; yeoh, 2019)  critical thinking (hain & ritz, 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 1018; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019)  detail oriented (blumenstyck, 2022; bortz, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; streiff, 2022)  interpersonal/people (champlain, 2022; doyle, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; van nuys, 2020; yeoh, 2019) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 40 published by scholink inc.  leadership (bortz, 2022; champlain, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; garner et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; saeed & rashidi, 2017; thompson et al., 2021)  oral communication-(nace, 2022; garner et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; raska & keller, 2021; thompson et al., 2021)  problem solving (bortz, 2022; chen, 2022; garner et al., 2019; hain & ritz, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace 2022; saeed & rashidi, 2017; smith, 2022; sy, 2021; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019)  professionalism (black et al., 2021; delong & elbeck, 2018; ewing & ewing, 2017; mackenzie, 2021; mcquerry, 2018; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; wilson et al, 2013; yeoh, 2019)  public speaking/presentation skills (doyle, 2020; garner et al., 2019; heisler, 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; steimer, 2019; thompson et al., 2021)  resilience (doyle, 2022; dwivedi, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; purcell, 2020; smith, 2022)  teamwork (bortz, 2022; delong & elbeck, 2018; garner et al., 2019; david et al., 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; riley & nicewicz, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; schlee & karns, 2017; thompson et al., 2021)  time management (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; malinsky, 2022; rampton, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; sing, 2022; steimer, 2019; yeoh, 2019)  written communication (blumenstyck, 2022; bortz, 2022; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; forbes expert panel, 2021; garner et al., 2019, mackenzie, 2021; nace 2022; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; yeoh, 2019) many studies and articles have been published on the most desirable skills marketing students need to have upon graduation (champlain, 2022; ewing & ewing, 2017; forbes expert panel, 2021; garner et al., 2019; davide et al., 2021; doyle, 2020; duggal, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; raymond et al., 2021; rohm et al., 2018; schlee & karns, 2017; singh, 2022; smith, 2022; thompson et al., 2021; wilson et al., 2013; yeoh, 2021). adaptability, analytical reasoning, communication in both oral and written forms, creativity, problem solving, professionalism and the ability to work in a team were the most frequently mentioned skills for business and marketing students. 3.1.1 most frequently mentioned skills adaptability. adaptability is the ability to adjust to new conditions or circumstances (bortz, 2022; champlain, 2022; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; yeoh, 2019). adaptability is crucial in today’s technological environment where marketing professionals need to constantly learn new technologies and understand the plethora of social media sites (anderson, 2020; ferrell & ferell, 2020; champlain, 2022; duggal, 2022, hartley et al., 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 41 published by scholink inc. key et al., 2019; raska & keller, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017; singh, 2022; steimer, 2019; sy, 2021; thompson et al., 2021). the covid 19 pandemic forced many of us to be flexible at how we perform our jobs or work as students (smith, 2022). analytical reasoning. “analytical reasoning is a person’s ability to identify patterns within a group of facts or rules and use those patterns to determine outcomes that could be or must be true. skills like creative thinking and attention to detail can help with identifying patterns' meanings and deciding what to do next” (indeed editorial team, 2022, para. 2). analytical reasoning has been identified as a desirable skill for business and marketing students. many of the activities used in class and for projects such as case studies, discussions and client-based projects facilitate students’ ability to demonstrate their analytical skills (anderson, 2020; bortz, 2022; chen, 2021; doyle, 2020; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; graham et al., 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; mccoy, 2021; nace, 2022; raska & keller, 2021). collaborating with diverse individuals/multicultural awareness. the ability to work with others from diverse backgrounds (race, ethnicity, age, gender, learning styles, sexual identity, geographic regions) is a growing necessity in today’s society (david et al., 2021; hartley et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; mcquerry, 2018; yeoh, 2019). students need the opportunity to work with others who have dissimilar backgrounds to them. instructors can facilitate this in class or online by asking students to answer some questions on their background/interests on the first day of class to ensure students are getting to know others. online discussions and group assignments focused on communicating about how marketing products and promotions can meet the different needs of segments helps to facilitate this interaction as does group work with a diverse group of people. communication. the ability to communicate clearly in both written and oral form is a highly desirable skill (bortz, 2022; champlain, 2022; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; garner et al., 2019, graham et al., 2020; mackenzie, 2021; nace 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; raska & keller, 2021; raymond et al., 2021; rohm et al., 2018; singh, 2022; smith, 2022; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019). students should be prepared to document their performance in both oral and written communication. having evidence of papers, projects and visual presentations assists recruiters and employers in the hiring process. virtual portfolio applications and platforms such as linkedin can be used to display examples of student success in communication. creativity. similar to nace (2022), creativity was also ranked as an extremely important skill for marketing majors (chen, 2022; david et al., 2021; dollar, 2017; doyle, 2022; duggal, 2022; garner et al., 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; steimer, 2019; sy, 2021; yeoh, 2019). creativity involves using one’s imagination to generate new ideas. in marketing, students have a multitude of opportunities to demonstrate their creative abilities in class developing marketing plans, promotions, advertisements and in sales presentations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 42 published by scholink inc. critical thinking. critical thinking is the ability to carefully examine facts, arguments, and all evidence to and make connections between ideas (bloom, 1956; bonwell & eison, 1991). critical thinking has been indicated as a highly desired skill and outcome of education and marketing students upon graduation (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 1018; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019). providing students with assignments in class that clearly demonstrate their critical thinking skills will benefit students when searching for a position in the business world. detail oriented. being able to pay close attention to fine points and specifics assists students both at school and in the workplace (bortz, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; streiff, 2022). at school, students must pay attention to syllabus, exam and assignment details in order to succeed in a course. this skill can be developed by highlighting important minute aspects of a course for students. students then can articulate their experiences with being detail oriented when applying for jobs. interpersonal skills. interpersonal skills are the ability to interact well with others (champlain, 2022; doyle, 2022; forbes expert panel, 2021; mackenzie, 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; van nuys, 2020; yeoh, 2019). marketing is about finding the needs of your customers and getting them what they need. being able to communicate effectively with and persuade customers is essential for figuring out their needs and wants. leadership. nace and many studies have indicated that the ability to lead is a preferred skill (bortz, 2022; champlain, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; garner et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; thompson et al., 2021). students should be given opportunities in class to lead group projects and encouraged to document any leadership experience they have at work or through volunteering. problem solving. problem solving is being able to find solutions to complex issues (bortz, 2022; chen, 2022; garner et al., 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace 2022; smith, 2022; sy, 2021; thompson et al., 2021; yeoh, 2019). students can exhibit their problem-solving abilities through class activities, projects and assignments and should document their activities for their resumes and job hunting. professionalism. professionalism refers to the conduct or behavior of a person in a specific field of work (ewing & ewing, 2017). this includes behavior such as listening, actively participating, expecting ambiguity, working well with others, timeliness and understanding social/work norms (black et al., 2021; ewing & ewing, 2017; mackenzie, 2021; mcquerry, 2018; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; wilson et al., 2013; yeoh, 2019). professionalism has been found to be an important factor leading students from their career in education to the workforce. “learners will be more likely to succeed in a corporate context if they experience daily interactions throughout a curriculum that approximate a professional environment” (ewing & ewing, 2017, p. 132). it is important, therefore, that instructors establish a professional expectation in the classroom whether it is online or face-to-face. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 43 published by scholink inc. public speaking. as previously mentioned, good oral communication is a sought-after skill (doyle, 2020; garner et al., 2019; heisler, 2019; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; thompson et al., 2021). students should be able to manage both interpersonal communications (e.g., interactions with other students or the professor) and with public speaking and presentation skills (such as giving a presentation in class or to a client). resilience. resilience is the ability to deal with difficult circumstance or failure or and persist (doyle, 2022; dwivedi, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; purcell, 2020; smith, 2022). self-awareness, mindfulness, acceptance and flexibility facilitate the development of resilience. instructors should encourage students and help them develop a plan when they encounter difficulties during the course of a class. teamwork. the ability to work with others in a team has been a well-documented skill required for success (bortz, 2022; garner et al., 2019; david et al., 2021; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; raymond et al., 2021; raska & keller, 2021; rohm et al., 2018; schlee & karns, 2017; thompson et al., 2021). while some students are resistant to group projects, emphasizing the importance placed by the profession on this skill will benefit students in the long run. time management. the ability to plan, schedule and use time wisely is an important skill for students to develop (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; rampton, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017; singh, 2022; yeoh, 2019). in class, we can encourage students to plan out their semesters writing down due dates in calendars. we can also give students mini-deadlines to assist them in dividing up workload into smaller portions so that they are not rushing to do as assignment right before it is due. we can help build students skills in analytical reasoning, attention to detail, communication (oral and written) critical thinking, problem solving, professionalism and teamwork by using client-based projects in our classes (johnson, 2014; raska et al., 2021; thompson et al., 2021). client based projects create a situation where students work in teams to complete a project for a real company. during the project, students must communicate in a professional manner with the client both in oral and written communication to solve a problem and/or complete an analysis. this gives students the opportunity to demonstrate many of their abilities and skills in marketing through real-life application. 3.1.2 less frequently mentioned, but still important skills there were 11 skills that were mentioned less frequently, but were still deemed important: aptitude to learn, dependability, decision making, ethics, initiative, negotiation, organization, strong work ethic and working independently (see table 2). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 44 published by scholink inc. table 2. less frequently mentioned soft skills  aptitude to learn (duggal, 2022; mccoy, 2021)  dependability (mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; smith, 2022)  decision making (david et al., 2021)  initiative (bortz, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022)  multitasking (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mccoy, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017)  negotiation-(doyle, 2022)  organizational (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; yeoh, 2019)  persuasion (barker, 2018; steimer, 2019)  storytelling (booker, 2019; dollar, 2017; goodman, 2022)  strong work ethic (bortz, 2022; delong & elbeck, 2018; goodman, 2022; mackenzie, 2021)  working independently (mackenzie, 2021; malinsky, 2022; schlee & karns, 2017) aptitude to learn. duggal (2022) stresses the importance of a graduate demonstrating the ability to learn in the ever-changing field of social and digital media. new platforms, tools and apps are continuously being invented and anyone working in this field must be able to learn quickly. dependability. a graduate should be able to demonstrate being reliable in performance and attendance (mackenzie, 2021; nace, 2022; smith, 2022). in today’s labor market this is especially true. “against a backdrop of historic quitting rates and a tight labor market, dependable employees are tremendous assets to companies” (smith, 2022, para. 6). decision making. david et al. (2021) indicate that strategic decision making is an essential skill for students to develop. one commonly used tool used by business and marketing professors is to conduct a swot analysis examining the internal strengths and weaknesses of a company and the external opportunities in threats. a swot allows students to analyze the information and make decisions about what an organization should do. initiative. initiative involves being proactive and not just following directions (bortz, 2022; kovacs & zarandne, 2022). companies want employees with a demonstrated capacity for showing initiative. students should be prepared to give examples when they have taken initiative such as on a team project when they initiate group communication. multitasking. multitasking involves managing multiple tasks and priorities (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017). schlee & karns (2017) found that multitasking abilities were associated with higher salary jobs. students who take more than one course a semester will have assignments and exams in different classes and will need to learn to prioritize their tasks. negotiation. the ability to discuss and resolve an issue between at least two parties (doyle, 2022). doyle (2022, para. 14), “negotiation is an undervalued skill in marketing. from negotiating with clients www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 45 published by scholink inc. on budgets, timelines, and expectations, to working with designers and vendors, the ability to drive a hard bargain is a big part of success as a professional marketer”. organizational. organizational skills include the ability to coordinate activities and resources (kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; yeoh, 2019). in a delphi study of 12 hr managers and 15 marketing managers, yeoh (2019) found that organizational skills ranked in the top 7 skills desired by managers. organizational skills provide the foundation for meeting deadlines and time management (kovacs & zarandne, 2022). persuasion. persuasion is the ability to influence others and their attitudes (barker, 2018; steimer, 2019). in marketing, this is important as individuals sometimes have preconceived notions about a brand or company. good interpersonal skills and storytelling are often part of persuading people. story telling. storytelling involves connecting a brand/company to consumer emotions (booker, 2019; dollar, 2017; goodman, 2022). storytelling marketing means using a narrative to communicate a message. the aim is to make the viewer feel something—enough that it’ll inspire them to take action. storytelling in marketing helps consumers to understand why they should care about something, and it works to humanize your brand (booker, 2019, para. 4). strong work ethic. a strong work ethic consists of showing up to work, being on time, performing well at one’s job and striving for improvement (bortz, 2022; mackenzie, 2021). a strong work ethic encompasses dependability, a willingness to learn and initiative. a strong work ethic is associated with professionalism. working independently. while working in a group is a necessary skill for survival in marketing, being able to demonstrate the ability to work by oneself is also necessary (mackenzie, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017). working independently in a team can be assisted by the use of team that assign tasks and hold students accountable for a specific portion of a project (johnson & horn, 2019). 4. conclusion this paper has evaluated practitioner and academic literature for the most common skills needed by marketing majors. the analysis concluded that the most frequently mentioned softs skills included adaptability, analytical reasoning, collaborating with diverse individuals, communication (written and verbal), critical thinking, creativity, detail orientation, interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving, professionalism, public speaking/presentation skills, resilience, teamwork and time management. other skills such as aptitude to learn, dependability, decision making, initiative, multitasking, negotiation, organization, persuasion, storytelling, work ethic and working independently were also found to be important, but were not mentioned as frequently in literature. instructors should ensure that activities and assignments are done in class that will allow students to develop and master these skills. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 3, 2022 46 published by scholink inc. while it is important that instructors provide students with opportunities to work on these skills, it is even more crucial that professors highlight for students the skills they are exhibiting and encourage them to document the work for their portfolios. 5. future research while this paper has focused on soft skills for marketing majors, students also need to be aware of the hard skills (ability to do a specific task that require specialized knowledge (anderson, 2020)). business and marketing specific skills such as branding (chen, 2022; sy, 2021), content creation (kovacs & zarandne, 2022), customer relationship management (kovacs & zarandne, 2022), marketing management analytical decision strategies (schlee & karns, 2017), project management (champlain, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; mackenzie, 2021), sales & sales management (anderson, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; mackenzie, 2021; saeed & rashidi, 2017), quantitative skills (he et al., 2022), research aptitude (champlain, 2022; duggal, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020; kovacs & zarandne, 2022; thompson et al., 2021) and visual marketing (champlain, 2022; ferell & ferell, 2020) need to be obtained by students by the time they graduate. future research should examine these hard skills in more detail. in today’s world of digital and social media, hard skills are ever changing and students will need to know new apps, tools and platforms (anderson, 2020; champlain, 2022; duggal, 2022; hartley et al., 2022; kelly, 2017; key et al., 2019; mackenzie, 2021; schlee & karns, 2017; raska & keller, 2021; singh, 2022; thompson et al., 2021). digital and social marketing skills need to be developed by students before they look for jobs so that they can demonstrate their abilities. future research needs to identify the tools and applications that students should know upon graduation from college. references anderson, b. m. 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(2013). making “professionalism” meaningful to students in higher education. studies in higher education, 38(8), 1222-1238. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.833035 yeoh, p. (2019). a critical assessment of skills and knowledge for entry-level marketing jobs: a delphi study. marketing education review, 29(4), 242-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2019.1661258 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.833035 https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2019.1661258 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 57 original paper multidimensional meaning, existing problems and optimization path for the management of coaches in chinese university basketball league feiyang liu 1 , yunliang lei, jingying li 3 & liya guo 1* 1 school of physical education, southwest university, chongqing city, china. 2 school of foreign language and literature, beijing normal university, china 3 college of foreign language, chongqing normal university, chongqing city, china. * liya guo, school of physical education, southwest university, chongqing city, china received: march 1, 2023 accepted: march 13, 2023 online published: march 16, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n1p57 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n1p57 abstract a well-managed level of competition and training by coaches is an essential catalyst for the achievement of talent development goals in the chinese university basketball league. this study compares the multi-dimensional meaning of the management of coaches in the chinese college basketball league, and analyses the existing management problems based on the smart principle, the 4p model of human resource management, and the grow model, to propose feasible measures to optimize the management of coaches. this research aims to provide a theoretical reference and practical basis for the improvement of the management and to provide a driving force for the realization of the long-term goal of talent training in the chinese university basketball league. keywords chinese university basketball league, coaches, competition and training management, human resource management, existing problems and optimization path www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 58 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the china university basketball league was officially founded in 1998. it is one of the most important events in basketball in china and an important symbol of the flourishing development of high-level sports talents in china (luo, zou & li, 2015, pp. 127-132). however, the current progress of the chinese college basketball league is still below the strategic goal of nurturing high-level sports talents for china and fulfilling the mission of the world university games and major international and domestic sports competitions. previous studies have shown that the level of competition and training management of coaches in the chinese university basketball league not only determines the competitive level of basketball in colleges and universities but also matters whether qualified talents can be delivered for the sustainable development of basketball at the highest level in china (cheng, 2010, pp. 29-32, p. 61). therefore, to develop college basketball, improve the competitive level of the league, and make the chinese college basketball league among the advanced ranks of the world college basketball as soon as possible, based on clarifying the importance of the management level of competition and training of chinese college basketball league coaches, it is necessary to investigate the existing management problems and feasible optimization paths of chinese college basketball league coaches to become the focus of scholars today. 2. the importance of the management ability of the chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training 2.1 strategic significance to the macroscopic talent cultivation of the league for the chinese college basketball league, the development of the league and the overall improvement of the main body of players have important strategic significance for its macroscopic talent cultivation, and the level of coaches’ competition and training management plays a significant regulatory role in it (yang & li, 2021, pp. 355-359). firstly, from the perspective of league development, the chinese university basketball league is an important reservoir for the cultivation of high-level sports talents, and the excellent competition and training management ability of coaches has a great contribution to the improvement of the competitive level, talent cultivation function and aesthetic spectacle of the chinese university basketball league. secondly, from the perspective of talent cultivation, coaches, as the direct organizers, implementers, and instructors of basketball training in universities, play a leading role in the improvement of the athletic level and the overall development of the comprehensive quality of university athletes. therefore, the excellent competition and training management ability of coaches can positively contribute to the cultivation of high-level sports talents in the macro sense of the league, whether by promoting the growth of the chinese college basketball league or the improvement of players’ level (liu & xu, 2020, pp. 78-85). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 59 published by scholink inc. 2.2 practical implications for team performance in the micro sense of competition in terms of the actual competition performance of the teams in the china university basketball league, the competition and training management level of the coaches plays an important role in it. in basketball competitions, coaches play a central role in the preparation of training before the game, the competition during the game, and the adjustment and summary after the game (bi, chen & li, 2014, pp. 113-118). in the pre-game training preparation, the coaches’ training requirements directly affect the players’ performance on the court, emphasizing that effective training is the basis for good performance in the game from a difficult, strict, and practical point of view. pre-match player management cannot be ignored, as neglecting the development of the players’ mindset can have an irreplaceable impact on the performance of the game. in the game, if the two sides are very different, the game will often appear to be one-sided, while if the two sides are equal in strength, the game will be extremely anxious and difficult to distinguish. while the players on the field will decide the direction of the game, the coaching staff on the sidelines will also be a key part of the game. when the coach observes that the situation on the field has changed, the coach should promptly replace the players on the field, request a timeout, specify targeted tactics, and adjust the players’ mentality at the right time. after the game, the coach should arrange for the players to take nutritional supplements in time to ensure that the players have enough glycogen and other nutrients for replenishment after a highly competitive game, to prepare for the next game. the post-match summary is also particularly crucial. the coaches should appropriately lead the players to summarise the game, even if they find any deficiencies in the game, and immediately clear to the players how to make adjustments to lay the ideological foundation for the next game. if the coaches do not play their proper role in the above process, it will have a significant negative impact on the team’s performance. therefore, it has become a key concern for all participating sports teams today to deeply explore the existing problems of coaching team management in the chinese university basketball league (liu, xu & zhu, 2020, pp. 108-115). 3. analysis of the management of the chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training based on the smart principle, 4p model, and grow model to make a profound analysis of the management issues of the chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training, it is necessary to have scientific investigation tools as support. therefore, it is necessary to return to the essence of management and select scientific, practical, and feasible model tools to guarantee support for the investigation of the management issues of the chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training. human resource management is the general term for a series of activities through which managers effectively use human resources inside and outside the organization to meet the current and future development needs of the organization and to ensure the achievement of the organization's goals and the maximization of the development of its www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 60 published by scholink inc. members (zhao, 2005, pp. 15-20, p. 26). and any successful management model must have a reasonable management model as a guide. based on this, this study selects the smart principle, 4p model, and grow model from the vast human resource management models to systematically analyze the management of chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training, aiming to organically combine the logic of talent management with the characteristics of chinese college basketball league competition and training, and to show the direction for the next feasible optimization path of chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training. the aim is to organically combine the logic of talent management with the characteristics of competition and training of the chinese college basketball league and to point out the direction for the feasible optimization path of the management of competition and training of chinese college basketball league coaches. 3.1 analysis based on the smart principle the smart principle is a classic law in the human resource management method, which has been proven to be scientific and widely applied in both theory and practice (ning, sun & liu, 2011, pp. 25-27). attainable, r=relevant, t=time-bound) is designed to facilitate employees to work more clearly and efficiently, but also to provide assessment objectives and assessment standards for managers to implement performance appraisals on employees in the future, making the appraisal more scientific and standardized, and better ensuring the fairness, openness, and equity of the appraisal. among them, specific means that performance indicators must be specific, not general; measurable means that performance indicators must be measurable, and the data or information to verify these performance indicators is available; attainable means that performance indicators must be attainable, and can be achieved under the condition of putting in efforts; relevant means attainable means that performance indicators must be achievable with effort; relevant means that performance indicators must have some relevance to other objectives and need to be related to the job; time-bound means that performance indicators must have clear deadlines and need to set a reasonable completion date for the objectives. applying the smart principles to the management scenario of coaches’ competition and training in the chinese university basketball league, both the team’s competition goals and the players’ training goals must conform to the above principles, and one of the five principles is indispensable, as shown in figure 1. this study analyses the smart principles on the management of competition and training for coaches in the chinese university basketball league. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 61 published by scholink inc. figure 1. problem analysis content diagram based on smart principle from the point of view of specificity, many coaches in today’s chinese college basketball league do not set out a clear expected goal, either during regular training or during the series. in particular, when training, they only train to complete the prescribed training items and lack the corresponding target, which makes the team’s training objectives blind and affects the quality of the team's training as well as its immediate performance at the time of the game. from a measurable point of view, many coaches in china’s college basketball leagues today often fail to assess the physical condition of their players and the ups and downs of their mentality on time. this is evidenced by the fact that the level of physical fatigue is not assessed during coaching sessions and the results of specified training programs are not statistically measured by relevant indicators. for example, the coaches did not have a reasonable standard to measure the physical progress of the players in the team when planning training. many teams in the china university basketball league do not adopt a reasonable standard to measure their physical fitness after training due to the mismanagement of coaches, resulting in a lack of targeted training, which makes the training less effective than expected. in terms of the achievability of the goals, the coaches did not set reasonable training goals and often put forward training requirements that were far greater than the players’ physical tolerances, causing some players to adopt lazy, small-circle training cheats to muddle through the training process, directly affecting the quality of training and eventually affecting their competitive performance in games. moreover, some athletes suffer from overworked bodies and even injuries as they try to meet the excessive demands, which is also an undesirable consequence of having too high a training goal. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 62 published by scholink inc. from the perspective of the relevance of goals to work, the coaches in the chinese university basketball league have made efforts to plan training but have failed in their approach in the area of relevance. specifically, during series and holiday training, coaches tend to place too much emphasis on the completion of training programs, and blindly adopt a large number of training programs based on physical fitness and basic skills to achieve a certain training volume, regardless of the relevance of the training programs to the actual game, while the technical and tactical drills, the tacit understanding between players and the state of the game, which are crucial to the game, are to a certain extent neglected. as a result, many teams are not in the best physical and mental condition to compete in the tournament. in terms of time limits, the teams in the chinese university basketball league nowadays tend to have fluctuating training time limits and coaches generally fail to make reasonable arrangements. the coaches often give ambiguous targets to the players during training and do not set a time limit for completing the training program, which directly leads to a lack of concentration in the training process due to the lack of clear targets and time limits for completion. for example, during pre-tournament training, when the training program was arranged for fast break lay-ups, the standard time limit for completing the program and the number of training sets were not fixed, and there was a high degree of randomness, resulting in the original 2-hour training session often taking nearly 3 hours to complete the training content. this affects the overall performance of the team at the time of the match. 3.2 analysis based on the 4p model of human resource management the 4p model of human resource management means that the human resource management of an enterprise must be centered on the strategy of the enterprise, with “people” and “positions” as the two footholds of the enterprise, and its core contents are quality management (personality), position management (position management), and the quality of the team. the core contents are personality management, position management, performance management, and payment management, as shown in figure 2, aiming at organically linking the development of the enterprise and the growth of the employees, to realize the development of people and people, people and positions, people and the enterprise. it is a strategic management method that can improve the performance of the organization and employees, effectively develop the potential of teams and individuals, and has a wide range of practicality (guo, 2017, pp. 173-174). the problem of managing the competition and training of the coaches of the chinese university basketball league also belongs to the category of human resource management in essence, so we can also try to use the 4p model of human resource management to explore, as shown in figure 2. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 63 published by scholink inc. figure 2. core content composition diagram of 4p model of coach competition and training management lack of position management. the coaching staff, despite their efforts to mobilize all factors, often produced a bias in the arrangement of basketball team personnel positions and their place on the court. in terms of training and team management, the captain of the basketball team has too many responsibilities in the team, leading the players to assist the coach in organizing training, managing daily chores, managing the team’s finances and fixed assets, and often dealing with disagreements between players. this overload also leads to inefficiency and limited results. on the pitch, coaches fail to place players in the right positions according to their characteristics and fail to develop technical and tactical arrangements that match the team’s personnel, resulting in games in which players do not play to their full potential and a situation in which 1”1 <2 often occurs (miao & huge, 2021, pp. 62-65). neglect of quality management. the coaches failed to train the players’ overall quality, willpower, and sense of purpose to achieve the desired effect. the coaches did not organize regular motivational meetings for the players and did not take appropriate measures to regulate the mentality of the players after a period of boring training. when players are lax in their training, coaches do not ask them to learn relevant knowledge and do not pay attention to the development of their overall quality. these small details are magnified during matches, which will not only lead to instability in the players’ mindset at critical moments but will also harm the players’ long-term development in the future. lax performance management. coaches are not rigorous in assessing the effectiveness of their athletes’ training and their combat output on the field of play. when athletes failed to achieve the desired training results, they were not promptly raised and asked to correct the adjustments; when athletes www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 64 published by scholink inc. made significant progress, the coaches failed to provide timely feedback and encouragement to allow the athletes to continue to maintain good momentum. on the field of play, some athletes did not perform well, but did not receive timely reminders and adjustments, while some athletes who showed better performance on the field did not receive positive feedback, which directly led to the athletes not having a clear understanding of their performance and training results, and also affected the players’ mentality and physical condition adjustment on the field of play. improper pay management. on the one hand, although college basketball players enjoy a certain degree of training and competition subsidies from their schools, college basketball teams do not have clear salaries and wages like professional basketball teams, so the management and details of the subsidies are often not taken seriously by coaches, resulting in some of the teams in the china college basketball league failing to establish a standardized management system and monitoring mechanism for their salary subsidies. on the other hand, some coaches do not effectively link the players’ training efforts and on-court performance with the amount of salary subsidy, which harms the motivation of quality players in training and competition. 3.3 analysis based on the grow model the grow model was introduced by john whitmer in 1992 and has become one of the most widely used models in the field of human resource management (gao & wang, 2019, pp. 137-140). the basic grow model is derived from the acronym of a four-stage model of decision making, i.e., the initials of the four english words goal, reality, option, and will, and this study applied it to the management scenario of the chinese college basketball league coaches’ competition and training, as shown in figure 3. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 65 published by scholink inc. figure 3. application of grow model in the management situation of coach competition and training at the same time, this model also emphasizes the four-step cycle of “goal setting-performance diagnosis-solution selection-implementation of improvement” (jin & huang, 2020, pp. 54-63). this study analyses the management of coaches’ competition and training in the chinese university basketball league from these four steps, as shown in figure 4. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 66 published by scholink inc. figure 4. four loop paths of grow model goal setting. in training, the coaches were often unsure of the desired goals and did not adequately analyze the immediate physical and mental conditions of the university players, resulting in blind training sessions with poor results. in the pre-match preparation meetings, the coaches not only lacked targeted planning based on the opponent’s situation but also failed to listen patiently to the players’ inner thoughts, resulting in unclear requirements during the preparation meetings and often ambiguous guidelines for the match. performance diagnosis. in terms of normal training, coaches in the current chinese university basketball league often lack comprehensive evaluation of players’ improvement of skills including dribbling, shooting, passing, and defending, and fail to conduct multiple assessments of the effects of physical training in terms of speed, strength, and endurance. the coaches do not pay much attention to the players’ tactical adaptability. when directing on the field, coaches often failed to grasp the direction of the game and the adjustment of the opponent’s tactical policy and often failed to make a correct judgment on the excitement level and attitude of their players during the game. program selection. when choosing training programs, many coaches do not have the flexibility to take into account the specific training facilities, players’ abilities, and available training time, and most coaches still rely on the previous training paths and apply them rigidly, resulting in unsatisfactory training results. in addition, many coaches nowadays do not immediately analyze the situation on the field in the face of the rapidly changing situation and do not have many ways to make adjustments when they should take measures. for example, when the opponent suddenly changes his defensive strategy and adopts a three-two combination defense, expanding the defensive zone by half, the coach www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 67 published by scholink inc. should then assess the situation, change the attacking strategy and adjust the number of players on the field to break the opponent’s combination defense. unfortunately, however, many coaches today do not have many coping strategies. when the game is still not effective after the players on the field subconsciously make simple adjustments, coaches often still fail to propose new coping strategies, which hurts the direction and outcome of the game that cannot be ignored. implementing improvements. during normal training, coaches tend to dismiss the many adverse reflections of players as normal discomfort caused by the accumulation of training volume, ignoring the abnormal physical and psychological reflections of university players during training, leading to frequent aversion to training and even injuries among players. the coaches often do not have a clear tactical plan in the pre-match preparation meeting, do not instill in the players the key points to win the next match, and do not provide special tactical guidance accordingly. 4. optimization of the management of competition and training for coaches in the chinese university basketball league at present, we must make it clear that the management problems of coach competition and training in china college basketball league are a series of realistic problems with clear directions, which need reasonable and clear improvement direction to solve the problems in a targeted way. therefore, it is necessary to return to the actual situation of coaches’ wisdom in daily training and competition to make an effective breakthrough. 4.1 optimization of competition management before the competition, determine the arrangement of the lineup according to the team’s personnel, and formulate the corresponding tactical system according to the individual technical characteristics of the players, so that each player can give full play to his or her characteristics, each doing his or her job and improving the overall technical and tactical level of the team. it is important to prepare a variety of tactical preparations in advance. in addition to the regular tactics that have already been developed, coaches need to develop appropriate preparatory tactics to prepare for unexpected situations on the field, to avoid not having the appropriate measures to deal with the situation when the field changes. in addition, it is important to incorporate the management of the players’ lives before a match into the coaching plan to ensure that the players are prepared for the match. during the game, the coaches react to the rapidly changing situation on the field and take appropriate adjustment measures to fight with the opposing coach, such as changing players, taking timeouts, changing tactics, and other strategies. of course, this requires coaches to accumulate coaching experience and deliberate practice to achieve a certain level of command on the field. therefore, in normal training, coaches should practice deliberately to improve their ability to adapt to the situation on the field. the coach should strive to take the team out to matches more often. while the players keep polishing their skills, the coach will also make progress together with the players, keep accumulating www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 68 published by scholink inc. clinical command experience, be brave enough to use the tactics they have formulated in real battle situations, dare to show their swords in the face of the opponent’s excellent coach, and be brave enough to fight with the opponent, to improve the coach’s clinical command ability in a highly efficient manner. after the competition, the coach organizes the athletes for meal supplements in time and organizes the team to hold a summing-up meeting at an appropriate time to solve the problems in time and do a good job of the players’ ideological work to prepare for the next competition. 4.2 training management optimization path when preparing the training plan, take the players as the center, make reasonable training rules, balance the training indicators, and reduce the training indicators that the players cannot reach (yue & zhao, 2018, pp. 15-19). for example, the time for the 400m sprint is appropriately generous, so that the players will not resort to taking small laps because of the difficult training tasks, and can also avoid the situation where some players take risks and overexert their bodies because they expect too much to complete their training targets, and eventually end up receiving due to excessive physical fatigue. when conducting training, strict requirements for the completion of training tasks, for athletes training speculative lazy behavior must be strictly stopped, and the principle of the issue must not be compromised. in the case of laziness, either severe punishment is imposed or training is stopped on the spot to warn against laziness. this also contributes to the development of team ethos and lays a solid foundation for good discipline at match time. after training, and during the rest periods after matches during the series, strictly control the athletes’ resting time and dietary intake. always monitor the athletes’ living conditions and dietary intake after training to ensure that they have sufficient rest time to promote physical recovery and that they have reasonable dietary arrangements to prepare the athletes’ bodies for energy reserves. finally, coaches should improve their ability to observe the emotional changes of players and the ups and downs of their physical and mental state. no matter in regular training or in actual matches, coaches should constantly observe the players and try to detect the athletic state of the players through some subtle actions, to lay a solid foundation for mastering the timing and making correct substitution decisions in matches. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 69 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusion the current boom in china’s college basketball league has provided the impetus for the continued development of china’s high-level sports talent-nurturing business. the coaches’ management of their teams’ games and training has played a key role in this process. however, the management of team competition and training by coaches is still a significant problem, and the potential pitfalls need to be taken into account. therefore, based on the smart principle, the 4p model of human resource management, and the grow model, we analyze the existing management problems of coaches and propose feasible measures to optimize the management level of coaches’ competition and training in terms of competition management and training management, to help create a new situation in the chinese university basketball league. acknowledgement fund project: key project of the “14th five-year plan” of education science of chongqing in 2021 (title: research on the cultivation path of college students’ positive psychological qualities under the background of “three complete education”, no.: 2021-gx-102); chongqing graduate education and teaching reform research project (title: innovation and practice research on the teaching mode of pe graduate special course based on “multi-scene, multi-level and multi-element”, no.: yjg223029). references bi, z. c., chen, l. z., & li, z. (2014). a study on the growth process model of basketball coaches in europe and the united states—and the realistic dilemma and hope of basketball coach training in china. journal of beijing sport university, 37(07), 113-118. cheng, l. q. (2010). explanation of the management mechanism of coaches in cuba league. journal of beijing university of sports, 33(03), 29-32, 61. gao, y., & wang, r. m. (2019). the application of the grow model of coaching techniques in the work of college counselors’ heart-to-heart talk. social science vertical, 34(10), 137-140. guo, q. h. (2017). exploring the improvement of enterprise human resource management based on 4p management model. talent resources development, (16), 173-174. jin, y., & huang, d. (2020). the application and innovation of grow model in performance counseling: taking “post-90s” technical talents as an example. china personnel science, (06), 54-63. liu, q. g., & xu, y. (2020). research on the development of coaching level and professional training of chinese college basketball league coaches. journal of beijing university of sports, 43(07), 78-85. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 70 published by scholink inc. liu, q. g., xu, y., & zhu, w. b. (2020). research on the articulation and cultivation of competitive basketball talents in the cuba and cba leagues in the “new era”. journal of shenyang sports college, 39(02), 108-115. luo, y., zou, t. r., & li, j. (2015). a study on the effect of coaching staff management system of cuba top 16 teams based on xy theory. journal of ningbo university (humanities edition), 28(05), 127-132. miao, x. y., & huge, k. (2021). research on the cultivation of reserve talents in cba—taking cuba players as an example. youth sports, (12), 62-65. ning, l., sun, y. h., & liu, y. c. (2011). goal management of university libraries based on smart principle. library journal, 33(05), 25-27. yang, q., & li, d. y. (2021). research on the development of chinese college basketball league: current situation, evolution, hot spots and frontiers. hubei sports science and technology, 40(04), 355-359. yue, j. y., & zhao, q. (2018). research on the construction of core competitiveness index system of chinese college basketball league. journal of hebei institute of sports, 32(04), 15-19. zhao, s. m. (2005). analysis of the current situation of human resource management theory research. foreign economics and management, (01), 15-20, 26. microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p57 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 57 original paper attaining children’s development through appropriate assessment practices: insights from kindergarten teachers mumuni thompson1* 1 department of basic education, faculty of educational foundations, college of education studies, university of cape coast, cape coast, ghana * mumuni thompson, department of basic education, faculty of educational foundations, college of education studies, university of cape coast, cape coast, ghana received: april 4, 2018 accepted: april 15, 2018 online published: may 9, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p57 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p57 abstract the research contributes to the conversation regarding kindergarten teachers’ knowledge about developmentally appropriate assessments practices in attaining curriculum goals of selected kindergartens classrooms within the ghanaian settings. the mixed method research approach was employed. quantitative data were gathered from 1,413 teachers using questionnaires, while qualitative data were collected from 10 participants who were interviewed and observed. the participants for the quantitative research were randomly selected from ten districts in the central region of ghana. the data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. however, the participants for the qualitative research were purposely sampled. the qualitative data were analysed through open and axial coding. the study revealed that kg teachers were achieving curriculum goals and were using developmentally appropriate assessment procedures. they were however, not conversant with some of the curriculum goals and emerging assessment practices. it was also evident that there is a positive relationship between kg teachers’ achievement of the goals and the use of assessment procedures. it was recommended among others that through orientation and training sessions, kg teachers should be given insights into kg curriculum goals and diverse authentic assessment procedures to enhance and promote children’s development in varied ways. keywords early, childhood, curriculum goals, assessment, kindergarten www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 58 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction a significant element that is closely linked to high-quality education in early childhood settings is having teachers who have insights into assessment practices that are in sync with the nature of children and how they learn which in turn, help in achieving set curriculum goals (bredekamp, 2014; zaslow, tout, halle, whittaker, & lovelle, 2010). teacher’s insights regarding diverse assessment practices that are apt in early childhood settings and how to use each of them appropriately in any teaching and learning context is likely to determine the experiences that individual children have gained in any teaching and learning encounter (bagnato & ye-ho, 2006). this presupposes that early childhood teachers who have in-depth knowledge and experiences regarding how to apply these assessments procedures tend not only unearth learning difficulties of children but are able to apply remedial measures in dealing with the situation. this is not surprising because assessment practices give the teachers insights into the developmental needs and the uniqueness that each child brings to the learning context and how each of them can be helped to develop along their natural endowment paths. in spite of this, research findings suggest that there is continuously a tension between teachers’ knowledge about assessment practices and actual practices in early childhood settings (stipek & byler, 1997; abroampah, 2008). several research findings point to teachers’ knowledge of curriculum goals and its attendant assessment practices but at times, apply traditional assessment practices (abroanpah, 2008; elicker & mcmullen, 2012). one possible explanation to the disconnect is that some kindergarten teachers might not have in-depth knowledge and experiences regarding how to assess children’s development under certain learning contexts such as play-based learning activities. moreover, officials from the inspectorate division in a centralised and controlled educational system, tend to obstruct implementation of emerging assessment practices in early childhood settings. this is not surprising because they are not abreast with modern trends regarding assessment practices in early childhood settings and the significance therein (carolyn & jane, 2014). teachers’ effectiveness, in assessing children’s learning outcomes are largely influenced by their knowledge and understanding of each of the curriculum goals and the assessment procedures closely linked to each of them. more significantly, experiences teachers gain from years of assessing children tend to give them insights into effective of use assessment instruments to ascertain the developmental level and needs of individual children which in turn, give them insights regarding a fitting remedial measure in dealing with certain developmental challenges of children (stipek, 2004). previous research findings suggest that ghanaian early childhood teachers often use assessment practices that are not developmentally appropriate, even though they have the theoretical understanding and experiences regarding the use of authentic assessment practices in early childhood settings (hamilton, 2014). further study is required to fully gain understanding regarding the relationship between teachers’ knowledge and their assessment practices. having insights into the connection among these factors is likely to inform how teacher preparation programmes in other socio-cultural contexts can be adopted and adapted within the ghanaian settings to develop assessment skills of early www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 59 published by scholink inc. childhood teachers. the main thrust of this study is to determine how teachers put their knowledge about assessment into practice. precisely, the study sought to understand whether teachers’ theoretical knowledge about assessment is linked to the quality of assessment practices that they are expected to use in determining children’s learning outcomes. having insights into the connection between teachers’ knowledge and assessment practices is likely to reveal children’s level of development, needs, interests and the uniqueness that each of them brings to the teaching and learning context which in turn, informs effective planning in kindergarten setting. in this article the focus is to establish whether increased knowledge in assessment practices can improve teachers’ ability in achieving the curriculum goals which invariably, tend to influence children’s development in diverse ways. the research questions driving the study include the following: 1) how are kg teachers achieving curriculum goals? 2) how do kg teachers assess pupils? it was also hypothesized that:  there is no significant relationship between how kg teachers are achieving curriculum goals and their assessment practices. 2. literature review 2.1 authentic assessment practices in early childhood settings the assessment procedures underscored by piaget’s cognitive constructivist theory of learning is referred as authentic assessment. dennis, reuter and simpson (2013) argue that authentic assessment which is also referred as play-based, naturalistic or performance based is a process of gathering information by kindergarten teachers who are well-informed about the behaviour and capabilities of young children as they unfold in kindergarten classroom settings. evidence gathered from authentic assessment tends to underscore the strength and weakness that each child brings to any learning context. this not surprising because, it gives teachers insights into how young children put into practice their knowledge and skills in real life classroom context. examples of authentic assessment instruments are as follows. 2.2 interview interview is one of the major assessment instruments of authentic assessment. this assessment instrument is very useful because it tends to highlight the capabilities of young children across a wide spectrum of learning contexts. authentic assessment along the lines of observation is a collaborative affair between the teacher and the parents of individual children as well those who are well-informed about how young children learn. this is significant, because the kindergarten teacher needs information from diverse sources such as teaching assistants, other teachers and parents regarding individual children before the level of development of each of them can be acertain (banks, 2000). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 60 published by scholink inc. 2.3 observation observation is another assessment instrument for obtaining information about the growth and development of individual children in kindergarten classroom settings (dennis, reuter, & simpson, 2013). during observation, the preoccupation of the kindergarten teacher is to lookout for certain capabilities that a child demonstrates while engaging in learning activities (neisworth & bagnato, 2004). the data that emanate from observation form key component of authentic assessment procedures for gathering information about the level of development of individual children. assessment instruments which fall under observation include running and anecdotal records, antecedent, behaviour and consequence (abc), analysis and permanent products or portfolios (dennis, reiter, & simpson, 2013). however, the question that arises is the significance of each of these observation assessment procedures in determining children’s development. each of them is significant in diverse ways and is illustrated as follows: 2.4 running records running records is an observation mechanism which has the capacity to establish the sequence of events that happen over a period of time in a classroom setting. this not surprising because it provides details about the behaviour of young children over a period of time. nevertheless, to maximize, its potentials, the teacher has to be as objective as much as possible so that the real behaviours of children that unfold during the observation can be captured instead the teacher’s judgement of what might have happened. kindergarten teachers are expected to include the following information; date and time of the information, names of children involved, location of the episode and what individual said (dennis, 2002). 2.5 anecdotal records anecdotal records provide room for the kindergarten teacher to focus on a particular behaviour of individual children over a period of time for the purpose of fashioning out effective mechanism for determining level of development of children in a group context and on individual basis as well (dennis, reiter, & simpson, 2013). 2.6 abc analysis the abc analysis is an observation procedure which aims at recording the behaviour of child by first establishing what triggered off the behaviour as well as well as what happened after the behaviour was sparked off. these factors help kindergarten teachers to establish reasons individual children behave in a particular way (clay, 2000). 2.7 permanent products or portfolios portfolio assessment might consist of samples of a child’s work, photos, graphics or audiotapes. these products are incorporated into a file for the purpose of gathering information about certain works that the child has done over a period of time. the purpose of portfolio assessment is to monitor the progress of the child over a period (gullo, 2007). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 61 published by scholink inc. in short, a blend of these data collection procedures is likely to give kindergarten teachers insights into the uniqueness that individual children bring into the kindergarten classroom context. this information would then serve as a compass to enable the teacher to effectively plan the curriculum which in turn, help young children harnesses their individual potentials. 3. method 3.1 participants the study was conducted in central region, one of the regions in ghana. the mixed method research design (survey, phenomenology) was used in this study. for the sample of the quantitative study to be representative, all the districts were selected. a stratified sample of 1,413 participants were randomly selected from the districts to participate in the study. the participants of the qualitative approach comprised 5 participants who were purposively sampled. the names of the participants in this study are not real but pseudonyms. the teachers who participated in the qualitative study have taught in various schools ranging from 9 to 10 years. they included: comfort, amina, kate, cecelia, and serwaah. a phenomenological qualitative study approach was used in this study (creswell, 2012). by using phenomenology research approach, insights were gain regarding teachers’ assessment practices in early childhood settings and how children’s development unfolds. 3.2 instruments four main research instruments used in this study include questionnaire, interview, documentary analysis and observations. for the quantitative research, the teachers were required to complete a questionnaire consisted of demographic information of the respondents (age, teaching experiences, educational background). the second part covers the analyses and interpretation of data elicited from kg on how they are achieving curriculum goals. the following keys have been used to represent the scales in the tables below; na-not at all, pl-poorly, fw-fairly well, and vw-very well. data were interpreted using means and the following mean ranges: na 1.00-1.49; pl 1.50-2.49; fw 2.50-3.49; vw 3.50-4.00. the questionnaire was a four-point likert-type scale which was coded 4-very well; 3-fairly well; 2-poorly and 1-not at all. it was pretested using 30 kg teachers in western region. the content validity and reliability of the instruments were determined through expert review of items and the use of the cronbach coefficient alpha which generated alphas of .890 for items on kindergarten curriculum goals achievement and .843 for use of assessment procedures respectively. for the qualitative study, a semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analysis were used to have nuanced understanding of participants views regarding curriculum goals that define the early childhood curriculum and the assessment practices linked to each of them. the participants were interviewed and observed thrice on separate occasions. moreover, information was tease out from documents that were relevant to the study. the semi-structured individual interviews and the observations lasted 45 minutes for each of the three sessions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 62 published by scholink inc. 3.3 procedure the instruments were administered to the participants from july 2017 to december 2017. the data regarding the curriculum goals and teachers’ assessment were analysed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) while the pearson product moment correlation was used to analyse the hypothesis. in the case of the data regarding the qualitative research, teachers’ thoughts were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. the teachers’ thoughts were further organised into categories. the themes that emerged from the analyses were further validated by the observational data linked to individual teachers use of diverse authentic assessment practices in their classrooms. in short, the themes were determined through open and axial coding (boeijie, 2010). from the analyses above, it can be concluded that a theme is a pattern across data sets that is important to the description of a phenomenon which is linked to a research question. 3.4 findings in the ensuing section, the first present the descriptive statistics regarding the achievement of curriculum goals, assessment procedures as well as the link between assessment procedures and curriculum goals are presented. the inferential statistics which establishes the nuances regarding the relationship between assessment curriculum goals would be unearthed. 3.5 kindergarten teachers achievement of kg curriculum goals this part covers the analyses and interpretation of data elicited from kg on how they are achieving curriculum goals. the following keys have been used to represent the scales in the tables below; na-not at all, pl-poorly, fw-fairly well, and vw-very well. data were interpreted using means and the following mean ranges: na 1.00-1.49; pl 1.50-2.49; fw 2.50-3.49; vw 3.50-4.00. table 1. kg teachers achievement of curriculum goals statement mean sd enabling pupils develop listening skills 3.65 .53 enabling pupils develop speaking skills 3.62 .52 enabling pupils develop reading skills 3.51 .58 enabling pupils develop writing skills 3.62 .56 getting pupils to familiarize themselves with the environment 3.57 .57 enabling pupils live a healthy life 3.41 .61 developing pupil’s ability to interact and socialize with peers and others 3.49 .58 helping pupils to relate positively with people 3.46 .50 awakening and developing the creative abilities of 3.36 .63 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 63 published by scholink inc. pupils helping pupils to acquire and interpret information 3.29 .63 getting pupils to appreciate and find pleasure in their own creations and those of others 3.36 .64 facilitating experiences to lay foundation for further learning in the formal school system 3.34 .62 table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of kindergarten teachers knowledge and understanding of the curriculum goals. overall, most of the teachers have insights about the goals and are helping in developing diverse skills of children and this is supported by a mean of 3.65. it was followed closely by their ability to enable pupils develop both speaking skills and writing skills both of which yielded means of 3.62. these three elements are termed as fundamental literacy skills because they play significant roles in children’s language development. teachers again reacted favorably to the issue of helping pupils to familiarize themselves within the world around them, with a mean of 3.57. though, a mean of 3.29 signified that teachers are helping pupils to acquire and interpret information fairly well, it was considered the least of the goals they are achieving. largely, the responses of the teachers suggest that they are achieving the goals of the kindergarten curriculum fairly well which is implied by the cumulative mean of 3.47. the qualitative data obtained through observations and documentary analysis revealed that the teachers’ lesson objectives were clearly define and were closely linked to the curriculum goals of the early childhood curriculum. this is illustrated in the following excepts: objectives by kate: by the end of the lesson, the pupil will be able to: i. count numbers from 1 to 10. ii. assign numerals to number names. objective by amina: by the end of the lesson, the child will be able to: i. associate upper and lower-case alphabet (a-j) in a matching activity. objective by cecilia: by the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to: i. identify at least four (4) sources of light. ii. mention the uses of light. even though, the objectives where clearly stated some were not specific in terms of the number of activities learners were expected to carry out or standard set to determine whether they have learnt as expected in objective (ii) for kate and cecilia. it was further discovered that teachers who stated such objectives copied directly from the kindergarten syllabus. moreover, some teachers could not get pupils to exhibit all the outcomes stated due to the large class sizes which is a common phenomenon in most public schools in the study context. however, a mere statement of objectives does not translate to the achievement of curriculum goals because effective teaching is largely influenced by multiplicity of factors. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 64 published by scholink inc. however, the interview data further provided insights into how the participants were achieving the curriculum goals. the teachers provided varying explanations to that effect; amina: i have not looked at the goals. i only look at the specific objectives provided for each subtopic to be taught. the specific objectives give you a very clear understanding of what you are supposed to do. cecilia: looking at the goals at first sight they look broad but later they become clearer. if you take your time to look at the specific objectives you will see that you are achieving the goals. joana: infact for the goals, i have not taken time to look at them, but the objectives for the various activities are clearer. the responses suggest that most of the teachers had not taken time to read and understand the kindergarten curriculum goals. it appears most of them got to know the goals through the questionnaire, though, the goals are stated on the very first page of the curriculum. this suggests that there appear to be flaws regarding the teacher preparations programmes and in-service training. this is significant because it highlights one weakness about the teacher education programmes and the need for a remedial action by the powers that be. the follow-up question sought to find out how teachers could assist learners achieve intended learning outcomes. all the teachers believed that they could assist learners exhibit outcomes stated in the goals and objectives. this seems to be consistent with their responses to items in the questionnaire. however, kate made one striking observation about the hindrance pertaining to the implementation of authentic assessment in kindergarten settings: ... my problem is that because of the pressure from circuit supervisors it becomes very difficult to find out whether children are achieving them (goals) or not. since they only come around to count exercises showing that you are working. they forget that it’s not all the things the children can do for you to see in class. this extract is every revealing because even though, the participant has in-depth knowledge and understanding about assessment practices which are developmentally appropriate for assessing different learning outcomes of children but is constrained by the assessment preferences of officialdom. table 2. kg teachers’ use of assessment procedures assessment procedures mean sd pupils’ opinion of themselves and their work 3.12 .77 conversing with pupils 3.37 .72 observation of pupils 3.44 .66 interacting very closely with pupils 3.35 .74 setting tasks for pupils 3.21 .72 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 65 published by scholink inc. using pupils’ appreciation of each other’s work 3.24 .74 using checklist 2.80 .95 using anecdotal records 2.31 .90 using rating scales 2.46 .86 using tests/exercises 3.22 .71 table 3 reveals diverse assessment procedures used by the teachers. the use of observation generated the highest mean of 3.44 which suggest that it was a major tool used by the teachers to assess children’s learning outcomes. moreover, conversation with individual children also played significant roles in assessing the children’s learning outcomes (3.44). yet, anecdotal records were the least used. this is significant because it gives insights regarding the teachers’ lack of competencies in using other assessment practices such as anecdotal records (2.1) which also have something to offer with respect to different developmental trajectory of children. table 3. relationship between use of assessment procedures and curriculum goal achievement variables total goal achievement total assessment kg curriculum goals pearson correlation sig (2-tailed) n 1 1413 .433 .000 1413 use of assessment procedures pearson correlation sig (2-tailed) n .433 .000 1413 1 1413 the relationship between kindergarten teachers’ achievement of curriculum goals and use of assessment procedures was explored using pearsons product moment correlation coefficient as shown in table 4. the study’s finding revealed a positive correlation between the two variables (r=.433, n=1413, p<.0005). however, the relationship was moderate, so the null hypothesis was thus rejected. the study’s finding suggests that the teachers used appropriate assessment procedures which in turn, impacted children’s development. this is not surprising because assessment practices partly contribute to achievement of curriculum goals and objectives in in any teaching and learning context. nevertheless, these elements form just a few of the key determinants of effective teaching and learning in early childhood settings, so there is an incomplete picture regarding how other developmentally appropriate assessment practices influence children’s development (kubiszyn & borich, 2000). 4. discussion it can be discerned from both the quantitative and qualitative data that though, all the respondents indicated that they have insights into the curriculum goals which in turn, helped them use developmentally appropriate assessment practices in determining diverse developmental trajectory of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 66 published by scholink inc. children, yet, there appears to be an inherent weakness linked to their assessment practices too. this is significant because the essence of kindergarten education is to promote the holistic development of children (cognitive, social, emotional, physical, spiritual, moral) through appropriate use of diverse assessment practices. moreover, the support of officialdom is also, required before it can become a reality. nevertheless, the question that arises is whether the officials from the inspectorate division have insights regarding the essence of kindergarten education. the evidence from the study’s finding points to the contrary, because if they do, they would not insist on using only tests scores of children in determining the level of development that each of them had attained. the competencies of the officials appear to be suspect because there is more to early childhood education than mere tests scores. the government and other stakeholders have roles to play if the curriculum goals are to be effectively implemented. this is not surprising because it takes an early teacher and the support of officials who have in-depth understanding of the curriculum goals before learning activities which takes into account the needs, interests, and individuality of children can be planned in early childhood settings. however, it appears the teachers are constrained by the insistence of test scores by officials from the inspectorate division. this is significant because it gives us insights into the caliber of officials manning the inspectorate division because officials with in-depth knowledge and understanding regarding the nature of children and how they learn would not largely be concern about tests scores. however, this might not be a complete picture of the puzzle because the kindergarten curriculum is controlled and centralized and emphasis is placed on accountability issues by the political dynamics of the times and officialdom from inspectorate division (moe, 2012). however, there is the need for a paradigm shift in assessment practices if the study’s finding which suggest that the teachers have insights about developmentally appropriate assessment practices is to become a reality. in this vein, the officials at the inspectorate division need to be given insights regarding, the differences with respect to children’s developmental needs and how the one-size-fit-all approach to assessment practices is likely to have a detrimental effect on children’s development because it focuses only the cognitive aspect alone. yet, the cognitive domain is not the only way of measuring a child’s intelligence because intelligence of children manifests in multiple ways (gardener, 2009). this not surprising, because a clear understanding of the goals has positive implications for assessment practices in kindergarten sittings (pyle & deluca, 2017). early childhood teachers should be given the leeway by the powers that be to implement assessment practices that are in tune with the dictates of global trends in early years education. 4.1 implications for practice the study’s findings have significant implications for early childhood education in ghana. there is the is need for officials of the district directorate of education to be given insights into modern trends regarding developmentally appropriate assessment practices in kindergarten classrooms to prevent a situation where tests scores become standard measures of children’s trajectory of development. this is significant because they would be reoriented to understand that the essence of kindergarten education, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 67 published by scholink inc. is to harness and develop children’s potentials, which is often not closely-linked to only the cognitive aspect of learning because intelligence can be expressed in multiple ways. 5. conclusion it can be discerned from the study’s findings that in an apparent uniformity regarding assessment practices in early childhood settings, there is bound to be diversity. this not surprising because each of participant’s assessment practices was largely informed by an identy that has evolved over the years through their teacher preparation years and experiences gained during their professional practices which in turn, give them insights into diverse assessment practices that suite the socio-cultural contexts of their children. this is significant because the philosophical underpinning of the 2007 curriculum reforms in ghana is to provide effective teacher-child interactions that would impact the holistic development of children which is determined through developmentally assessment practices. the study’s findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge which suggests that children’s development can best be measured through assessment practices which are in sync with the nature of children and how they learn. nonetheless, the significance of the current assessment practice can only be realised if officials from the inspectorate division of ghana education are well-informed about emerging theories and assessment practices in early childhood settings across the globe. references boeije, h. (2010). analyses in qualitative research. los angles: sage publications bredekamp. bredekamp, s. (2014). effective practices in early childhood educating: building a foundation. new jersey: pearson education inc. carolyn, j. g., & jane, b. k. (2014). practice what we preach: differentiating instruction and assessment in higher education’s classrooms as a model of effective pedagogy for early childhood teacher education candidates. journal of early childhood teacher education, 359(1), 98-109. clay, m. (2000). running records for classroom teachers. portsmouth, nh; heinemann. creswell, j. w. (2012). educational research. planning, conducting and evaluating developing country studies, 5(8), 110-128. dennis, l. (2002). authentic assessment procedures in kindergarten classrooms. journal of early education, 20, 261-270. dennis, l. r., rueter, j. a., & simpson, c. g. (2013). authentic assessment: establishing a clear foundation. preventing school failure, 57(4), 189-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988x.2012.681715 gardner, h. (1993). multiple intelligences the theory in practice. new york: basic books. ghana education service (ges). (2012). kg pupil assessment tools. accra: adwinsah publications. gullo, d. f. (2006). alternative means of assisting children’s learning in early childhood classrooms. in b. spodek, & o. n. saracho (eds.), handbook of research on the education of young children www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 68 published by scholink inc. (2nd ed., pp. 343-445). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. harlen, w. (2012). on the relationship between assessment for formative and summative improve school preparation and performance? in nber working paper 10452. national bureau of economic research jovanovich publishers. kubiszyn, t., & borich, g. (2000). educational testing and measurement: classroom learning in the kindergarten year (pp. 11-25). washington, dc: naeyc. mcmullen, m., elicker, j., wang, j., erdiller, z., lee, s. m., & lin, c. h. (2005). comparing beliefs about appropriate practice among early childhood education. and care professionals from the u.s., china, taiwan, korea and turkey. early childhood research quarterly, 20, 451-564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2005.10.005 pyle, a., & deluca, c. (2017). assessment in play-based pedagogy: an empirical study of teachers’ perspectives and practices. journal of educational practice, 11(5), 457-466. sandilos, l. e., & diperma, l. c. (2014). measuring quality in kindergarten classrooms: structural analyses of the classroom assessment system. early education development, 25(4), 984-914. stipek, d. j. (2004). teaching practices in kindergarten and first grade: different strokes for different folks. early childhood research quarterly, 19, 548-568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.10.010 stipek, d. j., & byler, p. (1997). early childhood education teachers: do they practice what they preach? early childhood research quarterly, 12, 305-325. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0885-2006(97)90005-3 stipek, d. j., & byler, p. (2004). the early childhood classroom observation measure. teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in teaching psychosocial skills across the kindergarten curriculum in ghana. asia pacific journal of research in early childhood education, 10(1), 67-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.07.007 williams, l. r. (1996). does practice lead theory? teachers’ constructs about teaching: bottom-up perspectives. in j. a. chafel, & s. reifel (eds.), advances inearly education and day care: theory and practice in early childhood teaching (vol. 8, p. 153e184). uk: emerald group publishing limited. zaslow, m., tout, k., halle, t., whittaker, j., & lavelle, b. (2010). toward the identification of features of effective professional development for early childhood educators: literature review. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, office of planning, evaluation, and social development. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 50 original paper an impactful winter session experience for university students on a short-term study aboard trip angela falter thomas 1 1 school of inclusive teaching & learning, college of education & human development, bowling green state university, ohio usa received: february 10, 2024 accepted: march 8, 2024 online published: march 15, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p50 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p50 abstract to better understand the world and oneself, exposure and immersion in the world outside of one’s typical daily setting is helpful. for university-level students taking prescribed coursework and also having to work a part-time job, having the opportunity to travel and learn afar over the course of a traditional semester can be challenging and prohibitive. as a result, short-term study abroad experiences led by university faculty can help students who desire a study abroad experience as a complement to their campus-based learning. the purpose of this investigation was to explore the impact a short-term study abroad to costa rica conducted during the 2020 winter session at a university in the usa had on nine students. data sources included pre/post surveys, formal interviews, and reflective journal entries. a qualitative analysis of the data suggests these short term study abroad participants were cognizant of their privilege as they compared and contrasted the norms of their own lives with those of the people they worked for on their short-term study abroad. the students’ perceptions of their experience were ones of accomplishment and pride. they left with a sense of empowerment and a call to serve others. reflective learning is a crucial component to students’ learning, especially when they are immersed in a different culture and country. during short-term study abroad experiences, students have the potential for transformative learning. keywords costa rica, service learning, transformative learning, university students, winter session www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 51 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction students crave a hands-on learning experience, and this is where study abroad comes in as that hands-on learning experience. study abroad involves one‟s intention to travel to a different country to take a class or have experiences to further their knowledge. sometimes these classes involve internships or co-ops to help fulfill a student‟s major requirement. with study abroad, students are able to immerse themselves in a unique environment and learn with academic means. studying abroad is much more than learning in a classroom, which is why students look for opportunities like this. this gives students the opportunity to learn in a new context. 2. literature review 2.1 preparing students for the global world preparing students for the real-world is essential during their university education. having students apply their knowledge outside the classroom is also a huge component to preparing them for life after university. with that, it is also crucial to prepare them for the global world. the united states and other countries outside of it have their differences, but also coincide with one another in terms of education and politics. the global engagement students experience is an experience no one can take away. the students learn about new cultures, and also about themselves. roberts, t. g. et al., noted that “the overarching theme among all articles is that there is a push to be globally aware, and short-term or long-term study abroad experiences are one way to do that” (roberts, t. g. et al., 2018). this note is a very important response to why preparing students for the global world is crucial; no matter the duration of the trip, students will learn copious amounts from being exposed to a different country. in the article, i have a better sense of how interconnected the world is: student perceptions of learning and global engagement during study abroad, the authors state “students reported that their experiences in the program encouraged them to reflect on and challenge their beliefs, particularly about educational policies and practices in local and global contexts” (vandermaas-peeler et al., 2018, p. 130). this note is especially important when students are learning in a different country, with different values and beliefs. reflection is also a large part of this learning process, especially when being educated globally. when preparing students for off campus experiences in the global world, it also important to prepare for them for the different cultures they are about immerse themselves in. having some prior knowledge before heading to a different culture will set students up for the “culture shock” individuals usually experience when going to a new country. in the study performed by vandermaas-peeler et al., they asked their participants open-ended questions about how many of them had to adjust their behaviors in order to behave in a culturally appropriate manner; 92% of the participants did have to adjust their behaviors. the participants were also asked if the study abroad program allowed them to make a difference, and global engagement was a common code used. being culturally immersed exposed the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 52 published by scholink inc. students to new perspectives, and new political interests, too. 2.2 how students come to understand the world better to understand the world better, students need to be exposed and immersed in the world. if not, how will they come to understand the world, and what it holds? students will understand the world when they are immersed in different cultures, as well as educated on countries‟ values and beliefs. students will come to understand the world better when they start reflecting on their experiences, and how those exposed experiences affect their lives, and the real-world. in the impact of short-term study abroad experiences on transformative an learning, walters c. et al. (2016) speaks on transformative learning, and how it teaches students reflective learning. they explore the theoretical framework which is “a result of critical reflection which involves „a critical review of presuppositions from conscious and unconscious prior learning and their consequence‟ and results in a change in one‟s firmly held beliefs” (kember et al., 2000, p. 385; walters, c., et al., 2016, p. 107). within this framework, students can practice reflective thinking, which will help in understanding what they learn from their study abroad experiences. reflective learning is a crucial component to students‟ learning, especially when they are immersed in a different curriculum and country. being a reflective learner means being “conscious of the one‟s learning process” and “being an active learner by asking questions and thinking critically about one‟s own ideas” (deakin.edu). metacognition plays a large role in students‟ reflective learning process as well. teaching students how to reflect on their learning gets them thinking about why it was important to learn a certain issue or topic, and how does this new, learned concept applies to the world outside the classroom. in this same article, students using reflective learning helps them, “reflect on a situation, experience, or collection of information is to absorb, consider, weight, speculate, contemplate, and deliberate. such reflection serves either as a basis for reasoned action or to gain understanding or attach meaning to an experience” (bradshaw & lowenstein, 2011, p. 6; walters, c., et al., 2016, p. 107). reflecting on an experience, such as study abroad, becomes crucial because of the topics and cultures that learned; this is once-in-a-lifetime experience for those who immerse themselves in these trips. 2.3 short-term study abroad depending on the university, study abroad experiences can be offered for a semester, for one whole year, or for just a set number of consecutive days. some students take the longer trips because of internships, or because they want to gain more experience and education from a different country. even though long-term study abroad experiences allow student to gain more familiarity with the country and its education, short-terms experiences can have similar impact. during short-term study abroad experiences, students have the potential for high transformative learning (walters et al., 2016). the reflection of the experience becomes even more imperative because of the brevity of the study aboard experiences; students really have to “dig deep” and determine what the most important takeaways were from the experience. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 53 published by scholink inc. there are benefits and advantages to students going on a short-term study abroad trip versus a long-term study aboard trip. one advantage is short-term study abroad trips fit better with students‟ schedules (barkin, 2018). when it comes to university scheduling, and as students‟ progress through their program, scheduling for semesters tends to be a challenge. this is due to when classes are being offered or if those classes are offered a specific semester. with short-term trips, students will still be able to take part in a trip of their choosing, and still get the intended experiences without having to drastically switch around their schedules. along with fitting short-term study abroad in university schedules, another benefit to this is students become less fearful of being away from family and friends for a full semester (barkin, 2018). splitting the semester between classes and study abroad lessens the class load for the students and allows them to partake in both the campus experience, and the study abroad experience. overall, short-term study abroad experiences still allows students to have the full experience of different culture, and education. 2.4 what does short-term study abroad look like? with short-term study abroad, these experiences will usually be more condensed with a set a curriculum in mind. short-term study abroad is usually faculty-led, meaning one or more professors go on the trip with a small number students. the content within a short-term study abroad experience also becomes more condensed. according to christopher cotten and carla j. thompson, the hip-impact educational practices (hips), “includes first-year seminars, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, diversity/global learning, service learning, community-based learning, internships, and capstone courses and projects” (cotton & thompson, 2017; kuh, 2008). all within this curriculum are the hips practices to ensure students are getting rich experience in a different country. the innovative activities and assignments challenge students to think deeper, and to apply knowledge in just a short time when studying within a different culture. in the impacts of a short-term study abroad on critical thinking of agricultural students, roberts et al. (2018), states “there is evidence that short-term study abroad experiences help student think critically”. 2.5 transformative learning both walters et al. (2016) and lecrom et al. (2018), discuss the importance of transformative learning within a study abroad experience. again, transformative learning involves critical and reflective thinking, and allows one to deepen their learning within the content at hand. walters et al. (2016), explains that “the practice of reflective thinking is to process one‟s thoughts and hold every idea accountable”. “to reflect on a situation, experience, or collection of information is to absorb, consider, weight, speculate, contemplate, and deliberate. such reflection serves either as a basis for reasoned action or to gain understanding or attach meaning to an experience” (bradshaw & lowenstein, 2011, p. 6; walters, c., et al., 2016, p. 107). having student reflect upon their learning is imperative, especially when the content is being taught in a different country. partaking in a study abroad experience becomes www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 54 published by scholink inc. a unique opportunity for students, therefore, it is crucial that they are exposed to reflective practices. when students are able to reflect on their own learning, they are then able to see the learning process holistically. 2.6 significance why study abroad and why is it an important piece to one‟s education? study abroad not only exposes students to different countries and their cultures, but it also allows them to step outside their own comfort zones. with that, study abroad experiences expose students to new ways of learning, such as transformative learning. reflecting on one‟s experiences allows for a deeper sense of learning as well. exploring and learning in a different country provides students with an understanding of the world, while also preparing them for the global world. today‟s students, again, crave the hands-on experiences, and innovated instruction for their own learning. study abroad provides students with opportunities that will stay with them for a lifetime, while allowing them to apply that knowledge beyond the classroom. 3. methods and procedures 3.1 the course the short-term study abroad course was called “costa rica: a country committed to ecology and education”. the aim of the course was to provide students the opportunity to learn and explore in costa rica. it was conducted over a three-week winter session in january of 2020 with students in costa rica for fourteen days. in costa rica there is a saying—“pura vida” or “pure life”. this course embodied that spirit as students hiked through rainforests, discovered a coffee plantation, visited with students in a local school, relaxed in hot springs, and learned about preserving nature. the students experienced a colorful country filled with natural splendors. costa rica allowed the students to immerse themselves in ecological learning and conservation as they explored waterfalls, volcanoes, lush mountains, and beaches—all occupied by diverse animals including frogs, birds and monkeys. costa rica offered adventure for the students. through this course there were unique ways to learn about biodiversity and conservation efforts. partaking in canopy tours and walking over hanging bridges, students discovered animals and explored nature. students soaked in the spanish influenced culture of the country‟s capital, san jose, and visited with administrators, teachers, and students in a local school near montverde. costa rican forests were experienced from the treetops with unparalleled views and discussions took place with knowledgeable local guides. the students gazed at nature and strolled through the tropical rain forest and paths of nature and wildlife. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 55 published by scholink inc. the students also invested time volunteering and participating in five service learning projects with local residents and organizations at various cities in the country. these service opportunities included working with a group of impoverished women and their children, volunteering at a coffee plantation, helping children at a church learn english, participating in a beach clean-up and reading, speaking and listening with the children of nicaraguan refugees. the course was taught by a professor who was also the researcher. the study took place over the course of the winter session in the students‟ second and third years at the university. while the professor intentionally took a neutral posture to learn from the students, the students‟ preconceived notions about their instructor‟s expectations may have influenced the responses. 3.2 instruction methods of instruction included lectures, large and small group discussions, service work, travel, exploration, and observations. throughout this course, students worked independently, in small groups and with costa ricans to learn. topics in the course included: the costa rican educational system, economic and cultural importance of costa rican coffee and chocolate, the influence of volcanoes on the local geography and environment, sustainable and responsible tourism, diverse topography of costa rica‟s lush rainforests, volcanic mountains and sparking waters, and biodiversity: the value and importance of preserving endangered species. 3.3 participants participants were nine undergraduate university students from a large, midwestern us public university. they were in the midst of their second and third years at the institution. eight students were caucasian. one was african american. there were nine females, and no males. other than two students having gone on holidays out of the country with their families in the past, none of the other participants had any prior experience outside of the united states. 3.4 data collection and procedures data were collected during all phases of the project. qualitative research methods were utilized in this study in order to gain a more holistic portrayal of the university students‟ perceptions of their winter session experience. the data sources consisted of surveys, interviews, and reflective journal entries. irb approval and participant consent was obtained before students joined the study. students were notified that their participation was voluntary and would not affect their standing in any part of the course or as a student at the university, and that they could withdraw from the study at any time. during the first moments of the first class session of the winter session course, which took place on campus in december, the participants were first provided with a link to answered open-ended survey questions about their upcoming winter session‟s study abroad experience. survey questions included: why are you participating in this study abroad experience? what are you most concerned about? what are you most looking forward to and what are you least looking forward to? and what other types of traveling have you done outside of the usa? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 56 published by scholink inc. on the final day of the winter session course, the students returned to their university classroom. the pre-course survey was repeated with a modification of the questions. while the initial survey questions were more heavily focused upon the upcoming experience and their concerns, the post-survey questions focused more on how the experienced affected their perceptions. these questions included: explain the two most important things you learned during this course. did the experience in costa rica meet your expectations? explain. did the experience change your preconceived notions? if so, how. what part of the experience was the most impactful and why? what would you tell next year‟s students about this course? informal interviewing is an open-ended approach offering flexibility for observing and documenting what may emerge from a particular setting (patton, 2010). these data were collected during the experiences while in costa rica. questions were also generated from watching the students and listening to them talk with each other about their experiences. the researcher asked clarifying questions during the informal interviews to help capture the perceptions of the students. these data also informed the formal interview questions, corroborated other data sources, and added another facet in analyzing the overall experience of the university students. there were 18 pages of informal interview notes. semistructured formal interviews (fontana & frey, 2000) were also utilized. these semistructured formal interviews were conducted with each student upon their return to campus. during the interviews with the nine study participants, the researcher used probing to obtain additional information that helped better explain the answers given by the participants. this helped improve the accuracy of the provided answers with each question that was asked. each interview lasted between 20 and 30 minutes and were held privately. all formal interviews were videoed and transcribed verbatim by a graduate research assistant. reflective journaling has been shown to be an effective way to engage students and to help nurture critical thinking skills (lamm et al., 2011; sankey rice et al., 2014). it can also be a tool to foster active learning (thorpe, 2004). journaling has been used for students to reflect on study abroad experiences (lamm et al., 2011; northfell & edgar, 2014; sankey rice et al., 2014). northfell and edgar (2014) recommended that study aboard programs should require daily reflections “to encourage meaningful and engaged learning experiences” (p. 39). during the time in costa rica, students also wrote journal entries. as a part of the course, participants were provide time and required to journal nightly by responding to question prompts. participants electronically uploaded their nightly reflections. data were collected through the reflective journaling. the nightly question prompts were: 1) what were your observations today? 2) what did you learn today? 3) what are you grappling with? 4) explain the impact today‟s experience had on you. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 57 published by scholink inc. 5) what did you see or learn today that challenged or changed your previous thinking? why did that happen? ultimately, the study took place over the course of ten weeks with the students coming together on campus before the start of the official winter session and returning for follow up interviews weeks after their return. while the professor intentionally took a neutral posture to learn from the students, their preconceived notions about the american instructor‟s expectations may have influenced the students‟ responses. 4. data analysis and results the data gathering was subjected to a qualitative data analysis which involved documentation, categorizing, examining relationships, and presenting of data (mackieson, shlonsky & connolly, 2019). as is common in case study research, multiple data sources were drawn upon for analysis and to inform results of this study. data analysis consists of examining, categorizing, and recombining the evidence (yin, 2003). according to lincoln & guba (1985), the essential task of categorizing is to bring together, into categories, data that relate to the same content. to analyze this study‟s data, the researcher used an inductive coding process. the inductive approach is a data reduction procedure of analysis taking the raw data and moving it into meaningful themes. the primary mode of analysis is the development of categories from the raw data into a framework that captures key ideas judged to be important by the researcher. the outcome from an inductive analysis is the development of categories that summarizes the data and conveys key themes. following an indicative coding process, described by creswell (2002), the data from the surveys, journals and interviews were read and reread as the researcher sought to identify segments of information in the data based on similarities, but also noting data not supporting emerging patterns. thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data sources. after this initial sorting, emergent coding was used to identify themes that arose from participant responses. the data from this study were then examined separately by the three researchers who individually sorted them to explore the thoughts and opinions the university students brought to their winter session course and the changes experienced through opportunities to engage with others in the related class sessions and their time in costa rica. first working independently with each set of data, they used selective coding to highlight the most common categories and to explain themes (creswell, 2012; creswell & guetterman, 2020). data sets were analyzed, and salient themes were devised and integrated to support assertions. manual coding for salient themes were informed by strategies recommended by dyson and genishi (2005) and saldana (2013). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 58 published by scholink inc. to control for researcher bias and to help make sense of the data, two additional researchers were recruited to help conduct the data analysis. therefore, in this study, two members of the graduate education program and the author of this study, an education professor at the university, confirmed the categories. the three researchers evaluated and reinforced the initial results, categories, and groupings. the researchers then worked together to remove redundancy, which reduced the categories and recorded the number of times the detail appears in the categories. next, the most important categories, based on similarities, were identified to determine the themes with details listed to support each theme. this endorsement provided validity of the explanation. member checks of the researcher‟s data analysis were then conducted to ensure accuracy, credibility, and validity. each study participant was asked to read the findings of their data analysis and to affirm that the findings reflected their views, feelings, and experiences, or to disaffirm that the findings reflect these experiences. all nine participants agreed with the researcher‟s findings. the need for triangulation arises from the ethical need to confirm the validity of the processes. case study is a triangulated research strategy. in case studies, multiple sources of data improve validity (yin, 2003). data triangulation occurred because two methods of data collection were utilized. with data to analyze from the surveys, interviews and journals, the researcher was able to have the data checked, or cross-examined, from three sources. for example, data collected from the interviews was checked against the survey and journal data for verification. qualitative findings indicated the students preferred an active, service style of pedagogy where they could work in a hands-on manner with individuals who were struggling or less fortunate. this was something they had not experienced directly in their previous coursework at the university and the study aboard experience in an international country allowed this to happen. the interactive experiences were 100% positive for the nine participants and the required reflections were indicated as being helpful for their learning. as a result of the data analysis, three dominant themes emerged: privilege, pride/accomplishment/empowerment, and a call to serve others. of all of the activities that took place during the fourteen days in costa rica, the data analysis showed that the time invested in service projects were the most impactful. reading and speaking with the children of the nicaraguan refugees and the local group of impoverished women and their children was eye-opening and heartwarming. one student said, “i‟ve seen images like this, but never did i know poverty was this awful. i didn‟t realize how much was just given to me because of where i was born and the family i was born in. it‟s so unfair!” another student explained, “when i get back home, i‟m going to find how i can help the refugees in toledo. i did not realize how challenging their lives are until now”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 59 published by scholink inc. additionally, volunteering at a coffee plantation and participating in a beach clean-up was eye opening. students were surprised by how hot the sun was and how much work was being conducted without taking breaks. finally, helping children at a church learn to some english was endearing, especially to the students who did not have younger siblings. one wrote, “little children are precious and need help. the two i worked with caught on quickly to color words but didn‟t even know how to tell me they were thirsty so that we could go get a drink of water”. privilege is defined as a societal advantage that a restricted group of people has over another group. the data analysis reported students were previously not cognizant of their privilege, but through the various service opportunities learned they are indeed privileged. one student said, “on campus i classify myself as poor compared to other students but being here and seeing true poverty woke me up. i‟m very privileged”. another stated, “it‟s not their fault. these children are living in horrific conditions while we have so much. is it ok to leave my extra clothing here for these women? i have plenty at home and they need it”. pride, accomplishment, and empowerment were also identified as a dominant theme. empowerment comes after the process of becoming strong and more confident, especially in controlling one‟s own life and claiming their opportunities. this came about as student overcame their insecurities about traveling abroad and interacting with locals far from their own homes. as they found success in the different experiences, their pride and confidence grew. they felt they were doing important work. one student reported, “i hadn‟t thought about it, but now that i think back over today, i realize i‟m very proud of the hard work we all did. the beach was gross, but it looks great now”. “i feel so good tonight about everything we all did. when the alarm went off this morning, i did not want to move, but now i‟m so thankful about helping the kids. it made everyone feel really good”. the third theme was a call to service. as a result of participating in five service-projects over the course of fourteen days, students realized the impact they could have on others‟ lives. “with so many of us all doing a little, we are really doing a lot”, one student stated during an interview. another said, “i felt like my voice was finally heard and i wanted each child i worked with to know that they were heard too. i will find more ways to help when i get back home”. 5. conclusion this study found students who took part in this short term winter session 2020 study abroad to costa rica gained new knowledge and understandings through the experiential learning experience, which included serving others and a nightly process of self-reflection. through the reflective nighty journaling, students actively assessed and monitored their thinking and understanding. students reported that while they first did not want to do this journaling and viewed the course requirement as a burden, they realized it was helping them better understand themselves and the impact of the experience. it also helped them feel in charge of their learning and led to deeper personal growth. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 60 published by scholink inc. transformative learning focused on the idea that adult learners can adjust their thinking based on new information. this learning follows the idea that the learners who are getting new information are also evaluating their past ideas and understanding and are shifting their worldwide view as they taken on new information through critical reflection (collard & law, 1989). this type of learning involves self-examination and ultimately leads to a truer freedom of thought and a better understanding. to empower students and to build pride in students, they should be involved in actions and improvement processes in classrooms and local organizations when possible. increase opportunities for students to help and serve others and embed opportunities for student service into classroom activities is powerful. this travel and service opportunity opened the students‟ minds as they learned about ecology, education, and environment. it also opened their hearts as they worked with impoverished people in a variety of local organizations in different cities across costa rica. throughout the students‟ reflections, they made connections to their own lives to help them contextualize their new learning and experiences. one participant stated, “despite a language barrier, we connected beautifully with the women and children through our hearts and our hands reaching out to them”. references barkin, g. (2018). either here or there: short-term study abroad and the discourse of going. anthropology & education quarterly, 49(3), 296-317. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12248 bradshaw, m., & lowenstein, a. (2011). innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions. sudbury, canada: jones & bartlett. collard, s., & law, m. (1989). the limits of perspective transformation: a critique of mezirow‟s theory. adult education quarterly, 39, 99-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001848189039002004 cotten, c., & thompson, c. (2017). high-impact practices in social work education: a short-term study-abroad service-learning trip to guatemala. journal of social work education, 53(4), 622-636. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2017.1284626 creswell, j. (2012). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. upper saddle river, nj: pearson. creswell, j. w., & guetterman, t. (2020). educational research: planning conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed.). st. louis: pearson education limited. dyson, a. h., & genishi, c. (2005). on the case: approaches to language and literacy research. new york: teachers college press. fontana, a., & frey, j. (2000). the interview: from structured questions to negotiated texts. in n. k. denzin, & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 645-672). thousand oaks, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12248 https://doi.org/10.1177/0001848189039002004 https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2017.1284626 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 61 published by scholink inc. lamm, a. j., cannon, k. j., roberts, t. g., irani, t. a., unruh snyder, l. j., brendemuhl, j., & rodriguez, m. t. (2011). an exploration of reflection: expression of learning style in an international learning context. journal of agricultural education, 3(52), 122-135. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2011.03122 lecrom, c. w., dwyer, b., & greenhalgh, g. (2018). study abroad‟s impact on u.s. sport management students. sport management education journal, 12(2), 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1123/smej.2018-0003 lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. newbury park, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 mackieson, p., shlonsky, a., & connolly, m. (2019). increasing rigor and reducing bias in qualitative research: a document analysis of parliamentary debates using applied thematic analysis. qualitative social work, 18(6), 965-980. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325018786996 northfell, a. n., & edgar, l. d. (2014). using reflective journals to compare an international faculty-led study tour and student internship experience. journal of applied communications, 98(4), 28-41. https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.1091 patton, m. (2015). qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed.). sage publications, thousand oaks, ca. roberts, t. g., raulerson, b., telg, r., harder, a., & stedman, n. (2018). the impacts of a short-term study abroad on critical thinking of agriculture students. nacta journal, 62(2), 168-174. saldana, j. (2013). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. thousand oaks, ca: sage. sankey rice, l., foster, d., miller-foster, m., & barrick, k. (2014). discovering global competencies of agricultural education students through reflective journaling. nacta journal, 58(4), 324-329. vandermaas-peeler, m., duncan-bendix, j., & biehl, m. s. (2018). “i have a better sense of how interconnected the word is”: student perceptions of learning and global engagement during study abroad. the interdisciplinary journal of study abroad, 30(2), 117-135. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v30i2.416 walters, c., charles, j., & bingham, s. (2016). impact of short-term study abroad experiences on transformative learning. journal of transformative education, 15(2), 103-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344616670034 yin, r. (2003). case study research: design and methods (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2011.03122 https://doi.org/10.1123/smej.2018-0003 https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325018786996 https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.1091 https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v30i2.416 https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344616670034 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 54 original paper the research on teaching reform of civil engineering construction course based on rich practical teaching liu yang 1* , gao jing, song ming-zhi 2 & kong zhe 2 1 intelligent construction department, qingdao city university, qingdao, china 2 department of engineering management, qingdao city university, qingdao, china * liu yang, e-mail: yang.liu1@qdc.edu.cn received: october 10, 2024 accepted: october 22, 2024 online published: october 25, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p54 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p54 abstract as a comprehensive, practical, and timely course, the civil engineering construction course requires university teachers to possess systematic theoretical knowledge and practical engineering experience. therefore, universities need to establish a “dual-qualified” teaching team through industry-academic collaboration. this paper focuses on the civil engineering construction course at qingdao city college, collaborating with zhongqing jian’an construction group co., ltd., to discuss the model of school-enterprise cooperation and the understanding of curriculum reform oriented towards practical teaching. this paper highlights the significant contribution of strong collaboration between schools and enterprises in practical teaching to improving the quality of talent cultivation in the civil engineering profession. based on the educational research projects at qingdao city college, it primarily investigates the expansion of school-enterprise cooperation forms, the development of industry-academic-research project collaborations, the exploration of new models for curriculum design guidance, the construction of a reasonable and comprehensive teaching system for green construction courses, and the innovation of teaching methods. keywords civil engineering construction, practicality, curriculum reform www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 55 published by scholink inc. 1. background of the research topic 1.1 order-based training for “cultivating high-quality creative talents” order-based training refers to the agreements signed between enterprises and schools regarding talent cultivation needs, where enterprises arrange employment for students according to the terms of the agreement. this model has a clear employment purpose and fosters close connections between schools and enterprises. all three parties—schools, enterprises, and students—benefit from this arrangement. in order-based training, all three parties must sign an agreement, which clarifies the rights and obligations of each. for the school, the focus is on helping students acquire practical operational skills through simulated internships and on-the-job training. the enterprises specify their hiring needs and standards, and the school trains students accordingly. ultimately, both the school and the enterprise assess the students, allowing qualified students to secure employment within the company. 1.2 work-study integration model maximizing student participation under teacher guidance the work-study integration talent cultivation model emphasizes joint efforts by schools and enterprises to guide students. it combines the professional knowledge and practical skills learned in school with real-world work experiences in enterprises, providing strong conditions for students’ future employment. teachers should utilize their positions to guide and stimulate students’ desire for knowledge and interest in learning. for example, they might present a real problem related to a project near the school or reflect on how earthquakes impact the design and construction quality of buildings. teachers should provide ideas without giving answers, encouraging students to visit, understand, and research extensively before engaging in thorough discussions and expressing their opinions. finally, the teacher will analyze the outcomes. in this process, the teacher acts as an observer rather than a judge, motivating students and maximizing their active role in learning. 2. the significance of the topic research and the research ideas 2.1 significance of the research topic this research aims to cultivate applied talents at the undergraduate level in civil engineering, specifically focusing on developing civil professionals who “understand construction management methods”. currently, new projects and cities consume vast amounts of natural resources and energy, and the government is increasingly strengthening its efforts in environmental governance. the construction industry is a key focus of national governance. however, there is a significant shortage of talents who truly grasp the application of construction management methods. this research is meaningful as it aims to establish a practical, construction-oriented curriculum system in civil engineering, thereby cultivating new management talents that align with national policy requirements. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 56 published by scholink inc. 2.2 effective school-enterprise cooperation by adopting a model of “collaborative research on training programs, collaborative development of teaching resources, collaborative teaching, and collaborative employment”, we can effectively achieve school-enterprise cooperation. this approach aims to cultivate applied technical and skill-based talents, enhancing students’ employability and entrepreneurial capabilities. it provides enterprises with new composite application talents and improves the employment rate of our students, thereby establishing our school as a brand in specialized fields. 2.3 enhancing teachers’ practical and innovative skills through the school-enterprise cooperation model, our teachers can immerse themselves in enterprises and on-site operations, gaining insights into advanced construction technologies and scientific management methods used in actual construction. this experience significantly enhances teachers’ practical skills. during the curriculum reform process, our teachers continuously explore new teaching methods and techniques, thereby improving their innovative capabilities. figure 1. translation: research ideas for the topic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 57 published by scholink inc. 3. education and teaching project development and completion status the entire project’s progress plan and goals are divided into three phases: phase one: september 2019-march 2020: this phase involved formulating the research plan for the reform and practice of civil engineering construction teaching. phase two: april 2020-march 2021: in this phase, the implementation plan was carried out, which included extensive reading of theoretical works, conducting surveys, collecting materials, and writing papers. phase three: april 2021-september 2021: this phase focused on organizing materials, writing papers, final reports, and applying results. in april 2020, the project team members began to implement the plan and collect materials. during this phase of concrete work, two preparatory actions were particularly emphasized: 3.1 purchase of theoretical books one-quarter of the educational reform funding was allocated to acquire various theoretical books. the team members committed to thorough reading of these texts to enhance their theoretical knowledge and understanding, which would support the research of the project. 3.2 conducting surveys the project team undertook a series of surveys to reference and learn from the successful experiences of others in the field. this effort not only enriched their understanding but also strengthened external connections, laying the groundwork for the practical implementation of reforms. these preparatory steps aimed to ensure a solid foundation for the subsequent phases of the project, enabling the team to effectively apply the insights gained in their curriculum and teaching practices. from september 2021 to the present, the research team’s previous findings have been applied in the teaching of the “civil engineering construction” course. 4. major reform achievements and practical effects of educational teaching projects since april 2020, the research team members have actively engaged in research work. the team is responsible for the reform research of the teaching practice component, specifically applicable to the revision of the teaching plan. in the teaching plans for the 2018 and 2019 cohorts in civil engineering construction, the requirement to use construction management software has been strengthened in the practical teaching component—namely, in course design. the main members of the research team have incorporated more practical construction teaching content into the theoretical teaching of civil engineering construction, utilizing multimedia teaching methods such as presentations and videos to enhance students’ understanding of construction concepts. the collaboration between the school and industry is mainly achieved through the “one course, two teachers” model, where external mentors introduce students to the necessity of construction in real engineering projects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 58 published by scholink inc. the main classes discussed in this article are engineering management and civil engineering. in the course design for these two majors, construction management-related software has been utilized to create a three-dimensional simulation layout of the project’s site plan. the schedule control has employed a time-scaled network plan for dynamic progress control. during the preparation of the construction plan, software calculations have been used for temporary water and electricity usage, reflecting the green energy-saving requirements in construction. student feedback has been positive, indicating that they can effectively connect theory with practice. 5. features and innovations in the reform of civil engineering construction courses in the teaching of civil engineering construction courses, we integrate construction skills training with safety management education, primarily using case-based teaching to cultivate students’ systematic understanding of engineering project construction. this is also a direction for the blended teaching of the course, with both online and offline components. the course includes numerous discussion sessions to stimulate students’ interest in learning. in response to the characteristics of the course and existing teaching issues, the research team studied the specific construction measures of top undergraduate courses in domestic universities. they collected feedback from the industry regarding the knowledge base and technical skills required for practical construction talents, as well as the demands from enterprises regarding students’ capabilities. the team believes that the blended course construction should focus on the following aspects. 5.1 optimize course teaching objectives the civil engineering construction course has applied for the development of a university-level top-tier course. taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the construction of top undergraduate programs, it aims to strengthen the collaboration between the university and enterprises. this involves inviting experienced personnel from large construction companies to teach on campus, establishing a fixed model for this collaboration. through feedback from these enterprises, we will optimize the teaching objectives of the course, ensuring that the concept of green construction is deeply ingrained in students’ understanding. actual engineering cases from the companies will be used as teaching content to clarify and emphasize key knowledge points, optimizing students’ knowledge structure and forming a balanced knowledge system that integrates both technical and management aspects. 5.2 increase extracurricular interest experiment sessions with the opportunity of integrating on-campus resources for the development of top undergraduate programs, we should encourage students to participate in extracurricular interest experiments. students can collaborate with teachers to independently conduct some practical experiments related to foundational construction practices, such as concrete performance testing, to enhance their www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 59 published by scholink inc. understanding of construction concepts and to select more environmentally friendly materials and advanced technologies. additionally, teachers should incorporate ideological and political education into the course to enhance students’ professional identity and vocational quality. this will help form intrinsic motivation and stimulate students’ interest in independent learning. 5.3 enrich online teaching resources establish a course resource database that provides ample engineering case studies, diversifies the types of resources, and enhances student engagement in learning. include review questions to reinforce students’ retention and understanding of textbook knowledge, thereby laying a solid foundation for promoting the course as a quality course and a top undergraduate program. 5.4 enhance teachers’ engineering and teaching abilities teachers can apply to the college for opportunities to work in enterprises during their free periods, thereby increasing their engineering experience. this will enable them to fully grasp management techniques for construction, as well as methods for process control and quality control. they will also understand the substantial differences in detail handling between new methods, new techniques, and traditional construction practices. 5.5 reform teaching methods and approaches in 2020, the online teaching model was widely implemented, revealing significant deficiencies in the online teaching skills and proficiency of instructors. to address this, teachers in the research group should participate in network teaching training organized by the school. they need to become proficient in using more than one online teaching software, learn to upload teaching materials to the chaoxing teaching platform, and conduct online classes. in terms of teaching methods, there is a strong effort to change traditional teaching approaches, update course content, and adopt teaching methods that emphasize the cultivation of engineering practical skills, such as inquiry-based, discussion-oriented, self-directed, problem-based, and practical approaches. the aim is to enhance the dynamism, engagement, and interactivity of classes while promptly summarizing teaching experiences to feed back into classroom instruction, thereby forming a continuous course improvement model. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 60 published by scholink inc. 6. the level of achievements in the reform of civil engineering construction courses and their practical application value in the process of conducting research and experimental practices, there will certainly be some specific practical outcomes. although these are not the direct results of the research, they can be included in the analysis of practical outcomes or impact of results in the final report. these practical effects of research typically include the following aspects: student level: there has been a significant increase in students’ interest in learning, an enhancement in their self-directed learning abilities, and an improvement in their proficiency with construction management-related software. the practical aspect has been strengthened, and students’ problem-solving skills have also improved. teacher level: through the implementation of this project, teachers’ research and teaching levels have improved, their practical skills have been strengthened, and their research capabilities have been enhanced. school level: the results have been promoted within the civil engineering and engineering management programs. the teaching quality of civil engineering construction courses has improved, and students’ grades are generally better, reflecting the unique characteristics of the college. societal level: the project aligns with the national green energy-saving policy and represents the direction for future development in construction engineering. the distinctive feature of this project lies in how to stimulate students’ enthusiasm by utilizing various teaching methods and strategies to comprehensively enhance the quality and effectiveness of the course instruction. 7. conclusion through the implementation of the civil engineering construction course, the teaching team has reformed and adjusted the teaching content and syllabus. the curriculum now includes teaching on construction, integrating real engineering site situations and case analyses to elucidate the purpose and significance of construction practices. by improving teaching methods and utilizing construction management software, the classroom experience has become richer, more dynamic, vivid, intuitive, and easier to understand. this significant enhancement in the information provided effectively alleviates the challenges posed by reduced class hours and increased teaching content, resulting in better teaching outcomes. moreover, practical teaching has been strengthened, with innovative course design being developed. the course design emphasizes students’ ability to use construction management software, reflecting their central role in the learning process. it focuses on cultivating engineering practice skills, problem analysis and resolution abilities, and a rigorous work ethic. this approach better achieves the goal of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 61 published by scholink inc. linking theory with practice, encouraging students to identify, think about, and solve problems. consequently, it has been well-received by the students. references chen, x. l., he, h. t., & ruan, x. q. (2016). research on the curriculum reform of “civil engineering construction and organization” oriented by vocational skills competitions. value engineering, 35(26), 265-267. wang, w., liao, l., & liu, j. (2018). research on teaching reform of construction technology courses under new circumstances. western quality education, 2018(11). zhao, j. j., feng, s. c., yang, r. y. et al. (2019). analysis of the construction and technological upgrades of coal-fired smart power plants in the new infrastructure era. shenhua technology, 17(12), 5-10. microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p32 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 32 original paper assessing senior secondary students’ attitude and experiences towards science and technology in jalingo metropolis, taraba state, nigeria gladys u. jack1* 1 department of science education, taraba state university, p.m.b 1167, jalingo, nigeria * gladys u. jack, department of science education, taraba state university, p.m.b 1167, jalingo, nigeria received: april 14, 2018 accepted: april 24, 2018 online published: may 3, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p32 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p32 abstract this study examined the attitude and experiences of secondary school students towards science and technology in jalingo metropolis of taraba state, nigeria. the population included all senior secondary 2 (ss 2) science students in senior secondary schools in jalingo metropolis. a total of 350 students (161 females and 189 males) were selected through simple random sampling method. the study used a descriptive survey design. the research instrument was a modified likert scale questionnaire. the data obtained was analyzed using statistical tools (mean and standard deviation). results indicated that there is a positive attitude towards science and technology. the result generally showed that students have positive experiences towards science and technology. the results also showed that there is a meaningful difference between males and females points of views on attitude towards science and technology and their experiences. according to this result, males have lower average sum (m=54.24) than the females with (m=55.52). the results of this research provide important information about jalingo students’ attitude and experience towards science and technology and could be used by science educators for the development of science curricula and science text books. keywords science and technology, experience, attitude, gender, science education   www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 33 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction it is said commonly in nigerian proverb that everything a man becomes in life, is a product of his attitude. thus, the level of honesty, hard work, tolerance, team spirit, forbearance, humility, etc., which he possesses and exhibits, sets the limits of success or failure of the man through positive. this can be no less true in educational pursuits. contrary to this view, experts in the field of education tend to place greater emphasis on the cognitive characteristics of the student when examining issues surrounding his academic attainment. this has often not produce the best results as there is not much that can be done in altering the cognitive components of an individual. on the other hand, the attitude of a person which belongs to the affective domain can be tinkered with to see if the cognitive component can produce optimal result. research on students’ interest in science and technology increased from the 1960s (osborne, simon, & collins, 2003). studies aimed at increasing the education of hearing the “student voice” in education such as works by flutter and rudduck (2004), esrc (2004), and fielding (2004). identifying and responding to the student voice may be seen as a means of reducing the alienation that some students feel from their schooling and thus of helping to overcome the associated problems. from this perspective, accommodating the student voice becomes a means of transforming schooling (fletcher, 2003) and of making the curriculum more relevant to students’ needs and interests. the investigation of students’ attitudes towards studying science has been a substantive feature of the work of the science education research community for the past 40 years (osborne et al., 2003). students’ increasing reluctance to choose science courses, and physical science courses in particular, in their final years of secondary education has important implications not only for the continuity of scientific endeavor but also for the scientific literacy of future generations. as a result, development of positive attitudes towards science, scientists, and learning science, which has always been a constituent of science education, is increasingly a subject of concern (trumper, 2006). students’ learning interests and attitudes toward science have both been studied for decades. however, the connection between them with students’ life experiences about science and technology has not been addressed much (chang, yeung, & cheng, 2009). one of the new researches on student’s interests and their needs and experiences on science and technology is relevance of science education (rose). many researches like as timss (trends in mathematics and science study) and pisa (program for international student assessment) conducted to assess the students’ abilities in science, however rose questionnaire is not a test for assessing the conceptual understanding of students in science content, but it is an instrument for collecting data about emotional and attitude identity that students have in science and technology. relevance of science argue that science and technology is one the important parts of life in all countries despite of their culture and level of development. it is argued that science and technology curriculum should be adjusted with needs of learners and between different groups of learners. it means that we cannot accept the curriculum approaches with global and culture—neutral views when we are talking about www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 34 published by scholink inc. kind of science and technology that is appropriate for all students and its goal is not only training the professionals in science and technology. for achieving to this goal we should hearing the “student voice” in science education (schreiner & sjoberg, 2004). the rose instrument focuses on aspects that are important about of student involving in science and technology at school and life. it uses the word relevance to embrace a range of factors in terms that can be described as affective. its broad aim is to generate perspectives and empirical findings that can inform discussions about how best to improve science curricula and enhance students’ interest in science and technology in ways that: respect cultural diversity and gender equity; promote personal and social relevance, and empower the learner for democratic participation and citizenship (jenkins & pell, 2006). students’ attitudes/learning interests and motivation toward science have both been studied for decades. however, the connection between them with students’ life experiences about science and technology has not been addressed much (chang et al., 2009). the general purpose of the study is to assess student’s attitude and experience towards science and technology in jalingo metropolis due to poor performances and interest in science and technology-based subjects. specifically, the study sought to: i. determine the attitude of students towards science and technology in jalingo metropolis. ii. examine the experiences of students towards science and technology with regards to their environment in jalingo metropolis. iii. determine the difference between the opinions of male and female students’ attitudes and experiences towards science and technology jalingo metropolis. to guide the study therefore, the following research questions were raised: i. what is the attitude of students towards science and technology? ii. what are the experiences of students towards science and technology with regards to their environment? iii. is there any significant difference between male and female students’ attitude towards science and technology and their experiences? 1.1 review of related literatures relevance of science education study (rose) has been conducted in several countries by researchers of science education and its results have been published in recent years. in this section some research and findings of related works are pointed out. manninen, miettinen and kiviniemi (2005) examined conceptions of students about technology, environmental issues and school science. the results showed that girls show more concern towards environmental issues. the results also showed that both boys and girls believe in science and technology capacities and capabilities. anderson (2006) also investigated views of 1027 students from central region of ghana about rose components. the results showed that the majority of students believed that science and technology are useful for society and can help to reduce poverty and famine in the world. the results also showed that boys are more interested in becoming scientists than girls. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 35 published by scholink inc. jenkins and pell (2006) studied english students views on science and technology, school science and environmental issues. the sample of schools was drawn to reflect as far as possible the geographical distribution and type of secondary schools within the english education system. a total of 1,284 questionnaires were eventually received from 34 schools. the results showed that most students agree that science and technology are important for society and are optimistic about the contribution that these disciplines can make to curing diseases such as hiv/aids and cancer. they also results revealed that there was a lower level of agreement that the benefits of science are greater than its possible harmful effects, although a majority of both boys and girls hold this view. only a minority of boys and girls agreed that science and technology will help to eradicate poverty and famine in the world. students’ positive views about science, technology and society are not reflected in their opinions about their school science education. while this is regarded as “relevant” and “important” by most students, most boys (and rather more girls) don’t like it as much as other subjects. most students did not agree that school science is a difficult subject. most boys and girls disagreed that school science has made them more critical and skeptical, opened their eyes to new and exciting jobs or increased their appreciation of nature. both boys and girls disagreed strongly that threats to the environment are not their business. however, such disagreement is not reflected in a corresponding general willingness to sacrifice many goods to solve or alleviate environmental problems. there was also, at best, only a moderate level of interest in learning about a range of environmental issues, save for the possible radiation dangers associated with mobile telephones and the protection of endangered species of animals. the icelandic students’ views about science and technology and also school science was examined by stefánsson (2006). the study revealed that students consider school sciences interesting, easy to learn and believe that everyone should learn science in school since it is useful in everyday life. trumper (2006) also investigated students’ interests in physics based on the rose study. he studied the factors in students’ ideas about science in school, out-of-school experiences in science and their attitudes towards science and technology. results showed that in general, students’ interests in physics are neutral (neither positive nor negative), however, boys were more interested in physics than girls. science scholars such as lavonen, gedrovics, byman, meisalo, jutti, and uitto (2008) studied the interests and experiences of students in physics and chemistry based on the rose study in finland. their research conducted on 3626 secondary school students with average age of 15 years old. based on their results, students have many experiences in and outside the school and were related to science and technology. however, they had little experience in using technology tools such as mechanical. these results showed diversity of science and technology experiences between students. chang, yeung, and cheng (2009) also investigated the attitudes about science and technology, learning interests and life experiences on 942 taiwanese students. the results revealed that boys showed higher learning interests in sustainability issues and scientific topics than girls. however, girls recalled more life experiences about science and technology in life than boys. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 36 published by scholink inc. cavas, cavas, tekkaya, cakiroglu, and kesercioglu (2009) also examined turkish students’ attitudes toward the environment and their interest in learning about environmental protection with respect to gender with the help of data from the rose study. the study was conducted on 1,260 students in 9th grade in turkey. the findings of this study revealed that turkish students have favorable attitudes toward environmental issues, students are eager to find solutions to environmental problems and show optimistic trends about the future, students’ interests in learning about environmental protection issues are moderate level, and statistically significant differences were found in environmental attitudes and interests in learning about environmental protection mean scores of students regarding gender. more also, gomleksiz (2012) conducted a study on students’ perceptions of science and technology classes by gender in a turkish elementary school context. data for the study were collected through a 20-item, five-point likert scale from a total of 1558 sixth-grade students at 20 different elementary schools in turkey. the independent groups’ test and mann-whitney u test were used to analyze the data where statistically significant differences were observed in the gender of the students. the findings of the study revealed that male students considered learning science and technology more necessary and important than female students did. they also found learning environment and teaching strategies more sufficient and effective than females did. findings revealed that male students were not satisfied with what the teachers practiced in science classrooms. the study by edu, okorn, koko, and bessong (2013) investigated the attitude of some secondary school science students towards the teaching of science in nigeria. two research questions guided the conduct of the work, while two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significant. the design of the work was survey, and the sample consisted of two hundred and ninety-eight students drawn from four secondary schools in akamkpa local government area of cross river state, nigeria. cluster and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. the data collected were analyzed using an independent t-test. results indicated that male students showed more positive attitudes towards the teaching of science than their female counterparts. the study by sofeme and amos (2015) also investigated the attitude of students toward science subjects in senior secondary schools in adamawa state. three objectives were raised and to these objectives one research question and two hypotheses were raised. the target population was all the adamawa state government secondary school students. the study is survey type which used stratified random sampling technique to select a sample of 250 science students. these students responded to valid and reliable instrument known as science students attitude questionnaire (ssaq). the data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics as well as t-test and chi-square test. the results showed that students in adamawa state have positive attitude towards science subjects and gender has significant effect (p<0.05) on their attitude. the results indicated that boys have more positive attitude toward science subjects than their girls’ counterpart.   www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 37 published by scholink inc. 2. method this study seeks to assess the attitude and experience towards science and technology among secondary school students. the population of study was all ss 2 science students in jalingo metropolis. the choice is based on the recognition that at ss2 most of the students would have reached the age of 17 years. at that age the students are more mature and hence more likely to have done more conscious reflections on their interest, priorities and attitudes to and comprehensions of science-related issues and schooling. the schools are coeducational (male and female students). the schools were purposively selected for the study due to their geographical spread which can represent the science and technology-oriented public secondary schools within jalingo metropolis. a total number of 350 students (161 girls and 189 boys) were selected as sample of study. the instrument of study, made up of 18 items was a modified4-likert scale questionnaire, strongly agree (sa), agree (a), disagree (d) and strongly disagree (sd). the instrument was pilot tested using a school in a local government area that was not included in the study but had similar characteristics as the sample schools. this ascertained the test reliability. the reliability coefficient was calculated using cronbach’s alpha to measure the internal consistency within a group of items. cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated for the 18 items at 0.79. this research investigates the opinions of students in science and technology education from two aspects. each of these aspects or components are examining students’ attitude toward them and how they play important role in preparing information for curriculum planners to identify demands and needs of students in science education. these components are: attitude towards science and technology attitude towards science and technology provides important information on different aspects of students’ understandings of the role and performance of science and technology in the society. trust of learners to science and technology and also their interest in topics of science and technology were assessed within the items of this factor; students experience this examines whether students have had relevant experiences in their environment with regards to science and technology. on the assumption that successful environmental actions require environmental empowerment, empowering young people to deal responsibly with environmental issues should be a principal concern of education. empowerment may be described as encouragement for action and belief in one’s possibility and ability to influence one’s surroundings. it is important to understand the attitudes, beliefs and prejudices that might prevent individuals from recognizing and using their possibilities to act (schreiner & sjøberg, 2002). 2.1 method of data analysis statistical analysis tool was employed in analyzing the data collected during the study. mean and standard deviation were adopted to analyze answers to the research questions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 38 published by scholink inc. formula for mean (x) x=∑ n where: ∑=summation f=frequency       x=nominal value of option n=number of respondents mean=x=4+3+2+1=10=2.50 4 4 decision rule any item whose mean is equal or greater than 2.50 (x≥2.50) will be regarded as agreed, while any item whose mean is x<2.50 will be regarded as disagreed. 3. results findings are based on an analysis of research questions. in each section, table of analysis and the statistical analysis of the data is presented. answering research question 1: what is the attitude of students towards science and technology? table 1. mean ratings and standard deviation of students’ attitudes towards science and technology (test value=2.5) items on attitude of students towards s & t sa a d sd x std. deviation n decision 1 i would like to take a job in technology 259 70 14 7 3.60 10.20 350 agreed 2 science and technology are important for society 238 105 7 0 3.70 10.10 350 agreed 3 thanks to science and technology, there will be greater opportunity for future generations 252 84 7 7 3.70 10.10 350 agreed 4 science and technology makes our lives better 273 77 0 0 3.80 10.00 350 agreed 5 new technologies will make work more interesting 147 189 14 0 3.40 10.40 350 agreed 6 the benefits of science and technology are better than the harmful effects 133 189 28 0 3.20 10.60 350 agreed 7 science and technology are helping the poor 70 245 28 7 3.10 10.70 350 agreed 8 science and technology can solve nearly all problems 63 203 84 0 2.90 10.90 350 agreed 9 science and technology are the cause of environmental problems 28 56 231 35 2.20 11.60 350 disagreed 10 a country does not need science and technology to grow 14 7 105 224 1.50 12.30 350 disagreed www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 39 published by scholink inc. 11 school science is a difficult subject 28 77 154 91 2.10 11.70 350 disagreed 12 school science is interesting 175 168 7 0 3.50 10.30 350 agreed 13 school science is easy for me to learn 119 217 14 0 3.00 10.80 350 agreed 14 the things i learn in science will be helpful in my everyday life 189 140 21 0 3.14 10.58 350 agreed from the results in table 1, all items related to science and technology have average above (m=2.5). the result shows that students have positive attitude towards science and technology. from all items, item no. 4 (science and technology makes our lives better) has the highest average (m=3.80) and item no. 10 (a country does not need science and technology to grow) has the lowest average (m=1.50). answering research question 2: what are the experience of students towards school science and technology? table 2. mean ratings and standard deviation of students’ experiences towards science and technology (test value=2.5) items on students experiences towards s & t sa a d sd x std. deviation n decision 1 used a mobile phone 154 182 7 7 3.40 10.80 350 agreed 2 i tried to find constellations in the sky 105 140 98 7 3.00 10.80 350 agreed 3 watched (not on tv) an animal being born 112 105 91 42 3.00 10.80 350 agreed 4 made compost of grass, leaves or garbage 49 105 147 49 2.40 11.36 350 disagreed the results in table 2, shows that all items have average above (m=2.5) except for item no. 4 (made compost of grass, leaves or garbage) which has an average mean of (m=2.40). the result show that item 1 (used a mobile phone) has the highest average of (m=3.40). the result generally showed that students have positive experience towards science and technology. answering research question 3: what is the difference between male and female opinions on attitude towards science and technology and their experiences? table 3. mean ratings and standard deviation of male and female students’ attitude towards science and technology and their experiences (test value=2.5) items on attitude of students towards s & t male mean(sd) female mean(sd) mean difference male-female decision 1 i would like to take a job in technology 3.56(10.00) 3.76(10.12) -0.2 agreed 2 science and technology are important for society 3.68(9.88) 3.60(10.28) 0.08 agreed 3 thanks to science and technology, there will be greater 3.84(9.72) 3.36(10.52) 0.48 agreed www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 40 published by scholink inc. opportunity for future generations 4 science and technology makes our lives better 3.80(9.76) 3.84(10.04) -0.04 agreed 5 new technologies will make work more interesting 3.44(10.12) 3.32(10.56) 0.12 agreed 6 the benefits of science and technology are better than the harmful effects 3.28(10.28) 3.24(10.64) 0.04 agreed 7 science and technology are helping the poor 3.28(10.28) 2.84(11.04) 0.44 agreed 8 science and technology can solve nearly all problems 2.96(10.60) 2.92(10.96) 0.04 agreed 9 science and technology are the cause of environmental problems 2.36(11.20) 2.08(11.80) 0.28 disagreed 10 a country does not need science and technology to grow 1.60(11.96) 1.60(12.28) 0.00 disagreed 11 school science is a difficult subject 2.16(11.40) 2.08(11.80) 0.08 disagreed 12 school science is interesting 3.48(10.80) 3.48(10.40) 0.00 agreed 13 school science is easy for me to learn 1.96(11.60) 3.20(10.68) -1.24 agreed 14 the things i learn in science will be helpful in my everyday life 2.80(10.76) 3.48(10.40) -0.68 agreed mean total (m=42.2) mean total (m=42.8) items on experiences of students towards s & t 15 used a mobile phone 3.48(10.08) 3.24(10.64) 0.16 agreed 16 i tried to find constellations in the sky 3.08(10.48) 2.88(11.00) 0.20 agreed 17 watched (not on tv) an animal being born 2.92(10.64) 2.44(11.44) 0.48 agreed 18 made compost of grasses, leaves or garbage 2.56(11.00) 3.92(9.96) -1.36 agreed mean total (m=12.04) mean total (m=12.48) overall mean total (m=54.24) (m=55.28) to determine the differences in male and female opinions of the students’ attitude (male=42.2; female=42.8) and experiences (male=12.04; female=12.48) towards science and technology. the average mean of all the items were summed up for both male and female students respectively, after www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 41 published by scholink inc. which the difference between the two groups was calculated. the result showed that male students had a mean total of (m=54.24) and the female students had a mean total of (m=55.28). this indicates that the female students have more positive attitude and experience towards science and technology than their male counterpart and there is a significant difference between them. 4. discussion the results of this study indicated that in general, students showed positive attitudes towards science and technology, science and the environmental issues. student are interested in a job related to technology, they consider science and technology important to society, etc. (congruent with the results of trumper (2006)). they believe that with science and technology, there will be greater opportunities for future generations and science and technology makes our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable (corresponds with the results of stefánsson (2006)). the results also showed that in the opinion of the students. the benefits of science are greater than the harmful effects it could have and with lower average than to other items, they believe that science and technology will help to eradicate poverty and famine in the world and that science and technology are helping the poor. despite these benefits, students believe that science and technology are the cause of the environmental problems and science and technology benefit mainly the developed countries. also the students showed a positive attitude towards the activities of scientists in science and technology. they believe that scientists are neutral and act without bias and always had to trust their words and follow the scientific method that always leads them to correct answers. these results mostly are in line with the results of schreiner and sjoberg (2005) that showed students in all studied countries, have a high degree of agreement on the following items: science and technology are important for society; thanks to science and technology, there will be greater opportunities for future generations; new technologies will make work more interesting; and the benefits of science are greater than the harmful effects it could have. these results also are in line with jenkins (2006) on student opinion in england about science and technology. results of the second component of school science, or the content of the science that are presented in schools showed that this component has a positive attitude. however, there were some items that suggest students’ dissatisfaction with school science in some cases. they consider science as an interesting lesson and easy to learn (congruent with the results of jenkins and pell (2006) and stefánsson (2006)) and with a high average they argued that school science is better than most other subjects. in view of other students, the science they learn at school will improve their career chances and will be helpful in their everyday life and that science education has shown them the importance of science in their way of living. the results also showed some items of this component, school science plays an important role in increasing curiosity of students and made them more critical and skeptical and increases their appreciation of nature. more also, on students’ experiences the result generally showed that students have positive experiences towards science and technology. the results about the difference between male and female students’ opinions in each components www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 42 published by scholink inc. showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups. accordingly, the females generally showed more positive attitude and experiences towards science and technology than their male counterparts. this is in line with the results of lavonen et al. (2008) whose results showed that, students have many experiences in and outside the school and were related to science and technology. however, they had little experience in using technology tools such as mechanical. these results showed diversity of science and technology experiences between students. this finding also agreed with previous study by manninen et al. (2005) who examined conceptions of students about technology and environmental issues and school science. their results showed that girls show more concern towards environmental issues. their results also showed that both boys and girls believe in science and technology capacities and capabilities. but, gomleksiz (2012) findings revealed that male students considered learning science and technology more necessary and important than female students. other previous studies also indicated that male students showed more positive attitudes towards the teaching of science than their female counterparts (edu et al., 2013; sofeme & amos, 2015). the following conclusions were drawn, based on the findings of this study. in general the results showed that students have a positive attitude and experiences towards science and technology. the analysis of their responses indicated that the majority of boys and girls appeared to have opinions that has more to do with the belief in and widespread respect for science and technology (a number of mean score values>3.0). the interests in science and technology among girls were almost the same level as boys and differences were not pronounced. in which way one interprets these findings, in a less developed country, like nigeria, such empirical evidence that emerged from their responses becomes obvious. in a country, which is still faced with the challenges of underdevelopment, young learners would expect the application of science and technology to play a key role. one is likely to conclude that both males and females in this study have confidence in the influence of science and technology on society when mean values of responses are considered. based on the foregoing findings on attitudes of students towards science and technology, the following recommendations are made: 1) there is a need to imbibe the science and technology culture in every nigerian so as to have the proper and prerequisite foundation on which to develop our science and technology which will in turn develop the country. this is why great emphasis should be put on effective science and technology education to help lay the needed foundation starting from the primary to, at least, the first year of the tertiary level for students. 2) the government should also design specific policies on science and technical education which must be implemented and sustained to promote science and technology curricula at each level of education. this, of course, must include increased funds which should be provided and properly utilized in the educational system. 3) one of the fields to achieving the desired curriculum is concerning the attitude and life experiences of students towards science and technology that is taught in schools. the knowledge www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 43 published by scholink inc. and awareness of these areas would enable science curriculum planners to develop better and appropriate curricula. references anderson, i. k. 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(2002). empowered for action? how do young people relation to environment to environmental challenges? retrieved from https://folk.uio.no/sveinsj/springer-rose-schreiner-sjoberg.pdf schreiner, c., & sjoberg, s. (2004). rose: the relevance of science education: sowing the seeds of rose. oslo, department of teacher education and school development, university of oslo. schreiner, c., & sjoberg, s. (2005). how do learners’ in different cultures relate to science and technology? results and perspectives from the projects rose (the relevance of science education). asia-pacific forum on science learning and teaching, 6(2), 25-89. sofeme, r. j., & amos, z. h. (2015). students’ attitude towards science subjects in senior secondary schools in adamawa state, nigeria. international journal of research in applied, natural and social sciences, 3(3), 117-124. stefánsson, k. k. (2006). “i just don’t think it’s me”—a study on the willingness of icelandic learners to engage in science related issues (unpublished master thesis). university of oslo. toussaint, r. m. j., boucher, f., marchildon, l., arbour, c., & cuillère, j. c. (2001). students’ perception of science and technology in the maurice centre-du québec region. in d. psillos, p. kariotoglou, v. tselfes, g. bisdikian, g. fassoulopoulos, e. hatzikraniotis, & m. kallery (eds.), science education research in the knowledge based society: proceedings of the third esera conference (pp. 664-667). thessaloniki, esera/university of thessaloniki. trumper, r. (2006). factors affecting junior high school students’ interest in physics. journal of science education and technology, 15(1), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-006-0355-6 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper emotional intelligence: linkage between some variables in terms of university students usakli, hakan 1 1 education faculty, sinop university, turkey received: january 29, 2024 accepted: february 20, 2024 online published: february 22, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p1 abstract why some youths introverted while some extroverts? why some guys sad when get a and the others happy when c+? why some teenagers date a different opposite sex in every weak while others date same partner from secondary school to graduation from university? answers to these questions are seems to be hidden in emotional intelligence. 356 university students answered bar-on e.i. (1997) 133 items questioner with indicating gander, program, class drama course taken. female students seem to be more emotional intelligent than their male counter parts. freshman, sophomores’ classes have more e.i. point than junior, and seniors. social science program’ students are more emotional intelligent that science students. and the last one student who took drama course are seems to be more emotionally intelligent. these findings are parallel with other many research findings. these predictable results bring us to the question of what we can do for university students with insufficient emotional intelligence. cultural excursions, student clubs, theater and drama activities are ready suggestions. however, further research should focus on whether these activities are in fact sufficient to develop emotional intelligence. future studies should be conduct on experimental studies that explore effectiveness of emotional intelligence programs. keywords emotional intelligence, university students, promoting emotional intelligence www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction 1.1 intelligence in general the first quarter of the twenty-first century is called the information age and the space age. in parallel with the crowding world population, science is working at full speed in the service of humanity as diminishing natural resources become difficult to meet increasing human needs. robots with artificial intelligence, vehicles that travel faster than sound, genetically modified foodstuffs that increase in quantity are products of human intelligence. it is not easy to draw the boundaries of human intelligence. developing and changing science and technology change the way of human life and differentiate mental structures. intelligence is a phenomenon that takes place in the learning process. an individual must be at a certain cognitive and intelligence level in order to benefit from the opportunities provided in education and to learn. intelligence enables people to adapt to the environment. an intelligent person is a person who can use his/her knowledge, skills and power effectively. therefore, intelligent people know how to adapt to whatever conditions they are in. for thousands of years, human beings have been able to adapt to natural disasters and wild environments in nature and have been able to direct nature in line with their own needs. in this case, it can be said that there is a close relationship between learning and intelligence. people who are not sufficiently developed cognitively and who have not reached a certain level of intelligence cannot benefit appropriately from education. likewise, individuals with an intelligence above the teaching objectives cannot benefit from those teaching processes to the extent of their level. learning environments and activities that take into account the cognitive latent powers of all average, mentally deficient or gifted children provide high-level learning. the smartest person is the one who can learn the most and the fastest. intelligence means the ability to think, to perceive facts, to reason, to judge and draw conclusions, the power of understanding, sharpness of mind, understanding, purity, purity, purity of state, and righteousness. as a dictionary definition, intelligence is defined as all of the human abilities of thinking, reasoning, perceiving objective facts, judging and drawing conclusions, understanding, intelligence, wisdom and discernment (dil dernegi, 2005, p. 2138). in the turkish dictionary prepared by the turkish language institution, intelligence as a term of psychology, again as in other sources, means all of human thinking, reasoning, perceiving objective facts and drawing conclusions, understanding, wisdom, sagacity, astuteness, discernment, penetration (tdk, 2005, 22280). in relation to the term intelligence, the intelligence quotient is defined as the value indicating the level of a person’s mental power. mental retardation, on the other hand, is a state of continuous slowing down, stagnation and regression in the functioning of the mind due to various reasons. intelligence tests are tests that are not designed to measure a person’s natural abilities or personality developed through general experiences. in this case, the age of intelligence is defined as the value of the score obtained from an intelligence test compared to the average of that intelligence test. people who have the ability to understand and comprehend, who comprehend quickly and easily are known as intelligent. in other www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 3 published by scholink inc. words, intelligence is a complex ability of the human brain. it is a combination of abilities resulting from the harmonious functioning of many abilities of the mind. it includes some functions of the mind such as perception, memory, thinking, reasoning and learning. in this case, intelligence includes the mind’s ability to learn, to use what is learned, and to find new solutions to new situations. an intelligent person can find solutions to new situations by utilizing what he/she has learned. this enables them to draw conclusions by establishing a relationship between objects, numbers, ideas and situations. intelligence is a broad concept that includes almost all functions of the mind (yörükoğlu, 2000, p. 105). 1.2 what is emotional intelligence? emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s own emotions, as well as recognize, understand, and influence the emotions of others. it encompasses a range of skills, including empathy, self-awareness, self-regulation, and social skills. emotional intelligence the term emotional intelligence was first used in 1990 by psychologists peter salovey and john mayer. it was used to describe the emotional qualities that seem to be important for success. these qualities include: empathy emotional expression and expression temperament control independence adaptability likeability interpersonal problem solving persistence compassion kindness respect (shapiro, 1999, p. 16). the concept of emotional intelligence is related to emotions and refers to being effective in understanding one’s own and others’ emotions. the ability to understand emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, pleasure, love, surprise, disgust, shame and similar emotions in oneself and others is within the scope of emotional intelligence. there are five skills that must be possessed within the concept of emotional intelligence. the first is self-knowledge and self-cognition, which is the ability to recognize an emotion as it occurs. the second is being able to manage emotions. the third is to be able to mobilize oneself. the fourth is to understand the emotions of others. finally, the fifth is the ability to manage relationships. people with emotional ability, who are able to recognize and manage their own emotions, read the emotions of others and deal with them effectively, have an advantage in their ability to grasp the nonverbal rules that determine success in all areas of life, both in romantic intimate relationships and in organizational political relations. intelligence, as measured by iq (intelligence quotient), is no longer a constant determinant of people’s success in school and work. children with high iqs may be less successful than their peers with average iqs. emotional intelligence (eq) is defined as an intelligence that includes traits such as self-consciousness, perseverance, restraint of impulses, and the ability to share the feelings of others. according to research findings, lack of emotional intelligence can have very bad consequences in many areas from family life to professional success, from social relations to health. emotional intelligence is not an inborn trait. due to the structure of the human brain, emotional lessons learned in childhood determine behavior throughout life (goleman, 2003, pp. 61-62). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 4 published by scholink inc. 1.3 the relevance of emotional intelligence for university students university students often face a myriad of challenges as they navigate their academic and personal lives. developing emotional intelligence can significantly impact their overall well-being and success. when students are emotionally intelligent, they can effectively manage stress, build strong relationships, and make sound decisions. 1.4 the impact of emotional intelligence on academic performance studies have shown that emotional intelligence is positively correlated with academic achievement. students with higher emotional intelligence tend to be more motivated, focused, and resilient in the face of challenges. they are better equipped to handle the pressures of university life and can adapt more effectively to new environments and demands. 1.5 enhancing emotional intelligence in university students universities can play a crucial role in fostering emotional intelligence among their students. by integrating emotional intelligence training into their curriculum and providing support services focused on mental and emotional well-being, universities can empower students to develop the skills they need to thrive academically and personally. 1.6 promoting emotional intelligence through supportive environments creating a supportive and inclusive campus environment can also contribute to the development of emotional intelligence. when students feel valued, respected, and understood, they are more likely to develop strong emotional intelligence skills. encouraging open communication, empathy, and collaboration can further enhance students’ emotional intelligence. 1.7 understanding the emotional intelligence of university students there is conceptual models of leadership and emotional intelligence and demonstrates an important link between the two. further robust studies are required for ongoing evaluation of the different models of emotional intelligence and their link with effective leadership behaviour in the healthcare field internationally. this is of particular significance for professional undergraduate education to promote ongoing compassionate, safe and high-quality standards of care (carragher et al., 2016). emotional intelligence has been a subject of interest in various studies related to university students. research has shown that emotional intelligence is significantly associated with academic performance (chew et al., 2013; saklofske et al., 2012; orak et al., 2016; oyewunmi et al., 2015; “correlation between emotional intelligence and academic results self-evaluated by students of vietnam national university ho chi minh city’s students”, nguyen van & nguyen dong, 2023; meher et al., 2021; ali, 2020). for instance, a study by saklofske et al. (2012) found that emotional intelligence, along with personality and coping style, was associated with academic success among undergraduate students (saklofske et al., 2012). similarly, research by orak et al. (2016) investigated the effect of emotional intelligence education on baccalaureate nursing students and found a positive impact on their emotional intelligence scores (orak et al., 2016). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 5 published by scholink inc. kant (2019) indicate that there is emotional intelligence difference between students in terms of departments. in the study (oyewunmi et al., 2016) results show a correlation between emotional intelligence and academic performance; affirming that emotional intelligence predicts academic performance. there is a significant statistical impact of the emotional intelligence on self-esteem (hammad, 2017). university students have good levels of emotional agility, resilience and emotional intelligence shoeib (2022). counseling communication has positive affect on students’ emotional intelligence and social network (gabriel et al., 2021). the findings indicate that emotional intelligence is a strong adaptive factor capable of compensating for the negative influence of challenging changes in life circumstances. implications for further research and applied practice of psychological aid for young adults in their transition from educational to working environments are considered and discussed (бороховский & обухова, 2021). di fabio and kenny (2012) examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (ei) and styles of decision making upon italian high school students. the findings suggest that both mixed model and ability-based models are related to decision-making style, but that ability-based ei does not predict decision-making style beyond the effects of the mixed model. this study reveals how varied dimensions of ei, especially self-assessment of one’s emotional skills and personal qualities, are related to decision-making style. khatoon et al. (2020) investigate the significant relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance. this investigate was done employing a quantitative strategy additionally an essential information was collected from understudies. in other to be in line with the quantitative approach chosen for this proposition, the medium through which information will be collected from respondent. only empathy and self-motivation has stronger influence (as in seen in the mean figures, correlation, and regression analysis) on the academic performance of the students of economic department. it is found that while self-awareness, emotional management and interpersonal skill have a weak influence (as seen only in the mean and correlation figures) on the academic performance of students. bilbi et al. (2016) indicate that there exists positive relationship between self-esteem and emotional intelligence among pakistani university students and it was found that females are more emotionally intelligent as compared to males but there does not exist any statistically significant gender difference in self-esteem among university students. tekerek and tekerek (2017) showed that there is no significant difference in students’ emotional intelligence scores in terms of age and gender. ebinagbome, and nizam (2016) investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on student’s academic performance. their study demonstrates that there is strong relation between academic performance and emotional intelligence. same results show a positive significant correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among the students. further the students belonging to the central board schools have a higher level of emotional intelligence compared to students in state board but did not differ with students in matriculation board schools at the higher secondary level. similarly, students belonging to central board schools are found to perform better in academics www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 6 published by scholink inc. compared to students in state and matriculation board schools at the higher secondary level (chamundeswari, 2013). in an experimental finding of this study provided sharing of the importance of the implementation of emotional intelligence among university students to form positive behaviours in political aspects (saravati johar et al., 2018). other findings of the study revealed that the highest mean of nursing students was for social-emotional management, while the lowest mean was for emotional awareness. also, there was a significant statistical difference between the perception of nursing students’ emotional intelligence and their educational level. in conclusion, enhancing emotional intelligence skills among nursing students is essential for their academic performance as well as their profession (mohamed hassan hamouda & abdullah helmi al nagshabandi, 2018). according to çelik (2020), it can be said that emotional intelligence levels of individuals who serve voluntarily in organizations for disabled people, like special olympics, were higher. furthermore, a study by abbas et al. (2018) explored the moderating role of gender inequality and age among emotional intelligence, homesickness, and mood swings in university students, indicating the relevance of emotional intelligence in addressing emotional challenges faced by students (abbas et al., 2018). moreover, emotional intelligence has been linked to various aspects of students’ lives, such as career adaptability (coetzee & harry, 2014; çizel, 2018), environmental awareness (sharma, 2014), and emotional maturity (coetzee & harry, 2014). conceptualized emotional intelligence as an ability like cognitive intelligence, highlighting its significance in predicting employees’ career adaptability (coetzee & harry, 2014). furthermore, the development of emotional intelligence has been explored in the context of educational interventions and training programs. for instance, a study by groves et al. (2008) examined the deliberate development of emotional intelligence through an intensive training program, indicating the potential for enhancing emotional intelligence among business students (groves et al., 2008). in conclusion, the literature suggests that emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in the academic performance, emotional well-being, and overall development of university students. it is evident that emotional intelligence is a multifaceted construct that influences various aspects of students’ lives, and efforts to enhance emotional intelligence through targeted interventions have the potential to yield positive outcomes for students. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 7 published by scholink inc. 2. materials and methods 2.1 research model an independent samples t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other. to properly conduct such a t-test, the following conditions should be met: (1) the dependent variable should be continuous. (2) the independent variable should consist of mutually exclusive groups (i.e., be categorical). (3) all observations should be independent, which means that there should not be any linkage between observations (i.e., there should be no direct influence from one value within one group over other values in this same group). (4) there should not be many significant outliers (this applies the more the smaller the sample is). (5) the dependent variable should be more or less normally distributed. (6) the variances between groups should be similar. it displays the significance or alpha level of the independent samples t-test. assuming that we take the 0.05 benchmark, we cannot reject the null hypothesis with 95% certainty. hence, we can conclude that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups (stockemer, 2019, p. 107). in this study, which aims to determine the emotional intelligence levels of university students in terms of various variables, the survey model was used. the sample of this study consisted of 356 students who were randomly selected. data collection tool in the study, the likert-type “bar-on eq-i emotional intelligence scale” developed by bar-on (1997) was used. the bar-on emotional quotient inventory (eq-i, bar-on, 1997) contains 133 brief items, and uses a five-point response set ranging from not true of me (1) to true of me (5). the eq-i is based on the theory of emotional and social intelligence described by bar-on and is suitable for individuals aged 16 years and older. the assessment includes four validity scales, a total eq score, five composite scale scores, and 15 subscale scores. a score greater than 100 on any scale reflects enhanced levels of social and emotional competency. bar-on reported internal consistencies of α=.69-.86. dawda and hart (2000) reported high internal consistency on all scales in a male student sample (cronbach α r=.74-.93). the manual describes that a participant’s inventory is invalid if: (a) the scores on the positive or negative impression scale exceed two standard deviations above mean scores, (b) the score on the inconsistency index is greater than 12, (c) the number of missing items is greater than 6%, or (d) the answer to question 133 (i responded openly and honestly to the above sentences) is 1 (very seldom or not true of me) or 2 (seldom true of me) (stanimirovic & hanrahan, 2012, p. 44). the inventory had good structural properties. the correlations among the eq composite scales as well as the pattern of convergent and discriminant validities suggested that the eq-i taps a fairly broad range of related emotional constructs. one potential concern was that the interpersonal scale had relatively small correlations with the other eq composite scales, as well as a markedly deferent pattern of convergent and discriminant validities. with minor exceptions, the eq-i scales show a remarkably www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 8 published by scholink inc. similar pattern of validity results for men and women, which provides preliminary evidence for a lack of gender bias (dawda & hart, 2000, p. 809). here is the loading of items on factors in the original “1-5-15” hierarchical factor structured proposed by bar-on (1997) in the eqi manual: table 1. factors of bar-on emotional intelligence inventory factor s intrapersonal interpersonal stress manageme nt adaptability general mood scales sr es a a sa in ir sre s e ic st ps rt f h o items 11 7 22 6 3 10 16 18 13 4 1 8 14 2 11 24 9 37 21 19 23 30 44 27 20 15 35 28 17 20 40 23 67 36 32 31 46 55 42 33 29 38 43 31 26 56 35 82 51 48 39 61 61 58 49 45 53 59 47 54 70 52 96 66 92 55 72 72 73 64 60 68 74 62 80 85 63 11 1 81 10 7 62 76 98 86 78 75 83 87 77 106 10 0 88 12 6 95 12 1 69 90 11 9 102 93 89 88 103 91 108 11 4 116 11 0 84 98 12 4 117 108 11 8 97 131 10 5 132 12 9 12 5 99 104 130 122 112 12 0 11 3 119 127 12 8 depiction of eq-i.: sr (self-regard); esa (emotional self-awareness); a (assertiveness); sa (self-actualization); in (independence)/ir (interpersonal relationship); sres (social responsibility); e (empathy)/ic (impulse control); st (stress tolerance)/ps (problem solving); rt (realty testing); f (flexibility)/h (happiness); o (optimism). eqi items load on the factors and many items have cross-loadings (s. d. hart, personal communication, january 13, 2024). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 9 published by scholink inc. the turkish linguistic equivalence, reliability and validity study of this test was conducted by mumcuoğlu (2002). alpha values of emotional intelligence scale is as fallows; ,92 personal abilities ,89 interpersonal abilities ,77 agreeableness ,81 coping with stress ,81 general mood ,82. this show the scale is highly reliable. high alpha reliability coefficients give an idea that the scale is valid in terms of internal consistency (tekin bender, 2006, p. 154). in entering the data related to the “bar-on eq-i emotional intelligence scale” into the computer, for each of the 47 positively arranged items in the scale, 1 point was given for strongly disagree, 2 points for disagree, 3 points for undecided, 4 points for agree and 5 points for strongly agree; for the remaining 40 negative items (3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24, 29, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 47, 50, 51, 51, 56, 58, 59, 60, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 71, 73, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86), the opposite scoring is required. 3. result table 2. demographic features of sample gender program class drama female 239 x x x male 117 x x x social x 226 x x science x 130 x x freshman & sophomore junior & senior x x x x 120 236 x drama x x x 176 no drama x x x 180 table 2 demonstrates demographic data of the sample according to gender, program class and participation of drama. totally 356 university students enrolled in the study. table 3. t-test results of emotional intelligence scale scores according to gender gender n s df t p female 239 4.33 50.37 354 7.47 .001 male 117 3.93 42.42 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 10 published by scholink inc. table 3 indicates that emotional intelligence of university students shows a significant difference according to gender [t(354)=7.47, p<.01]. emotional intelligence scores of female students ( =4.33) are higher than male students ( =3.93). this finding can be interpreted as a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and gender. tabele 4. t-test results of emotional intelligence scale scores according to program program n s df t p social 226 4.38 52.46 354 9.96 .001 science 130 3.88 29.97 according to table 4 emotional intelligence of university students shows a significant difference according to program [t(354)=9.96, p<.01]. emotional intelligence scores of social students ( =4.38) are higher than science students ( =3.88). this finding can be interpreted as a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and program. table 5. t-test results of emotional intelligence scale scores according to class class n s df t p freshman & sophomore 120 4.39 49.56 354 5.12 .001 junior & senior 236 4.11 49.85 table 5 illustrates emotional intelligence of university students shows a significant difference according to class [t(354)=5.12, p<.01]. emotional intelligence scores of lower-class students =4.39) are like upper-class students ( =3.93). this finding can be interpreted as a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and class. table 6. t-test results of emotional intelligence scale scores according to drama course taken course n s df t p drama taken 176 4.51 41.95 354 13.91 .001 drama untaken 180 3.90 40.96 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 11 published by scholink inc. in table 6 emotional intelligence of university students shows a significant difference according to drama course [t(354)=13.91, p<.01]. emotional intelligence scores of female students ( =4.51) are higher than male students ( =3.90). this finding can be interpreted as a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and drama course that taken by university students. 4. conclusion in conclusion, the emotional intelligence of university students plays a significant role in their overall success and well-being. by nurturing emotional intelligence skills, universities can empower students to navigate the complexities of university life with resilience and confidence, ultimately setting them up for success in their academic and professional pursuits. emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions, as well as the ability to recognize, understand, and influence the emotions of others. it plays a crucial role in various aspects of life, including academic success, relationships, and overall well-being. university students, like any other individuals, can vary in their level of emotional intelligence. however, research suggests that university students often face unique challenges that can impact their emotional intelligence. these challenges include academic pressure, social interactions, and the transition to a new environment. here are some key points regarding the emotional intelligence of university students: 1) self-awareness: university students who possess high emotional intelligence are generally more self-aware. they have a better understanding of their own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. this self-awareness allows them to effectively manage their emotions and make better decisions. 2) relationship management: emotional intelligence helps university students in building and maintaining healthy relationships. students with high emotional intelligence are better at understanding and empathizing with others, resolving conflicts, and effectively communicating their needs and emotions. 3) stress management: university life can be stressful, with academic demands, deadlines, and social pressures. emotional intelligence helps students in managing stress and coping with challenges effectively. it enables them to regulate their emotions, stay focused, and seek support when needed. 4) academic performance: emotional intelligence has been found to positively correlate with academic performance. students with higher emotional intelligence are better able to manage their time, set realistic goals, and stay motivated. they are also more resilient in the face of setbacks and failures. 5) mental health and well-being: emotional intelligence is closely linked to mental health and overall well-being. university students with higher emotional intelligence are more likely to experience lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. they are better equipped to handle the ups and downs of university life and maintain a positive outlook. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 12 published by scholink inc. it is important to note that emotional intelligence is not fixed and can be developed and improved over time. universities can play a role in promoting emotional intelligence among students through various initiatives, such as counseling services, emotional intelligence workshops, and creating a supportive and inclusive campus environment. the studies suggest that the status of the emotional intelligence construct is limited by measurement properties of its tests. measures based on consensual scoring exhibited low reliability. self-report measures had salient loadings on well-established personality factors, indicating a lack of divergent validity. these data provide controvertible evidence for the existence of a separate emotion perception factor that (perhaps) represents the ability to monitor another individual's emotions. this factor is narrower than that postulated within current models of emotional intelligence (davies et al., 1998). emotional intelligence has a very important role in human life compared to other areas of intelligence. it has been revealed by many studies that it is highly related to variables such as gender, age and program. the results of this study are in parallel with other studies. however, some studies have emphasized that participating in drama trainings is also important in terms of emotional intelligence (uşaklı, 20011; usakli, 2012; usakli, 2021). however, in addition to studies aimed at revealing the relationship between emotional intelligence and other variables in survey studies, experimental studies are also needed. first of all, emotional intelligence training programs should be prepared. research should be conducted on which variables these programs are effective for young people. it is recommended to conduct research on how emotional intelligence training programs are effective on important variables such as addiction, loneliness, stress, social isolation in the future. reference abbas, j., aqeel, m., wenhong, z., aman, j., & zahra, f. 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(2021). emotional intelligence contributes to the feeling of self-realization: a case of russian young adults. российский психологический журнал, 18(3), 54-69. https://doi.org/10.21702/rpj.2021.3.4 https://doi.org/10.21702/rpj.2021.3.4 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 96 original paper the integration of ideological and political education into college career planning and employment guidance courses: design and practice—a case study of the “enjoyable career” to “professional ambition”: career interests exploring course chunze song 1,2 , xinpeng xu 3,4 , jing wu 1,5 , wanxiu yang 1 & hairong ling 1,5* 1 communication university of china, nanjing, nanjing, china 2 school of educational studies, universiti sains malaysia, pinang, malaysia 3 school of public health, nanjing medical university, nanjing, china 4 institute of healthy jiangsu development, nanjing medical university, nanjing, china 5 school of education science, nanjing normal university, nanjing, china * hairong ling, communication university of china, nanjing, nanjing, china; school of education science, nanjing normal university, nanjing, china received: november 1, 2024 accepted: november 18, 2024 online published: november 28, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p96 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p96 abstract in the contemporary intricate and dynamic job landscape, college career planning and employment advisory courses encounter novel problems. this study examines the effective integration of ideological and political education into career interest exploration courses to facilitate students’ transition from an “enjoyable career” to a “professional ambition”. this research integrates holland’s career interest theory with ideological and political education to provide a multifaceted teaching strategy that highlights the connection between professional interests and social responsibility. the objective is to assist students in elucidating their professional interests while promoting appropriate career ideals and a feeling of social responsibility. integrating ideological and political education promotes students’ career awareness and social responsibility while bolstering their flexibility and aptitude for sustained growth, eventually benefiting both people and society. keywords college career planning and employment guidance, ideological and political education, enjoyable career, professional ambition, career interests exploring course www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 97 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction 1.1 background of career planning and employment guidance for college students college students face a growing array of complex and varied career settings and opportunities due to the rapid transformation of occupational structures and the rise of new industries in the fast-evolving contemporary landscape (zhou & he, 2019). career planning and employment guidance education is a crucial component of the higher education system and acts as a bridge between higher education and work. it improves the job competitiveness and social adaptability of college students by offering systematic theoretical advice and practical experience, aiding them in self-understanding, career exploration, and personal career plan development (zhang, 2021). these courses not only focus on short-term job issues, but also focus on students’ long-term career development and lifelong learning ability, to promote their comprehensive growth. in this process, the colleges should not only provide specific career knowledge, employment information and skills training, but also strengthen the guidance in students’ professional ethics and social responsibility, so that college students can not only successfully find jobs, but also realize the sustainable development of their careers. 1.2 background of ideological and political education ideological and political education is an important part of the higher education system in china, and its core goal is to cultivate socialist builders and successors with correct values, social responsibility and mission (zhang & gu, 2023). it has preserved conventional theoretical teaching while adapting to contemporary advancements, and has also paid attention to the incorporation of college students’ real-world experiences and perspectives, especially for career development and the enhancement of social adaptation (zhang & gu, 2023; zhou & ge, 2019). at present, the state’s ongoing commitment to the ideological and political work of young students has resulted in ideological and political education that is not limited to the dissemination of political theories. rather, it emphasizes that education is a means by which students are guided to establish a correct perspective on life, values, and careers, thereby establishing a strong ideological foundation for their overall development. in this context, the effective integration of ideological and political education into the career planning and employment guidance of college students has emerged as a critical issue in higher education that requires further investigation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 98 published by scholink inc. 2. integration of ideological and political education into career interest exploration course design 2.1 combination of career interest exploration and ideological and political education career interest, as a key intrinsic driver in personal career choices and development, is a critical factor in career planning and employment guidance for college students. according to holland’s theory (1997) of career interests, an individual’s preferences and tendencies towards specific career activities not only influence their career choices but also closely relate to their job satisfaction, work performance, and career stability (zainudin et al., 2020). for university students, clarifying their career interests helps them more precisely define their career direction and improve the efficiency and quality of career decisions (adlya & zola, 2022). additionally, career interests can stimulate students’ motivation and enthusiasm, allowing them to maintain high levels of engagement, enthusiasm, and creativity in their future careers (savickas, 2005), thereby enhancing both personal value and social contribution. thus, emphasizing the cultivation of career interests in career planning and employment guidance courses, and using scientific instructional design and practical activities to help students explore and develop their career interests, is not only essential for promoting their career choices and sustainable career development, but also plays an important role in promoting students’ participation in national construction. furthermore, the concepts of “enjoyable career” and “professional ambition” are complementary in career planning. “enjoyable career” emphasizes choosing careers based on personal interests and enjoying the pleasure and sense of accomplishment derived from work, viewing interest and enthusiasm as crucial drivers of career success (csikszentmihalyi, 2000). such interest-based career choices help students establish a positive career attitude early on and improve job satisfaction and happiness. however, “enjoyable career” is not the end but rather the starting point towards “professional ambition”. “professional ambition” focuses more on the sense of purpose and social value in a career, emphasizing the integration of career interests with long-term career goals, not only pursuing personal value realization but also considering social contribution and career development sustainability (wrzesniewski et al., 1997). in career planning, “enjoyable career” serves as the starting point, helping students build a career awareness aligned with their interests, while “professional ambition” serves as the goal, guiding students to set clear career visions and develop practical career planning paths (savickas, 2005). therefore, facilitating the transition for university students from “enjoyable career” to “professional ambition” not only enhances their career satisfaction and happiness but also cultivates more professionals with a sense of mission and responsibility for sustainable social development, ultimately achieving a win-win situation for individuals and society. the objective of fostering the comprehensive development of college students is exemplified by the relationship between career interest exploration education and ideological and political education. ideological and political education is a process that assists students in the development of a positive www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 99 published by scholink inc. worldview, correct values, and a positive outlook on life (zhang & gu, 2023). and then, it cultivates their sense of social duty, collectivism and sense of identity with national and social development. nevertheless, the career interest exploration education focuses on helping students identify and develop their personal career interests, guiding them to set suitable career goals according to their personal interests and abilities, and exploring appropriate career development paths. the combination of career interest exploration education and ideological and political education realize the two-way cultivation of knowledge and value. ideological and political education provides a framework of ideological, political and social responsibility for the career interest exploration course, which enables students to consider not only their personal interests and development, but also social responsibility, public values and national demands in their career choice. it helps students to be more forward-looking and socially responsible in their job choice, while also lays a firm foundation of principles for their future professions, realizing the career development path from “enjoyable career” to “professional ambition”. the career interest exploration education provides a practical platform for ideological and political education, allowing students to perceive the relationship between themselves and society through practical career interest exploration activities, and fully understand the fit between their interests and the national social development goals when making career decisions. consequently, a comprehensive examination of the teaching design of career interest chapters, the integration of ideological and political education, the stimulation of students’ intrinsic motivation, the effective promotion of college students to achieve a positive change from “enjoyable career” to “professional ambition” in the process of career planning and employment guidance, the finding of a balance between personal interest and social responsibility, and the realization of the dual improvement of career ideal and life value are necessary. it is of significant theoretical value and practical importance to more effectively address the ideological and political construction requirements of college students’ career planning and employment guidance courses. 2.2 design ideas for integrating ideological and political education into career interest exploration education the quality of students’ career choices can be enhanced, and the cultivation of their social responsibility and the establishment of correct career values can be facilitated by incorporating ideological and political education into the process of exploring career interests. the “infusing” teaching method of the past should be replaced with the “student-centered, teacher-leading” guided teaching approach in the course design. this will be achieved by optimizing and integrating the course content and teaching methods. in addition, a closed loop of the course is established to enhance students’ comprehensive grasp of the subject matter. the conceptual framework for this course design is illustrated in the figure, while the detailed material is presented in the table. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 100 published by scholink inc. figure 1. enjoyable career and professional ambition—career interest teaching conceptual framework design table 1. enjoyable career and professional ambition—career interest teaching design contents teaching unit unit theme teaching objective teaching content teaching method 1 introduction to interest attitude level: learn the right way to think about interest by studying interest theory. knowledge level: 1. understand the concept of interest; 2. know and understand career interest theory. skill level: experiential exercises help students comprehend career interest theory. 1. definition of interest 2. career interest theory 3. the relationship of enjoyable career-professional ambition 4. course chapter introduction expository method experiential activity interactive discussion method 2 type analysis (1): realistic attitude level: students are urged to actively nurture and improve their professional skills according to 1. realistic and investigative type analysis expository method exercise method www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 101 published by scholink inc. type and investigative type occupational features, increase professional quality, and adapt to future job-seeking and employment by analyzing realistic and investigative type characteristics. knowledge level: 1. understand the characteristics of realistic type and investigative type; 2. master the career map corresponding to realistic and investigative types. skill level: learn to compare and analyze the characteristics of realistic type and investigative type, and match people to jobs according to specific career maps. 2. realistic and investigative type career map introduction 3. the enlightening to professional ambition from realistic and investigative types case teaching method interactive discussion method 3 type analysis (2): social type and enterprising type attitude level: students are urged to actively nurture and improve their professional skills according to occupational features, increase professional quality, and adapt to future job-seeking and employment by analyzing social and enterprising type characteristics. knowledge level: 1. understand the characteristics of social type and enterprising type; 2. master the career map corresponding to social and enterprising types. skill level: learn to compare and analyze the characteristics of social type and enterprising type, and match people to jobs according to specific career maps. 1. social and enterprising type analysis 2. social and enterprising type career map introduction 3. the enlightening to professional ambition from social and enterprising types expository method exercise method case teaching method interactive discussion method 4 type analysis (3): conventional attitude level: students are urged to actively nurture and improve their professional skills according to 1. conventional and artistic type analysis 2. conventional and expository method exercise method www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 102 published by scholink inc. type and artistic type occupational features, increase professional quality, and adapt to future job-seeking and employment by analyzing conventional and artistic type characteristics. knowledge level: 1. understand the characteristics of conventional type and artistic type; 2. master the career map corresponding to conventional and artistic types. skill level: learn to compare and analyze the characteristics of conventional type and artistic type, and match people to jobs according to specific career maps. artistic type career map introduction 3. the enlightening to professional ambition from conventional and artistic types case teaching method interactive discussion method 5 the relationship between enjoyable career and professional ambition attitude level: help students develop a healthy interest and aspiration via interest comprehension. knowledge level: 1. understand interest code and learn how to interpret it; 2. master the adaptive balance among interest, profession, career and life. skill level: be fluent in interest code interpretation and have mastered the transform-create approach for reaching one’s professional ambition. 1. understand interest codes 2. balance interest with profession, career, and life 3. create and transform expository method exercise method demonstration method case teaching method 6 from enjoyable career to professional ambition attitude level: to help students develop a healthy perspective on interest and to fortify their outward cultivation from sensory interest to ambition, through the understanding of interest. knowledge level: 1. make sense of 1. understand and be familiar with the numerous progressing aspects from enjoyable career to professional ambition expository method exercise method demonstration method case teaching method www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 103 published by scholink inc. the iceberg theory of interest characteristics and the link between interest and ability; 2. be familiar with resources for discovering and nurturing interests and ambitions. skill level: by examining theoretical knowledge, acquire the ability to adjust to the interplay between interest and balance, and master the techniques of transformation and innovation in an imbalanced condition. 2. utilize conversion resources efficiently interactive discussion method first, optimize the design of the course content. guarantee that career interest exploration and ideological and political education are mutually reinforcing. the course employs a variety of methods, including thematic discussion, situational simulation, and case analysis, to assist students in reconciling their personal career aspirations with the times’ mission, national development strategy, and social responsibility (zhong & xiong, 2021). during the exploration of career interests, emphasize the role of vocations in the advancement of society and the nation, and assist students in determining the social significance of their career choices through self-reflection. simultaneously, the unique ideological and political education module, informing students of the intersection of national development needs and individual career objectives, will enable students to recognize that career choice is not merely a matter of personal interest and preference, but also a reflection of personal mission and social value. subsequently, enhance instructional strategies. diversify instructional methodologies to cultivate students’ engagement and initiative. the classroom teaching approach is student-centered, incorporating both online and offline interaction to enhance the penetration of ideological and political education through project-driven, role-playing, team cooperation, and other activities (yin & tang, 2023). these methods enable students to identify the intersection of their personal interests and the process of career selection and development. they can also gain a profound understanding of the responsibility to contribute to society in the context of the times, thereby facilitating the transition from “enjoyable career” to “professional ambition”. 2.3 strategic suggestions for integrating political education into career interest exploration courses the objective of incorporating ideological and political education into the design of career interest exploration courses is to assist students in the development of appropriate values and social responsibility, as well as to comprehend their personal career interests through multidimensional www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 104 published by scholink inc. interaction during the course teaching process. consequently, the organization and arrangement of instructional activities serve as indicators of the emphasis. educators should prioritize the clarification of teaching objectives, the value guidance of teaching content, the innovation of teaching methods, the guiding role of teachers, the enhancement of student participation, and the quality of classroom interaction (yin & tang, 2023; zhang & lyu, 2023). clear teaching objectives, integrate teaching content, strengthen ideological and political education guiding role to help students understand that their career choices are not solely a manifestation of their personal preferences, but also a responsibility to serve the country and society, the content design of the career interest exploration course incorporates national development strategy and industry development trends (du et al., 2021). through practical examples such as the impact of scientists and entrepreneurs on society and the country, the contribution of medical workers in the fight against covid-19, and the impact of scientists and entrepreneurs on society, etc. it is demonstrated that a career is not only a support for personal life but also a force for social progress, thereby strengthening students’ sense of social responsibility and mission. incorporate political and ideological education resources and fortify social practice the career interest exploration course will incorporate ideological and political education resources, and students will be facilitated in engaging in social practice activities (zhong & xiong, 2021), such as volunteer service and vocational shadow internships, to gain a personal understanding of the personal mission and social function of the occupation. for instance, students are encouraged to engage in the survey of “social responsibility and career choice” to gain a personal understanding of the impact of various careers on society and thereby increase their awareness of the importance of combining their career interests with social contributions. engage in diverse pedagogical approaches, emphasizing the interactive impact and the infusion of value to enhance the integration of ideological and political education, the student-centered pedagogical approaches are employed, including interactive components such as role-playing, group discussions, pbl, and other forms (wu, 2022; yin & tang, 2023). students may simulate their responsibilities across different professional fields and comprehend the personal obligations and societal ideals inherent to each profession by enhancing the interactive way of participation. for example, subsequent following the survey, a collaborative activity centered on the issue of “social responsibility and career choice” may be devised. so that, the students can have an in-depth conversation about a particular profession, explore the significance of the career to society and the contribution that individuals can make to society, and understand the social significance of career choice from multiple dimensions. in this way, college students can not only understand the diversity and importance of career choices better, but also cultivate their ability to contemplate social responsibility. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 105 published by scholink inc. the incorporation of social value into career planning in the process of career planning and employment guidance, students should be guided to combine “enjoyable career” with “professional ambition”. this highlights the necessity of evaluating not just interests and abilities in career planning and job hunting, but also social needs and contributions. by guiding students to set clear career goals and combining with the needs of the country’s economic and social development, students can formulate long-term career strategies, so that they can assume social responsibilities and realize the dual values of career and life while realizing their personal career dreams (liu et al., 2019). 3. the educational influence of including ideological and political education within the career interest exploration course after the ideological and political education is integrated into the course of career interest exploration, it will not only help students better understand their career interests and development direction, but also enhance their sense of social responsibility and career mission. thus, it improves the effect of career planning and employment guidance. this integration will profoundly affect students’ career choice, the formation of values, and the overall professional growth. enhance the professional cognition and self-positioning of college students by integrating the elements of ideological and political education into the course of career interest exploration, students can clearly understand their own interests and advantages, as well as realize the social significance and responsibility of career choice in the process of exploring career interests. combined with the national development demand, social development trends and social value of occupation introduced by the course, students are guided to deeply understand the relationship between personal career and social development. this understanding will assist students in better understanding their career direction and life objectives. this cognitive enhancement can effectively encourage students to transition from career choices that are solely motivated by their interests to those that are more rational and socially responsible. foster a sense of social responsibility and mission among students by investigating ideological and political education in the classroom, students gain an understanding that a career is not merely a means for individuals to earn a livelihood, but also a significant method of contributing to society and assuming social responsibility. it will demonstrate how various industries contribute to national development and service society in the context of globalization through thematic discussion and case analysis. it will assist students in fostering a sense of responsibility and mission that personal career development is closely linked to social development and national mission by establishing the concept of “professional ambition” and understanding the relationship between “enjoyable career” and “professional ambition”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 106 published by scholink inc. foster students’ career resilience and sustainable growth ideological and political education enhances students’ flexibility and capacity for sustainable development in their careers. in social practice and career cognition exercises, students learn to adapt to workplace changes and comprehend the influence of external factors, such as social duty and national demands, on individual career growth. this comprehensive education enables students to effectively navigate employment obstacles and transitions, enhances their career resilience, and establishes a basis for long-term professional growth. 4. conclusion ideological and political education can be organically integrated into the course of exploring career interests, as well as provide students with diversified educational models and improve their comprehensive ability of career planning, particularly in the cultivation of social responsibility and a sense of mission, through the adoption of diversified teaching design. the effective implementation of ideological and political education in the curriculum and the attainment of satisfactory teaching results can be achieved through the use of explicit teaching objectives, carefully designed curriculum content, innovative teaching methods, and diversified evaluation mechanisms. acknowledgement this study was supported by the philosophy and social science research project of universities in jiangsu province, project no. 2023sjsz0279; 2023sjsz0277; and the 2023 educational research project of nanjing medical university, project no. 2023zc017. references adlya, s. i., & zola, n. (2022). holland’s theory to guiding individual career choices. jurnal neo konseling, 4(4), article 4. https://doi.org/10.24036/00698kons2022 csikszentmihalyi, m. (2000). happiness, flow, and economic equality. american psychologist, 55(10), 1163-1164. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.10.1163 du, j., li, y., & chen, g. (2021). research on ideological and political teaching reform of college students’ career education 2. journal of shijiazhuang institute of railway technology, 20(4), 100-103. liu, x., liu, j., & tang, l. (2019). a practical exploration of integrating ideological and political elements into the course of employment guidance. the party building and ideological education in schools, 55-56. savickas, m. l. (2005). the theory and practice of career construction. in r. w. lent, & s. d. brown (eds.), career development and counseling: putting theory and research to work (pp. 42-70). john wiley & sons. https://doi.org/10.24036/00698kons2022 https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.10.1163 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 107 published by scholink inc. wrzesniewski, a., mccauley, c., rozin, p., & schwartz, b. (1997). jobs, careers, and callings: people’s relations to their work. journal of research in personality, 31(1), 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162 wu, f. (2022). comprehensive reform and innovation of ideological and political education in general education courses: taking the course of career planning and employment guidance for college students as an example. journal of science and education, 18, 107-109. yin, s., & tang, z. (2023). exploration and practice of ideological and political education in the curriculum of career planning for college students. journal of zhejiang business technology institute, 22(1), 52-56. zainudin, z., lee, w. r., rong, mohamad nor, a., yusop, y., norhayati, w., & wan othman, w. n. (2020). the relationship of holland theory in career decision making: a systematic review of literature. journal of critical reviews, 7, 884-892. https://doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.09.165 zhang, d., & gu, x. (2023). study on ideological and political implementation path of career planning course. journal of southeast university (philosophy and social science), 25(s1), 37-41. zhang, x., & lyu, c. (2023). a research on the construction path of career planning course for female college students under curriculum-based iape: take china women’s university as an example. journal of china women’s university, 3, 122-128. https://doi.org/10.13277/j.cnki.jcwu.2023.03.015 zhang, y. (2021). on the teaching reform and innovation of “college students’ career planning.” education and teaching forum, 36, 93-96. zhong, c., & xiong, j. (2021). the construction of career planning curriculum system in normal colleges from the perspective of curriculum ideological and political education—taking nanchang normal university as an example. journal of nanchang normal university, 42(3), 124-127. zhou, j., & ge, t. (2019). the influence of ideological and political education on college students’ career planning. china journal of multimedia & network teaching, 136-137. zhou, y., & he, h. (2019). college students’ employment and innovation and entrepreneurship. chongqing university electronic audio and video publishing co., ltd. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162 https://doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.09.165 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 24 original paper integrating global citizenship education in higher education in tanzania: lessons from the literature mahona j. paschal 1* 1 department of educational foundation, st. augustine university of tanzania, mwanza, tanzania * mahona j. paschal, e-mail: pajo.toronto@gmail.com received: june 7, 2022 accepted: june 18, 2022 online published: july 1, 2022 doi:10.22158/grhe.v5n2p24 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v5n2p24 abstract global citizenship education (gce) has become an essential aspect of international education. although gce has been emphasized to be applied by some nations around the world, a clear awareness of gce and how to develop it and mainstream it into the national education system remains unclear in some developing countries like tanzania. the issue of inadequate global citizenship skills among graduates from higher education is a serious concern to researchers and practitioners in awakening the current world realities. this study employs a literature review as a central method of studying the problem. for this purpose, the study reviewed the current literature on the concept of citizenship education and the practical and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions should use to implement global citizenship education. based on the standing points of the review, the study concludes that gce is currently inadequate in most african countries and there is a need to create awareness by both governmental and non-governmental associations. therefore, if higher education institutions in tanzania wish to attain their interested goal of developing global citizens, every educator must support the appropriate pedagogy that is vital in promoting gce in every country of this globalized world. furthermore, every educational stakeholder is needed to dedicate effort, time and other educational resources to gce. moreover, to meet the intended goals of promoting gce in tanzania, active cooperation, coordination and networking among teachers, governmental and non-governmental organizations, colleges and universities is fundamental to engage effectively, as well as productively to provide support for collaboration on finding solutions to the national curriculum as well as on global issues. however, these suggestions need strong leadership that considers changes in the way that gce is effectively implemented in tanzanian higher education. keywords global citizenship education (gce), globalization, global learning approaches www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 25 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction and background to the study there is a concept in social science which says: ―today happened because of yesterday‖ (wachuka, 2019). in an attempt to determine the usefulness of this notion in this study, i find it provides indispensable insight for continual learning to nurture critical thinking, deepen understanding, and promote active citizenship as a strategy for finding a solution to the complex causes of the social problems in this transforming world. today, our graduates need to be more educated and enlightened in their roles and responsibilities as global citizens in every aspect of human living and interaction. the media has played a major role in shaping the global community, values were reshaped, consciences were moulded, and the world is reaping what we sow positively as well as the anti-social vices. literature reveals that human beings have continued to find innovative ideas to solve existing problems occurring in society. for this purpose, pacho (2013, p. 1, pp. 27-29) clearly outlines those educational stakeholders such as students, policymakers and educators should study to discover, assess, understand, synthesize, reflect, share, and apply critical and creative ideas to find solutions to overcome problems and challenges in the community. therefore, the need for seeking and rebuilding new knowledge and applying the discoveries in bringing positive effects in the world has a significance to prove that education has a vital role to play in the development of intellectual abilities of an individual to be a valuable citizen in the society. interestingly, the purpose of education according to plato is to produce individuals to lead and be problem-solvers of the community (lodge, 2000, pp. 12-14). similarly, dewey (1916/2011, p. 196), asserts that education institutions are responsible for producing active and responsible citizens with the skills and knowledge to support democracy, the idea of active learning, development and the ability to respond to complex issues and challenges facing the community. with this reality, education is viewed as a means of accessing skills and knowledge that an individual or society needs to shape and enhance changes and development. keeping in view of the prominent educational idea of the former president of south africa, nelson mandela as cited in (edberg, 2020), states that ―education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world‖. from this standing point, it’s crucial to value the significant role played by education in our society because education can empower people and nurture them to be responsible and active citizens of their society. thus, according to unesco, education has always been a tool for responding towards the changes facing society, as a foundational part of society (unesco, 2010). in our present time, higher education remains to be an essential and influential force for the development of an individual’s mind (mahona & pacho, 2021, p. 13). this is due to the fact that, higher education plays a critical role in empowering students with skills and knowledge that help them to cope with issues, opportunities, and challenges by being critical thinkers, problem solvers as well as effective decision makers to enhance their development. however, presently, higher education is experiencing rapid changes both in the ethical, social, economic, and political spheres of life in this globalized or interconnected world (paschal, pacho, & adewoyin, 2022). for higher education to remain competitive, current, and effective to the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 26 published by scholink inc. impacts of globalization, the call for every higher education institution in developing countries and individuals is needed to implement and prioritize the use of gce. this is because gce highlights crucial functions of education which are human rights education, international education, peace education and sustainable development. during the launch of global citizenship education first initiative (gefi), on 26 september 2012, the united nations secretary general, ban ki-moon, called leaders and every citizen of every nation to effectively participate in fostering gce. he empathized that: “we must foster global citizenship. education is more about the literacy and numeracy. it’s also about citizenry. education must full assume its essential role in helping people to forge more just, peaceful and tolerant societies” un secretary-general ban ki-moon (unesco 2014) furthermore, gce should be considered as an indispensable and inevitable tool that can foster both local and global essential skills, community responsibilities, and global real-life experiences to citizens of a particular society that need to deepen their understanding through global citizenship education, and become critically and socially responsible citizens in this complex and challenging globalized society filled the challenges of decision making between vice and virtue, good or evil, focus and distraction, destruction and healthy living, happy marriage or painful endurance. despite the urgent need for gce in tanzania, however, currently, developing and implementing gce is challenging because it is intriguing that there is a scarcity of research and official guidelines on the role of gce in developing the society, and how gce is implemented. yet, the educational system in tanzania has frequently failed to integrate global learning education into its education system which may be a way that could prepare students to find solutions to the issues and challenges facing people worldwide. citizenship is a role that must be learnt. it requires deliberate effort to consciously give attention to the duties, roles, rights and responsibilities of each stratum of the population. literature has shown that many graduates in tanzania enter the workplace with inadequate baseline skills and knowledge about the issues and challenges facing the global society. for instance, pacho, (2021, p. 177) noted that the value of gce in tanzanian higher education is complicated, yet the integrated aspects of gce in some academic disciplines are not clear in both curriculum and instructive pedagogies. for that reason, the critical examination of the practical and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions should use to integrate gce in tanzania will provide significant insight and future directions to educational stakeholders such as administrators, policymakers, curriculum developers, teachers, governments and students to support the integration of gce not only in tanzania but also in other nations around the world. the study will fill the gaps between what learners know about in the present world and what they are supposed to learn to be successful and competent in solving the world’s issues and challenges. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 27 published by scholink inc. 1.1 objectives of the study this review paper has one main objective. to explore the practical and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions in tanzania should implement for global citizenship education. 1.2 significance of the study global citizenship education gce is gaining prominence and significance in this interconnected world. however, the literature shows that a small number of studies have been conducted on gce in tanzania but concrete studies on the practical and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions should use to implement gce are missing. thus, this study would shed a pioneering light on, curriculum experts, educational planners and policymakers on the significance and strategies for global citizenship in tanzania because of this, and the significant need of reshaping the system of education to be more practical in producing active citizens with essential global citizenship skills. the findings from this study will be beneficial to all educational stakeholders such as educators, students in college, universities, government, and non-governmental organizations throughout tanzania and beyond. this will provide practical and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions implement gce to produce critical thinking as well as active citizenship. moreover, the findings from this study would pave the way for other scholars to conduct additional studies on global learning and citizenship education. 1.3 the concept of global citizenship education (gce) gce is understood to be a complicating concept in intellectual dialogue. the first international education development programmes launched by the un secretary-general in 2012, made it clear that promoting international citizenship was one of the priorities of educational activities worldwide. since then, gce has been one of the programmes that the world education organization manages and puts into its daily activities to ensure that this education reaches more people in the world, where it will help to promote peace, love, and collective development (jet education services, 2016, p. 13). although the world aims to ensure that by 2030 each nation will be able to provide quality education to all learners, promoting gce has not been left behind. some of the countries like canada, united states of america and australia have been making efforts to ensure that they develop global citizens, although these efforts vary from one country to another depending on the economic capacity of the specific country (unesco, 2018, p. 3). although gce has been slowly expanding globally, this education has begun to be a very good topic and seems to bring positive results in the development of society, the country, and the world at large. in recent years, citizens have been required to have a chance of being knowledgeable enough to fit in their home country and at the international level (kopish, 2017, p. 21). gce teaches learners the issues that are taking place in their country and other countries worldwide, as well as the need for respecting the culture of other people in different countries (asia-pacific center of educational for international www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 28 published by scholink inc. understanding (apceiu), 2018, p. 14). gce is education that focuses on instilling in citizens a sense of belonging to a global society and hence focus on achieving all global goals together ((muwagga, sekiwu, & kiggundu-musoke, 2016, p. 126). globalization has made the world to be more connected and thus different challenges are hitting the world like poverty are being solved collectively (mravcová, 2016). unesco use gce to respond to different global challenges by empowering people to know that challenges that are happening daily, are not local, they are global issues, so the world should work together to solve them (jet education services, 2016, p. 13). the concept of gce is still new and complicating to many people. different education scholars from around the world have been trying to provide their definitions about gce in order to find out a common concept (monaghan & spreen, 2016, p. 52; mravcová, 2016, p. 57). presently, many scholars are trying to explain it in the way they understand and perceive which in turn, gives us a variety of definitions (heiser, 2021, p. 13). the definition which gives the general meaning of gce defines gce as the term that involves ability to understand things beyond the physical world. in education, students need to be taught different issues about their society, their country, and other things that are happening in other parts of the world so that they can act locally and internationally (pacho, 2021, p. 278). according to lane perry, et al. (2013, p. 185), gce means ―education‖ for international citizenship is an educational concept that aims to prepare students so that they can participate mentally and practically in coping with the challenges and opportunities of life in today’s changing world. this definition gives a wide clarity that teaching students about global citizenship helps to widen their minds so that they can think about how to deal with local and international challenges currently and in the future. unesco (2017) has pointed out that, although there are a variety meaning about global citizenship education, all the definitions fall under three spheres of learning which are, cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural; where cognitive means having knowledge and ability to think critically in analyzing global issues. social-emotional means having communal skills and positive attitudes that help learners to respect and live with others accordingly. behavioural means changes in learners' actions enough to act globally. according to pacho (2021), all of these teaching areas are aimed at equipping students with the skills to participate and fulfil their responsibilities in their own country and other countries, so that the world can tackle and solve all challenges to foster peace, love, international tolerance and also building a world sustainable economy. gce aims to introduce learners to the issues happening around the world including achievements and challenges so that students can work in collaboration with other people in other countries to solve the world problems (unesco, 2021). it also focuses to empower people to participate fully and contribute to international affairs wherever they are, to demonstrate their potential for international citizenship (muwagga, sekiwu, & kiggundu-musoke, 2016, p. 132). most of the countries in the world are interdependent economically, politically, and socially; a situation that makes gce world-famous for what it is alleged that this kind of education provides to students and the whole community with the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 29 published by scholink inc. knowledge and techniques to deal with various economic, political and social challenges that are happening around the world (yemini, tibbitts, & goren, 2019, p. 78). from this point of view, students to become ―global citizens‖, they are all encouraged to feel part of the international community, and thus take steps to seek to understand other nations in-depth, something they can achieve by reading different literature or by visiting other countries to learn about their cultures and also participate in various fields of development. 2. methodology this study employs a critical literature review as a major method to study the problem. to achieve the purpose of this study, a thorough analysis and synthesis of the current literature on the origin, the concept of gce and evidenced approaches that higher learning institutions should use to implement gce needs to be adopted. 3. literature review 3.1 approaches for effective implementation of gce in higher learning institutions the concept of global citizenship arose after the rise for the need of international education for global development. if higher learning institutions need to incorporate and develop the concept of international citizenship in their institutions, they need to make changes in their educational process. tarozzi, and inguaggiato (2018, p. 21). the following are the approaches that can be adopted in higher learning institutions to implement global citizenship education: modifying the curriculum the teaching of a new discipline in any educational programme needs the intended discipline to be incorporated into the curriculum that has already been prepared. in tanzania and other countries around the world, there has been a significant interest in equipping students with 21st-century education as a problem-solving model in this most globalized world unesco (2017; pacho, 2021, p. 177). the implication of 21st-century education has been stimulating the need of developing educational curriculums for global citizenship learning. unesco (2018, p. 5) demonstrated that intellectual ability alone cannot solve the challenges that are currently facing the world. educational instructors must prepare students to be global citizens both emotionally and socially so that they can acquire the skills to live well and interact with people of different nationalities in solving problems effectively. however, tanzania has been facing challenges to implement gce because the learning is focused on banking learning, a core curriculum which emphasises learning for passing exams not for discovering and utilizing knowledge to find possible solutions to existing problems. in this reality, banking education in tanzanian higher education has been a big problem and the educators, as well as the curriculum design at the college and university level, makes it viable. curriculums in higher education in tanzania have not been redesigned for a long period and educators in higher education are rarely allowed to attend www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 30 published by scholink inc. professional development learning. this result is a low level of global participation, and a lack of competitiveness and productivity among graduates. it’s worth saying that modifying curriculums from lower level to higher education in tanzania is highly needed to help students think critically about how to effectively solve the economic, social, political and environmental challenges of their communities and even of other countries. it should be noted that if the students will be developed to be global citizens, they will grow emotionally and socially to interact with people of different nationalities with love and peace and thus be able to gain more knowledge about the cultures of other nations. unesco (2017, p. 34) noted that to promote and develop global citizenship education, higher learning institutions should incorporate ―global learning‖ and gce into the day-to-day teaching and learning process. furthermore, higher education is encouraged to teach the gce by introducing it as an additional topic in some subjects, or they can make it a self-contained subject, or they can teach gce content after class lessons as extra-curricular activity; this will help in preparing effective global citizens tarozzi, and inguaggiato (2018, p. 21, p. 23). hence, to reach the intended goal of developing gce in tanzania. curriculum developers, decision and policymakers as well as higher education institutions in tanzania should be encouraged to redesign and mandate the new syllabus and curriculum that integrates the discipline of gce. educational programmes for teachers guntars catlaks, senior coordinator, research unit, education international as cited in unesco (2014) noted that: “the quality of education will only be as good as the quality of the teacher”. from this standing point, scholars and leaders of the world should learn the value of education and be able to foster educational programmes for educators. hence, initiating educational programmes for teachers is significant in building active efforts to promote gce in any country. these learning programmes are required to train the varied teaching styles, backgrounds and professional experiences, of teachers (unesco 2018; leighton, 2014). the essential component of the educational programmes for teachers is practices or strategies that can be used to equip teachers and educators with knowledge and skills on how to teach and manage students in their classroom and even outside the classroom (unesco 2018, p. 13; osler, 2010). the training should be for effectiveness in issues related to global citizenship (unesco, 2016). tarozzi, and inguaggiato (2018, p. 23 & 31) have added that, there must be a teaching exchange programme between teachers of different countries which will help to promote the culture of other countries effectively. thus, the ministry of education in tanzania and the commission for universities in tanzania should train both students—teachers, in-service teachers as well as lecturers in tanzanian schools and higher education to participate in building learning programmes and participate in professional seminars, conferences and workshops. the government and all the stakeholders need to support the professional development activities for teachers. the support should be in terms of money, or other materials and educational resources to help in the effort of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 31 published by scholink inc. implementing gce in the country. pedagogy for global citizenship alicia cabezudo, vice president, international peace bureau, geneva switzerland in her words noted that: “gce needs not only new content but it needs new methodologies, particularly related to teacher training. it’s necessary to change the minds and train instructors” (unesco 2014). in this light, in order to enhance gce in higher education; educators are required to identify the various content of gce and consider the valid and appropriate pedagogy to teach gce which can assist educators in better understanding values and assumptions that strengthen the particular type of gce in their classroom contexts (unesco 2018, p. 3). in teaching gce in a particular country, bourn (2015) recommended that pedagogy for global social justice should be chosen to support the existing type of gce. it is worth saying that when educators and teachers in universities, colleges and lower education apply the pedagogy for a global society, they need to integrate not only the content of subject and curriculum, styles and skills of teaching and learning but also reflecting band reflecting on the issues, contents values and the actual relevance inside and outside the teaching and learning context by considering greatly both social values and cultural factors (bourn, 2014, p. 8). another modern approach that has been identified in teaching gce is the values-based pedagogy that has been practically used at one of the university’s in newcastle (reynolds et al., 2015). the approach has been applied during the preparation of pre-service teachers in australia. this approach reflects the relevance of social justice, equality, cooperation, diversity, kindness, and respect for all people from different cultures. inclusion, caring and reliance (pp. 177-178). with the standing point from reflecting the values-based global education students, students in learning institutions learn several skills about global citizenship education. the pedagogy of teaching about global education involves, teaching the relevance of gce due to its nature of using the critical approach in the classroom, providing information, application of technical strategies and knowledge to learning blackmore (2016, p. 41). interconnectedness is another approach that can be applied in fostering gce (oxfam, 2015, p. 9; reynolds, 2015, p. 31) demonstrated that the best teachers in schools have been investing their efforts in teaching global issues, interconnectedness and global connections. ibe-unesco (2018, p. 10); merryfield (2015; zhao, pandian, & singh, 2016, p. 17) supported that the approach of interconnectedness is significant because learners in school and outside schools need to better understand global issues based on their contexts and beyond. from the review of the literature, it is worth pinpointing that, to foster gce in learning institutions a range of approaches to be adopted. thus, this study is calling on all the educational stakeholders to develop and apply a variety of pedagogy as a tool for fostering global citizenship in tanzania. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 32 published by scholink inc. contact with people from different cultures contact with people from different societies is a vital strategy that increases and widens intercultural awareness globally. the professor carlos alberto torres, director, paulo freire institute at the ucla graduate school of education placed the great emphasis that “global citizenship is marked by an understanding of global interconnectedness and a commitment to the collective good” (unesco 2014). several programmes have been discovered to bring people together from around the world. pacho (2021, p. 180) has recommended that internship, service learning, fieldwork, and corroborative learning are some of the approaches or strategies which can foster critical thinking and global learning. on the other hand, zhou (2022, pp. 124-125) demonstrates the approach that can be applied to promote global learning for global citizenship at the school and programmes levels. for instance, international conferences, english language programmes, summer school programmes, service-learning and educational trips are some of the programmes that have been discovered to engage, inspire, and enrich people such as administrators, students, and educators from different parts of the world. literature shows that promoting intellectual awareness and understanding through intercultural collaboration and travel is among the most effective strategies in developing common understanding, global citizens and promoting cooperation between people and nations (unesco, 2017; zhou, 2016, 2017; pacho, 2021). in reality, through international conferences, english language programmes, summer school programmes, service-learning and educational trips, educators can develop an understanding of the new purpose of teaching and learning, new methods and techniques of effective and responsive instruction as well as sharing education resources to maximize learning outcomes. broadly speaking, programmes such as collaborative learning both virtual and physical participation, and participation in learning clubs can increase global and cultural understanding, widen multi-fasted cooperation, lasting friendship, foreign language skills, and connection opportunities among students, teachers and administrators. with this reality, chernor bah, chairperson, youth advocacy group, gefi demonstrated that: “as a citizen you get your right through a passport national paper. as a global citizen, it’s guaranteed not by a state but through your humanity. this means you’re also responsible to the rest of humanity and not to state alone” (unesco 2014). thus, programmes such as collaborative learning both virtual and physical participation, and participation in learning clubs can be considered to be in awakening the citizen of tanzania as well as education stakeholders would consider them in the effort to foster global citizenship in their areas. study abroad nothing prepares learners’ minds for the globalized world like higher education. students who are studying abroad have been proven to have much better outcomes. as we live in this globalized world, studying abroad has been proven to be among the fundamental strategies that prepare individuals across the world for active global citizenship. (perry et al., 2013, p. 186) demonstrate that studying abroad is www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 33 published by scholink inc. essential in instilling skills and potential experiences that should be applied in solving problems existing in this interconnected world. with this reality, studying abroad, and experiencing new cultures, places, and learning environments are the catalyst or driving force to enhance a transformative experience of a particular value in students’ minds that help them to be active citizens of the world. marc (2019, p. 37) stated that studying abroad has inspired many international students to effectively develop new skills such as cultural understanding, international language skills, personal and career skills, as well as gaining experiences on academic perspectives, to be conscious of one’s interconnected world. steves (2012) opined that studying abroad has significance for students to get a globalized education which can help them to fully participate in solving global issues as a global significance reality, one of the significances of studying abroad is to prepare learners to become active global citizens. it should be noted that students gain exposure to nationalities, cultures and different styles. thus, the government of tanzania through the ministry of education should increase support every year by offering scholarships to some students to study in the best universities in the world. increasing use of “virtual” learning program in the 21st century, “virtual” learning programmes have a vital tool in promoting global citizenship education. learners have been communicating and connecting with other students from other cultures through virtual learning programmes to learn and share experiences, cultural values and understanding of other perspectives. popish & marques (2020, p. 48), mentioned some of the tools which have been used in virtual learning to connect people of different cultures as citizens of a single community. popish & marques emphasize that virtual exchange programs are where people learn and exchange experiences using online learning platforms such as google classrooms or moodle and can also use social networks like facebook and instagram. with this standing point, virtual programmes for global learning inform students about the social, political and economic practices of other countries, which enable them to develop as global citizens (ramirez, 2021, pp. 86-87). although some literature encourages the use of mixed approaches to learning that involve both online and offline learning, online collaborative learning is viewed to smooth the progress of communication between people from one country and another (unesco, 2014, p. 29). thus, the fast communication which is formed through virtual programmes of global learning is enlightening university students and other people to embrace the use of technology to communicate, explore and understand in-depth, learn, and validate their prior understanding of the culture of other countries and be able to work together as well as discuss issues and challenges to contribute positively as active citizens of the world community. with this reality, tanzanian educational institutions should make an effort to develop a conductive environment for learning, such as improving learning facilities, internet connections and electrical installations in the areas where learning is taking place. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 34 published by scholink inc. integration of service-learning as a pedagogy of learning the idea of service-learning was coined from the pragmatist theory developed by john dewey. he considered education as an experiential process that involves developing individuals and leaders to participate actively in solving the problems which exist in society. the idea integrates learning with work experience to prepare participants by acquiring skills and knowledge for change, effective social development and challenges existing in life (pacho, 2018, pp. 1-4; birdwell et al., 2013). dewey’s thoughts became the solid foundation of servicelearning which is based on educational principles that learners learn effectively and become active citizens of their society when they are actively involved in a particular service to the community and integrate the acquired experiences into their academic content (pacho, 2018, p. 1; metzger & ferris, 2013). the benefits of service learning have been shown in many studies. a variety of studies indicate that service-learning is significant because it provides students with competencies including leadership skills, problem-solving skills, social and moral skills, teamwork skills, as well as a civic responsibility to the students, communities and faculty members (pacho, 2018, p. 4; zentner, 2011; sheffield, 2011, p. 153). from the above standing point, the literature indicates that the current focus of service-learning is to promote global competence, civic growth, and transformational experience for students and the community to contribute positively as active citizens of modern and democratic society. in this way, global citizenship can be acquired through activities and practical corroboration in real-life situations. on the contrary, the teaching and learning process in tanzania is based on the banking model of education, thus, it is not convincing because it encourages memorization of the contents given by a teacher. the system of education in tanzania does not have a unique opportunity for students to participate in citizenship skills such as sharing their idea and experiences, critical thinking, decision making, communication as well as problem-solving skills. this study found service-learning to be among of effective strategies for developing global citizenship skills among learners. based on the review of a variety of studies, this study suggests for tanzania to achieve the goal of producing active and responsible citizens to work and foster the development of the country, it is better to integrate service-learning as a pedagogy of learning in its curriculum of education. international sports programmes sports has been identified to be a critical tool for international education and global citizenship. narin hajtass, educational and training manager, national olympic committee of jordan noted that ―sports is a strong tool, it is an educational environment it taught me to accept defeat and still stand on my feet. it taught me how to walk to my opponent and shake hands and say congratulations, it taught me to respect my team, my family , my country , my environment and my society and everything in my life” (unesco 2014). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 35 published by scholink inc. sports help to promote and develop global citizenship because it serves as an identity of people from other countries who can learn a lot about the culture of a certain country by watching or by participating in sports. it helps to strengthen awareness about one’s own culture and of other nations in general; because players can use games to showcase and promote their culture on different international platforms (malkinson & he, 2014, p. 1). due to the advancement of science and technology, there has been a globalization of sports. from this reality, there is a great need to establish and strengthen the management of international sports competitions in various higher learning institutions around the world. this is because the quality of the games advertises a certain country and makes the country socially and economically develop since the best sports attract more tourists. more importantly, sports help to strengthen friendships and unite people of different nationalities and thus be able to be together in solving different global challenges (blanco, 2017, p. 105). it should be noted that globally, sports have become part of some people's daily lives and although they use sports as a means of developing themselves physically, mentally, socially and healthily; the sport has gained an international status and thus helps to promote the culture of a particular country (katirci, 2016, pp. 562-563). for example, bradbury and o’boyle (2017, p. 18) have stated that the government sponsors a variety of sports events that aim to promote their victory in sports. an obvious example is the fifa world cup which involves different countries and players often get the opportunity to participate in sports in other countries, where we find participants from other countries accompanying their players to celebrate and thus be able to see and learn many international things and easy to develop their global citizenship. professor fernando reimers, harvard university pointed out that ―sports can be transformative if we are intentional about how we use them. not as episodic events but clear about the competences” (unesco 2014). therefore, higher learning institutions in tanzania should focus on stabling and promoting international sports programs because this will expose students to different lifestyles of other countries and hence develop their global citizenship. developing and maintaining international students’ exchange programs an international student exchange program is a program that allows students to travel from one country to another either for short-term studies at a particular college or for academic conferences. students can spend one semester, several semesters or several weeks visiting their fellow students from other countries purposely to improve their international understandings by sharing their ideas and being open to learning from others (atalar, 2020, p. 63). in this sense, higher learning institutions should create different international students exchange programs as they help students and instructors to have good relations between the participating countries and thus build and promotes cooperation, which will enable them to cooperate on various developmental issues between countries and hence promote their global citizenship (kishino & takahashi, 2019, p. 551). in normal life, there must be an exchange of ideas between individuals or between groups of people, so that learning can be strengthened and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 36 published by scholink inc. maintained. therefore, for students to learn, understand and adopt the lifestyles of people in other countries, there must be something we call ―visiting‖ where students visit other students abroad to teach and learn new cultural activities (henry & lima, 2012, p. 105). for example, history shows us that between 400-700 ad, scholars from china (fa hsien, sung yun, hsuan tsang & tsing) visited india to learn the buddhist texts written in sanskrit. these chinese scholars were able to teach the indians some of their cultures, and they were also able to learn some of the indian cultures. in general, the issue of learning about the cultures of people from other countries, through visitation has been around for a long time (ghosh & jing, 2020, p. 556 & 559). with this reality, higher education institutions in tanzania should ensure that the issue of student exchange between one country and another is initiated and sustained because it helps students to excel in their global citizenship. international student exchange programs can also be conducted through international student organizations (wang & brckalorenz, 2018, p. 1006). this is a union of students from different countries that are formed to collaborate on various issues including academic support, visiting, and informing each other about the various cultural issues of students participating in the union. the union also aims to plan and develop various activities that help raise awareness about other countries and help maintain global friendships, which foster mutual collaboration in talking about different global issues (luo & jamieson-drake, 2013, p. 87). international students’ union helps to promote global citizenship in a sense that it brings together students from different countries, who are also from different cultures and thus enables members of the union to learn different cultural activities from one another, thus raising more awareness about the various issues across the borders (alajmi & kalitay, 2019, p. 51). educational resources for global citizenship education implementation of a curriculum without the relevant resources to teach it would cause stress to implement the planned curriculum (singh, 2012). in this way, resources seem to be important in the implementation of the school curriculum, this is because curriculum management depends largely on the availability of teaching and learning resources. the effective provision of quality and suitable educational resources to instructors is indispensable in developing a strong effort for enhancing gce in a particular learning institution (guo, 2014). having quality, suitable and accessible educational resources in an educational institution is essential to be used in teaching and learning to expand students’ understanding of the various issues going on around the world (swarts, 2020, p. 72; atenas, havemann, & priego, 2015, p. 377). for instance, electronic materials, storybooks, journals, magazines, online resources, and videos have been identified as potential sources of information on international citizenship (ibe & unesco, 2018, p. 10, p. 144; ordu, 2021). from this standing point, tanzania’s educational stakeholders should introduce new teaching and learning resources that include the contents of global citizenship education. it’s sad to say that most of the teaching and learning resources in tanzanian education are still not enough to be used in enhancing global citizenship education. the contents of the books that have been used since independence are still existing in the current books. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 37 published by scholink inc. with this reality, the tanzania commission for universities should encourage the introduction of new textbooks that are used by other countries to enhance global citizenship education. the ministry of education science and technology in tanzania should encourage educators and education policymakers to make policymakers revisit the teaching and learning materials to include suitable materials for global citizenship education. furthermore, educators in higher education should be encouraged to choose the teaching and learning resources that are appropriate for enhancing the content and knowledge about gce so that educators should use these resources to teach their students about global issues or they can direct them to download the materials and read for themselves. this will allow them to build the spirit of cooperation which is crucial in promoting international citizenship. however, educators in higher education should be able to select the suitable teaching and learning materials that are suitable and have contents of global citizenship education. 4. final thoughts gce is currently gaining prominence. it is viewed to be of a high significance due to the rapid dissemination of information, cultural diffusion, and the media, film and music industry. immediately these changes are future online accepted globally without issues of ethics, conscience or culture and the decision of youth and adults are based on this online psychology and mind control system. if there is a sound international global citizenship education, it will reduce most misuse of information and internet facilities because global education prepares the mind to take the right decision and facilitate proper conduct. for tanzanian higher education to effectively implement and integrate global citizenship education, educators are required to pay more attention and increase effort for cooperation, information sharing, and effective innovation from the primary level of education to higher education where learners are developing a basic attitude, skills and knowledge for effective changes in this the interconnected world. if higher education institutions in tanzania wishes to attain their interested goal of developing global citizen, every educator must support the appropriate pedagogy that is vital in promoting gce in every country of this globalized world. furthermore, every educational stakeholder is needed to dedicate effort and time and other educational resources to global citizenship education. moreover, to meet the intended goals of promoting gce in tanzania, active cooperation, coordination and networking among teachers, government and non-government organizations, colleges and universities is fundamental to engage effectively, productively and build support for collaboration on finding solutions to the national curriculum as well as on global issues. however, these suggestions need strong leadership that considers changes in the way that gce is effectively implemented in tanzanian higher education. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 5, no. 2, 2022 38 published by scholink inc. 5. recommendation however, this study proposes several recommendations for enhancing effective changes that individuals and both educational unions such as teachers' unions, universities, and governmental and non-governmental organizations throughout the country need to implement. these recommendations are the establishment of more training programmes for teachers to learn about international curricula, the government and all educational stakeholders should ensure collaboration by making sure that educational resources for global citizenship are available, accessible and have the quality to meet the goal of implementing gce in the country. finally, educational stakeholders should try to find possible measures to areas related to education by encouraging learners to think critically and be innovative. with this reality, if the recommended ideas are implemented effectively, they would help to develop global citizenship within the country. acknowledgement i am indebted to all authors whose works in the form of articles, research investigation, and reports were referred in this study. many thanks to all who read and gave invaluable comments towards improvement of this work. references alajmi, n., & kalitay, m. 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(2022). global learning’; definition assessments and approaches. journal of global education and research, 6(6), 115-132. https://doi.org/10.5038/2577-509x.6.2.1148 https://doi.org/10.5038/2577-509x.6.2.1148 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 10 original paper law, right to freedom of expression and a fraternal speech carlos adolfo sanabria valdés 1 1 universidad autónoma metropolitana, unidad azcapotzalco, mexico received: september 21, 2023 accepted: october 10, 2023 online published: november 10, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n4p10 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n4p10 abstract all rights, such as the right to freedom of expression, in some constitutions and universal declarations are mandatories to every government of any nations in order to protect the dignity of the human beings. there are many ways so as to protect that faculty. people and laws protect that juridical principle. professors apply many teaching techniques so that they can promote the right to freedom of expression at schools, one of them is the discussion. it technique allows students express freely their opinions. all of them are valuable because every though gives aspects to enrich the right to freedom of expression. everyone has principles in the classroom and speaks freely their thoughts because a juridical principle is the right to freedom of expression. it is worth promoting this human right at the universities because students can apply that faculty in the real life. keywords freedom, professors, students, law, expression 1. introduction law protects human rights, one of them is the right to freedom of expression. professors teach this faculty with some teaching techniques. the main goal of this paper is to study some benefits to human beings produced by the right to freedom of expression applying the discussion teaching technique. in the section method i argue the protection of the right to freedom of expression in the universal declaration of human rights and many constitutions of some countries. also i put forward the notion, some characteristics and how to apply the discussion technique in order to promote that human right. in the next section i propose some benefits to students about applying the discussion technique. at the end of this article i draw some arguments about good results when professors foster the right to freedom of expression. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 11 published by scholink inc. 2. method law studies all human rights, one of them is the right to freedom of expression. it can be a principle or one human right. a principle is: “a standard that is to be observed, not because it will advance or secure an economic, political or social situation deemed desirable, but because it is a requirement of justice or fairness or some other dimension of morality” (dworkin, 1978, p. 22). the right to freedom of expression is protected in the universal declaration of human rights and many constitutions of some countries. this international law was published on 10 december 1948. the article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights prescribes: “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. another way that people have protected the right to freedom of expression is in some constitutions of many countries around the world, such as united states of america and mexican united states. i draw the right to freedom of speech as a juridical principle, value, standard, faculty or a human right in this article. also we the professors stand up for this juridical value because this faculty allows human being speak thoughts, feelings, ideas, reasoning and beliefs and people can improve their life when we teach at universities and write books or essays about that human right. professors apply many teaching techniques so that they can promote the right to freedom of expression at schools. one of them is the discussion. i shall propose to apply this teaching technique so that some professors could promote the right to freedom of expression. maría andueza puts forward the description of this pedagogical instrument: “a little group works on a topic or problem in a free and informal discussion leaded by a coordinator. students and a teacher consider together certain topics or problems; interchanging or confronting ideas, knowledge, criteria, etc., with the purpose of analyzing, clarifying, explaining and solving its. this technique constitutes an excellent learning instrument, because the group is who participates actively in the process of knowledge through the intercommunication, the exposition of contrasted points of view, the ordering of their thinking, the faculty of reasoning and the critical analysis” (andueza, 2001, p. 76). andueza proposes about the development of this technique: “the coordinator speaks a little introduction to set in a context to the group in the chosen topic and to ask the first question, producing the dialog starts. he has to guide the discussion without pressure, and giving the turn of speaking opportunely so that everyone achieves the proposed goals. it is wanted that the coordinator does not participate in the discussion, instead he would be a guide, asking to explain an idea with precision. he has to respect the criteria of the students and stimulating them” (andueza, 2001, pp. 76-77). professors can apply the discussion technique making some changes to it so as to they teach any content or topic of law such as the right to freedom of expression. how could be a class about fomenting this faculty? it could be applying that technique in the next way. one professor gives to students an www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 12 published by scholink inc. assignment about reading that juridical value wrote by ronald dworkin and tells them to finish this activity to a future specific day. in this date in the classroom, the professor begins the class speaking the instructions of the activity. the first instruction is the time of discussion of the topic, it will be by thirty minutes. the second is some students shall explain the meaning of the right to freedom of expression. the third step is to speak freely about other aspects of this juridical value. then the dynamic begins in the class. the professor gives the turn to one student. he or she argues about the concept of that faculty. after other students speak about the characteristics of this juridical value. others expose some problems about this topic. someone speaks the benefits of this human right. at the end of the class the professor closes the dialog and finishes the activity. 3. result discussion technique allows students express freely their opinions. all of them are valuable because every though gives aspects to enrich the right to freedom of expression. many opinions are equal and others are different but all of them should be respected because of people have many international conventions, constitutions and ideas of people that promote that human right. in that stage everybody hears respectfully each other. it is worth writing and teaching about that right because people shall speak their thoughts, feelings, reasoning and beliefs. humankind are going to think and write always ideas of law so as to make a better life. the most professors teach and write about the right to freedom of expression, the most human beings speak their thoughts, feelings, reasoning and beliefs so that we can improve our entire life. that teaching technique can trigger a fraternal speech among students and the professor. a fraternal speech is a set of spoken ideas produced only by human beings at the moment that they speak and hear each other when everybody considers as people each other. the idea of fraternity is present in law. ronald dworkin proposed about fraternity: “so people who are members of bare political communities have political obligations, provided the other conditions necessary to obligations of fraternity, appropriately defined for a political community, are met… they accept that they are governed by common principles” (dworkin, 1993, pp. 207-211). everyone has principles in the classroom and speaks freely their thoughts because a juridical principle is the right to freedom of expression. it is worth promoting the human right-wrote in the last paragraphat the universities because students can apply that faculty in the real life. they can practice that juridical value so that people speak freely their thoughts about religion, law, education, government and love respecting each other. “so each member accepts that other have rights and that he has duties” (dworkin, 1993, p. 211). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 13 published by scholink inc. 4. discussion all rights, such as the right to freedom of expression, in some constitutions and universal declarations are mandatories to every government of any nations in order to protect the dignity of the human beings. no one can prohibit those juridical values. everybody ought to respect those laws. there are many ways so as to protect that faculty. professors, people and laws protect that juridical principle. it is worth writing and teaching about that right because people shall speak their thoughts, feelings, reasoning and beliefs. humankind are going to think and write always ideas of law so that they can make a better life. professors apply many teaching techniques in order to they can promote the right to freedom of expression at schools, one of them is the discussion. they can apply the discussion technique making some changes to it so as to they can teach any content or topic of law such as that juridical value. discussion technique allows students express freely their opinions. all of them are valuable because every though gives aspects to enrich the right to freedom of expression. that teaching technique can trigger a fraternal speech among students and the professor. a fraternal speech is a set of spoken ideas produced only by human beings at the moment that they speak and hear each other when everybody considers as people each other. when people apply the fraternity in any society, they respect each other as equals. “each person is as worthy as any other, that each must be treated with equal concern according to some coherent conception of what that means” (dworkin, 1993, p. 213). each person speaks their ideas about life. then, every thought is worthy because everybody can think. any opinion could give any society the opportunity to review its paradigms about thinking. john stuart mill proposed: “if all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind… if the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error” (mill, 1947, p. 16). when a society allows everybody to express all thoughts, mankind can avoid injustices, about this idea mill put forward: “the event which took place on calvary rather more than eighteen hundred years ago. the man who left on the memory of those who witnesses his life and conversation, such an impression of his moral grandeur, that eighteen subsequent centuries have done homage to him as the almighty in person” (mill, 1947, p. 24). some people thought different to jesus christ, but jesus was right. today we wrote dates after christ. this fact shows us the importance about we ought to listen to each other freely. this event should not repeat again in our history. we can avoid that event practicing a fraternal speech in law’s classroom because there is the right to freedom of expression. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 4, 2023 14 published by scholink inc. if human beings develop a fraternal speech then humankind improve because we understand each other and nobody takes any advantage on others and we respect each other. in this way everyone will live with dignity and we will be equal in liberty, abundance, property and all aspects of our live. the more we human beings to apply that speech, the more we will have a better life. in the classroom every student can speak any kind of thoughts and beliefs. a speech of fraternity allows to respect all ideas. students set free when they speak their thoughts. the more professors apply discussion technique in a course, the more a fraternal speech is practiced by students of law. the more docents practice that teaching technique the more students shall apply the right to freedom of expression and a fraternal speech. everyone has principles in the classroom and speaks freely their thoughts because a juridical principle is the right to freedom of expression. it is worth promoting this human right at the universities because students can apply that faculty in the real life. they can practice that juridical value so that people can speak freely their thoughts about religion, law, education, government and love respecting each other. when people apply the fraternity in a society, they respect each other as equals. the more professors apply discussion technique in a course, the more a fraternal speech is practiced by students of law. the more docents practice that teaching technique the more students shall apply the right to freedom of expression and a fraternal speech. references andueza, m. (2011). dinámica de grupos. méxico, trillas. dworkin, r. (1978). taking rights seriously. united states of america, harvard university press. dworkin, r. (1993). law’s empire. united states of america, massachusetts, the belknap press of harvard university press. mill, j. s. (1947). on liberty. appleton-century-crofts, new york, united states of america. universal declaration of human rights. (1948). global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 70 original paper teaching reform and practice of “structural mechanics” course under the background of new engineering discipline xiaoxiao sun 1 , jinxiu hu 1 , huaken zhang 1 , qingchi zhang 1 , lijuan chen 1 & qun liu 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: may 30, 2025 accepted: june 10, 2025 online published: june 15, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p70 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p70 abstract under the background of the new engineering discipline construction promoting the transformation of engineering education, the traditional “structural mechanics” course has exposed pain points such as lagging content system, weak practical links, and single teaching methods. based on the educational goal of the course, this paper proposes a three-dimensional teaching reform path oriented towards ability cultivation: through modular content reconstruction, organically connecting theoretical knowledge with engineering frontiers; by means of the blended teaching mode, building a multi-dimensional interactive learning ecosystem; relying on the optimization of the practical teaching system, enhancing students’ ability to solve complex engineering problems; and establishing a diversified evaluation mechanism throughout the entire process, deeply integrating ideological and political elements into the mechanics knowledge system. teaching practice shows that the reform effectively promotes the coordinated development of students’ engineering literacy and innovative thinking, providing a reference implementation model for the connotation construction of professional basic courses under the background of new engineering disciplines. keywords new engineering disciplines, structural mechanics, teaching reform, blended teaching, diversified evaluation, ideological and political education in courses www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 71 published by scholink inc. 1. analysis of the current teaching situation of the traditional “structural mechanics” course 1.1 the course content is abstract and complex, and its structural system lags behind the demands of the new era the current knowledge framework of the “structural mechanics” course still centers on classical mechanics theories, mainly covering core modules such as static analysis, dynamic response, and stability calculation of bar structures. however, the course content shows a significant tendency towards theoretical abstraction, with most textbook examples being confined to traditional engineering fields like civil and industrial construction and bridges. there is a notable deficiency in coverage of emerging technologies such as intelligent construction, green structures, composite material structures, and prefabricated buildings. for instance, in mainstream textbooks, the integration of modern technologies like bim collaborative design, structural health monitoring, and intelligent algorithm optimization is severely lacking, making it difficult for students to establish a mapping relationship between theoretical knowledge and modern engineering demands. this lag has led to a disconnection between course teaching and the core goals advocated by new engineering disciplines, such as “interdisciplinary integration” and “solving complex engineering problems”. as a result, students often fail to transfer knowledge effectively when facing real-world engineering problems. for example, they experience cognitive overload due to having to memorize numerous formulas for solving statically determinate structures without a deep understanding of the fundamental principles of mechanics; there is a technological generation gap, with textbooks lacking content on the application of digital twins and machine learning in structural analysis; and there is a lack of interdisciplinary connections, with cross-disciplinary content such as composite material constitutive models and integrated structure-control design not being included in the knowledge system. 1.2 the marginalization of practical teaching and the absence of innovation ability cultivation the structural imbalance in the practical teaching system. traditional courses position experimental classes as “tools for verifying theories”, only setting up basic experiments such as deflection measurement of simply supported beams and internal force analysis of trusses. students mechanically follow the operation procedures in the experimental manual, such as directly applying formulas to calculate after collecting data with a strain gauge, without exploring the sources of errors (such as the influence of temperature drift) or reflecting on the rationality of model simplification. most students have never independently designed an experimental plan. more seriously, complex structure experiments (such as stability tests of large-span spatial structures) have been completely excluded due to the lack of equipment, resulting in students’ understanding of real engineering problems remaining at the theoretical calculation level, lacking practical verification. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 72 published by scholink inc. innovation training is disconnected from engineering practice. the so-called “innovation link” often becomes a superficial exercise: course designs frequently adopt idealized propositions (such as “internal force calculation of steel trusses”), ignoring actual constraints (such as construction errors, material nonlinearity, etc.); software teaching is limited to software operation demonstrations (such as basic modeling in midas), without training in parameter sensitivity analysis or model correction capabilities. for instance, in the analysis of statically indeterminate structures, students merely follow the steps to solve for internal forces, without considering questions like “the impact of a 2 cm settlement of the support on the bending moment distribution” or “how to reduce secondary internal forces through structural measures”. this kind of training divorced from real scenarios deprives students of the motivation to identify problems and optimize designs. 1.3 the traditional teaching mode leads to the loss of students’ intrinsic motivation the traditional teaching model that is currently widespread, characterized by “teachers lecturing, students listening, practicing after class, and taking final exams”, is profoundly restricting students’ initiative in exploration and their motivation for in-depth learning. its drawbacks are mainly reflected in the following aspects: passive reception replaces active construction, and the depth of cognition is limited. in the classroom, the one-way knowledge infusion places students at the receiving end of information. students rarely have the opportunity to experience the complete scientific process of the formation of structural mechanics knowledge, such as “identifying problems establishing models theoretical derivation solving and verifying”. for instance, when learning “force method for solving statically indeterminate structures”, students often mechanically memorize the typical equation forms and coefficient calculations, but find it difficult to actively think about their physical meaning (deformation coordination) and the logical necessity of the establishment process. their understanding of the essence of knowledge remains superficial, which hinders the cultivation of critical thinking and knowledge transfer ability. the disconnection between abstract theories and practical applications, along with a vague sense of learning significance: the concepts in structural mechanics are highly abstract. if traditional teaching lacks a strong connection to real engineering scenarios, students find it difficult to establish an effective link between symbols, formulas, and vivid engineering phenomena. this disconnection leads to learning becoming a dull mathematical calculation, and students cannot deeply understand “why they are learning”. as a result, the intrinsic value of learning and the desire to explore are naturally weakened. the assessment methods are mostly standardized tests, which focus on testing students’ memory of theoretical knowledge and simple application, lacking the evaluation of students’ autonomous learning process, innovative thinking and complex problem-solving abilities. this makes it difficult to stimulate www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 73 published by scholink inc. students’ intrinsic motivation for in-depth study, ultimately affecting the cultivation of students’ professional qualities and innovation capabilities. 1.4 the teaching methods are monotonous and insufficiently integrated with information technology the lack of demonstration of complex mechanical phenomena leads to low cognitive efficiency among students. core concepts in structural mechanics, such as moment distribution, instability modes, and dynamic response, are highly abstract and dynamic. however, traditional teaching methods present these concepts using two-dimensional diagrams or simple animations, making it difficult for students to understand and master them. for instance, when explaining the “moment envelope diagram of a continuous beam under moving loads”, static diagrams cannot show the dynamic redistribution of internal forces caused by the change in load position. when analyzing “buckling instability of frame structures”, the absence of three-dimensional interactive demonstration tools for multiple modal shapes leads to students’ vague understanding of the instability mechanism. if finite element cloud rendering technology (such as ansys workbench) is introduced, allowing students to adjust constraint conditions and observe the changes in stress flow, it can significantly enhance the efficiency of constructing complex concepts. the experimental system for integrating virtual and real-world elements is fragmented, which restricts the cultivation of practical abilities. traditional experiments are constrained by equipment scale and safety risks, and can only complete basic verification experiments such as simply supported beams and trusses. meanwhile, virtual simulation platforms are often disconnected from physical experiments: after students calculate the internal forces of steel frames using midas, they cannot verify the credibility of the results through physical models. the intelligent learning diagnosis is lacking and the teaching regulation is lagging behind. the knowledge system of structural mechanics has a strong logical correlation. for instance, the force method is the foundation of the displacement method. however, in teaching, it is difficult for teachers to discover students’ sticking points in real time is it the weakness in the concept of the force method or the deviation in understanding the “principle of the displacement method”? there is a lack of precise diagnosis based on learning big data. 1.5 course assessment is dominated by outcome-based evaluation, emphasizing results over the process the assessment form is monotonous. most universities still use the final closed-book examination as the core evaluation method for courses. the assessment question types are mainly traditional short-answer questions and calculation questions, focusing on testing students’ memory of formulas and standardized problem-solving steps (such as the method of virtual work, force method typical equations, etc.). this model is difficult to measure students’ engineering thinking, innovative consciousness, and practical application ability. for example, in the assessment of “solving statically www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 74 published by scholink inc. indeterminate structures by the force method”, if only the application of fixed steps to solve internal forces is required, while the understanding of the “physical meaning of deformation compatibility conditions” or the “comparison and analysis of the applicability of different solution methods” is ignored, it is easy to make students mechanically answer questions and fail to truly understand and master the principles of structural mechanics. the evaluation of practical ability has become superficial, and the disconnection between knowledge and action has intensified. practical components such as course experiments and software modeling are often treated as “bonus points”, with ambiguous scoring criteria (for instance, only based on the completeness of the experiment report), failing to truly reflect students’ hands-on skills and engineering literacy. for example, in the experiment of measuring internal forces in truss structures, students might merely mechanically record data while neglecting error analysis. however, since the final exam does not cover practical details, such deficiencies in ability have long gone undetected and uncorrected. 2. the objectives and implementation pathways of the reform of the “structural mechanics” course 2.1 reconstruct the course content and strengthen the cultivation of engineering capabilities 2.1.1 the deep integration of theoretical teaching and engineering cases traditional courses tend to focus on mathematical derivations (such as the formula derivation of force method and displacement method), but downplay their engineering application background. after reconstruction, real cases can be embedded in theoretical teaching, such as explaining the principle of internal force redistribution in statically indeterminate structures by combining the “accident of bridge bearing settlement”, or introducing the concept of structural dynamics through “wind vibration control of high-rise buildings”, making abstract theories concrete and cultivating students’ engineering thinking of “inferring the essence of mechanics from phenomena”. 2.1.2 introduce modern analytical tools and enhance digital capabilities the current textbooks mostly provide only brief introductions to computer-aided analysis methods such as the finite element method. practical operation modules for software like ansys and midas should be added, requiring students to compare the results of manual calculations with those of software simulations (such as the deflection calculation of simply supported beams), analyze the sources of errors, and master the full-process ability of “theory numerical model engineering judgment” to adapt to the digitalization trend in the industry. 2.1.3 design open-ended practical projects to cultivate comprehensive qualities breaking the limitations of traditional “confirmatory experiments”, interdisciplinary project tasks are set, such as “design and optimize a model of a pedestrian bridge given a budget and material constraints”. students need to independently complete load analysis, component selection, cost www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 75 published by scholink inc. assessment and other links, strengthening their innovative awareness, teamwork and engineering economic thinking. 2.2 build a practical teaching platform to enhance innovative application capabilities 2.2.1 construction of a virtual-reality fusion experiment platform breaking through the limitations of traditional experimental equipment, a dual-track platform of “physical experiments + virtual simulation” is constructed. physical experiments focus on basic skills training, such as strain gauge bonding and load testing; the virtual simulation platform, on the other hand, uses software like ansys and abaqus to simulate complex engineering scenarios (such as seismic analysis of long-span structures). the two platforms share data, forming a closed-loop training mode of “measurement simulation optimization”. 2.2.2 digital capability development module add a bim technology integrated application section, requiring students to visually present the results of mechanical analysis and achieve collaborative work with design software such as revit. develop a mobile ar program that can display the internal force distribution of a structure by scanning it, enhancing spatial understanding ability. 2.2.3 construction of the industry-university-research collaboration platform jointly build practice bases with design institutes and construction enterprises, and transform actual engineering problems into teaching cases. introduce the “enterprise mentor system”, and jointly guide graduation projects to ensure that the topics are derived from real project demands. 2.3 reconstructing the classroom teaching model with students at the center in terms of organizing teaching content, the original chapter sequence is broken and the teaching content is restructured. the principle of coming from engineering and going back to engineering is followed, and the chapters are divided according to different force-bearing structural systems. before class, students learn through micro-lesson videos to understand the application of structures in engineering and stimulate their interest in learning. during class, teachers raise relevant engineering problems, guide students to think and discuss, and find answers from classroom learning to cultivate students’ ability to analyze and solve problems. after class, project tasks are assigned, requiring students to use virtual simulation platforms to simulate engineering scenarios. students can transform complex structural mechanics problems into intuitive graphics and animations. this visual teaching can improve students’ learning quality. in this process, teachers mainly play the role of learning guides and resource providers, and help students gradually build a complete knowledge system by setting up a step-by-step problem chain. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 76 published by scholink inc. 2.4 integrate the “online + offline” multi-dimensional classroom organically and build an information-based learning environment from the perspective of online teaching resource construction, the online platform needs to systematically integrate three types of core resources: micro-lectures (10-15-minute videos focusing on key and difficult points), interactive simulation modules (such as real-time bridge load simulation systems), and adaptive question banks (which intelligently push exercises based on students’ answer data). taking the teaching content of “influence lines” as an example, students can first understand the mechanism of moving loads through online animation demonstrations, then enter the virtual laboratory to independently adjust parameters and observe the internal force change patterns, and finally complete personalized customized calculation exercises. this combination of resources not only ensures the systematicity of knowledge transmission but also meets the differentiated learning needs. in terms of classroom teaching organization, a hybrid model of “flipped classroom + project-driven” is adopted. the offline classroom time is mainly used for in-depth discussions and engineering practices, such as analyzing the actual force conditions of a bridge or the failure mode of a building under natural disasters. the role of teachers shifts from knowledge transmitters to learning guides, who set targeted question chains to guide students to apply the theories learned online to solve problems. at the same time, the real-time feedback system of smart classrooms is utilized to dynamically grasp students’ learning progress and adjust teaching strategies. 2.5 establish a diversified assessment and evaluation mechanism to implement the goal of ideological and political education in courses 2.5.1 establish a diversified assessment and evaluation mechanism the assessment content covers three aspects: knowledge assessment, ability assessment, and quality assessment. the knowledge assessment mainly examines students’ mastery of mechanics principles, accounting for 60%. the ability assessment includes experimental operations, group assignments, and engineering case analyses, accounting for 30%, and focuses on evaluating students’ ability to solve practical problems. the quality assessment includes innovative design and professional ethics, accounting for 10%, aiming to cultivate students’ innovative ability and engineering ethics awareness. 2.5.2 the integration methods of innovative process evaluation and ideological and political education the form of “course diary + project defense” is adopted, requiring students to record their thoughts on major national engineering cases such as the “anti-seismic design of the hong kong-zhuhai-macao bridge” in their learning logs, and to reflect the concept of sustainable development in group projects. teachers guide students’ professional abilities and ideological and political qualities through dynamic evaluation scales. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 77 published by scholink inc. 3. conclusion under the impetus of the new engineering discipline construction, the reform of the “structural mechanics” course is centered on the core concepts of “ability reconstruction, technology empowerment, and value elevation”, and has established an innovative teaching system that integrates three aspects. in the dimension of ability cultivation, it breaks through the traditional “theory + exercises” framework, and through a closed-loop training chain of “anchoring engineering problems mechanical modeling and deduction software simulation verification multi-objective optimization decision-making”, enhances students’ ability to solve complex engineering problems. in the dimension of technology integration, it builds a virtual-real interactive platform of “physical experiments digital twins intelligent feedback”, visualizes the stress field with ar technology, and generates personalized problem-solving paths based on learning behavior data, thus resolving the cognitive difficulties of abstract concepts. in the dimension of value shaping, it innovates a dual-track evaluation mechanism of “technology – ethics”, combining the safety factor of structures with the sustainability analysis of materials. this reform has achieved a qualitative change from knowledge transmission to the cultivation of engineers’ qualities, providing a replicable model for the construction of new engineering courses deconstructing knowledge barriers with cutting-edge technologies, tempering practical abilities through real projects, and solidifying professional foundations through ethical reflection, ultimately responding to the strategic demand of the new era for compound engineering talents. references cao, y. m., yu, g. l., jia, y., & xu, y. q. (2023). reform and practice of the first-class course of structural mechanics with “two centers, three stages, and four levels” structure. university education, (07), 42-46. chen, d. d., wang, y., wang, l. b., & zhang, y. t. (2023). innovative practical teaching of engineering courses under the background of new engineering education: a case study of “structural mechanics”. talent intelligence, (14), 69-72. jiang, s. y., jin, r., yang, h. x., & sun, l. g. (2023). teaching design of structural mechanics based on blended teaching and ideological and political education in curriculum. higher education journal, (33), 108-111. lin, y., zhang, z., & fan, x. s. (2023). teaching reform and practice of structural mechanics course based on obe concept. journal of taiyuan urban vocational college, (11), 112-114. ren, j. y., zhang, y., yang, c. j., & li, h. y. (2024). research on ideological and political teaching of structural mechanics course in the new era. journal of higher education, (01), 174-177. sun, l. (2021). exploration of the path of industry-education integration for talent cultivation under the background of new engineering. jiangsu higher education, (01), 80-83. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 78 published by scholink inc. wu, f., wu, c., & zhu, q. (2022). promoting the cultivation of innovative ai talents through the integration of science and education and the synergy of industry and education. china university teaching, (z1), 17-21. zhang, j. j. (2023). exploration of structural mechanics course construction for mechanics majors. higher education journal, (19), 101-105. microsoft word grhe-v3n2-p34 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 34 original paper strategic program development practices to enhance grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football in diverse international contexts: the art, science and politics of implementation harry t. hubball1* & jorge díaz-cidoncha garcía2 1 faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada 2 fédération internationale de football association (fifa), zurich, switzerland * harry t. hubball, faculty of education, university of british columbia, vancouver, canada received: march 7, 2020 accepted: march 20, 2020 online published: april 10, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p34 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p34 abstract a significant growth in grassroots 55-65+ seniors’ small-sided football (e.g., 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6/futsal and walking football) programs has emerged in diverse settings on a global scale. given the ad hoc nature of many program offerings to meet the unique needs and circumstances of older players, very little research has examined strategic program development practices to enhance and sustain participation in seniors’ small-sided football. strategic program development is a complex and multifaceted process that provides a critical foundation for both quality assurance and quality enhancement. case study research using multiple-case design suggests that no one size fits all, and that strategic program development draws upon a wide range of iterative and responsive program context, program planning, program leadership/coaching, and program impact assessment strategies to enhance and sustain player participation. this paper provides a conceptual framework and practical examples for strategic program development practices in diverse grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football contexts. keywords international sport development, ageing, sport and health, seniors’ small-sided football programs, coaching inquiry, program development and impact assessment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 35 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction an increasing older population has resulted in a significant growth of grassroots 55-65+ seniors’ (sometimes called “veterans” or “masters”) small-sided football programs on a global scale (baker, fraser-thomas, dionigi, & horton, 2010; hubball & garcía, in press). in these contexts, small-sided football is played in diverse formats, including 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6/futsal, and walking football, with or without goalkeepers, and may be played on fields with reduced pitch length and customized goal post sizes for competitive games. teams may be male, female or mixed, and play may occur at various (and in some cases overlapping) levels of competition, including recreational (e.g., informal community-based “drop-in” games with mixed teams to enhance health and wellness participation), intermediate (e.g., structured team games and coaching to enhance skills improvement), and advanced (e.g., select team tournaments at regional, national, and international settings to enhance high performance competition). thus, no one size fits all. in addition to health and wellness, the unique benefits of small-sided games for ageing 55-65+ players is that they 1) promote physical fitness while requiring significantly shorter running distances, thus reducing lower body impact; 2) include multiple game breaks and shorter game durations; 3) involve more dynamic box-to-box football action (including goal scoring opportunities and prevention); 4) provide more touches with the ball and therefore skills development; and, 5) place more emphasis on team effectiveness and decision-making for fast-turnover team defence and team offence (aguiar, botelho, lago, maças, & sampaio, 2012; dellal, lago-penas, wong, & chamari, 2011; fifa, 2015; hubball, franks, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). however, with the ad hoc and grassroots nature of many program offerings, very little research has examined strategic program development practices to enhance and sustain player participation in these settings. grounded in interdisciplinary research and coaching experiences with grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football programs in diverse international settings, this article provides a conceptual framework and practical examples to enhance strategic program development. readers might keep this question in mind: “what are the indicators of program success and evidence of impact for a high quality/successful 55-65+ small-sided football program in your organizational/club context?” 1.1 theoretical underpinnings addressing the unique needs and circumstances of ageing players in diverse grassroots small-sided football contexts is a complex and multifaceted process (blatter & dvorak, 2014; lyon et al., 2018; skoradal et al., 2018). in these contexts, implementation refers to a responsive set of planned football activities designed to integrate evidence-based practices in diverse 55-65+ small-sided football settings (century & cancella, 2016; fallon et al., 2018). interdisciplinary sports science research pertaining to older athletes/players/participants such as physiological (e.g., injury prevention, cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility considerations), psychological (e.g., theories of motivation, exercise adherence, and mental health considerations), sociocultural (e.g., social, cultural, economic, historical, and political participation issues), and educational contributions (e.g., team and player development, effective coaching, evidence-based program development and impact assessment) provide valuable insight to key www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 36 published by scholink inc. influences and cutting-edge program strategies to enhance and sustain participation (baker & nunes, 2003; corepal, zhang, grover, hubball, & ashe (submitted); fifa, 2020; hubball & lopes, 2019; reddy et al., 2017). given varying levels of support and sometimes-limited resources, strategic program development can provide a critical foundation for both quality assurance and quality enhancement for seniors’ 55-65+ small-sided football programs (hamilton & feldman, 2015; mueller & albrecht, 2020). for example, strategic program development can set standards for program impact and effectiveness; it can foster a networked improvement club/organizational community around evidence-based practice to enhance and sustain long-term participation; and it can align programs with broader host club/organizational structures. fifa (2012, pp. 131-141), the world governing body for football, provides the following program development guidelines, which are designed to support grassroots football development in specific populations, and can be applied to enhance 55-65+ small-sided football in local clubs and broader communities: assessment of the local situation: a study of football throughout the country, in all provinces and regions, will show the extent to which football is (or may be) practiced in all sectors. the following areas should be covered: population; administrative and technical organization at national, regional, and local levels; educational system; sport policies; existence of a grassroots football structure; infrastructure and sport facilities; and links between the member associations and government. analysis of football needs: players and coaches: figures and qualifications, and existence of a football committee. football activities: competitions, tournaments and festivals, equipment, material, and infrastructure. medium and long-term planning: aims: to introduce football to the specific target group. to promote the philosophy of football. to develop activities for football. to increase participation in football programs. to improve training and equipment. to instruct participants to become coaches and instructors. stages of implementation: initial consultations with current players and managers, volunteers, etc. bringing together the essential decision makers: creation of an executive committee, identification of key individuals, etc. preparation and presentation of a football development plan. consultation seminars and meetings with member associations, ministries, and sponsors. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 37 published by scholink inc. submission of a final football plan. approval of the program by the regional or national member association. launch of the football plan. implementation program: short, medium, and long-term development. objectives to be achieved: increase football participation (for both men and women). improve the standards of coach-educators and increase the number of training courses. organize more football festivals and tournaments (in various formats adapted to the circumstances). improve communication and develop relations with partners, including sports facilities. encourage volunteers to become involved on a regular basis. establish a professional unit for the development of football within the technical department of the regional or national association. sign agreements with ministries, primarily the ministry of health and sport. the organizational template shown in table 1 has been developed by fifa (2012) to support grassroots football development over a 3-year period in specific populations, and can be applied to enhance 55-65+ small-sided football in local, regional and national contexts. table 1. organizational template to support grassroots football development in specific populations (fifa, 2012) objectives year 1 year 2 year 3 year 3 (ii) impact local regional national national structure set up a specific football development unit and management committee establish a specific football department in each region with links to relevant football communities establish a specific football department within the technical department of the member association employ specialized and qualified personnel www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 38 published by scholink inc. participation launch specific football pilot programs in clubs and local communities develop specific football activities in clubs and communities introduce specific football competitions and tournaments promote community football coach-educators provide courses for coaches, referees, and volunteers regarding specific football initiatives develop alternative and advanced courses for different target groups on specific football focus increase access to training and courses for specific football focus provide resources to support research and development of specific football focus activities launch specific football events, festivals, and guest speaker sessions develop joint tournaments and festivals for specific football clubs and communities in the region establish a national specific football tournament and/or festival introduce alternative specific football tournaments and festivals (e.g., youth, co-ed, beach football) equipment use existing material and equipment for new football initiative improve existing resources for specific football. establish links with relevant government agencies (e.g., ministry of health and sport) broaden the range and resources for specific football initiatives improve existing resources for specific football initiatives while these guidelines provide useful assistance for football clubs and organizations, much greater research and evidence-based practice is required to address the unique needs and circumstances of ageing 55-65+ players at the recreational, intermediate/developmental and/or high performance/advanced ability levels. currently, research activity in this field lags far behind the prolific growth of grassroots seniors’ 55-65+ small-sided football initiatives taking place in local, regional, and international settings. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 39 published by scholink inc. we argue that strategic program development is key to enhancing and sustaining player participation in these initiatives (chambers, glasgow, & stange, 2013). further, strategic program development is inherently situated within broader communities of practice (i.e., host football organizations/clubs, with their particular cultural context and political landscape, priorities, access to available resources, and levels of support); it is socially mediated (i.e., shaped by key stakeholder support and engagement by respective on-site coaches/program leaders and players); and it is locally constructed (i.e., conceptions of “quality and effectiveness” will always be part of how it is continually improved, adapted, and understood within contextually-bound settings). thus, strategic program development is not limited to an isolated event; rather, it occurs over time and requires engagement of key program stakeholder representatives (franks, lilley, hubball, & franks, 2019; hall & hord, 2015; hubball, reddy, sweeney, & kauppinen, 2018). for the purpose of this study, we investigated 55-65+ small-sided football programs in specific geographical, national, regional, and international locales. we hope to expand the representation and the resulting depth of understanding about the diversity, and the successes and challenges, of these programs across a broad range of settings. the following primary research question directed this pilot investigation: what are strategic program development practices in diverse 55-65+ small-sided football contexts? 2. methodology 2.1 case study research using multiple-case design case study research is a systematic in-depth inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life practice context (pearson, albon, & hubball, 2015; tight, 2017). case study research methodology internalizes theory and practice by drawing on a wide range of contextually-bound data (e.g., engagement of key stakeholder representatives, which for this study includes key personnel at football club/organization institution, team leaders, coaches, officials, players, volunteers, etc.). essentially, case study research methodology invites program leaders to consider which program issues are key for examination (e.g., participant recruitment, coaching methods, group organization, strategic team and player development initiatives, and/or program impact), how to engage key stakeholders in the process, what data to gather, when and how to collect and analyze these data, and, finally, to consider how these findings might be of interest to the respective club organizations and coaches/program leaders, as well as to the broader football community and football organizations. multiple-case design refers to case study research in which several instrumental bounded cases are selected to understand the similarities and differences between the cases, and to develop a richer and more in-depth understanding of the phenomena than a single case can provide (yin, 2017). thus, case study research using multiple-case design is highly generative in nature and is therefore particularly well-suited for this study to examine strategic program development initiatives in a range of settings. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 40 published by scholink inc. in order to gather evidence for this inquiry, site visits were conducted over an eighteen-month period in 2018-2019 at a purposeful sample of innovative and long-standing 55-65+ football organizations and clubs in north america, the uk, se asia, the gulf states, australia, new zealand, and europe. for the purpose of this preliminary study, the primary research question focused on the following: what are strategic program development practices in diverse 55-65+ small-sided football contexts? specific prompts for this inquiry included:  what are the origins of 55-65+ small-sided football in local contexts, and how have strategic program development practices built on that foundation?  how does geographical context (e.g., cultures, languages, histories, and values) inform 55-65+ small-sided football programs in local regions? for example, o how is 55-65+ small-sided football understood, interpreted, organised, delivered, experienced, and/or institutionalised? o what are the most common areas of best practice to enhance and sustain player participation? o what are the most common challenges that hinder participation? o what are the roles of players and coaches/program leaders? o how is the impact of these programs made public? o what theoretical approaches, frameworks, or models are important for effective program implementation? o how are these programs expanded and further developed? 2.2 data collection integral to this inquiry, a purposeful sample of contextually-bound program data were gathered from the following:  invited on-site coaching sessions, interactive research presentations, and program observations at national/regional football associations and local clubs in canada, usa, england, wales, guernsey, jersey, germany, belgium, denmark, hong kong, singapore, gibraltar, spain, oman, qatar, australia, and new zealand.  meetings and focus group interviews with program stakeholder representatives, including team leaders, administrators, participating seniors’ players, and officials. participants met in groups of five to eight in either face-to-face venues or online video conference platforms, with a frequency ranging from once per month to three sessions in total during the study period.  relevant program documentation such as historical program overview and website information, football format, rules, schedule, sports science applications, team/group picture gallery and related performance video recordings, participant numbers, team awards, budget information, and available program/team resources. this included longitudinal data from 2001 to 2019 pertaining to participation trends, performance/awards, research contributions, and evolutionary program changes, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 41 published by scholink inc. innovations, challenges, and long-term program impact in the inter ubc masters small-sided soccer academy program at the university of british columbia, vancouver, canada. qualitative data sources were analyzed using the constant comparative method through categorization, and finally to thematization (coe, waring, hedges, & arthur, 2017; friedman, 2008). next, member checking was utilized to establish major themes and data patterns, and to discern complex commonalities, contradictions, and interactions. the use of iterative and multiple data sources established the trustworthiness of the research findings through triangulation. 3. results the iterative conceptual framework shown in figure 1 was adapted and applied to collate a wide range of data pertaining to the primary research question and related literature (what are strategic program development practices in diverse grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football contexts?). each specific component of the conceptual framework was an integral and ongoing factor for strategic program development to enhance and sustain participation in 55-65+ small-sided football programs. as such, each specific component of figure 1 will be analysed in order to provide a detailed discussion of results pertaining to the primary research question and purpose of this study. figure 1. a framework to enhance strategic program development in diverse grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football contexts www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 42 published by scholink inc. 3.1 program context strategies a wide range of iterative and responsive program context strategies were employed in the study settings. documentation analysis and interview data with coaches and program leaders revealed specific core strategies that were critical in order to enhance and sustain participation, such as:  conducting an organizational/club needs assessment to identify the strategic purpose (e.g., program aims, objectives, and values; and the who, what, where, and when process issues related to specific program offerings) and available resources (including specialised coaching expertise and facilities) for offering 55-65+ small-sided games programs.  conducting research on similar programs and/or guidelines for best practices in similar or alternative contexts (e.g., investigating fifa/national football association guidelines, accessing 55-65+ international organization or club program websites, and inquiring through word-of-mouth professional networks).  conducting strategic player recruitment strategies (e.g., based on age, gender, ethnicity, and/or ability level such as recreational, intermediate, or high performance). data suggest that, in addition to local social media recruitment strategies, the following target groups were particularly effective for recruiting players: o local veterans football league o national/regional physical education association, e.g., former teachers o various workplace organizations and their retiree alumni, e.g., airlines o embassy and government staff alumni organizations o police, firefighters, and armed forces alumni o former professional or national players o former club coaches o football club alumni o futsal club alumni o university faculty emeriti and student alumni o community/private sports or fitness centre leaders to identify current clients who fit criteria o ex-pats overseas o guest players visiting from other countries 3.2 program planning strategies a wide range of iterative and responsive program planning strategies (e.g., age-appropriate, customized game formats) were employed in the study settings. documentation analysis and interview data with coaches and program leaders revealed specific core strategies that were critical in order to enhance and sustain participation, including:  conducting players’ needs assessment to identify participation motives, ability levels, and program expectations. for example, data revealed that participation by 55-65+ players was significantly impacted by their personal motives (e.g., fun, skills development, competition, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 43 published by scholink inc. wellness, social fitness, and team experience); participation barriers (e.g., perceived ability and level of competition, commitment level, and competing work/family/leisure priorities; safety and injury considerations; seasonal weather challenges; and quality of program organizations, playing facilities, and conditions); and physiological considerations (e.g., need for ever-longer recovery periods and noticeable three to five year incremental declines in physiological performance after fifty-five years of age; the importance of fitness conditioning and conscientious warm-ups/cool-downs routines; and sensitivity to personal limits for “safe” competition on “good” quality fields and playing surfaces).  engaging key program stakeholder representatives through online/face-to-face meetings, email, and/or phone calls to establish strategic program goals while maximizing available organizational/club resources for 55-65+ small-sided games initiatives. the goals might be long-term (i.e., 2-3 year/annual goals for multi-level, age-specific, and male, female, and co-ed programs; and development of high performance teams for competition), intermediate (i.e., seasonal/monthly program goals), and short-term (i.e., weekly/coaching session program goals related to developing group/team/players’ knowledge, abilities and skills, and experiences).  creative scheduling (e.g., short “bite-size-chunk” program duration and frequency offerings such as once or twice per week for 6-12 weeks), including team field trips or tournaments, guest speakers/coaches, and seasonal indoor and outdoor sessions.  evidence-based program practices (e.g., customized small-sided games design with reduced pitch and goal size, modified rules, specific playing surfaces, and progressive session/games formats with frequent breaks and short duration games). for example, small-sided games for 55-65+ participants maximize emphasis on effective teamwork and development of individual ball skills (e.g., close ball control, accurate one and two touch passing, and accurate short-range shooting at ground level) while minimizing emphasis on excess physical play (e.g., by limiting sprinting and endurance running, and prohibiting slide tackling). three-a-side football, for example, uses the smallest tactically-able unit to apply the principle of depth and breadth for effective team offence and defence. the repeated intensity of competitive 3v3 football increases the development of effective “game sense” through continual team problem-solving, decision-making, dynamic intra-team mobility on-and-off the ball, and interpersonal communication skills, and enhances players’ abilities to deal effectively with successes and failures of authentic game-based situations. the 3v3 format demands few rules (e.g., no goalkeepers; regular corners, sideline and end-line plays apply with kick-ins; and goals can only be scored by shooting within the opposition half) and is easily implemented as part of intra-squad warm-ups or team preparation for small-sided game tournaments. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 44 published by scholink inc. 3.3 program leadership/coaching strategies a wide range of iterative and responsive program leadership/coaching strategies (e.g., offering player-centered activities, forming mixed teams for fairness and challenge, and fostering social interaction and team development) were employed in the study settings. documentation analysis and interview data with coaches and program leaders revealed specific core strategies that were critical in order to enhance and sustain participation, including:  fostering a program culture of group/team/individual achievement and ongoing improvement (e.g., team and player development), consistent with needs assessment data and participation motives. for example, the following strategies were found to be particularly effective: setting the tone for a positive, challenging, interactive, fun, respectful, social, and inclusive small-sided game environment; learning names of participants, as well as something about each participant; frequently checking-in with participants regarding progress on group/team and individual goals; establishing common kit/jerseys to foster program/team identity, as well as program website; and sharing relevant 55-65+ football literature/stories/news/display/websites.  connecting 55-65+ program participants in meaningful and social ways throughout the duration of an event or small-sided football program, again consistent with needs assessment data. coaches and program leaders used various strategies such as scheduled and deliberate refreshment periods; mixed team selections for internal competition; and entry into local, regional, and international tournaments/festivals. for example, in a masters small-sided soccer academy program held in vancouver, specific strategies were employed to foster a culture of masters’ team development by facilitating players through cyclical team stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (tuckman & jensen, 1977): o forming stage: facilitating positive team interactions with continuing and new players; establishing participation and team goals; planning regular team social events; creating an online presence for posting team/participation pictures to establish a “critical mass” team identity and to support optional technology-enabled communications (e.g., use of social media networking and web-based communication tools). o storming stage: dealing with fluctuating participation numbers and mixed ability challenges; establishing fair teams; setting the “tone” for fun and challenging games; and identifying issues for team improvement and celebration. o norming stage: setting expectations that the team and players will begin to assist and self-organize team warm-up practices and pitch set-ups; identifying issues for team improvement; and progressively challenging practice conditions (hubball, dumbrille, & reid, 2010). o performing stage: team and players beginning to develop and assess strengths and weaknesses of specific game plan strategies regarding preparations against specific opposition teams. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 45 published by scholink inc. o adjourning stage: sharing tournament-related pictures, video clips, and local media reports, and team email recognition of collective effort, achievement, and future events and participation opportunities.  developing creative coaching plans with clear safety/risk assessment and developmental goals (e.g., small-sided football knowledge, abilities, skills, and experiences) for participation. these included varied stretching and warm-up/cool-down sessions (e.g., piggy-in-the-middle, 3v3 walking football, skills practices, etc.); technology-enabled performance analysis and maximizing games-based (e.g., 5v5, 3v3, attack versus defence, 3v2, etc.) participation time with selected coaching interventions during frequent break periods as required. 3.4 program impact assessment strategies a wide range of iterative and responsive program impact assessment strategies (e.g., engaging key stakeholders, highlighting best practices, and improvement orientation) were employed in the study settings. documentation analysis and interview data with coaches and program leaders revealed that specific authentic assessment strategies that engaged key program stakeholders (e.g., players, club officials, coaching staff, volunteers, and administrators) were critical in order to enhance and sustain participation. these included:  formulating context-specific priority criteria/indicators of program success (e.g., what is highly valued? what needs to be further improved?). common issues included maintenance or growth of participant numbers; growth of program offerings; program satisfaction-level; team and/or player development outcomes; program-related awards and trophies; research/dissemination; and recognition of high quality.  aligning context-specific priority criteria/indicators of program success with relevant evidence of impact. very often informal field data collection strategies (prior to, during, as well as at strategic formative and summative program stages) regarding evidence of impact included: interviews with players, team planning and debrief meetings, coaches field notes, group/team video analysis, performance records, media reports, and semi-structured survey questionnaires regarding program strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement.  analyzing data to further improve and/or publicly disseminate context-specific grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football programming in order to enhance and sustain participation levels. 3.5 longitudinal data pertaining to program impact between 2001 and 2019, the inter ubc masters small-sided soccer academy program at the university of british columbia, vancouver canada (http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/hubball/index.html) evolved into three related small-sided masters football program offerings: 1) a 50-65+ program for university staff and players in the local community that uses 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 formats and operates once per month; 2) a select high performance 50-60+ small-sided team development program with teams participating in local competitions, annual regional masters tournaments hosted in locations such as california and british columbia, and the international super masters 5-a-side/futsal world cup football tournament hosted www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 46 published by scholink inc. annually in europe and the uk; and 3) a competitive walking football program whereby a select team from this program competes in local masters walking football tournaments and the international super masters small-sided world cup football tournament. the strategic aim of this research-based masters soccer academy program is to promote 50-65+ small-sided football and enhance team (and player) development. based on responsive program context, program planning, program leadership/coaching, and program impact assessment strategies, this masters-level small-sided football academy program has thrived for nearly twenty years. the select masters teams have been very successful in external age-specific small-sided football tournaments, winning multiple local (e.g., city and provincial), regional (e.g., california masters tournaments), and international (masters 5v5 and walking football world cup) trophies, as well as receiving invitations to play 50+ exhibition games at english professional football clubs (e.g., chelsea fc and aston villa fc) against former professional players. equally important to enhance and sustain player participation, a masters football community has been fostered through a wide range of e-communications (including website) and team social engagement strategies. the organization of social events (e.g., team refreshments and socials, team photographs, rewards and recognition of oldest player, fair play, team competition, team penalty shootouts, trophies, etc.) and involvement with, and distribution of, masters football data (e.g., team video analysis and pictures) typically enhanced the sense of shared purpose for the players. the players themselves are also active participants in the masters football community by demonstrating concern for the well-being of their teammates (and competitors); by offering advice on fitness, conditioning, and warm-up; and, when suitably qualified, by providing first aid treatment. clearly, the bond that has developed over the years between the players has nurtured community spirit, camaraderie, and respect, and has also resulted in cross-border and cross-continent connections with an array of talented and like-minded masters football enthusiasts. appropriate for a program hosted within a university setting, program research and evidence-based practice (e.g., team video analysis) has contributed significantly to team success and sustained participation. further, a wide range of tournament-related team and player development and performance analysis projects have resulted in more than 20 co-authored peer-reviewed publications, small-sided football program support and research grants, and extensive media coverage. guest coaches from neighboring clubs, many of whom have participated in local games, have visited the masters soccer academy program. also, the head coach, who has served as chairperson of the international masters world cup tournament for the period 2006-2022, has been invited to give more than 50 coaching and masters football research presentations around the world and has provided assistance to develop and evaluate multiple 50-65+ small-sided football programs in local clubs and organizations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 47 published by scholink inc. 4. key challenges and further developments interview data with coaches and program leaders revealed a wide range of context-specific challenges (e.g., variable expertise related to program context, planning, coaching, and impact assessment strategies) hindering program effectiveness and participation levels in grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football programs. in many cases, perceptions of these challenges tended to focus on player commitment and attrition issues. some programs had issues with inadequate local club/program funding, while others pointed to inadequate support from local football associations for 55-65+ initiatives. this included lack of 55-65+ football-specific materials, program research, development funding, and specialised coach education, and meagre facilitation of competitions and tournaments. a consistent challenge, however, was the management of competing program and/or participation agendas, which often resulted from program success and subsequent growth. for example, data revealed that a significant growth in the number of program participants and/or the diversity of participants’ abilities often led to changing expectations for program goals and level of competition. evidently, when this situation was not addressed or carefully managed it created frustrations, less than optimal football experiences, injury, and even drop-out in some programs. further, although levels of competition in 55-65+small-sided football (e.g., recreational, intermediate, and high performance) are to some extent interconnected and overlapping, they have distinctive characteristics, which were often confused or unclear. these levels of competition tend to differ on key variables such as strategic participant recruitment, primary motives for participation (e.g., drop-in recreation and social agenda contrasted with high-level team performance), as well as expectations for coaching/program leadership, player commitment, team roles, performance quality, and the extent to which performance analysis is utilized and influences further development. thus, some coaches and program leaders reported tensions as programs expanded, which when unattended or they were unable to offer additional specific ability-level program streaming (i.e., recreational, developmental, or high-performance groupings) often resulted in losing some players at either end of the ability spectrum to alternative programs that were perceived as either more inclusive or more competitive to meet their respective needs. interestingly, the data suggest that specific ability-level program streaming was not without problems either. in some cases players were unhappy not to be selected to play in the high-performance group, while in others players felt somewhat discriminated against, with a few feeling that they received less coaching/program attention and/or related resources. the data suggest that to achieve effective program adaptations, compromises, and improvements, coaches and program leaders had to engage in significant proactive reflection, positive energy, intra-program group communications and on-going player recruitment, collaboration, and flexibility. this very often meant continually revisiting, reviewing, and, if necessary, revising questions such as “what is the intended purpose, vision, and priority for this specific 55-65+ small-sided football program?” that is, “to what extent is it recreational or competition focused, or is it both?” “to what extent does it focus on 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, or walking football, or combinations?” and “how is the program agenda aligned with strategic participant www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 48 published by scholink inc. recruitment, program processes, and outcome expectations?” 5. conclusion the purpose of this study was to investigate strategic program development practices in diverse grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football contexts. this inquiry using multiple-case design pertaining to 55-65+ small-sided football programs in diverse international settings suggests that no one size fits all. grassroots programs around the world take on many forms (e.g., 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6, futsal, and walking football); use variations in rules, formats (e.g., with or without goalkeepers), and sizes of pitches and goalposts; and offer different levels of competition (e.g., recreational, intermediate/developmental and high-performance). in order to enhance and sustain player participation, data from this study suggest that strategic program development practices (i.e., iterative and responsive program context, program planning, program leadership/coaching, and program impact assessment) help focus attention on the art (e.g., circumstantial flexibility, creative problem-solving, and responsive stakeholder communications), science (e.g., rigorous inquiry and evidence-based developmental/improvement orientation) and politics (e.g., program alignment, engaging key stakeholder support, and dissemination of program progress and effectiveness) of program implementation. coaches and program leaders around the world are increasingly responsible for high-quality grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football programs. these programs do not just happen organically in a given setting; rather they evolve by careful and effective program leadership. given varying levels of support and often limited resources for these programs, our research and coaching experiences suggests that strategic program development provides a critical foundation for both quality assurance and quality enhancement, and is central to enhancing and sustaining participation. data from this study suggest that strategic program development in diverse grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football settings is inherently situated, socially mediated, and locally constructed. however, the time-consuming and purposeful sample of data collection requires caution pertaining to the generalizability of these findings in alternative settings. furthermore, strategic program development is not a panacea for high quality and sustainable grassroots 55-65+ small-sided football programs since problems can arise from inadequate support, time, commitment, and expertise of (often volunteer) coaches and program leaders. although strategic program development in these contexts is still very much in its infancy, both theoretically and practically, we have provided a theoretical framework, as well as practical examples. acknowledgement the authors would like to express their sincere thanks to all football organizations, coaches, and players around the world in diverse 55-65+ small-sided football programs for their key insights and critical contributions to this article. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 49 published by scholink inc. references aguiar, m., botelho, g., lago, c., maças, v., & sampaio, j. 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(2017). case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper the state of american education during the covid-19 pandemic: survey of american public, private, and charter school teachers holim song 1 & emiel w. owens 2 1 professor, college of education, texas southern university, houston, tx 77007, usa 2 professor, college of education, texas southern university, houston, tx 77004, usa received: march 29, 2021 accepted: april 8, 2021 online published: june 19, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n3p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n3p1 abstract the purpose of the present study was to examine how teachers and students are adjusting to the new online platform, the frequency and significance of connectivity problems and how teachers believe their students’ education quality is. an electronic link to a qualtrics survey was sent to participants and a snowball sampling procedure (handcock & gile, 2011) was used. the online survey was open for 4 weeks and a total of 165 teachers representing 22 states across the u.s. in general, a large percent of students across the country do not have stable or any internet services in their home. furthermore, even for those that have internet access, connectivity issues caused problems for the entire class. new teachers in their first five years are less likely to offer alternatives when internet was not available and more likely changed their curriculum due to internet access issues. keywords online instructions, internet, connectivity problems, teacher education 1. introduction schools around the country have closed temporarily due to the covid-19 pandemic. it may be necessary for school closure in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. these nationwide school closures are impacting the majority of student population in terms of learning opportunity. the digital divide between students has become apparent as schools have increasingly moved to remote learning. some students are accessible to technology resources to learn remotely, but others lack internet connectivity or a computer. according to a paper by the opportunity insights (chetty et al., 2020), low-income students who participated in online math classes per week plunged by 62%, while students www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 2 published by scholink inc. from high-income households were down 21% since the pandemic. the number of lessons completed by low-income students were down to 52%, while high-income students completed 14% more lessons in a given week. while low-income students are lacking internet and technology resource to complete their homework online, it seems that the gap between low and high income household are widening. these gaps during the covid-19 crisis affect students’ learning opportunity especially for low-income students than affluent student. twenty-first century learning absolutely requires technology and internet. in order to provide equal opportunity to learn regardless their household income status, students should have the technology they need to learn outside of school. in the following, new dataset from surveys of american teachers is presented. this survey focused on the effects of internet access on education. we consider how teachers and students are adjusting to the new online platform, the frequency and significance of connectivity problems, and how teachers believe their students’ education quality is. this dataset is a significant step in understanding the importance of having stable internet access during the current educational situation. it is important that we be able to understand how common and serious such effects are and continue to be. 2. method an online survey was developed to gather information on the effects of internet access on the state of teachers’ online instruction during the covid-19 pandemic, incorporating the following areas: student participation, class disruptions, connectivity issues, curriculum changes, and other challenges. data collection was done through the use of a qualtrics online survey software and excel. an electronic link to a qualtrics survey was sent to participants and a snowball sampling procedure (handcock & gile, 2011) was used. in this case survey respondents were encouraged to forward the survey link to colleagues. the online survey was open for 4 weeks. the survey included 23 questions and was designed to be brief, increasing the likelihood of respondents (fan & yan, 2010). wherever possible, the survey included follow-up questions with qualitative feedback which can be found in the appendix. the truthfulness of participants may affect validity, but anonymity mitigates that. participation was completely voluntary; we did not offer survey participants any form of compensation. all completed surveys were included in the study. a total of 165 surveys were included in the analysis representing 22 states across the u.s... 3. results table 1 reports the descriptive results of the survey. the first set of questions provide descriptive of the sample. the first question reports the distributions of teachers and the states they represent. in this case texas followed by iowa had the largest sampling of teachers to participate in the survey. for the state of massachusetts, 17 teachers participated in the survey. the second item divides the states into regions of the country. north east represents states such as new york, massachusetts and pennsylvania. north https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0747563209001708?casa_token=g1r_aoh891kaaaaa:dltvusf9z1fqksdmno4u1s1payt0cj5yntg-ovvzmsbqxmgogshw8jnzshf9srhbouzvzruina www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 3 published by scholink inc. central states are represented by states such as michigan, ohio, and wisconsin. southern states were texas, south carolina, and alabama just to name a few. finally, western states were represented by states such as california, alaska, and colorado. item three on the survey ask the teacher to indicate the school setting they teach in. in this case, school settings were public, private, or charter school. the results indicated that the majority of teachers worked in a public-school setting. the next two items ask the teachers to indicate the number of years they had been in the teaching profession. the minimal was one year and the maximum number of years was forty-two years. when years of teaching experience were categorized, the majority of teachers had been teaching between 11 and 20 years. in this case, almost 30% of the teachers had taught school between 11 and 20 years. table 1. overall descriptive data sample survey question state frequency percent what state do you live in? alabama alaska california colorado district of columbia iowa massachusetts michigan mississippi nebraska new york north carolina ohio oklahoma oregon pennsylvania south carolina tennessee texas utah washington wisconsin 1 1 6 2 1 30 17 3 3 1 4 1 4 2 1 3 1 1 64 1 2 1 0.7 0.7 4.0 1.3 0.7 20.0 11.3 2.0 2.0 0.7 2.7 0.7 2.7 1.3 0.7 2.0 0.7 0.7 42.7 0.7 1.7 0.7 region of the country north east north central 26 41 17.3 27.3 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 4 published by scholink inc. south west 70 13 46.7 8.7 what type of school do you teach at? charter private public other 9 25 128 3 5.5 15.2 77.6 1.8 how long have you been teaching? min 1 max 42 mean 15.2 sd 10.4 years of teaching experience years 1-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31+ frequency 34 34 46 30 17 percent 21.1 21.1 28.6 18.6 10.6 note. n=165. the second set of questions (table 2) are related to the impact of covid-19 on student outcomes and internet issues associated with online instructions. the first item asked teachers if they felt their students were doing better or worse now that classes are online? more than two-thirds (about 70%) felt their students was doing somewhat worse or much worse in their class now that classes were being taught online. roughly 20% of the teachers indicated that their students were performing about the same. the next item asked teachers if they had access to internet at home? most of the teachers (approximately 93%) indicated that they do have internet at home. when asked what percent of students at their school had internet at home, the majority of the teachers (54.7%) indicated between 0 to 20%. about one-fourth (25%) of the teachers indicated that between 21 to 50 percent of their students had internet at home. it should be noted that only about 10 percent of teachers thought that between 76 to 100 percent of their students had internet at home. associated with the previous question; teachers were asked if they or their students were having internet connectivity issues. about 50 percent of the teachers indicated that connectivity issues do occur sometimes. about one-third of the teachers reported connectivity issues occurred either half of the time or most of the times. next, teachers were asked if students were offered an alternative if stable internet access was not available? about 70 percent of the teachers said “yes” and the remaining 30 percent said “no”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 5 published by scholink inc. table 2. overall descriptive data sample-student outcomes and internet issues questions impact frequency percent are your students doing better or worse now that class is online? much better somewhat better about the same somewhat worse much worse 3 10 36 77 39 1.8 6.1 21.8 46.7 23.6 do you have access to the internet at your home? yes yes, but unstable no 152 11 1 92.7 6.7 0.6 what percentage of students in your school do you estimate do not have a stable or any internet connection at home? 0-20% 21-50% 51-75% 76-100% 88 40 16 17 54.7 24.8 9.9 10.6 does dealing with internet connectivity issues, on either the teacher’s or student’s end, cause significant problems for the entire class? never sometimes half of the times most of the times always 19 83 24 28 11 11.5 50.3 14.5 17.0 6.7 have you or your students been offered alternatives if stable internet access was not available? yes no 115 48 70.6 29.4 note. n=165. the next set of items (table 3) are related to curriculum issues associated with covid-19. the first item asked teachers if they had changed their curriculum due to classes being online. about 60 percent of the teachers indicated they had and the remaining 40 percent said they had not. when asked if they were holding their class live, about 60 percent said “yes”; the remaining 40 percent said they did not hold live classes. teachers were then asked if they had lost contact with any of their students; 72 percent said they had. next teachers were asked if their students were able to follow along while at home, the majority (41.8%) said they might or might not. approximately 30 percent of the teachers indicated that students were either “probably not” or “definitely not” following them at home. the final item related to curriculum issues asked if teachers felt that their students have problems engaging with class materials because of internet connectivity issues. nearly 57 percent of the teachers indicated they believed their students were having problems engaging with class materials. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 6 published by scholink inc. table 3. overall descriptive data sample-curriculum issues questions impact frequency percent have you changed your curriculum due to internet access issues? yes no 96 69 58.2 41.8 are you holding class sessions live (i.e., no recorded)? yes no 98 67 59.4 40.6 have you lost contact with any of your students because of school closures? yes no 118 46 72.0 28.0 do you feel like your students are following along while at home? definitely not probably not might or might not probably yes definitely yes 20 31 69 35 10 2.1 18.8 41.8 21.2 6.1 do students have problems engaging with class materials (class meetings, materials, etc.) because of internet connectivity issues? yes no 94 71 57.0 43.0 note. n=165. the final set of questions (table 4) were associated with students’ access to internet services and laptops through the school they attend. the first question asked teachers if they believe it is equal rights issue that should require schools to provide internet services to all students. only about one-fourth (24%) believed that student access to internet services is an equal rights issue. the remaining 76 percent indicated that student access to internet services was not an equal rights issue. teachers were then asked if they believed public internet access will improve student participation; almost 70 percent said “yes”. when asked should schools provide internet access to students, around 42 percent said “yes” if students cannot afford it. thirty seven percent of the teachers indicated that all students should be provided internet through the school. the final question asked if schools should provide laptops to students; 60 percent said that schools should provide laptops to all students. thirty percent of the teachers indicated that schools should provide laptops if students cannot afford them. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 7 published by scholink inc. table 4. overall descriptive data sample-access to internet services questions impact frequency percent in brown v the board of education, the court described an education as “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” do you believe your school isn’t providing internet access to your students? yes no 35 111 24.0 76.0 do you believe public internet access will improve student participation? yes no 101 45 69.2 30.8 should schools provide internet access to students? yes, to all students yes, if cannot afford no 54 61 31 37.0 41.8 21.2 should schools provide laptops/tablets to students? yes, to all students yes, if cannot afford no 88 45 13 60.3 30.8 8.9 note. n=165. table 5 reports descriptive outcomes across regions of the country. when asked if students were doing better or worse, teachers from north central and western stated students tend to be doing either somewhat worse or much worse compared to other states. teachers from north-east and southern states tend to indicate more students were performing about the same. when comparing internet access, three of the four regions reported more than 90 percent have access to internet at home. the only region that reported less than 90 percent were teachers in north central states. when asked what percentage of students in their schools did not have internet at home, teachers from north-east had the highest percentages. in this case, teachers from north-east schools estimate that about 80 percent of their students have 0 to 20 percent access to internet services at home. teachers in north central states report their students have the most access to internet. about one-fourth of their students (50% or greater) have access to internet at home. when asked about internet connectivity issues; teacher in the north east reported the fewest concerns. in this case, about one-fourth of the teachers from north east states reported not having any connectivity issues. over 20 percent of the teachers in southern, north central, and western states reported having connectivity issues either most of the time or always. when asked if students have been offered alternatives if stable internet access was not available, teachers from southern and north-central states were more likely to say yes. about 76 percent of southern teachers and 85 percent of north-central teachers reported they do provide alternatives to internet. only about 46 percent of north-east teachers reported providing alternatives to internet. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 8 published by scholink inc. table 5. descriptive data by region-student outcomes and internet issues north-east south north-central west are your students doing better or worse now that class is online? much better somewhat better about the same somewhat worse much worse 3.8% 15.4% 38.8% 26.9% 15.5% 1.4% 7.1% 31.4% 44.3% 15.7% 2.4% 2.4% 7.3% 48.8% 39.0% 0% 0% 7.7% 61.5% 30.8% do you have access to the internet at your home? yes yes, but unstable no 96.2% 3.8% 0% 94.3% 4.3% 0% 87.8% 9.8% 2.4% 92.3% 7.7% 0% what percentage of students in your school do you estimate to not have a stable or any internet at home? 0-2% 21-50% 51-75% 76-100% 79.2% 8.3% 8.3% 4.2% 55.1% 24.6% 8.7% 11.6% 50.0% 27.5% 15.0% 7.5% 38.5% 46.2% 7.7% 7.7% does dealing with internet connectivity issues on either the teacher’s or student’s end, cause significant problems for the entire class? never sometimes half of the time most of the times always 23.1% 69.2% 7.7% 0% 0% 8.6% 54.4% 12.9% 18.6% 8.6% 7.3% 41.5% 19.5% 24.4% 7.3% 15.4% 38.5% 15.4% 23.1% 7.7% have you or your students been offered alternatives if stable internet access was not available? yes no 46.2% 50.0% 75.7% 22.9% 84.5% 14.6% 61.5% 38.5% note. n=165. when examining curriculum issues (table 6), the first item asked teachers if they had to change their curriculum due to internet access? teachers in the south had the highest percent; (64.3%) of teachers there indicated they did change their curriculum. teachers in the western states indicated the smallest percent (46.2%) of those teachers indicated they did change their curriculum due to internet access. when asked if they were holding class sessions live, teachers located in north-east schools reported the highest percent at about 82%. north-central and southern teachers reported the lowest percent at 51.2 and 54.3% respectively. the next item asked if teachers felt they had lost contact with any of their students, teachers from the north central reported the highest percentage with about 93 percent saying “yes”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 9 published by scholink inc. about 85 percent of the teachers from western states also reported they had lost contact with some of their students. the lowest percent was teachers from north-east states with about 31 percent. the next item asked teachers whether they felt their students were following along while at home. teachers from north east indicated the highest percentage in agreement. in this case about 65 percent of the north east teachers either said “probably yes” or “definitely yes” to their students being able to follow along while at home. about 30 percent of the teachers from southern, north central, and western states indicated that their students were either probably not or definitely not following along while at home. the final question related to curriculum issues; teachers were asked if their students were having problems engaging with class materials because of internet connectivity issues, over 50 percent of the teachers from southern, north central and western states said “yes”. the lowest percentage were teachers from north east with only about 39 percent saying “yes”. table 6. descriptive data by region-curriculum issues north-east south north-central west have you changed your curriculum due to internet access issues? yes no 50.0% 50.0% 64.3% 35.7% 58.5% 41.5% 46.2% 53.8% are you holding class sessions live (i.e., not recorded? yes no 80.08% 19.2% 54.3% 45.7% 51.2% 48.8% 61.5% 38.5% have you lost contact with any of your students because of school closures? yes no 30.8% 69.2% 68.6% 31.4% 92.7% 7.3% 84.6% 7.7% do you feel like your students are following along while at home? definitely not probably not might or might not probably yes definitely yes 7.7% 7.7% 19.2% 42.3% 23.1% 12.9% 21.4% 37.1% 27.1% 1.4% 9.8% 24.4% 56.1% 7.3% 2.4% 7.7% 23.1% 53.8% 15.4% 0% do students have problems engaging with class materials (class meeting, materials, etc.) because of internet connectivity issues? yes no 38.5% 61.5% 58.6% 41.4% 58.5% 41.5% 53.8% 46.2% note. n=165. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 10 published by scholink inc. the final set of questions (table 7) were associated with access to internet services. the first question asked if teachers felt equal rights are being violated if schools do not provide internet access to students. approximately 30 percent of the teachers from southern and western states agreed it was an equal rights issue. about 85 percent of north east states teachers said no it was not equal rights. the next question asked teachers if they believed public internet access will improve student participation. over two-thirds of the teacher from north east, southern, and north central states said “yes” to this statement. nearly 62 percent of the western state teachers agreed with this statement. when asked if schools should provide internet access to students, western states teachers had the highest percent (46.2%) that indicated that internet access should be provided to all students. teachers from north east states had the lowest percent (26.9%) of those teachers indicated that schools should provide internet to all students. furthermore, 50 percent of the teachers from north east states indicated that the school should provide students internet if they cannot afford it. about 20 percent of teachers across north east, southern, and north central indicated no, schools should not be responsible for providing internet to their students. when asked if schools should provide their students with laptops, north central teachers had the highest percent (73.2%) that said “yes”, to all students. teachers from north east states had the lowest percentage of teachers that agreed that school should provide laptops to all students. however, north east teachers had the highest percentage of teachers that suggested schools should provide their students with laptops if they can’t afford them. it should be pointed out; slightly over 20% of the teachers from western states said “no”, school should not provide laptops to their students. table 7. descriptive data by region-access to internet services north-east south north-central west in brown v the board of education, the court described an education as “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” do you believe your school isn’t providing internet access to your students? yes no 15.4% 84.6% 28.6% 65.7% 17.1% 82.9% 30.8% 69.2% do you believe public internet access will improve student participation? yes no 69.2% 30.8% 68.6% 25.7% 65.9% 34.1% 61.5% 38.5% should schools provide internet access to students? yes, to all students yes, if can’t afford 26.9% 50.0% 23.1% 37.1% 37.1% 20.0% 36.6% 41.5% 22.0% 46.2% 38.5% 15.4% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 11 published by scholink inc. no should schools provide laptops/tablets to students? yes, to all students yes, if can’t afford no 38.5% 53.8% 7.1% 58.6% 28.6% 7.1% 73.2% 19.5% 7.3% 53.8% 23.1% 23.1% note. n=165. table 8 looks at descriptive outcomes associated with student outcomes and internet issues, curriculum issues and access to internet services across teachers’ years of teaching experience. under student outcomes the first question asks if teachers believed their students were doing better or worse now that classes were online. over 75 percent of the teachers with 6 to 10 years of teaching service believed their students were performing either somewhat worse or much worse academically since classes have been moved to online. over 60 percent of the other teachers with 0 to 5, 11 to 20, 21 to 30 years of teaching experience, and teachers with 31 plus years believed that their students were doing somewhat worse or much worse since their students have moved to online classes. finally, about one third of the teachers with 11 to 20 teaching experience believed that students were doing about the same since moving to an online platform. when asked if teachers had access to internet at home over 90 percent of all the teachers across all teaching experience levels said they did. when ask to estimate what percent of their students do not have stable internet of no internet at all, 0 to 20 percent received the highest percent. this was true across all levels of teaching experience categories. the percent of teachers indicating 0 to 20 of their students do not have stable internet of no internet at all range from 66.7 percent for teachers with 0 to 5 teaching experience to 40 percent for teachers with 31 plus years of experience. it should also be noted that one third of the teachers with 31 plus years of teaching experience indicated that between 76 to 100 percent or their students do not have stable internet of no internet at all. when ask if connectivity issues causes significant problems for either teachers or students, majority of the teachers across all teaching experience levels indicated sometimes. slightly more than 25 percent of the teachers with 31 plus years of experience indicated connectivity issues causes significant problems either most of the times or always. when asked if an alternative to internet was being offered teachers with 11 to 20 and 21 to 30 reported the highest percent of 84.4 and 78.8 percent respectively. the lowest percent were for the groups 0 to 5 and 31 plus years of experience with 47.1 and 53.3 respectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 12 published by scholink inc. table 8. descriptive data by years of teaching experience-student outcomes and internet issues years of teaching experience 0-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31+ are your students doing better or worse now that class is online? much better somewhat better about the same somewhat worse much worse 0% 8.8% 20.6% 32.4% 38.2% 0% 2.9% 17.6% 55.9% 23.5% 0% 2.2% 31.1% 51.1% 15.6% 3.0% 9.1% 21.2% 48.5% 18.2% 6.7% 13.3% 13.3% 40.0% 26.7% do you have access to the internet your home? yes yes, but stable no 91.2% 8.8% 0% 91.2% 8.8% 0% 95.6% 2.2% 0% 90.9% 9.1% 0% 93.3% 6.7% 0% what percentage of students in your school do you estimate to not have a stable or any internet connection at home? 0-20% 21-50% 51-75% 76-100% 66.7% 21.2% 6.1% 6.1% 42.4% 39.4% 9.1% 9.1% 65.1% 16.3% 9.3% 9.3% 54.5% 30.3% 9.1% 6.1% 40.0% 13.3% 13.3% 33.3% does dealing with internet connectivity issues on either the teacher’s significant problem for the entire class? never sometimes half of the times most of the times always 17.6% 50.0% 11.8% 14.7% 5.9% 8.8% 44.1% 26.5% 11.8% 8.8% 13.3% 51.1% 8.9% 26.7% 0% 6.1% 63.6% 12.1% 6.1% 12.1% 13.3% 40.0% 20.0% 13.3% 13.3% have you or your students been offered alternatives if internet access was not available? yes no 47.1% 52.9% 76.5% 23.5% 84.4% 11.1% 78.8% 21.2% 53.3% 46.7% note. n=165. the next group of items (table 9) addresses curriculum issues associated with the move to online classes. the first question in this section asked if teachers had changed their curriculum due to internet access issues. about two-thirds of the teachers in the 0 to 5 and 11-20 years of experience indicated they had. the lowest groups were teachers with 21 to 30 and 31+ years of teaching experience with percentages of 48.5 and 33.3 respectively. when asked if teachers were holding classes live, the largest group were teachers with 31+ years of experience, with 80 percent. the next highest percentage were teachers with 0 to 5 teaching years with about 62 percent saying “yes”. the lowest group of teachers were those with 6 to 10, 11 to 20 and 21 to 30 teaching years, with percentages of 55.9, 57.8 and 51.5 respectively. when asked if teachers had lost contact with students because of school closures, teachers with 6 to 10 teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 13 published by scholink inc. years indicated the highest percentage at about 85 percent. the lowest percentage were teachers with 31+ years of teaching experience, with about 47 percent saying “yes”. teachers from 0 to 5 years and 11 to 20 years, indicated about 73 percent have lost contact with some of their students. the next item asked was whether teachers felt their students were able to follow along while at home. almost 45 percent of the teachers with 0 to 5 years of teaching experience indicated that their students were either “probably not” or “definitely not” able to follow along. it should be pointed out; roughly 40 percent of the teachers in the 21 to 30 and 31+ years indicated their students were either “probably yes” or “definitely yes” able to follow along at home. the next item asked whether teachers felt their students were having problems engaging with class materials because of internet issues. teachers in the 31 + teaching year group had the lowest percent (46.7%) that responded “yes” to students having problems engaging with class materials. the group with the highest percent (65%) stating “yes”, their students were having problems engaging with class materials were teachers with 6 to 10 years of teaching experience. approximately 60 percent of the teachers in the 0 to 5 and 21 to 30 teaching experience groups responded “yes” to this question. table 9. descriptive data by years of teaching experience-curriculum issues years of teaching experience 0-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31+ have you changed your curriculum due to internet access issue? yes no 67.6% 32.4% 61.8% 38.2% 68.9% 31.1% 48.5% 51.5% 33.3% 66.7% are you holding class sessions live (i.e., not recorded)? yes no 61.8% 38.2% 55.9% 44.1% 57.8% 42.2% 51.5% 48.5% 80.0% 20.0% have you lost contact with any of your students because of school closures? yes no 73.5% 26.5% 85.3% 14.7% 73.3% 26.7% 66.7% 33.3% 46.7% 53.3% do you feel like your students are following along while at home? definitely not probably not might or might not probably yes definitely yes 23.5% 20.6% 38.2% 14.7% 2.9% 11.8% 29.4% 38.2% 20.3% 0% 4.4% 17.8% 53.3% 17.8% 6.7% 6.1% 15.2% 36.4% 36.4% 6.1% 20.0% 6.7% 33.3% 20.0% 20.0% does students have problem engaging with class materials (class meeting, materials, etc.) because of internet connectivity issues? yes no 58.8% 41.2% 64.7% 35.3% 51.5% 48.9% 60.6% 39.4% 46.7% 53.3% note. n=165. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 14 published by scholink inc. the last section (table 10) looks at teachers’ perception to student access to internet services. the first question asks teachers if they fill it an equal rights issue associated with student access to internet services. the highest percent of teachers that agreed with this statement were teacher with 0 to 5 years of experience. in this case about 32 percent of this group said “yes”. the next highest group of teachers that agreed with the statement was 31 plus teaching experience. about 29 percent said “yes” that this was an equal rights issue. the group with the lowest percent was teachers in the 11 to 20 group. seventeen percent of these teachers said “yes”. the next item asks if teachers believe that public internet access will improve student participation. three groups, 6 to 10, 11 to 20 and 31 plus responded “yes” at a rate of 70 percent or above. about two-thirds of the remaining group, 0 to 5 and 21 to 30 answered “yes” to this item. when asked if teachers believed that schools should provide internet access to students, the highest percent of teachers that said “yes” to all students were teachers in the 31 plus years of experience group. about 43 percent of these teachers agreed with this statement. the remaining four teaching experience groups agreed that schools should provide internet access to all students range from about 39 percent for the group 0 to 5, to 33.3 percent for the group 21 to 30. a large percent of the groups suggested that schools should provide internet access to student if they cannot afford it. the percentages range from a high of 50 percent for the 21 to 30 group, to about 36 percent for teachers in the 31 plus years of experience. slightly more than 21 percent of 0 to 5, 6 to 10, 11-20 and 31 plus groups said “no” schools should not provide internet access to students. the final question associated with access to internet services was should schools provide laptops or tables to students. sixty nine percent of the teachers in the 6 to 10 group said “yes” schools should provide laptop/tables to all students. about 64 percent of the teachers in the 0 to 5 and 21 to 30 groups of teachers said “yes” schools should provide laptop/tables to all students. the lowest percent of teachers that agreed that schools should provide laptop/tables to all students were the group 31 plus. about 29 percent of the 31 plus group of teachers said “yes”. it should be noted that the 31 plus group of teachers had the highest percent (42.9%) of teachers saying “yes”, schools should provide laptop/tables to all students if they cannot afford to. furthermore, 31 plus group of teachers had the highest percent (28.5%) of teachers saying “no”, schools should not provide laptop/tables to all students. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 15 published by scholink inc. table 10. descriptive data by years of teaching experience-access to internet services years of teaching experience 0-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31+ in brown v the board of education, the court described an education as “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” do you believe your school isn’t providing internet access to your students? yes no 32.1% 67.9% 26.0% 74.0% 17.0% 83.0% 23.3% 76.7% 28.6% 71.4% do you believe public internet access will improve student participation? yes no 67.9% 32.1% 70.0% 30.0% 75.6% 24.4% 66.7% 33.3% 71.4% 28.6% should schools provide internet access to students? yes, to all students yes, if can’t afford no 39.3% 39.3% 21.4% 34.5% 41.4% 24.1% 36.6% 39.0% 24.4% 33.3% 50.0% 16.7% 42.9% 35.7% 21.4% should schools provide laptops/tablets to students? yes, to all students yes, if can’t afford no 64.3% 35.7% 0% 69.0% 24.1% 6.9% 56.1% 38.7% 5.2% 63.3% 33.3% 3.4% 28.6% 42.9% 28.5% note. n=165. 4. discussion the impact of covid 19 has had a devastating effect on an already struggling educational system in the united states. this is especially true since over the years, one of the major divisions in succeeding or failing in school has been centered on the technology divide. in this case successful schools are more likely to have more technical access, such as internet and computers in the classrooms, compared to failing schools that have limited access to technology. students attending these successful schools are more likely to have computers and internet access at home compared to students attending these failing schools. therefore, with the closing of schools due to covid 19, the educational system, k-12, colleges, and universities are now forced to rely on technology and the internet to continue to educate their communities. this could lead to further educational divide influenced by the technology divide. the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of school closing due to covid 19 on the classroom teachers through the eyes of technology issues across the country. the first important finding in the study is related to the overall descriptive outcomes. in general, a large percent of students across the country do not have stable or any internet services in their home. furthermore, even for those that www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 16 published by scholink inc. have internet, connectivity issues caused problems for the entire class. in general, teachers indicated students were doing worse academically due to being relegated to learning in an online environment. however, most teachers are offering an alternative to internet instructions when internet access is not available. teachers overall believe their students are doing worse academically due to the online platform. when asked about curriculum changes, only a small majority indicated they have changed their curriculum to fit the online environment. overall, a small majority are holding class live online now; however, a large percent of the teachers reported that they had lost contact with some of their students due to the online nature of classes. teachers proceeded to say that students may or maybe not be able to follow along with them at home. additionally, a small majority of teachers suggest students had problems engaging with class materials due to internet connections. most teachers did not believe internet access is an equal rights issue. however, the majority of teachers did believe that schools should provide lab top/tables to all students. when asked “should schools provide internet access to students?”, many of the teachers indicated “yes”, if students cannot afford it. finally, teachers do believe that public internet will improve student participation. the second important finding in this study is related to the comparison of responses between the teachers across regions of the country. when asked if their students are doing better or worse due to online classes, teachers from north central and western states advised that their students were struggling more compared to other regions of the country. teachers in north east states tended to have less internet connectivity issues compared to other regions, and north central and western regions tended to have the most problems. north east states had more live class sessions and less contact lost with their students compared to other regions. with more online classes, north east teachers report fewer students were having problems engaging with class materials due to internet issues. finally, north east teachers stated that their students were more likely to be able to follow along while at home compared to other regions. north central teachers had the lowest percent when asked if they were holding class sessions live. this may explain why they are reporting the largest percent of teachers that have lost contact with some of their students. likewise, this might explain why these teachers are having the most problems with students following along with instructions at home. similar to north central states, western and southern states have a small majority of teachers that were teaching classes live. this is also associated with a large percentage of teachers reporting they have lost contact with some of their students. these teachers are also indicating a significant percent of their students are having problems following along with instructions at home. the third important finding in this study was associated with years of teaching experience. new teachers in their first five years are less likely to offer alternatives when internet was not available compared to other teaching experience groups. furthermore, new teachers were more likely changed www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 17 published by scholink inc. their curriculum due to internet access issues compared to other teaching experience groups. finally a higher percent of new teachers believed the internet access is an equal rights issue compared to other teaching experience groups. teachers with 31 plus years were less likely to change their curriculum, more likely to hold class live sessions and less likely to lose contact with their students. furthermore, for this teaching group their students are less likely to have problems engaging with class materials because of internet connectivity issues, compared to other teaching groups. finally, this teaching group were more likely to agree that schools provide internet access to all students and less likely to agree to schools provide laptops to all students. 5. implication and conclusion it is clear from the findings that k-12 educators are indicating that internet access and internet connectivity are essential components of teaching and learning remotely due to covid-19. as students and teachers are more rely on internet technology regardless of face-to-face or online class format, it is important that pre-service teachers are prepared properly to utilize effective use of communication technology in order to meet online instructional format. however, it appears that technology integration into either face-to-face or online class is still fragmented and taught as a separate skill set, rather than technology being embedded into all course work in the education preparation program. the problem with this approach is that while pre-service teachers are exposed to technology, they do not have adequate models that demonstrate how technology can be a tool for enhancing teaching and learning and not a just a separate skill. for effective technology integration, the program process needs to focus on the learner rather than specific content. the internet can enhance the classroom learning environment by providing instant access to class materials, teachers, and peers. this study has highlighted some of the current success and problems association with the internet and online instructions. furthermore, this study will lead to scientific studies and large scales studies that can identify remedies to the issues that this study has identified. references auxier, b., & anderson, m. (2020). as schools close due to the coronavirus, some u.s. students face a digital “homework gap”. retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/16/as-schools-close-due-to-the-coronavirus-someu-s-students-face-a-digital-homework-gap/ carlsson, m., dahl, g. b., öckert, b., & rooth, d. (2015). the effect of schooling on cognitive skills. the review of economics and statistics, 97(3), 533-547. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00501 https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00501 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 3, 2021 18 published by scholink inc. chetty, r., friedman, j., henderen, n., stepner, m., & opportunity insights team. (2020). how did covid-19 and stabilization policies affect spending and employment? a new real-time economic tracker based on private sector data. retrieved from https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/tracker_paper.pdf cooper, h., nye, b., charlton, k., lindsay, j., & greathouse, s. (1996). the effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: a narrative and meta-analytic review. review of educational research, 66(3), 227-268. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543066003227 education week. (2020, may 15). map: coronavirus and school closures. in education week. retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures.html fan, w., & zheng, y. (2009). factors affecting response rates of the web survey: a systematic review. computers in human behavior, 26(2), 132-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.10.015 fcc. (2020). home network tips for the coronavirus pandemic. retrieved from https://www.fcc.gov/home-network-tips-coronavirus-pandemic handcock, m., & krista, j. (2011). comment: on the concept of snowball sampling. sociological methodology, 41(1), 367-371. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9531.2011.01243.x johnston, k., & vázquez, t. b. (2020). boston gears up for school shutdown. retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/15/nation/bps-providing-students-with-chromebooks-while -schools-are-closed-due-coronavirus/ mineo, l. (2020). the pandemic’s impact on education. retrieved from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/04/the-pandemics-impact-on-education/ nces. (2019). digest of education statistics, 2019. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_702.12.asp nces. (2020). the condition of education-preprimary, elementary, and secondary education-family characteristics-children’s internet access at home-indicator may (2020). retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cch.asp office of the texas governor. (2020). governor abbott, tea, dallas isd launch operation connectivity statewide. retrieved from https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-tea-dallas-isd-launch-operation-connectivity-state wide supreme court of the united states, & warren, e. (1953). u.s. reports: brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep347483/ unesco. (2020a). adverse consequences of school closures. retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/consequences unesco. (2020b). covid-19 impact on education. retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543066003227 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.10.015 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9531.2011.01243.x global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 15 original paper research on reform and innovation of training mode of civil and hydraulic engineering graduate students under the background of “dual carbon” goals guo yuanxin 1 , zhou xiaolong 1 , kong zhe 2* , quan hongzhu 1 & li qiuyi 1 1 college of civil engineering and architecture, qingdao agricultural university, qingdao, china 2 college of civil engineering, qingdao city university, qingdao, china * kong zhe, e-mail: zhe.kong@qdc.edu.cn received: november 21, 2024 accepted: december 11, 2024 online published: december 16, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p15 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p15 abstract as an important part of the overall layout of ecological civilization construction, carbon peaking and carbon neutrality provide strategic opportunities for low-carbon energy transformation and innovative development of higher education. based on the training of civil and water conservancy professional postgraduate students, this paper builds an interdisciplinary teaching system centering on the concept of “dual carbon”, and explores the relationship between energy transformation and energy conservation and emission reduction, engineering technology and green development, practical cases and analysis and other course systems through the establishment of a composite innovative teaching team of civil and water conservancy and innovative personnel training mode. in order to achieve the “dual carbon” goals of the society, this paper puts forward the model of university-enterprise cooperation and the integration of science, production and education. keywords dual carbon, civil and hydraulic engineering, graduate training, reform and innovation 1. introduction carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals is a two-stage carbon reduction strategy proposed by the chinese government. the goal is to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. in 2022, the ministry of education issued the “work plan on strengthening the construction of the talent cultivation system for higher education with carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, which requires to accelerate the training of urgently needed talents and improve www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 16 published by scholink inc. the training quality of professionals related to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality for the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. the major of civil and hydraulic engineering belongs to the discipline of civil engineering. the traditional teaching system centering on the basic theoretical knowledge of engineering mechanics, fluid mechanics and civil engineering has been unable to meet the requirements for talents in modern civil engineering industry. therefore, the current important task is how to integrate the “dual carbon” concept in postgraduate education and teaching, and cultivate high-quality talents with environmental awareness and sustainable development. 2. current situation of graduate training in civil and hydraulic engineering with the continuous advancement of the significant educational strategic decision of “double first-class”, china has been attaching increasing importance to higher education, constantly elevating the educational level, and steadily moving forward towards the goal of aligning with the world. however, at present, there are still numerous problems in the education and training of postgraduates majoring in civil and hydraulic engineering. the traditional training mode for postgraduates in this field can no longer meet the training requirements of the current “dual carbon” goals, and the cross-disciplinary thinking awareness of postgraduates needs to be further enhanced. summarizing the status of postgraduate training in civil and hydraulic engineering, there are mainly three aspects of problems. 2.1 the curriculum system for cultivating innovative talents in civil and hydraulic engineering postgraduates for achieving “dual carbon” goals needs to be improved at present, the postgraduate courses of civil and hydraulic engineering mainly focus on architectural design, construction management, building materials and water conservancy engineering, and there is a lack of relevant courses with carbon reduction as the main content. under the guidance of the policy, the concept, knowledge and practice of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality should be reasonably integrated into the curriculum system of civil and hydraulic engineering graduate students, and energy conservation and emission reduction, green building, renewable energy and other disciplines should be vigorously developed. at the same time, in the setting of postgraduate curriculum system, there is a lack of practical teaching content related to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, which cannot meet the practical ability training goal of “dual carbon” innovative talents. 2.2 the talent cultivation mode in civil and hydraulic engineering postgraduates for achieving “dual carbon” goals needs to be improved cultivating “dual carbon” talents is an internal requirement for colleges and universities to deepen their own reform. strengthening the cultivation of “dual carbon” talents mainly involves important changes in talent training concepts, modes and methods. however, the current graduate talent cultivation of civil and hydraulic engineering still adopts the traditional mode, which is manifested as “top-down, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 17 published by scholink inc. project-led, separation of science and education”. this traditional mode leads to some problems, such as narrow curriculum, single teaching mode, lagging teaching syllabus, and disconnection between training objectives and talent training objectives under the background of “dual carbon”. for example, the teaching syllabus, course materials and courseware of most graduate students lag the development of civil and hydraulic engineering under the background of “dual carbon” to varying degrees, and some data and indicators in the original teaching course are difficult to meet the actual needs of the current construction of green and low-carbon economic system, which hinders the training speed of “dual carbon” high-quality talents in civil and hydraulic engineering. 2.3 the compound and innovative teaching team in civil and hydraulic engineering postgraduates for achieving “dual carbon” goals needs to be improved at present, although the teaching team is committed to cultivating talents in the field of “dual carbon” with scientific literacy, innovation awareness and cross-border ability, it faces many challenges in practice. on the one hand, the team members’ cognition of the “dual carbon” goals are not enough, and some teachers are relatively short of professional knowledge and teaching experience in the “dual carbon” field, which affects the quality of talent training to a certain extent. on the other hand, as the field of “dual carbon” is a new and complex interdisciplinary subject, the team has difficulties in curriculum system design and interdisciplinary integration, and it is difficult to organically integrate the concept of “dual carbon” into related teaching activities. 3. training model and method of civil and hydraulic engineering graduate students under the background of “dual carbon” goals the teaching reform of civil and hydraulic engineering postgraduate education under the background of “dual carbon” goals is a systematic project, which needs support and cooperation from various aspects, as shown in figure 1. the innovation and development of civil and hydraulic engineering can be promoted through the following measures, including training more high-quality talents with environmental awareness and sustainable development concepts, including the establishment of research groups, the formulation of training plans, the reform of teaching methods, the strengthening of school-enterprise cooperation, the promotion of international exchanges and cooperation, the improvement of teaching evaluation system, and the strengthening of teacher construction. based on the training system of civil and hydraulic engineering graduate students in college of civil engineering and architectural of qingdao agricultural university, this paper analyzes the key factors that affect the training of graduate students’ innovative ability, and explores the training mode and method of civil engineering graduate students from the following three aspects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 18 published by scholink inc. figure 1. design and route of education and teaching reform program 3.1 the construction of interdisciplinary knowledge system we have added “dual carbon” knowledge, low-carbon technology and sustainable development content in the curriculum, focusing on cultivating graduate students’ environmental awareness and sustainable development concept. we also strengthen international exchanges and cooperation by participating in international conferences and student exchange programs to broaden the international horizon of graduate students and learn from foreign advanced concepts and technologies. and we improve the evaluation system, establish a scientific evaluation system, comprehensive evaluation of graduate students’ academic ability, practical ability, innovation ability and other aspects of performance. at the same time, the “dual carbon” goals can be incorporated into the evaluation system to encourage graduate students to pay attention to and solve problems such as low carbon and sustainable development. as shown in figure 2. figure 2. construction of interdisciplinary knowledge system around the “dual carbon” goals www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 19 published by scholink inc. 3.2 the construction of the cooperative education model of the integration of science, production and education explore the talent training mode of the integration of science, production and education, and cooperate with enterprises and scientific research institutions to jointly promote graduate training and strengthen the cultivation of graduate students’ innovative ability and practical ability, as shown in figure 3. strengthen practical teaching, cultivate graduate students’ practical ability and engineering experience through school-enterprise cooperation and practical projects, and introduce green and low-carbon technologies to carry out relevant practical projects; graduate students are encouraged to participate in “dual carbon” related scientific research projects, especially in the field of low-carbon technology and sustainable development in the field of civil and hydraulic engineering, and cultivate their independent thinking and innovation ability. figure 3. construction of innovative collaborative education mode of integration of science, production and education 3.3 the construction of teaching team we continue to improve the quality of teachers, introducing and training a team of teachers with “dual carbon” knowledge and practical experience, improving the research level and engineering experience of teachers, so that they can better guide and train graduate students. we can train basic teachers in the field of “dual carbon” by holding various types of senior seminars and training classes. and we can select some teachers and carry out training activities with knowledge popularization and professional teaching as the main content to supplement basic teachers. at the same time, we can draw on the relatively mature eu carbon trading talent training experience, increase the introduction of overseas outstanding talents in the field of carbon finance and carbon management, and support the construction of carbon finance and carbon management teachers. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 20 published by scholink inc. 4. conclusion to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals constitutes an important strategic goal of the country. the civil and hydraulic industry, as a significant part of the national infrastructure construction, is required to actively respond to the national strategy and promote green and low-carbon development. this paper investigates the training mode and method for graduate students majoring in civil and hydraulic engineering, optimizes the top-level design for cultivating high-quality talents with a “dual carbon” goals, defines the training objectives, enhances the construction of the postgraduate curriculum system, innovates the mode of integrating production and education, strengthens the teaching staff, and builds a teaching team with a “dual carbon” goals. training civil and hydraulic engineering talents with strong innovation ability, engineering practice ability, and an international vision under the “dual carbon” strategy holds positive reference significance for engineering graduate education under the new situation. funding 2023 graduate education and teaching reform research project of qingdao agricultural university (qnyjg2322). references fan, q. l., song, k. z., kong, x. h. et al. (2021). discussion on the training system of practical innovation ability of graduate students in civil and hydraulic engineering majors based on the cdio concept. urban architecture and architecture, 18(10), 71-73. gou, h. y., pu, q. h., hong, y. et al. (2021). cross-innovation ability training and tutor team construction of civil engineering graduate students under the background of new engineering. higher architectural education, 2021(5), 54-60. he, s. m., liao, c. f., liang, y. et al. (2020). a practical exploration of training engineering technology innovation ability of professional degree postgraduates through industry-university-research collaboration. journal of higher education, 2020(36), 47-50. li, x., lv, h. l., & wu, y. z. (2016). discussion on the cultivation of practical abilities of full-time graduate students in architecture and civil engineering. higher architectural education, 2016(2), 53-56. ma, s. a., chen, b. w., & yi, j. (2018). research on improving graduate students’ innovative practical ability under the background of “double first-class” construction: a case study of graduate students with professional degrees in the field of architecture and civil engineering. education and teaching forum, 2018(8), 25-27. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 1, 2025 21 published by scholink inc. peng, s. r., & su, s. (2022). research on the training mode of graduate students’ innovative practical ability. theoretical research and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship, 2022(19), 139-141. yang, j. h., yang, b., luo, q. h. et al. (2019). industry-university-research integration training model for professional degree graduates in architecture and civil engineering under the background of “double first-class”. higher education, 2019(23), 176-177. zheng, y. n., liu, m. f., lu, s. et al. (2024). research on the cultivation of innovative practical ability of graduate students majoring in civil engineering under the background of new engineering. china educational technology and equipment, 2024(12), 149-152. zhu, y. r. (2021). research on the quality evaluation system of materials graduate training under the background of “double first-class” construction. heilongjiang human resources and social security, 2021(21), 13-15. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 21 original paper effects of multimodal listening instruction on listening performance of rural middle school students from east china kaifang fan 1* & yue qi 2 1 school of foreign studies, suqian university, suqian, china 2 institute for industrial technology research, suqian university, suqian, china * kaifang fan, school of foreign studies, suqian university, suqian, china received: december 8, 2022 accepted: december 19, 2022 online published: february 1, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n1p21 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n1p21 abstract to overcome the key factors affecting the instruction of english listening is of vital importance for english teaching in rural middle schools. in this study, we conduct a quasi-experiment following the multimodal instruction model to explore the effectiveness of the multimodal instruction model. firstly, the research adopts a mixed research method to extract the key factors that have influence on the english listening level of rural middle school students. then, taking into consideration the influencing factors, a multimodal listening instruction model is designed for instruction experiments. the study, then, collects data via questionnaire survey and conducts statistic analysis to analyze the results of listening tests after instruction experiments. the results show that the multimodal listening instruction model can effectively stimulate students to improve their english listening ability, and its effectiveness on detailed information comprehension is greater than that on inference question. the results of the study can guide rural middle school english teachers to give priority to the use of multimodal listening instruction mode in listening details, and help students effectively improve listening effects. keywords multimodal listening instruction, effectiveness, detailed information, inference information www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 22 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction in compulsory education curriculum standards: english (2022 edition) (hereinafter referred to as the 2022 version of the english curriculum standards), it is proposed that the english curriculum should focus on the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating people, reflecting the nature and concept of the curriculum, and establishing the curriculum objectives aiming at cultivating and developing students’ language ability, cultural awareness, thinking quality, learning ability and other core qualities (ministry of education of the people’s republic of china, 2022). he 2022 version of the english curriculum standards indicates that in the implementation stage of english curriculum, we should pay attention to not only the content of learning, but also to students’ learning methods, learning satisfaction, and learning instruction. teachers should encourage students to participate in the learning process with multiple senses according to students’ cognitive characteristics, and guide students to adopt multimodal learning methods to enhance learning effects and improve learning efficiency (ministry of education, 2022). but at present, listening has become the bottleneck that restricts many rural middle school student’ english learning. there are still some problems in english listening instruction. for example, students lack listening skills, pay too much attention to the words and sentences they hear, can’t grasp the general idea of listening materials, and can’t find answers from the general idea. besides, their mother tongue influences their reaction speed to english listening; the differences between chinese and foreign cultures also affect students’ english listening ability and so on. in view of this, this study intends to analyze the factors affecting the listening comprehension of students from rural middle school and try investigate the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction. 2. literature review 2.1 research on multimodal instruction mode multimodal is a term put forward by western scholars at the end of the 20th century. modality refers to the way in which human senses interact with the external environment. the interaction of a single sense is called a single modal, and the interaction of multiple senses is called multimodal. in recent years, multimodal research has gradually attracted the attention of the linguistic community. based on halliday’s systemic functional theory, multimodal discourse analysis uses visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and other models to apply nonverbal modals such as image, audio, video, and body to discourse analysis (halliday, 1978). based on some viewpoints of systemic functional theory, multimodal theory pays more attention to the function of discourse. at the same time, the development of science and technology has also affected this theory, which focuses on nonverbal systems, such as motion, sound and image. the development of system function theory and science and technology has injected new vitality into multimodal theory. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 23 published by scholink inc. multimodal research pays more attention to the information communication between speakers and society through multiple senses, which reflects a sense of social significance. multimodal views of language and posture can better describe the interaction between language, psychology and body, and also provide innovative ideas for english instruction models. multimodal discourse analysis believes that symbols other than language can also express meaning like language. o’halloran studied text and discourse constructed by two or more symbols (o’halloran, 2011). multimodal resources that integrate audio, video and text modes are important data sources, providing great convenience for researchers in retrieval, processing and analysis. the existence of multimodal theory not only breaks the traditional modal theory, but also realizes the combination of multiple sensory modals. it can be seen that multimodal theory can help learners to effectively integrate text, images and other information, so as to help learners obtain effective knowledge input in language instruction. multimodal theory has been widely used in foreign instruction field. educators advocate using music, images, videos, games and other means to mobilize students’ hearing, vision and other senses to achieve instruction interaction. as a new instruction concept, multimodal instruction mode is a new term proposed by new london group in 1996. it advocates making full use of teachers, instruction aids, networks, pictures, classroom activities and other ways to mobilize students’ multi senses to work together and participate in language learning. the multimodal instruction mode integrates static resources, including clothing, hair style, face shape, and dynamic resources, including language, voice, expression, action, posture, and vision, into the instruction process through different media, giving students an all-round multi sensory experience and arousing multi-level association (group tnl, 1996, p. 60). baldry comprehensively interpreted the theory of multimodal discourse analysis, studied the different attributes and functions of different technologies (such as telephone, computer, video, etc.) in the multimedia environment, and told students that electronic media is a good tool for english learning (baldry, 2000). stein advocated that the instruction curriculum and evaluation should emphasize the characteristics of the learning environment, and created the concept of multimodal instruction in 2000 (stein, 2000, p. 333). jewitt pointed out the shortcomings of this instruction model and believed that teachers’ attitudes, instruction methods, students’ classroom attention and learning effects would be negatively affected by the diversity of symbol resources (jewitt, 2002, p. 171). unworth solved the problem of text and electronic images in modern instruction, making multimedia instruction more acceptable in the information age (unsworth, 2001). therefore, in today’s information age, applying multimodal theory to instruction can enrich instruction content and diversify educational resources. in china, hu zhuanglin and dong jia analyzed the entries of the ppt speech contest with multimodal theory. they believe that powerpoint demonstration is an important information transmission tool. their analysis results prove that the use of images, sounds and other modes in ppt can better express the meaning of the theme (hu zhuanglin & dong jia, 2006, p. 3). gu yueguo compared multimodal www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 24 published by scholink inc. learning based on computer multimedia materials with multimedia learning, and built a “multimedia multimodal” foreign language learning model (gu yueguo, 2007, p. 3). zeng fangben emphasized that the creators of foreign language multimedia should strengthen their cognition of symbols and use symbols to undertake the dynamic context of foreign language multimedia (zeng fangben, 2006, p. 59). according to the viewpoint of visual symbols in multimodal discourse theory, sun zhinan applied visual symbols to the whole english audio-visual instruction, and applied visual symbols to three core links: corpus selection, curriculum implementation, and ability evaluation (sun zhinan, 2011, p. 45). compared with the research on multimodal instruction abroad, the domestic research in this area started late. some teachers and researchers have explored the multimodal instruction mode, but most of them have explored the instruction practice at the university stage. to sum up, experts and scholars at home and abroad have studied multimodality in a wide range of fields, mainly involving images, sounds, word meanings, visual grammar and the role of different symbols in multimodal discourse. they believe that the common use of multimodal resources is conducive to meaning construction, and multimodal instruction mode can effectively promote students’ cognition. the domestic research on multimodal instruction mode is relatively late, mostly focusing on college english instruction, and the research on applying multimodal instruction mode to middle school english instruction is less. 2.2 research on listening instruction there are two main concerns in the research on english listening instruction at home and abroad: one is college english listening instruction, which mainly involves two aspects: listening instruction mode and listening instruction implementation channels, such as flipped classroom (xia xing, 2021: 237), multi-mode flipped classroom (tian miao et al., 2019: 152), college listening instruction mode based on cognitive strategies (wang xiaojing, 2016: 65), multimodal listening instruction (yao wei & yao guoqun, 2016: 63; hu yongjin & zhang delu, 2013: 20), information means in listening instruction (ou danyang, 2021: 235; li & hui, 2021: 134), and so on; the second is the instruction of english listening in middle schools, which mainly analyzes the specific problems in the implementation of english listening instruction in middle schools and gives suggestions (zhang feng, 2018: 61; xiang jiazhen, 2017: 228). a small number of studies involve the research of english listening instruction strategies in middle schools, such as the metacognitive strategies of english listening instruction in high schools and middle schools (zhang hongsheng et al., 2020: 96; zhao xuefeng, 2013: 154). therefore, among the current research on english listening instruction, most scholars focus on the research on college english listening instruction. the research on middle school english listening instruction is limited to raising the problems in english listening instruction or improving the methods of english listening instruction, which lacks theoretical basis. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 25 published by scholink inc. in view of the above, this study tries to apply the multimodal instruction model to rural middle school english listening instruction and explore the effectiveness of the multimodal instruction model in overcoming english listening barriers and improving students’ english listening ability. specifically, there are two research questions in this study: (1) what are the key factors influencing rural middle school english listening? can the multimodal listening instruction model overcome the problems and effectively improve students’ english listening ability? (2) is the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction different on improving the performance of detailed information and inference questions of listening? 3. research design 3.1 experimental methods and subjects this study adopts a mixed research method. first of all, we use qualitative research to sum up the problems in listening instruction and determine the key influencing factors in junior middle school listening instruction; secondly, based on the key influencing factors of listening instruction in rural middle school, a multimodal listening instruction model is designed, and a double-blind instruction experiment is carried out for the experimental group and the control group; after the instruction experiment, the experimental group and the control group were tested for listening comprehension. and spss26.0 statistical software was used for data analysis of the test results. finally, the study used likert scale to conduct a questionnaire on the experimental group and the control group, and carried out statistical analysis. the subjects were 96 eighth grade students from a rural middle school in jiangsu province. 96 students were divided into experimental and control groups (51 in experimental group and 45 in control group). the age and gender distribution of students in each group were compared statistically. the results showed that p values were 0.686 and 0.682, respectively. 3.2 research tools the materials and research tools used in this study include: questionnaire on key factors affecting students’ listening, listening comprehension test and self-assessment questionnaire. the questionnaire on the key factors affecting students’ listening is used to collect the key factors affecting english listening instruction in rural middle schools. the contents of the questionnaire involve personal factors, teacher factors, listening process and other aspects that affect listening. the questionnaire is simple and can be understood by eighth grade students. the listening comprehension test consists of the following three types of questions: five multiple choices and two inference questions on sentence listening, five questions multiple choices and two inference questions on dialogue listening, and five multiple choices and two inference questions on passage listening. the number of questions is 21 listening comprehension questions, concerning details www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 26 published by scholink inc. and inference questions. after the implementation of the instruction experiment, the experiment group and the control group are tested with the test papers. the self-assessment questionnaire is for students. it uses the 5-level likert scale as a benchmark to quantify the data surveyed and to collects students’ satisfaction with listening instruction after the implementation of the instruction experiment. the higher the value, the higher the satisfaction. the study uses spss to analyze results of students’ test scores and self-assessment questionnaires, and uses statistical methods to verify the effectiveness of the multimodal listening instruction model, as well as the effectiveness on listening detailed information and inference questions. 3.3 research procedure the research is divided into three parts: determining the key factors affecting listening, building a multimodal listening instruction model and analyzing the effectiveness. first of all, according to the 2022 version of the english curriculum standards, the research determines the instruction standard of english listening in middle schools, and uses the questionnaire to investigate the key influencing factors in rural middle school english listening. secondly, according to the multimodal instruction model, the research builds a multimodal listening instruction model corresponding to the key factors affecting listening instruction, and implements a double-blind listening instruction experiment. the process is as follows: first, according to the multimodal english listening instruction model, we design a multimodal listening instruction scheme. then, teachers conduct listening instruction for experimental and the control groups according to their listening instruction scheme. the experimental group is instructed according to the designed multimodal listening instruction scheme, and the control group is instructed according to traditional listening instruction scheme. the instruction experiment lasts two months. then, the study uses listening comprehension tests to test the listening comprehension of the experimental and the control groups. 96 valid test papers were recovered. according to the test results of the subjects, matched samples t test is conducted to see the differences between experimental and control groups in terms of overall listening performance and performance in getting detailed information and inference information. at the same time, paired samples t test is conducted to see if there is difference before and after the instruction experiment for the experimental group. in order to verify the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction mode on solving the key influencing factors of listening instruction, and the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction on getting detailed information and inference information, the study uses the likert scale to investigate the satisfaction of the experimental and the control groups. the scale has five levels, namely “completely disagree”, “agree”, “undetermined”, “agree” and “completely agree”, which are quantized by “1, 2, 3, 4, 5”. there are 9 survey questions, with 1-5 concerning detailed questions and 6-9 concerning the description of inference questions of listening test. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 27 published by scholink inc. finally, the research conducted a self-assessment questionnaire survey on the experimental and control groups to provide a triangulation support for the effectiveness of the multimodal listening instruction model for rural middle school english listening instruction, as well as the effectiveness of the multimodal listening instruction model for listening performance in detailed questions and inference questions. 4. results and discussion 4.1 key factors influencing listening instruction based on the 2022 version of the english curriculum standards, the research analyzes the factors that affect english listening instruction in rural middle schools via the questionnaire, which are mainly the following five aspects: lack of listening skills, negative transfer of mother tongue, cultural differences, psychological factors and lack of student subjectivity. among them, the lack of listening skills means students pay too much attention to words and sentences they listen to, cannot grasp the general idea of the listening materials as a whole, and cannot find answers to the questions on understanding the overall content of listening. the influence of negative transfer of mother tongue is mainly reflected in the students’ inability to consciously distinguish the difference between chinese tone and english tone, and their inaccurate grasp of english rhythm and stress. the influence of negative transfer of mother tongue on listening comprehension is that students can’t allocate their attention correctly in the process of listening comprehension. cultural differences mainly stem from the lack of cultural background knowledge. due to the lack of understanding of relevant cultural background knowledge and the accumulation of oral expression, students cannot accurately understand the listening content in combination with the context. the influence of students’ psychological factors mainly refers to the fact that a single instruction mode is difficult to stimulate students’ learning motivation and maintain their interest in learning. junior middle school students generally lack confidence in english listening and are not interested in it and their anxiety can easily lead to the untimely processing of information processing. the performance of listening comprehension is the untimely understanding of listening content. the lack of students’ subjectivity refers to the fact that in the traditional listening instruction process, teachers are in a dominant position, and students passively accept language input and cannot actively participate in classroom interaction. 4.2 multimodal listening instruction model according to the requirements and instruction tasks of middle school english listening, and taking into consideration of the key factors affecting rural middle school english listening instruction, the research designs a multimodal english listening instruction model for three stages: pre-listening, whilelistening and post-listening, as shown in the following figure. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 28 published by scholink inc. figure 1. flow chart of multimodal listening instruction scheme the first step is the pre-listening stage. the teacher shows the students the pictures or teaching aids related to the listening theme, tells the stories related to the theme to introduce the background, stimulate the students’ interest and motivation in learning, and supplement the students’ long-term memory. through the display of visual pictures, props and other multimodal materials, teachers can drive students to prepare for the while-listening stage. teachers input information to students through video, audio and pictures to stimulate students to obtain listening content, process and store listening materials, and construct meaning. the post-listening stage is a cognitive and psychological process of storing, processing and outputting listening information. teachers design classroom activities such as retelling listening content, role playing, reciting or dictating words, phrases or sentences, and explaining the gists of the listening materials. through audio, pictures, props, videos and other modes, teachers mobilize students’ multiple senses to listen, read and write, construct the meaning of listening information, and construct learning strategies related to cognitive and psychological processes, so as to realize the subjectivity of students in the instruction and learning process. 4.3 an analysis of the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction model from mann-whitney u test, there is no significant statistical difference of the listening proficiency and learning satisfactory (p=1 and 1) between experimental and the control groups, indicating that the main factors affecting the listening learning effect are balanced between the experimental and the control groups before the instruction experiment. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 29 published by scholink inc. after the implementation of the instruction experiment, the study used listening comprehension test to test the listening comprehension of the experimental and the control groups. the independent samples t test was carried out on the listening comprehension scores of the students in the experimental and the control groups to investigate the impact of multimodal listening instruction mode on listening scores. from the data shown in table 1, the average score of the experimental group is higher than the average score of the control group, and the standard deviation of the experimental group is less than the standard deviation of the control group. at the same time, the score of the experimental class with multimodal listening instruction (std=7.02472, sem=.98366) is significantly higher than that of the control group without multimodal listening instruction (std=7.53477, sem=1.12322). it can be seen from table 2 that whether multimodal listening instruction mode is implemented or not has significant difference on listening performance (t=3.364. p=.001). table 1. descriptive data of listening test of experimental and control groups descriptive results of listening test of experimental and control groups instruction model n m std sem multimodal listening instruction 51 80.3333 7.02472 0.98366 traditional listening instruction 45 75.3333 7.53477 1.12322 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 30 published by scholink inc. table 2. results of independent-samples t-test of listening test scores of experimental and control groups results of independent-samples t test levene’s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df sig. (2 tailed) mean difference std. error difference 95% confidence interval of difference lower upper assume equal variances .052 .821 3.364 94 .001 5.00000 1.48646 2.04859 7.95141 not assumed equal variances 3.349 90.518 .001 5.00000 1.49305 2.03403 7.96597 the research uses paired samples t test to compare and analyze the scores of detailed questions and inference questions before and after the implementation of instruction experiment of the experimental group so as to understand whether the scores of detailed questions and inference questions have changed after the implementation of multimodal listening instruction. in table 3 and table 4, a represents the score before the instruction experiment, and b represents the score after the instruction experiment. table 4 shows that there is a significant difference in the scores of listening details before and after the implementation of the instruction experiment (t=-5.699, p=.000), and there is a significant difference in the scores of inference questions before and after the implementation of the instruction experiment (t=-7.047, p=.000). table 5 shows that after the implementation of the instruction experiment, the average scores of listening detail questions and inference questions have improved (35.9412<38.6863, 35.5098<41.6471), the standard deviation of details questions has decreased (4.94939>4.09629), and the standard deviation of inference questions has increased (5.93421<6.15410). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 31 published by scholink inc. table 3. results of paired-samples t-test for students’ scores of detailed questions and inference questions of experimental groups results of paired-samples test pairing difference t df sig. (2-tailed) mean std. deviation std. error mean 95% confidence interval of difference lower upper detailed questions a-b -2.74510 3.44002 .48170 -3.71262 -1.77758 -5.699 50 .000 inference questions a-b -6.13725 6.21939 .87089 -7.88649 -4.38802 -7.047 50 .000 table 4. descriptive results of paired-samples t test of students’ scores of detailed questions and inference questions in the experimental group paired sample statistics of students’ scores of detailed questions and inference questions in the experimental class mean n std. deviation std. error mean detailed questions a 35.9412 51 4.94939 .69305 b 38.6863 51 4.09629 .57360 inference questions a 35.5098 51 5.93421 .83096 b 41.6471 51 6.15410 .86175 results of questionnaires on learning satisfaction of the experimental group shows that the proportion of choices “2” and “1”, which means “agree” and “completely agree” respectively, is basically more than 50%, with the exception of item 6 (the ability to obtain the topic information of the conversation in the process of english listening). this shows that multimodal listening instruction is helpful to solve the key influencing factors in listening instruction. to verify whether the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction on getting detailed information and inference information is consistent, the research uses spss to transform the scale data of the experimental and the control groups. the original value 1 is converted into 100 points, 2 into 80 points, 3 into 60 points, 4 into 40 points, and 5 into 20 points. the higher the score, the better the performance. it can be seen from table 5 that the average score of each item in the experimental group is higher than that in the control group, which indicates that the students in the experimental group believe that the multimodal listening instruction model is really helpful to improve listening performance. at the same time, the scores of 1-5 questions in the experimental group are significantly higher than those of 6-9 questions, which shows that the effectiveness of the multimodal listening instruction model for getting detailed information is greater www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 32 published by scholink inc. than that for inference information. table 5. data of listening instruction satisfaction of experimental group and control group experimental group control group total average value average value average value n 1. be able to obtain information about place and time during english listening 72.94 52.00 63.13 96 2. be able to obtain information about professional identity during english listening 81.57 51.11 67.29 96 3. be able to obtain the identity information of the interviewer during english listening 78.43 59.11 69.38 96 4. be able to understand numerical information in english listening 70.98 47.56 60.00 96 5. be able to obtain reason information in the process of english listening 74.51 51.56 63.75 96 6. be able to obtain information about the topic of conversation in the process of english listening 65.10 55.56 60.63 96 7. during the listening training, the teacher explains how to obtain the required information 69.80 55.11 62.92 96 8. be able to obtain information from pronunciation and intonation during listening training 61.57 56.44 59.17 96 9. be able to infer information from information obtained from known options during listening training 70.59 48.89 60.42 96 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 33 published by scholink inc. 5. conclusion this study conducts quasi-experimental research and uses questionnaire surveys to explore the effectiveness of multimodal instruction model in improving listening instruction effectiveness of rural middle school, and verify the effectiveness of multimodal listening instruction on getting detailed information and inference information in listening comprehension. the results show that the multimodal listening instruction model can greatly improve the listening performance of students in rural middle school and has greater effectiveness on detailed information listening than on inference information listening by effectively solving the key problems affecting english listening instruction in rural middle schools. the research results could supplement and refine the multimodal instruction model, and enhance the applicability of the multimodal instruction model in classroom instruction of english listening. considering the 2022 version of the english curriculum standards, the results can guide middle school teachers to explore new breakthroughs in english listening instruction, explore the causes of listening comprehension difficulties. especially, the result could guide middle school teachers to refine the instruction process in english listening instruction and to distinguish between the instruction models in instructing detailed information listening and inference information listening by giving priority to the use of multimodal listening instruction model in detailed information listening. this study also has the following limitations. first, this research takes the eighth grade students in rural middle schools as subjects. if data can be collected in other learning stages, the coverage of research subjects will be expanded, so that the research results can better serve english listening instruction. secondly, the research employs self-assessment questionnairs from the subjects to verify the effectiveness of the multimodal listening instruction model. in future research, we can use online data, such as eye movement tracing and other advanced technologies, to analyze the influencing factors affecting students’ listening process. acknowledgment supported by the foundation: 2021 annual project of the fourteenth five year plan for education and science of jiangsu province (c-c/2021/03/13); the ninth instruction reform project of suqian university 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(2021). application of “flipped classroom“ in english listening instruction for english majors in application-oriented colleges—a review of “research on flipped classroom of college english based on the idea of moke”. science and technology management research, (13), 237. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u https://doi.org/10.1177/147035720200100203 https://doi.org/10.2307/3587958 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 1, 2023 35 published by scholink inc. xiang, j. z. (2017). common problems and coping strategies in junior high school english listening instruction. journal of jishou university (social science edition), (s1), 228-229. yao, w., & yao, g. q. (2016). english listening instruction in a multimodal perspective. journal of education and management, (07), 63-64. zeng, f. b. (2006). a semiotic point of view on the design of foreign language multimedia. foreign language education, (06), 59-61. zhang, f. (2018). the problem and countermeasures of english listening and speaking teaching in junior middle school. theory and practice of education, (35), 61-62. zhang, h. s., wang, x. h., & miao, w. m. (n.d.). discussion on the application of metacognitive strategies in senior high school english listening instruction. journal of the chinese society of education, (s1), 96-97. zhao, x. f. (2013). metacognitive strategy training of task-based listening instruction for senior high school english. journal of shanxi normal university (social science edition), (s2), 154-156. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper online classes during covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa mahona joseph paschal 1 & demetria gerold mkulu 1 1 department of educational foundation, st. augustine university of tanzania, mwanza, tanzania * mahona joseph paschal, pajo.toronto@gmail.com received: july 2, 2020 accepted: july 15, 2020 online published: august 17, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n3p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n3p1 abstract during covid-19 period students usually had to go to a physical place for learning. nonetheless, the outbreak of the covid-19 has birthed an array of highly creative innovations that have cut across several industries but has exposed the lack of technology in these sectors including the already fragmented education sector of african countries which needs restructuring and transforming. many public and private universities have had to be reactive but face steep contextual challenges in the conventional methods of creating, delivering, and capturing value in the education sector. this paper aimed to investigate online classes during the covid-19 pandemic in different universities in africa with a focus on five universities. the study adopted the constructivist theory. the research was guided by three main objectives including (1) to explore the effectiveness of online education in african universities; (2) to assess the challenges facing online classes during covid-19 in african universities; and (3) to determine possible strategies to curb challenges facing online education in higher learning institutions during covid-19 and post-pandemic in africa. the study employed a qualitative and quantitative method in data collection. the targeted population is lecture students from five universities in african countries including tanzania. the result of the study indicated that students learned more in less time and liked their classes more when ict-based instruction was included. notwithstanding, the majority of the participants demonstrated that learners in higher institutions in africa have trouble accessing the e-learning technology system. keywords covid-19 pandemic, reshaping online learning, online teaching, online higher education, african universities mailto:pajo.toronto@gmail.com www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction and background of the study since december 2019, the world has witnessed a radical change in all spheres of life. from the time when the first case was recorded in wuhan china, the current pandemic called coronavirus has become the first-class topic of debate amongst individuals, public, non-government institutions, on the social media, internet and in the news around the world. unfortunately, statistic associated with the spread of the pandemic continues to rise in many countries like the united states of america, and canada and in other continents including europe, and africa (world health organization, 2020; new york times, 2020). this pandemic has brought many changes across various industries and about how people live, socialize, and run daily activities (coulthard, 2020). with the quick response from many governments around the globe, almost everything is being cancelled, shutdown, and postponed. schools, universities, all public, and private events are being prohibited, social distancing is observed as proactive efforts put in place to contain the further outbreak and spread of the coronavirus in more than one hundred countries of the world. for instance, following the eruption of coronavirus, china closed education institutions national-wide to avoid the spreading of the covid-19 (sun, tang & zuo, 2020). not only in china but also by 20 th march of 2020, there were more than 769 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 37 nations across africa (moeti, 2020). like any other country around the globe, countries with reported cases in africa such as tanzania, kenya, south africa, and uganda have begun to take actions and possible measures to contain the few cases by closing education institutions and by isolating the affected persons as well. since then, millions of the students in africa and around the globe became out of the face to face classroom by learning from home. it must be noted that with the outbreak of the virus, all things have changed, the teaching and learning practice has come into the home now. for these students to continue with their education, all classes went online, millions of students have begun learning through the internet and digital tools. for instance, during the covid-19, chinese universities have set to open 24,000 online program selected by the ministry of education (ministry of education of the peoples republic of china, 2020). therefore, online education is considered as an essential tool for simplifying the teaching and learning process. conceptualizing coronavirus diseases coronavirus disease is the transmittable disease which was first recorded from china on 31 december 2019 and later the disease spread in many countries across the world. (world health organization, 2020). this pandemic was later declared as “covid-19” by the world health organization. “covid-19” stands for coronavirus diseases-2019. the symptoms of covid-19 include breathing difficulty, fatigue, coughing, sore throat and runny nose (world health organization, 2020). studies and the world health organizations noted that persons with underlying health problems as well as elders are likely to suffer seriously from covid-19 (sun, tang & zuo, 2020). at the time of this study, there were no reliable treatments for covid-19, but many researchers across the globe put their effort in finding the clinical vaccines for treating patients but personal hygiene like frequent washing of hands with running water, medicated soap and the use of hand sanitizer. also, social distancing, wearing of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 3 published by scholink inc. face masks and close sneezing and coughing were procedures advised to be adhered in reducing the spread of covid-19 pandemic (world health organization, 2020), one of the key proactive measures to the spread of the coronavirus were social distancing, closure of educational institutions, lockdowns in some countries like united states of america, italy, canada, germany, kenya, india, uganda, south africa, and rwanda. all of these measures led to the increased use of online education to help students continue studying while home. the concept of online education technology is a vital component of teaching and learning in the 21 st era. the expanding use of technology in teaching and learning has improved methods of teaching from traditional to the most flexible methods, (sun & chen, 2016; onyema & deborah, 2019). technology influences remote education, virtual learning, distance learning, mobile learning, cooperative learning and machine learning. each aspect of education is adopting digital, and students, as well as education stakeholders, are challenged with the transition to online learning. the application of technologies in education increases the accessibility to learning resources such as online courses and many other programs to meet the need for distance learning (onyema, 2019). nguyen (2015) has defined online learning as a wide range of curriculums that practice by using the internet to facilitate instruction and provide materials as well as interactions between teachers and students or among the group of students. on the other hand, onlineeeducation.com (2020) conceptualizing online education as a general way of teaching and learning online with the help of digital platforms and technology tools. onlineeducation.com (2020) noted online teaching and learning originates from and distance learning and the development of digital technologies which facilitate instructional activities by using the internet. the success of learning online depends on digital skills, availability of educational technologies and good internet networks in the learning environment. there are many platforms or tools that educators and learners use in online learning. some of these technologies are zoom, whatsapp.com, skype.com, youtube.com, and google classroom (edu.google.com). the application of these technologies in education influence online learning and accessibilities of learning and teaching materials through the internet. the internet has made teaching and learning conceivable, and many educators and scholars are interested in online learning to enrich accessibility of learning resources and improve students learning, mainly in higher learning (page, 2010; horn & staker, 2011), portrayed that online learning is a form of distance education which has been a practiced in america and has become the most important aspect of distance education in recent years. the development of online learning in higher learning does not happen overnight. there are main factors that influence higher learning institutions to offer online teaching and learning. these factors including meeting the need of students for the flexible program, shortage of educators and the need for increasing students enrollment (sun & chen, 2016). in another way, war, economic crisis as well as the outbreak of diseases can also be considered to be a great catalyst for the expansion of online education in higher learning institutions around the world. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 4 published by scholink inc. statement of the problem the outbreak of coronavirus (covid-19) has brought many changes across several industries including the education sector. one of these changes is that the physical classroom has begun to lose its value as the place of teaching and learning. the internet, as well as the world wide web, has brought substantial changes to all areas of life from an individual, political, socially as well as economical as a source of information and learning (nguyen, 2015). the internet has made teaching and learning conceivable, and many educators and scholars are interested in online learning to enable the accessibility of learning resources and improve students learning, mainly in higher learning (page, 2010). in this regard, many countries around the globe are inventing different innovations in education to help their students thrive at this historical time of coronavirus. however tagoe (2012) noted that online learning was improving in some countries in africa, but for the whole of the african continent, the program faces many challenges because of the insufficient infrastructure facilities such as network and computers in most universities. also, the review of literature has shown that the efforts made by african universities in the adoption, implementation, and integration of online learning approaches in education are not effective to enable distance education to meet the intended goals. for instance, kotua, iikan, and kilic (2015) conducted a study on the growth of online education in sub-saharan africa, a case study of ghana. the study revealed that learning in ghana has developed very little regardless of the variety of universities in the country offering virtual studies. kotua, iikan, and kilic (2015) also noted that ghana is rated to be among the best nations which offer online education, five students out of ten have access to the internet which makes the) online learning imperfect. kisanga and ireson (2015) and mikre (2011, p. 13) conducted a study in tanzania, the study revealed that the lack of information and communication technology policy that sets the milestone in place is the big challenge that faces online learning in developing countries. generally, the online learning and usage of information and communication technologies in african universities is relatively little known compared to other developed countries like the united states of america, canada, and china. hence, this study aimed at investigating online classes during the covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa to assess the intervention that put on the ground by the governments and higher learning intuitions in africa in helping students thrive in the era of covid-19. the current study also will help in establishing and preparing for mitigation measures and pathways to ensure continuity of education among students in higher learning institutions in africa. research objectives and questions the main objective of the study was to investigate online classes during the covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa with a focus on five universities in africa. the study aimed: 1) to explore the effectiveness of online education in african universities. 2) to assess the challenges facing online learning during covid-19 in african universities. 3) to determine possible strategies to curb challenges facing online education in higher learning institutions during covid-19 and post-pandemic in africa. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 5 published by scholink inc. significance of the study the study was sought to support policymakers and educational stakeholders in becoming informed users of information about online teaching and learning and its possible value in educational development and productivity. the study will provide essential knowledge in understanding (of) the possible contributions of online teaching and learning. the study also aimed at inspiring students in the utilization of online learning techniques as a vital tool to help them thrive during a difficult time like this coronavirus. also, the study will serve as a guideline to researchers who may wish to conduct similar research in the future independent variable dependent variable figure 1. conceptual framework figure 1 demonstrates the conceptual framework which indicates the independent and dependent variable. the conceptual framework shows how the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has brought many changes in the education sector which led to the increased use of online education as a proactive response for higher learning to continue. the covid-19 has reshaped the education system in african countries. this implies that if we want to succeed during and after corona pandemic we should adopt the use of online learning, we should not use traditional learning alone but both ways should go hand in hand. related literature review the researcher anchored this study on constructivist theory. the theory was founded by lev vygotsky in 1978. kalpana (2014) suggests two types of theories of constructivism of which one is individual learning and based on personal self-concept, belief system, and experience. levy vygotsky theory (1978) is very much related to the current study based on social interaction and focused on views reshaping education in africa online education: collaborative online learning, individual online learning, interactive online learning covid-19 destruction of research activities. social distancing & isolation. learning distraction learning distraction lockdown all activities including schools prolong study increase of debits www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 6 published by scholink inc. sharing among peers. slavin (2006) asserted that learner-centered education is core in the teaching and learning processes. according to the constructivists‟ theory, the reality is a multitude of knowledge in the learners‟ minds and each learner is unique. learning, therefore, should take this into consideration and allows learners to explore and use their abilities to process information to create the personalized knowledge which makes more sense to them (woolfolk, 1995). in general, the constructivist theory points out that individuals would construct knowledge from a new learning experience. this means that learners will grasp knowledge when students actively engage in their environment such as online learning which an active engagement kind of learning is. online learning students would construct their understanding and knowledge of their environment. in general students are active creators of their knowledge. constructivism theory is very much relevant to the current study because it encourages learners to apply new and active methodologies of learning. this can be done through the learners‟ interaction with peers and the environment but based on their own experience. in this regard, learning could be better defined as meaning-making rather than memorizing what was imposed by others (nawaz, 2012). with this regard, learning could be facilitated by the inclusion of online learning and ict in education as a way to apply the underlying principles of constructivism. according to kalpana (2014) in the constructivist class, the environment is democratic and centered on the learner, where the curriculum is negotiated and not imposed. learners participate freely in the creation of the knowledge either individually or through interaction with their peers or significant others or even environment but based on their prior experiences. the lecturer in this environment just guides the learners on their journey and the discovery of new experiences. hence online learning comes in constructivism as a medium to facilitate the learning-how-to learn process by eliciting learners‟ curiosity which leads them into critical and analytical thinking, thereby resulting in discovery (kharade & thakkar, 2012). the philosophy underlying the constructivist theories aims at promoting learner‟s activity in online learning. the constructivist teachers encourage the students to continuously assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. learners in the constructivist classroom ideally become “expert learners”. this gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. thus this theory is very much relevant to the current study on reshaping education in africa including tanzania on online classes during and after covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa the effectiveness of online education in african universities africa as a continent has become one of the fastest-growing marketplaces for the internet in the world. for instance, “there are many universities which offer online education in ghana” (kotua, iikan & kilic, 2015). on the same note, most of the private and public universities in kenya started offering online education (kashorda & waema, 2014). however, studies across higher education in africa have revealed that the implementation of online education has not been effective due to the variety of challenges associated with the policy, program development, user characteristics assessment and academic performance (makokha & mutisya, 2016; kisanga, 2016). adeyinka (2013) noted that in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 7 published by scholink inc. nigeria many universities offer online education but there are not enough educators and qualified professors to teach online classes because they tend to find jobs abroad where they are paid a better salary than in africa. these challenges seem to be the reasons that hinder the success of online education in africa which need to be solved to ensure quality provision of online learning in africa. muuro (2014) conducted a study in kenya using a descriptive survey, the study revealed that physical interaction with facilitators, face to face learning, group discussion are the stronger keys for learning than e-learning. this is to note that online learning is not liked by many students in africa because the students need timely feedback from their educator or during group discussion. therefore, this indicates that online education is not effective in african universities. chawinga (2016) demonstrated that online education has a negative impact on students‟ academic performance because it delays the provision of assessment and feedback. with these standing points, higher learning institutions in africa should be encouraged to develop clear and relevant policies that will help students develop skills related to online education. tarus (2015) conducted a study in kenya the study demonstrated that computers and network connectivity play a vital role in the development of online education, however, there are not enough computers or funds for installing new computer labs and connectivity in african nations. in line with that (makokha & mutisya, 2016), supported that inadequate computer and internet facilities are the major challenges that weaken online classes in africa. therefore, higher learning institutions and governments need to collaborate in ensuring that there are enough computer and connectivity facilities to make the effectiveness of online education in africa. challenges facing online learning in higher learning institutions in africa doculan (2016) assessed on e-learning tool, for higher education institutions in the philippines. the study asserted that online education can only be practised if the institution is deemed equipped. the study results indicated that the advancement of online education is to address the gaps in teaching and learning, increases productivity, and increase accessibility of education, and reduce costs. these findings are contradicting with those of nwana (2014) who pointed out that africa is faced with various challenges such as scarcity of videophone and teleconferencing systems, massive computer illiteracy, a problem in it utilization, and limitations in the application of world wide web (www). other factors include the opportunities for development, lack of multimedia systems, or inconsistent power supply, techno-phobia and resistance concerning this study, raja (2012) looked at the challenges facing students in implementing e-learning in hebron palestine. the study random sample consisted of 175 students who were studying e-learning techniques and online studies. the results displayed that low level of english language of learners, shortage of computers in the schools which hindered the learner‟s participation in online learning which is the situation of learners in most of the universities in tanzania after the birth of coronavirus pandemic? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 8 published by scholink inc. the study by nnajiofor and achukwu (2012) examined the important challenges and implementation of e-learning in nigeria. the study contended that constant change in technology can have a profound effect on education. educational institutions must provide learners with skills that are necessary for coping in the wider community. online learning is the latest evolution in education and training. however, in some online studies conducted in developing countries, it was found that a lack of vision and support in implementing e-learning lead to disappointment with online learning and contributed to the breakdown of some projects. the previous study looked at the importance, limitations, and the implementation of online learning. the current study looked on challenges facing online learning specifically in 2020 when the coronavirus has created a gigantic problem which has caused more than 1.6 billion of all ages to be out of schools in almost 161 countries worldwide (world bank 2020). in addition, william and mbobola (2018) conducted a study in the zambian education system. the study used quantitative and qualitative approaches. the research findings showed that online learning facilities and it infrastructure were not available in most rural schools in zambia. on top of that mukosa and mweemba (2019) asserted that quality of internet in zambia is also a huge challenge, most of the african countries have received very little knowledge in ict and that impacts unconstructively on the addition of e-learning in higher learning and cultural issues are still shortcomings that need to be resolved for online learning to take place. though various studies such as; (world bank, 2020; gilbert, 2015) indicate that online education and e-learning reimbursement educational services providers as it enables them to widen their market beyond geographic borders. the previous study involved pupils from the primary level of education while the current study focused on challenges encountered by university learners who adapted to online learning in universities specifically in the rise of the covid-19 pandemic. nevertheless, the current study used university students who might bring effective and quality results because learners in the university are mature enough and they can give the needed information compared to pupils at the primary level. notwithstanding, mtebe and raphael (2018) reviewed on e-learning research trends in tanzania. the study used a pure quantitative paradigm. the research exposed that mobile, e-learning, online learning, and game-based learning was the least researched. the study also shows that internet access, unskilled labour and low-speed connectivity were the key issues that affected the provision of education through online learning implementation in the country. in addition, lwoga (2012), tedre, ngumbuke, and kemppainen (2010) commended that university incurs expenses due to the internet, for example, one university was paying 104 million tanzanian shillings while another university was paying approximately us$ 3,100 per month for internet connectivity. in the same vein, annika (2008) examines major challenges for e-learning in developing countries in sri lanka. the study involved 1,887 participants. the research identified various major challenges such as the lack of skilled labour. the challenge drives the need for learning and reducing the gap between the skills of the workforce and business demand. the fact that anoka‟s study was done in 2008 means there is a time gap. thus the researcher to discover if what was found by annika will be different www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 9 published by scholink inc. or similar to the current study. croucher and locke (2020) summarized evolution trends in higher education caused by covid-19 in australia. the study finding analyzes various challenges that could face the globe after the coronavirus, such as the retreating capacity for the governments on the planet to invest in education and research, many degrees and programs may have less attraction for students. the nature of academic work may change with greater roles played by learning designers. moreover, withdrawing student‟s capacity for travelling, to commence international education in other countries because leaving their home countries for studies will be perceived as less safe due to the coronavirus. nevertheless, the study did not specify the sample size used to collect this information. strategies to curb challenges facing online education in higher learning institutions duringcovid-19 and post-pandemic in africa in relation to the current study, murphy (2020) examined the urgent situation of e-learning results of securitization of higher learning after pandemic pedagogy in american universities. the study used twenty-five universities around america. murphy observed that more than 1.5 billion of learners around the globe are affected by school and university closures due to the coronavirus outburst. the study findings indicated that the traditional way of education provision which is face to face has changed to become a threat to humanity during the coronavirus. hence the study supported the use of distance learning as a securitization theory proposed and the de-securitization method should be employed after the corona pandemic. looking at murphy‟s work used 25 universities in america the findings could bring different results if they could use various universities from different countries. nevertheless, the unesco international institute for latin america and the caribbean (iesalc) (2020) evaluated the situation of the coronavirus and higher education. the resulting findings displayed that higher education system acted uniformly; during the coronavirus, the education systems globally have experienced tremendous change, by being close down in all level of education from kindergarten to university. hence colleges, universities, and other forms of learning do not have to continue offering physical interaction education systems alone. besides, some learners will discontinue complete from traditional learning or return to classrooms. the current study focuses on strategies to curb challenges facing online education in higher learning during the coronavirus and post-pandemic. in georgia, basilaia and kvavadze (2020) looked on the transition to online education schools during the sars-cov-2 coronavirus. the study used private schools with a sample of 950 learners and a case study was adopted to facilitate data collections. the findings demonstrated that after the pandemic in 2020 will force a generation of new laws regulations, platforms, and solutions for future cases when the global population will be more advanced than at present. moreover, distance learning such as online portal, tv school and microsoft teams for public schools and alternatives such as zoom, slack and google meet, edu page platform can be used for online education. nevertheless, basilaia and kvavadze used private schools the result findings could be different if they could use both private schools and public schools to strengthen the findings. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 10 published by scholink inc. the reviewed literature indicates that very few studies online learning have been carried out in african universities especially in the context of public universities. this study will, therefore, bridge the gap that exists in the current knowledge on online classes during covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa: a focus of universities in tanzania context by adding onto the lake of knowledge on the topic. tanzania has students from within tanzania and some are the international students. where there is a similarity in results, we have done triangulation with the literature review. the results from this study will serve as a vital reference for extra research by academicians and researchers at both national and worldwide. 2. methods 2.1 research design according to creswell (2014), a mixed approach has various designs such as convergent parallel and explanatory sequential. in this study, the researchers employed a convergent parallel mixed method. in this design, the researchers typically collect both forms of data approximately, simultaneously or concurrently. a mixed-methods approach was adopted in the current study to understand the study phenomenon. particularly, since studies on online learning have been done quantitatively, and qualitatively we strongly believe that the approach will strengthen each other (creswell, 2014). the adoption of these methods would help to ensure the generalizability of the data. 2.1.1 area of study the study was conducted in africa which has both public and private universities that can represent african general. 2.1.2 targeted population the target population of this study comprised of 5 universities which were purposely chosen as a case study. the sample involved 140 participants whereby 70 were male and 70 were female. these students and lecturers were selected from a variety of departments by simple random sampling. 2.1.3 instrument of collecting data data were collected concurrently. quantitative data and qualitative data at the same time, this means that the researchers went to the field once collected data by using a questionnaire and thereafter, data was collected by using an interview guide the first methods used in getting data were through interviews. ten lecturers took part in interviews. each interview lasted for 25 minutes. each interview was organized through phone calls to the university that were involved in the study. the researchers asked participants if they were interested to use zoom during interview sessions. the participants agreed to carry out the interviews by using zoom and one of the researchers recorded the data that were mentioned by the participants. the aim of the interview was to obtain personal opinions to help the study of online classes in africa during the covid-19 pandemic. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 11 published by scholink inc. the second technique to gather information from the respondents was questionnaire. since there are 5 universities involve in the study the researchers‟ sampled 26 students from each university giving a total of 130 participants. the questionnaire was vital in this study because they collect data directly from the respondents. they speed up the process of data analysis as all the participants were asked the same questions. they are less expensive and offer greater anonymity. 2.1.4 validity and reliability leung (2015) defined validity in qualitative research as appropriateness of the tools, process, and data (p. 325). according to magigi (2015) validity is the degree to which instrument measures what is supposed to measure, while reliability is a measure of the degree to which result is consistent in giving the same results after repeated trials (magigi, 2015). in the current study, the researcher checked validity by exposing questionnaires to the experts in the research department while reliability was checked by using cronbach‟s alfa. the result of the testing reliability coefficient was 0.80 and was between the standard reliability coefficient value between 0 and 1, the researcher, therefore, concluded that the questionnaire was reliable for data collection. the research was piloted in an ethical means. consent was sought from the students and the lecturers who took part in the study and they were assured of privacy regarding their opinions and view. also, the researchers independently analyzed the data collected from the field to further improve the validity of the analysis 2.1.5 data analysis yin (2011) defines data analysis as the process of taking notes about action and vivid images from the problem under study. it involves classification or examination of the collected data from questionnaires and interviews to make a conclusion. the data collected from an interview were presented both in qualitative and quantitative methods based on objectives which made it possible to draw an analysis of the results. generally, qualitative data were divided into categories and themes while data from closed-ended items in the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and the variables presented in frequencies, percentages, frequency tables, charts, and inferential statistics. data were analyzed separately and merged at the end of the study. 3. results and discussion the results and discussion of the research findings were presented based on the objectives of the study as follows. the effectiveness of online education in african universities the findings from university students were negative since the majority of them pointed out that online education in africa universities are not effective. to evaluate the effectiveness of the online education in african universities, the researchers asked the students to respond to open questions by indicating yes if the answer is correct and no if the statement is incorrect. the responses are presented in table 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 12 published by scholink inc. table 1. evaluation framework of online education in african universities questions for evaluating the effectiveness of online education yes no frequency per cent frequency per cent is online education effective and is improving the education status and development potential of the students in your college? 10 7.1% 130 92.9% do you have sufficient facilities, electricity, network and computers for implementing online education in your area? contexts. 30 21.4% 110 78.6% is the school policy developed to fit online learning? do you get any sufficient financial support to help you for data? have you attended a seminar or workshop to equip you with digital skills? did you like the trainers and facilitators 24 60 40 17.1% 42.9% 28.6% 116 80 100 82.9% 57.1% 71.4% source: field data 2020. evaluation of the effectiveness of online education, networks and computers for online education. table 1 above the students were asked to respond to the open questions which were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of online education, network connectivity, and availability of computers facilities for distance or online learning. the results findings were obtained that only 7.1 percent of university students agreed that online education in their college is effective and is improving the education status and development potential of the students while 92.9 percent of the university students noted that online learning was not effective and did not improve the education status and development potential of the students. also, 21.4 percent only agreed to have sufficient facilities and computers for implementing online education in their area but 78.6 percent of respondents were strongly disagreed to have sufficient facilities and computers for implementing online education in your areas. the respondents through interview pointed out that online education was not effective in and not liked by the students. lectures identified that students learn better in a face to face classroom where they can discuss with their peers. during the interviews, the respondents pointed out that: “from my experience as a lecturer, online education is not effective in our university because of poor internet connection and online learning is very expensive” (interview, 20 may 2020). “only a few faculty implement online and distance learning also not all of our students poses computers. this has made us teach them in a physical classroom” (interview, 21 may 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 13 published by scholink inc. in relation to what has been said by the majority of the lecturers, four of the lecturers responded that: “online education in our college is not effective because it does not even improve the status of our students, therefore, students should be taught in a group to allow interaction and cooperation among them than using distance learning” (interview, 21 may 2020). the findings have shown that online education is not effective and does not improve the development potential of learners. this finding concurs to what was found by makokha and mutisya (2016) who noted that inadequate computers and internet facilities are the major challenges that weaken the online classes in africa. evaluation of school policy in ensuring online education during the survey, the students were asked the open question to say yes or no to the question. the question was “is the school policy developed to fit online learning?” (table 1). shows the results of the findings that only 17.1 percent of the students agreed that the school policy in their universities is being effective to support online education while 82.9 percent of the students indicated that the school policy in their universities does not support online education. this was also identified during the interview session when the majority of the interviewees noted that, “the school policy in our university support face to face interaction, no online education due to the poor internet, the internet is so expensive and we have no computer expertise to support online education” (23 may 2020). two of interviewee pointed out that, “although the school policy in our university allow distance learning, our students cannot afford to buy internet and that‟s why we even cannot offer online education” (interview, 23 may 2020). six of interviewees noted that “some of students are living in the areas where there is no electricity and most of them have no smartphones or computers. hence we cannot accept the school policy that aims to offer distance and online education” (interview, 23 may 2020). therefore the findings from the participants prove that school policy is the problem toward implementing online education in some universities in africa. this is because some universities have good facilities to allow distance or online learning but the policy does not allow to implement online education. the above findings look similar to william and mbobola (2018) who lamented that online learning facilities, such as policy and it infrastructure were not available in most rural schools in zambia. evaluation of financial support for online education during the survey, the students were asked another question to find out if they have support for ensuring online learning. the question stated “do you get any sufficient financial support to help you with online education?” findings in table 1 indicate that 42.9 percent of the university students who participated in the study noted that they have financial support to help them access to online education. this support includes finance for buying computers, smartphones data and for paying electricity. 57.1 of the respondent expressed the lack of sufficient support to afford the expenses of online education. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 14 published by scholink inc. the study identified that many university students were not able to afford for online education. this can be noted that many african students are supported by the government through the loans board. the government provide them with only school fees and no more. one of interviewees described that: “a large percent of our students have no any source of income, their guardians and parents only pay their school fee but they cannot give enough money for other activities like buying laptops, mobile phones and even money for going to watch educational platforms in town” (interview, 20 may 2020). “from my experience, our university does not pay us enough and the university offers only internet but no computers, the internet itself sometimes doesn‟t work. it‟s difficult even to skype or to do emails with the students, that‟s why we prefer to teach in a physical classroom” (interview, 23 may 2020). majority of the interviewees expressed that … “we can teach in the cooperative, face to face classroom which is manageable for every student and lecture because online educations so expensive”. the result findings show that lack of financial support is the threat in the development of online education or distance education. annika (2008) proves that fund is the major challenges for e-learning in developing countries. many universities do no give support to their students and lecturers. hence the lack of financial support weaken the implementation of online education in african universities. evaluation of workshop and seminar training on the implementation of online education also, table 1 indicates that a large number of university students in africa have not gotten training in the implementation of online education. the findings show that 28.6 percent of students attended workshops and seminar to learn digital skills for online education. 71.4 percent of the respondents did not attend workshops and seminar to learn digital skills for online education. this reveals that online education is not effective in african universities since the learners have not gotten enough knowledge for learning online. the findings were obtained through interview were as following. “i have attended six workshops related to online learning, i have experience about it but my students have no digital skills” (interview, 20 may 2020). majority of the interviewees said that: “it is difficult to run online education because of that. the university also has not established any conference to help these students gain skills related to online education” (interview, 20 may 2020). five respondents noted that “to teach online is difficult although i know that internet is the best thing for getting materials and learning but it comes difficulty for me when it comes to making a video, a youtube account and even participate in an online conference” (interview, 23 may 2020). this is in line with the study by nnajiofor and achukwu (2012) who contented, that many educational institutions have not provided learners with scientific skills that are necessary for coping in the wider community to support in implementing e-learning. the lack of digital skills lead to a disappointment of online learning and contributed to the breakdown of some projects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 15 published by scholink inc. challenges facing online learning during covid-19 in african universities the study further sought to establish, challenges facing online learning during covid-19 in african universities. therefore students and lecturers were required to indicate various online challenges encountered during covid-19 as indicated in figure 2. figure 2. challenges face universities in african universities during covid-19 figure 2 illustrates the findings from students in various universities during covid-19 pandemic in africa. the majority of students in african universities are encountered with many problems in attaining online education. the results shows that 70.0 percent of the participants voiced out that there is ineffective of delivery of online instructions while 67.3 percent asserted that there is poor internet connectivity which hinders the provision of online education and a total of 60 percent of respondents stated that inadequate teaching and learning resources is another obstacle which hinders online learning in african universities. nevertheless it was revealed that 49.0 percent of lecturers have no skills on provision of online program. a total of 40.0 percent of the respondents cited that there is poor support in provision of online teaching however, 30.0 percent of the participants commended that english language is another challenge causes learners not to grasp online learning. the research findings in figure two implies that there are many online challenges encountered by higher learners in an academic environment. moreover it showed that most of lecturers in african countries have been providing teaching and learning procedure in the traditional way that is face to face. nevertheless, the outbreak of covid-19 was unanticipated situation hence it forced some of higher learning in africa and tanzania to launch live online programs of a total of 55788 postgraduate and 1,999 graduate online courses in order to make sure the usual learning proceeds. this situation was www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 16 published by scholink inc. disruptive change to budge all the existing courses online in a matter of weeks. people were not prepared for; while some have rejection from change. however all changes need a strategic planning or forecasting and preparation for various things such as finance, lesson plan, technology support, unreliable internet access, lack of technology skills to engage in digital learning, teaching and learning material, this situation has seen in most of african countries. moreover covid-19 brought a very high confusion to learners, lecturers and the whole system of education and some universities are still waiting for god‟s mercy if the situation will be back to normal. majority of the learners and lecturers were not prepared for the change hence there were some disagreement with the universities learners and university management and some of them were novices for the online teaching, lecturers and even learners had no skills on how to run online programs. online learning cannot be operated if there is no internet connectivity looking at the real situation of african countries. internet is one of the main challenges which delays the development of the countries. in the contrary covid-19 has made the university learners to accommodate the change, since the system of education has somehow changed the way of teaching and learning. notwithstanding the high confusion brought by the evolution of covid-19 has caused negative challenges to higher learning in the other hand it brought positive change to african countries such as: hygiene washing hands always, economically, employment adaptation of online teaching, tutorials this finding is similar to an interviewee who narrated that: “the outbreak of covid-19 has brought positive and negative things to african countries and the world at large. individual people have been creative for example today some people are making sanitizers, face masks, instead of importing from other countries things are now made within our place hence we are getting money employment is another thing is that those people who are making sanitizers, and face masks have been self-employed. discovery of herbal medicine such as „nyungu, jifukize‟ in tanzania” (interview 20 th may, 2020). the interview implies that covid-19 has brought challenges to the world including african countries. most of the countries has been affected economically, political, and socially however these countries has tremendous changed the way of performing various duties such as almost all universities have adapted on line teaching even though there are some challenges on how to run online programs. nevertheless universities in africa such as dar es salaam university, dodoma university, st. augustine university in tanzania, lilongwe in malawi, kenyatta university conducted a defense of master and phd research dissertations presentation which was done online. the study reveals that challenges of corona virus would not make universities in african countries to restrain from provision of education. even though there many issues which interrupt the teaching and learning using technological. on the other hand, online teaching is perhaps one of the strongest factor for shaping the educational system today specifically during and after covid-19 pandemic. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 17 published by scholink inc. possible strategies to curb challenges facing online education in higher learning university learners were passionate to give their responses to the question what possible strategies to curb challenges encountered online education in higher learning institutions during and after corona virus as illustrates in figure 3. figure 3. possible strategies to curb challenges during covid-19 (n=100) responses from university students majority 60 percent of the participants indicated that seminars, workshops should be provided always so as to bring awareness to learners and lecturers; while 40 percent of the respondents pointed out that learning and teaching resources such as computers, tablets internet connectivity, a total of 50 percent of participants asserted that the provision of original programs such as zoom, noodle tools, google classroom, whatsapp, and others from the industry should be made available. this finding indicates that there is no growth as far as online program development if awareness, funds, provision of teaching and learning material, seminars, workshops and further studies would not be available. globally, covid-19 lockdown has had its challenges for economic, political, social, specifically to university learning. for instance in the issue of tanzanian, rwandan, ugandan, and south african students, in all level of education stayed home almost three months although in the middle of may online learning for students who supposed to sit for exams was delivered through television, radios, noodle tools and zoom all this was to consolidate the knowledge acquired before the closure of schools. however these methods of teaching were not effective to the students in remote area. for instance in june first the president of united republic of tanzania dr. john pombe magufuli pronounced that all higher learning universities in tanzania should be reopened and students working and non-working staff need to abide to the recommendations from who such as change in human behavior, global health and others is required to end the ongoing pandemic to live in post covid-19 now all schools were reopened the health people were highly monitoring, learners and lecturers had to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 18 published by scholink inc. abide distancing themselves, during the presses of teaching and learning. most of the universities in africa need to increase speed of technology level in the classroom by providing hardware such as tablets and computers, so as to enhance internet connectivity, and implementing programs considered to perk up computer literacy for both lecturers and learners. for lecturers to achieve effective use of online teaching, they must experience a paradigm shift from the lecturer centered classroom to the student-centered classroom, in same vain (kalpana, 2014) commended that in the constructivist class, learners would be creative and the process of teaching and learning is decentralized. this finding is in agreement with one of the interviewee who claimed that: “online teaching is very crucial today we have to adapt it whether we like it or not and this learning connects students with the world the learners are directly interacting with the world, they become globalized students and the whole process of learning should be centered” (interviewee 23 may 2020). this implies that education is not an inland or for an individual but it is human right it needs to be provided all the time and to all who want it. hence learners should be given chance to acquire education even during and after covid-19. this also meant that african countries need to adopt online program so as to enhance learning to their people. on top of this after corona virus african countries should continue to use both techniques of teaching that is traditional way or face to face method of teaching and online teaching. this paradigm shift would improve learning in all levels of education in african countries. 4. conclusion the focus of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of online education in higher learning institutions in africa during covid-19 pandemic. the study focused on students‟ experiences on online education and the tool used to implementing online education in five african universities. the findings revealed that the learners had positive attitude towards online education however, the majority of students and lecturers noted that online education is not effective in african universities and is not liked by the majority of students and lecturers because of the inadequate of computers, lack of fund, insufficient facilities, shortage of electricity, poor network, inadequate skills and the policies were not supportive enough to implement online education in african universities. 5. recommendations the study strongly made the following recommendations with the aim of providing measures for reshaping education in africa during covid-19 pandemic in higher learning institutions in africa. the administrators should adopt policies and practice that are effective to both students and lecturers to enhance interactive learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 19 published by scholink inc. the governments should obtain funds for resources via non-traditional sources (e.g., crowd funding, grants); exploit the expertise of master teachers in professional learning communities; request training on newly adopted educational software directly from software companies; and ensure that adequate technical, administrative, and peer support is available to teachers during the implementation of online program. online technology should be adapted by all schools starting from primary level to higher learning. acknowledgment the author would like to thank all the lecturers and the students for their excellent cooperation in this research work. references adeyinka, a. 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(2020). report of the who-china joint mission on coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19). retrieved march, 2020, from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronavirus/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid19-final-r eport.pdf https://doi.org/10.28945/3502 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0678-8 https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i1.1816 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 18 original paper filipino teachers‟ revelations in working abroad don vicente c. real 1* & neill a. flordeliz 2 1 jose rizal university, college of education, arts, & sciences, mandaluyong city, philippines 2 villaflores college, elementary department, tanjay city, philippines * don vicente c. real, e-mail: donvicente.real@jru.edu received: august 3, 2024 accepted: august 13, 2024 online published: september 2, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n3p18 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n3p18 abstract this study explored the reasons and lived experiences of 20 filipino teacher respondents in the school year 2023-2024. the qualitative method through phenomenological research was adopted. it is the method of discovering and structuring the meaning of human incidents through interviews with people involved in the real-life experience (creswell, 2007; polit & beck, 2012). patton (2002) describes that determining sample size in qualitative research does not follow one rule. there is no one rule related to sample size when using a qualitative research design. the respondents expressed heart-warming and overwhelming insights into their acculturation in the usa and southeast asian countries. homesickness was the only negative thought, but it was easily overcome due to the availability of social media, which established the communication link with family members. teaching abroad served as the turning point as their personal and professional “inputs” were outweighed by the “outputs” in terms of financial benefits, perks, and other work-life balance initiatives by schools abroad. hence, the department of education should improve the economic conditions of teachers to avoid the exodus of a greater number of trained teachers in the service years ahead. keywords teachers, experience, employment, acculturation, qualitative research 1. introduction in the philippines, teaching is a respected profession, and teachers are viewed as catalysts of social transformation and nation-building. despite the prestige of teaching in the home country, there have been increased employment opportunities abroad that have enticed filipino educators for the last decade for various reasons, including better pay, opportunities for professional growth, and the chance to experience different cultures. those who have left comprise the new generation of teachers with certain levels of career satisfaction, working enthusiasm, and productivity that remain to be desired www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 19 published by scholink inc. until they have left the country. those who have stayed may have re-imbibed their enthusiasm and dynamism in their service to the learners, the school, and the community as well. corollary, cahilog et al. (2023) revealed that both emotional and practical considerations influence teachers‟ decisions to migrate. foremost among the concerns is the desire for financial stability, which is contrasted by their deep emotional connection to students and the local education system. other significant challenges include the need for comprehensive health and well-being provisions, operational efficiency, professional development, and an inclusive work environment. apparently, the philippine overseas employment administration (poea), which recorded a total of 1,711 (2013), 1,439 (2014), 1,426 (2015), 1,821 (2016), and 1,328 (2017) ofw teachers, respectively, deployed to various countries all over the globe. judging from the trends, the philippines has been deploying an average of 1,500 teachers worldwide every year (https://poeajobs.ph/job-category/education/). against this backdrop, the study is pursued to explore the prevailing reasons for the philippine teachers to work abroad, the challenges they have encountered, the benefits of working abroad, the factors of satisfaction they have experienced in working abroad, and the implications of the findings of the study against the existing practices and policies of the department of education in the retention and promotion of teachers in the service. 2. method 2.1 qualitative phenomenological research this research employed a qualitative approach known as phenomenological research. this method involves the exploration and organization of the meaning behind human experiences by conducting interviews with individuals who have direct involvement in those real-life situations. the primary aim of the researcher is to gain a deep understanding of and insight into the importance and outcomes of the phenomenon as conveyed by the participants. throughout the phenomenological research process, the researcher is expected to set aside any personal biases, as emphasized in works by creswell (2007), polit and beck (2012). phenomenological researchers seek out individuals who have experienced or are currently experiencing the phenomenon under investigation, as outlined by creswell (2007). these researchers gather data from participants, which can be in the form of written documents or oral accounts. the number of interviews conducted depends on the researcher‟s chosen analytical approach. researchers may administer written questions and request written responses, or they may schedule interviews where conversations are recorded. typically, the determination of the number of interviews is guided by data saturation, which occurs when recurring themes emerge without introducing new categories. this signal, as described by leihr and lobiondo-wood (2006), usually indicates that the research should be concluded. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 20 published by scholink inc. finally, to complete the information gathering processes, husserl‟s phenomenology, also known as the descriptive phenomenological research approach (dpra), is adopted by the researcher to describe the phenomenon investigated and free themselves from any bias that may likely be expressed during the investigation. 2.2 participants of the study the study involves 20 filipino teachers who are teaching abroad, and their responses were gathered through adapted online google form questionnaires and, in some instances, through online focus group discussions (fgd). 2.3 roles of the researcher in qualitative research, the primary research instrument is the researchers themselves. any personal perspectives and background that the researcher brings to the study should be recognized as their own biases, as noted (maxwell, 2005). since qualitative research involves description, interpretation, and analysis, the researcher‟s biases, beliefs, and assumptions can potentially influence the analysis of data, as highlighted by strauss & corbin (1998). social researchers should strive to mitigate or set aside these biases through full disclosure, as advocated by altheide & johnson (1994) and locke, spiriduso, & silverman (1978). as a result, the personal circumstances and biases of the researcher are an inherent part of their interaction with the participants and the data collected during both questionnaire administration and factual narration of events in interviews. maxwell (2005) further argued that there isn't a single definitive model for qualitative or applied research design. nevertheless, the model presented here proves useful for three main reasons: (1) it explicitly identifies the key aspects of design for which decisions must be made, making it less likely for these critical issues to be overlooked and allowing them to be addressed systematically. (2) it underscores the interactive nature of design decisions in qualitative and applied research, emphasizing the interconnectedness among various design components. (3) it provides a structural model for a qualitative study proposal, one that effectively communicates and justifies the major design decisions and their interrelationships. 2.4 research environment a qualitative research study that utilizes messenger application in conducting interviews with a diverse set of respondents. specifically, the teacher respondents are presently teaching in american public schools and in southeast asia. the identification of specific us states or southeast asian countries was not taken into consideration. 2.5 research instrument the researcher utilized a researcher-made questionnaire designed to explore two key aspects—inputs and outputs. this questionnaire seeks to extract insights from filipino teachers regarding their significant roles while working abroad, as well as their motivations for teaching abroad, the challenges encountered, the financial benefits they have accrued, and the factors contributing to their overall job satisfaction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 21 published by scholink inc. 2.6 research procedures after the final review of the experts, the researchers gathered the data using the messenger application or through email by sending the modified google form questionnaire. in the event that there were some ambiguous responses, the researchers requested a video call interview with some respondents via the messenger application or zoom. 2.6.1 stage 1 the video call dialogue was conducted by the researchers among the respondents who are teaching in american public schools and some parts of southeast asia to orient and establish rapport with them. the purpose of the study was explained by the researchers, and the expectations. after an hour of orientation, the researchers shared the link of the online questionnaire to them and sent it back to the researchers in the same way it was received. 2.6.2 stage 2 after several days of waiting, the questionnaires in google forms were retrieved. however, an online focus group discussion (fgd) was conducted to clarify some ambiguous responses from the respondents. as said by bailey (1996), jacelyn & o‟dell (2005), lincoln & guba (1985), and sharts-hopko (2002), within the qualitative paradigm, the researcher is an essential instrument of data collection and analysis. in focus group discussion (fgd), the researcher and the participants, both questing for truth and meaning, are partners in the research process. this relationship is critical to obtaining and interpreting dependable data. by telling their stories, participants invite the researcher to share their experiences. the researcher must be credible, trustworthy, non-judgmental, and open to the participants‟ narratives. each researcher brings prior knowledge, values, beliefs, and biases to the research process. therefore, a researcher needs to bracket or set aside personal assumptions throughout the research process, particularly during data collection and analysis, thereby recognizing that others‟ experiences or cultures may vary from his or her own. however, it is the researcher‟s personal experiences and beliefs that enable him or her to thoughtfully analyze the data and interpret the findings. 2.6.3 stage 3 the viewing and transcription of the recorded interview were done after the interview to validate the narratives of the teachers vis-à-vis their verbal utterances through clarification and comparison. 2.6.4 stage 4 after the gathering of narrative data, these were examined, coded, and analyzed. the recorded online focus group discussion (fgd) was revisited to finalize the data. at this point, the researchers applied theorizing to the data, which creates the link between data analysis and theory, thus providing structure and applicability for findings and connecting them with the greater body of knowledge (morse & field, 1985). theories comprise concepts and statements of relationships among the concepts. theories vary in stages of development, and these stages reflect various purposes of theory: to describe, explain, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 22 published by scholink inc. predict, or control. some research studies generate theory that describes or explain phenomena; others test theories to predict or control phenomena (hall & roussel, 2017). 2.7 data analysis the analysis of data involved four phases: (1) the researchers collected, documented, and described the narrative data that were taken from the teacher respondents; (2) the data were transcribed after the questionnaires (in google form) were retrieved and from the recorded focus group discussion (fgd); (3) the significant details and categorized descriptors and components were identified; and (4) major themes were identified and compared relative to the lived experiences of teachers abroad. data collection for a phenomenological study involves extended interviews with participants. typically, participants are asked to convey their experiences with the phenomenon being studied while the researcher collects and stores the information communicated by each participant (tilley, 2011). burns and grove (2009) insisted that researchers can use more than one method or a combination of methods to collect data when using the phenomenological research process by engaging both behaviors and intuiting. intuiting involves the researcher concentrating all attention and enthusiasm on strengthening and understanding the concern. one method for collecting phenomenological data includes interviewing participants. the researcher must be patient and supportive in permitting the participants to use as much time as needed for them to present comprehensive explanations of their experiences. instead of verbally communicating their experiences, participants could be allowed to provide the researchers with a written account of their encounters with the phenomenon (burns & grove, 2009). the researcher plays an important role in another method for collecting data for phenomenology research, including the researcher in the phenomenon. the researcher participates in the experience as an observer concerning all behaviors, the setting, and the researcher‟s reactions to what is occurring. the researcher takes notes, tape records, or videotapes (burns & grove, 2009). 2.8 scope of the study the study was conducted online using the questionnaire in google form to gather the insights and true-to-life experiences of the teachers abroad. other than the chosen respondents, other teachers who are not teaching outside the philippines cannot qualify as respondents of the study because the inclusion and exclusion criteria apply. 2.9 limitation of the study there were four identified limitations of the study: (1) there were only 20 teacher respondents, hence purposive sampling was utilized. it is also known as judgmental, or selective, or subjective. sampling is a form of non-probability sampling in which researchers rely on their judgment when choosing members of the population to participate in their surveys; (2) the collected data were drawn from the teacher respondents; (3) the study focused exclusively on the teacher respondents; (4) the research instrument used does not need to be validated since the unstructured online focus group discussion (fgd) was employed (https://www.alchemer.com, 2021). the conversation (formal or informal) with www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 23 published by scholink inc. the teacher respondents was noted down in the researcher‟s field notes. patton (2002) succinctly describes that determining sample size in qualitative research does not follow one rule. sample size depends on what the researcher desires to learn, the purpose of the study, useful data choices, the trustworthiness of the data, the amount of money available, and scheduled time constraints. he further argued that there is no one rule related to sample size when using a qualitative research design. 2.10 research ethics committee the research ethics committee of villaflores college, philippines has granted approval for the conduct of this study on august 15, 2023 under reference no. 001-2023. the research proposal has shown substance and purpose in compliance to the policies and standards of the research ethics board of the philippines. 3. result the purpose of the study is to investigate the lived experiences of filipino teachers who are teaching in public schools abroad in the school year 2022-2023. moreover, this chapter has answered and discussed the four statements of the problem based on the direct testimonies of the respondents. 3.1 demographic of the participants the results of this qualitative study were based on the narratives of the 20 filipino teacher respondents who are teaching abroad. the study utilized focus group discussion (fgd) on a virtual platform and a researcher-made questionnaire in google form. the open-ended questionnaire was validated by four educators who constituted the panel of reviewers and evaluators of the villaflores college graduate school. the review was conducted to make sure that the structure and contents of the research instrument can draw out comprehensive information from the respondents. in some instances where the responses of the respondents were not clear and substantive, the focus group discussion was done online and recorded to validate the reliability and consistency of the responses from the teachers. 3.2 review of the interview protocol a focus group discussion (fgd) was conducted by the researchers to inform the 20 teacher respondents concerning the objectives of the study. the key points were written down by the researcher as a guide for the proper conduct of the fgd. the components of the questionnaire using google forms were discussed with the respondents concerning the needed insights and information on their employment abroad as teachers. in like manner, an individual interview was also conducted with a respondent whose responses may appear vague or need further discussion. on this note, hall & rousell (2017) contended that an individual interview (ie) and focus group discussion (fgd) are particularly useful during the initial stages of research when little is known about the phenomenon of inquiry. individual interviews are typically more efficient at data gathering, whereas focus groups are typically more cost-effective. they are not substitutes for one another because they yield different information about the target population. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 24 published by scholink inc. in like manner, another technique used in the data gathering was probing, which is a specific research technique used by interviewers in individual and group interviews and focus groups to generate further explanations from research participants (given, 2008). the more experiences revealed by the respondents, the more comprehensive the study. the dialogue was conducted in a friendly manner, which placed the teacher respondents in a comfortable environment. it adopted a free-flowing technique, so questions were asked following an outline prepared by the researchers. however, some questions that arose at the spur of the moment were asked that were not included in the outline. a closure question (among the outlines) ended the dialogue, creating a feeling of camaraderie, empowerment, and attention among the respondents as provided by the researchers. finally, the researchers extended their warmest appreciation and thanked the respondents for their involvement in the study—hence, debriefing. 3.3 emerging themes four major themes emerged, namely: (1) the prevailing reasons for filipino teachers to work abroad; (2) the challenges encountered by filipino teachers in working abroad; (3) the benefits of filipino teachers working abroad; and (4) the factors of satisfaction experienced by filipino teachers in working abroad. according to vira international (2023), a uk-based recruitment agency, teaching in the usa can provide you with the following benefits: (1) career opportunities: teaching in the usa can help you develop professionally and learn a range of transferable skills that will be appreciated by future employers. (2) excellent environment: teaching in the usa will allow you to explore and experience new situations without the difficulties of a language barrier. (3) financial incentives: many international schools offer excellent salaries, some of which are tax-free. (4) teaching in the usa and some parts of southeast asia will make you stand out above your peers, providing you with a wealth of experience that employers will love and making it far easier to start a new career path in the future. thematic analysis is a method of analyzing qualitative data. it is usually applied to a set of texts, such as an interview or transcripts. the researchers closely examined the data to identify common themes—topics, ideas, and patterns of meaning—that come up repeatedly. additionally, a deductive approach to data analysis was utilized, which involves coming to the data with some preconceived themes you expect to find reflected there, based on theory or existing knowledge (caulfield, 2023). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 25 published by scholink inc. 4. discussion theme 1: prevailing reasons for filipino teachers to work abroad subtheme 1: better living conditions 1-tr-abroad admitted: “teaching abroad is for greener pasture.” 2-tr-abroad confirmed: “greener pasture: a higher salary offers personal growth and development. living and working abroad allow individuals to immerse themselves in new cultures, languages, and experiences. this can lead to personal growth, increased cultural awareness, and the development of a global perspective. adventure and exploration—a new environment and a new culture—can be exciting. enhanced quality of life: some countries offer a higher quality of life in terms of healthcare, education, safety, and overall well-being, which can be appealing to expatriates.” 3-tr-abroad expressed the deplorable working conditions while working in the philippines: “1) poor working conditions. 2) a dim chance at career advancement. 3) low salaries. these are the common reasons that push me to venture greener pastures abroad.” www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 26 published by scholink inc. theme 2: challenges encountered by filipino teachers in working abroad sub-theme 2: culture shock 4-tr-abroad affirmed: “adjusting to a different work culture can be one of the challenges of working abroad, but it‟s important to learn the local norms and expectations. language barrier. it‟s so challenging to communicate with people who are unable to speak a common language, especially when teaching. cultural differences may somehow lead to miscommunication. eye contact, for example, is very important in some cultures but rude and disrespectful in others. when teaching, we must be careful with our actions and word choices because some children are very sensitive. professional adjustments: the work that we teachers do is personal and meaningful. unlike many other professions, we become emotionally invested in our learners‟ progress and outcomes, which can be a difficult burden to carry over, such as understanding different learning styles, lack of effective communication, communicating with parents, pressure from school administrators, behavior and classroom management, time-consuming administrative work, and burnout. with the high demand from all of the teachers their responsibilities, sometimes become the feeling of being drained, dreading going to work, and lacking the motivation to be productive. homesickness. it‟s just a normal and natural reaction since i am working in a different country and culture. it‟s natural to feel sad about not being able to sleep in your bed and eat home-cooked food surrounded by your family.” www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 27 published by scholink inc. 5-rt-abroad admitted: “i have to adapt to another climate. everything is new. so i have to take good care of my health and observe health protocols to stay healthy. i have to adjust to the apartment where i stay. i have to do marketing and do things all by myself. unlike in the philippines, where we can request somebody to do an errand for us, i did bother myself to drive a 4-wheel vehicle, but here in the usa, i have to learn and be on the wheel, or else it is extremely difficult to move around. ospina & medina (2020) cited that many who work in the united states learned how to drive because it is a necessity.” 6-tr-abroad asserted: “one of the most common challenges these teachers have to face is the wide disparity of the oriental vis-à-vis the occidental (otherwise known as western culture). as claimed by quinopez et al. (n.d.), culture‟s principle includes a wide range of human actions, products, and institutions for people with varied educational backgrounds, experiential backgrounds, and life experiences. teachers from the philippines are well-prepared to teach considering the level of in-service training we had previously attended; however, adjustment to the new academic environment takes time as we asians behave differently from the americans. there are „dos and don‟ts‟ in the philippines, in the same manner as there are also in the usa. we have to immerse ourselves in the new culture but keep our identity and culture as filipinos.” thomas (2019) reported that instead of passing judgment on the host culture, the participants changed their expectations in response to the cultural variations. through this flexible adjustment, a positive personal and work life can be established in a foreign land. working in a foreign environment necessitates becoming adaptable to communicate socially and sustain a suitable relationship. people must acclimate to the host culture while navigating a foreign environment with a different culture (reyes et al., 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 28 published by scholink inc. theme 3: benefits of filipino teachers working abroad sub-theme 3: financial freedom 7-tp-abroad confirmed: “aside from the fact that we are receiving a good salary here, another benefit of working abroad is being able to learn new culture and explore new places.” 8-tr-abroad averred: “higher salary and benefits.” a tangible reward for living and working abroad is its financial compensation. needless to say, teachers are paid up to ten times more than what they are earning back home.” this monetary aspect is what mainly lured these teachers to work abroad in the first place. they can pay off their loans, have some funds for leisure, and even better, they have prospects of investing in business. they know they have a contract to fulfill, and as the money is still pouring in, a plan is put in place that they may have something to show for all the work they do in the us (modesto, 2020). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 29 published by scholink inc. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 30 published by scholink inc. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 31 published by scholink inc. theme 4: factors of satisfaction experienced by filipino teachers in working abroad sub-theme 4: win! win! conditions 9-tr-abroad avouched: “employees are well taken care of.” 10-tr: abroad confirmed: “if i were to compare my work here with my previous work in the philippines, i would probably say that we have fewer loads here. our focus is just to teach. we are not given any admin tasks here.” 11-tr-abroad declared: “teaching abroad is a win! it offers the opportunity to develop connections with people from other cultures. it also offers an opportunity to travel internationally and immerse yourself in a foreign culture while earning more.” 12-tr-abroad professed: “if, by chance, i go back to the philippines for good and rejoin completely with my family, i will be engaged in business, as i have spent substantial years already teaching. by the grace of god, perhaps i will be teaching, probably at the tertiary level. well, i still have to figure out the situation properly when i get back to the philippines. hopefully, i can still come back here (in the usa) and teach again, not just as a cultural teacher with a j1 visa but with a hib work visa to gain my green card and sponsor my family to join me here. only time can tell. god's will be done upon me.” 13-tr: abroad affirmed: “serin (2017) pinpoints the desire of teachers who have worked in the international scene to pursue professional development to develop their teaching abilities more. also, having higher degrees will prepare them for higher pay in the us. here are the parts of the interview in which three teacher respondents expressed themselves in unison. concerning their plans for further studies, “through the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 32 published by scholink inc. will of god, we are going to pursue our master‟s degree and finish it, then, hopefully, pursue our doctorate and finish it also with the hope to become more professionally qualified than at present time.” 14-tr: abroad expressed: “at first, i felt homesick, but through the usage of social media, like facebook audio-video applications, i can meet and talk with my husband and children during off-hours. the feeling of belonging is re-established between my family and me, although virtually, not physically. after all, i am in america!” 15-tr-abroad affirmed: “if given the opportunity and luxury of time and a financial budget, i will enroll in short-term courses that will enhance my professional outlook in life, like fashion and design, culinary arts, etc. these are professional experiences that we never had the chance to learn while teaching in the philippines due to lack of time and finances.” 16-tr-abroad openly revealed: “i usually take a walk in the park and talk with the americans who are native speakers of the english language. i learned and improved my command of the english language, which i never had the chance to do before i came to the usa.” 17-tr-abroad candidly explained: “i never dreamed in the past of leaving deped, until an opportunity came. i was just told about the teaching employment. at first, i was hesitant. but when i was convinced of the genuine purpose of the program, cultural exchange, my thoughts shifted from negative to positive, so i applied and processed the documents. after which, when i was confirmed for my teaching job, i immediately applied for a us visa. upon my return from the us embassy in manila, i tendered my resignation as a deped teacher.” 18-tr-abroad added: “until today, i could not believe i was already teaching outside of the philippines. it was an overwhelming experience that came unexpectedly. i hope to continue teaching here until i reach the retirement age of 60 or 65 and receive my monthly pension in us dollars aside from my philippine pension. thank you, lord god, for this opportunity.” 19-tr-abroad quipped: “american culture is different from philippine culture.” the style of teaching is similar, but we are relaxed here compared to philippine teaching.” 20-tr-abroad concluded: well, america is america, so to speak. the philippines is the philippines. indeed, life in america is “first world.” life in the philippines is “third world.” www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 3, 2024 33 published by scholink inc. references bailey, p. h. 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(2021). filipinos as efl teachers in bangkok, thailand: implications for language education policy in the asean region. relc journal, 52(3), 588-602. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688219879775 uytico, b. j., & abadiano, m. n. (2020). teachers‟ tales: in-depth exploration on experiences of millennial filipino teachers abroad. journal of critical reviews, 7(17), 1952-1960. walters, d. (2020). teaching efl: why you should teach abroad. retrieved from https://www.saxoncourt.com/teaching-efl-why-you-should-teach-abroad/ https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v4i1p110 https://doi.org/10.1016/s1055-3290(06)60374-9 https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020914655 https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688219879775 microsoft word grhe-v1n1-p98 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 98 original paper using project based learning (pbl) design to expand mathematics students’ understanding: a case study in statistics problem sugi hartono1* 1 mathematics department, universitas negeri surabaya, surabaya, indonesia * sugi hartono, mathematics department, universitas negeri surabaya, surabaya, indonesia received: may 10, 2018 accepted: may 20, 2018 online published: may 24, 2018 doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n1p98 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n1p98 abstract this paper describes some activities that the author has designed using project based learning (pbl) to develop students’ understanding of statistics. this study used a quasi-experimental method with a one group pretest-posttest quantitative research design. the subjects in this study are 30 students of class vii in smp negeri 6, surabaya, indonesia. the data collected using a questionnaire and a test. the validity of students’ response used product-moment correlations and the reliability test used the cronbach’s alpha formula, and the hypothesis was tested using the t-test (one sample t-test). the results showed that the positive response of students using pbl design to expand mathematics students’ understanding of statistics, namely 85.83%. furthermore, there was a difference in the students’ learning outcomes before and after they learned through the pbl learning design, indicated by pretest the mean of score is 38.30 and a posttest mean score is 67.17. besides that, tobserved of pretest is 15.931 and tobserved of posttest is 34.655, both are greater than ttable with a significant level α=0.05 is 2.042. thus, we could be concludes that there as a difference the understanding of statistics students’ outcome before and after learning with pbl design. keywords project based learning, mathematics students’ understanding, statistics 1. introduction classroom learning should be an effort for students to be able to develop material revelation, increase knowledge, and knowledge will be used later for future life. but in fact, lately a lot of learning is more likely to be boring and less interesting, especially in junior high, surabaya so that many students are www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 99 published by scholink inc. lazy in understanding the material and even prefer to turn away from learning by playing. in particular statistical materials, some students are lazy in calculating data especially if the data is large. this if left unchecked will have an impact on the decrease in the academic value of students. implementation of the model based project (pbl) is one alternative to overcome the above problems (krajcik & blumenfeld, 2006). the project-based learning model is one of the recommended of learning models in the implementation of curriculum 2013 in indonesia. this is because pbl is a key strategy for creating independent thinkers and learners (bell, 2010) and student-centered projects for active learning (mosleh & thom, 2017) that match the objectives of the 2013 curriculum. in addition pbl is also an innovative learning emphasizes complex activities with the goal of solving problems based on inquiry activities (laviatin, 2008). thompson and beak (2007) also reported that they are students in a collaborative learning activity that challenges them as both individuals and group members. pbl allows students to learn by doing, applying their ideas while engaging in real-world activities through investigating questions, proposing hypotheses and explanations, discussing their ideas and finally developing solutions or outcomes (diffily, 2002). some research results indicate that project-based learning has tremendous potential to train student’ thinking processes (thomas, 2000) that lead to students’ creative thinking ability. so the students become enthusiastic in their learning, because the teacher acts as mediator and facilitator. the results of this study support the research conducted by summers and dickinson (2012) doing research and found that learners who learn to use project-based learning have higher learning achievement than the traditional learning. leviatan (2008) also explained in his research that learning project-based is an innovative learning that emphasizes complex activities with the goal of solving problems based on inquiry activities. in addition, according to a study from miswanto (2011) also shows that through a project-based learning model, students’ learning outcomes on linear programming material become increasingly higher than before. according to markham et al. (2003), there are six aspects needed in pbl, namely: 1) authentic, real-world challenge; 2) academic all rigorous; 3) apply learning by using high-performances skills; 4) active exploration; 5) interact and make adult connections; 6) formal and informal assessment practices. besides that pbl also allows students to investigate questions, propose hypotheses and explanations, discuss their ideas, challenge the ideas of others, and try out new ideas (krajcik & blumenfeld, 2006). using pbl in learning, it is expected that students better understand and know that the things learned related to real life around them so that the concept of statistics learned will be recorded more strongly in the memory of students and learning outcomes will be better. in addition, this project-based learning model is expected to improve student learning outcomes and improve the ability to solve daily problems related to the subject matter of statistics that has been received. the purpose of this research is to describe the project based learning (pbl) design of mathematics students’ in learning statistics. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 100 published by scholink inc. 2. method 2.1 research design this study is a quantitative study with quasi experimental design using one-group pretest-posttest design that focuses on improving students’ understanding in learning statistics to better outcomes before students get pbl learning. this research was conducted in class vii of smp negeri 6 surabaya, indonesia. this study is implemented for 2 months, february-april 2015. 2.2 research sample the participants of the study were 1 class who were selected from cluster random sampling from 10 classes in the same grade from a junior high school at surabaya city, indonesia. the subjects in this study are 30 students of class viih, there are 15 are males and 15 are females. all students are in grade vii and aged between 12-13 years. class vii h is the grade with the lowest average mathematics score compared to the other grade of the previous semester grade data. 2.3 research instruments and procedures the data collected using a questionnaire and a test. pretest and posttest are the same questions consisting of 9 essays items. in our study, student activity categories to be observed include: 1) listening or paying attention to teacher or friend explanations; 2) observing, listening to, or view problems, events, or explanations in students worksheet; 3) discussing or solving students worksheet or finding ways and answers in students worksheet; 4) presenting the results of the discussion, providing feedback in groups; 5) asking about the results of the discussion or observations to friends or teachers; 6) making conclusions or summarize the learning materials in groups or together with teachers. 2.4 data analysis the data analyses of our study are using validy, reliability, and hypothesis. the validity of students’ response used product-moment correlations and the reliability test used the cronbach’s alpha formula, and the hypothesis was tested using the t-test (one sample t-test). 3. result the results showed that the questionnaire of students responses filled by 30 students after following project-based learning on statistical materials obtained as follows: table 1. the results of response students toward pbl design no responded aspect percentage (%) agree not agree 1 the drawing on the students worksheet as an illustration allows me to better understand the given problem 100 0 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 101 published by scholink inc. 2 writing mathematical symbols in students worksheet does not make me dizzy 90 10 3 the language used on students worksheet is easy to understand 96.67 3.33 4 asking questions given in any problem is made easy for me to do 90 10 5 the form of presentation of students worksheet made me interested to finish it immediately 70 30 6 the form of presentation of students worksheet can made me happy to finish it immediately 63.33 36.67 7 i easily understand the language, writing, and illustrations used in the test of learning outcomes 100 0 8 the form of presentation of students worksheet helped me to understand the concepts of materials being studies 76.67 23.33 total 85.83 14.17 based on the criteria of students’ responses to instructional tools, it can be concluded that the overall percentage of students’ responses to learning tools amounted to 85.83% which means that students’ responses are positive to follow pbl lessons in statistics materials. the results of pretest before given pbl is presented in the following table: table 2. frequency distribution of student learning outcomes before pbl the values frequency percentage (100%) information 0-20 4 13, 34 very less 21-40 13 43,33 less 41-60 11 36, 66 enough 61-80 2 6, 67 good 81-100 0 0 very good total 30 100% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 102 published by scholink inc. based on the above table of 30 students who follow the learning there are 4 students or 13.34% which includes very less qualifications, there are 13 students or 43.33% which includes less qualification, there are 11 people 36.67% which includes enough qualification, and 2 persons or 6.67% good qualification. the overall average score is 38.3 and is in less qualification. while for posttest result data of student after given pbl is presented in the following table: table 3. frequency distribution of student learning outcomes after pbl the values frequency percentage (100%) information 0-20 0 0 very less 21-40 0 0 less 41-60 8 26.67 enough 61-80 20 66.66 good 81-100 2 6.67 very good total 30 100% based on the above table of 30 students who follow the learning there are 8 students or 26.67% which includes sufficient qualification, there are 20 students or 66.66% which includes good qualification, and 2 persons or 6.67% including very good qualification. the overall average score is 67.2 and is in good qualification. different test results of student learning before and after given project-based learning are as follows: table 4. comparison of the average value of pretest and posttest pretest posttest maximum value minimum value average standard deviation 62 17 38.3 13.1 88 50 67.2 10.6 based on the above table shows that the average value posttest results are higher than the average value of pretest results with a difference of 28.9. improvement of learning outcomes can also be seen in t-test results that there are differences in student learning outcomes before and after learning using the pbl model, this is evidenced by the t-test as follows. table 5. the results of t-test the value mean tobserved ttable significant sig (2-tailed) posttest 67.17 34.655 2.042 0.185 0.000 pretest 38.30 15.931 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 103 published by scholink inc. based on the above table, the result of one sample t-test shows t-test pretest is 15.931, while tobserved of posttest is 34.655. if the result of the calculation is compared with ttable (2.042) then t-test count is greater than price t table. because tobserved>ttable then there are differences in student learning outcomes before and after learning using pbl. 4. discussion and conclusion response is an idea or feeling of students after following the lesson. according to poerwadarminta (2003), response means reaction or idea that is acceptance or rejection, as well as indifference to what is communicated by the communicator in the message. student responses are traced through a questionnaire filled after students follow this pbl lesson. based on the result, students’ responses in pbl lessons in statistics materials is 85.83% which means that students’ responses are positive. then we given the test, the average value of pretest results before the learning of pbl is 38.3 and the average value of posttest results after the learning of pbl is 67.2, of the two average scores are in good qualification. based on the value seen difference, the average value after learning of pbl is better than the average value before learning of pbl. based on the above results, we can conclude that students’ opinions about the use of project-based learning in improving students’ mathematical understanding can be shown by the student’s response is positive. while for difference of learning result of student before and after given pbl study can be shown with pretest average value is 38.30, mean value of posttest is 67.17. the difference in mean scores indicates that there is an increase in student learning outcomes. for test result tobserved pretest and posttest value show bigger than ttable, that is t count pretest=15.931, t-count posttest=34.655, and ttable=2.042. thus it can be concluded that there are differences in student learning outcomes before and after learning pbl, so that pbl can give effect to students’ mathematical understanding so that student learning outcomes increase compared to previous tests. references bell, s. (2010). project-based learning for the 21st century: skills for the future. the clearing house, 83(2), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098650903505415 diffily, d. (2002). project-based learning: meeting social studies standards and the needs of gifted learners. gifted child today, 25(3), 40-43. https://doi.org/10.4219/gct-2002-69 krajcik, j. s., & blumenfeld, p. (2006). project-based learning. in r. k. sawyer (ed.), the cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. newyork: cambridge. laviatan, t. (2008). innovative teaching and assessment method: qbi and project based learning. mathematics education research journal, 10(2), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03217480 markham, t. (2003). project based learning handbook: a guide to standards-focused project based learning for middle and high school teachers. novato, ca: buck institute for education. miswanto. (2011). penerapan model pembelajaran berbasis proyek pada materi program linier siswa www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 1, no. 1, 2018 104 published by scholink inc. kelas x smk negeri 1 singosari. jurnal penelitian dan pemikiran pendidikan, 1(1), 1. mosleh, m., & thom, m. (2017). design-build, project-based learning in an engineering materials laboratory. in asee mid atlantic section spring conference, morgan state university, baltimore, maryland. poerwadarminta, w. j. s. (2003). kamus umum bahasa indonesia. jakarta: balai pustaka. summer, & dickinson. (2012). a longitudinal investigation of project-based intruction and student achievement in high school social studies. the interdisciplinary journal of problem-based learning, 6(1), 82-103. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1313 thomas, j. w. (2000). a review of research on project-based learning executive summary. san rafael, ca: the autodesk foundation. thompson, k. j., & beak, j. (2007). the leadership book: enhancing the theory-practice connection through project-based learning. journal of management education, 31(2), 278-291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562096297143 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 72 original paper research on interdisciplinary integration and construction of the smart construction professional curriculum cluster lijuan chen 1 1 qingdao city university, qingdao, china received: october 14, 2025 accepted: november 2, 2025 online published: november 19, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p72 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p72 abstract as the core direction of digital and intelligent transformation in the construction industry, smart construction places heightened demands on the interdisciplinary integration of professional curriculum systems. centered on the development of a smart construction curriculum cluster, this research explores innovations in the curriculum system within a multi-disciplinary context. utilizing bim-vr platforms, robotics engineering, intelligent equipment, and ai technologies as core supports, it facilitates the deep integration of disciplines such as civil engineering, computer science, and automation control. the study proposes curriculum innovation strategies based on the obe and cdio models, along with a modular curriculum framework, constructing a four-tiered curriculum cluster (foundation-core-integration-practice). practical teaching is enhanced through industry-academia collaboration and the integration of production, education, and research. for curriculum cluster optimization, the study develops a smart construction competency matrix and a sustainable development framework, introducing a dynamic evaluation mechanism to improve the adaptability of the curriculum system and the quality of talent cultivation. the findings provide theoretical support for the reform of smart construction education, promote the development of smart construction programs in higher education institutions, and contribute to the high-quality development of the construction industry. keywords smart construction, interdisciplinary integration, curriculum cluster development, bim-vr, artificial intelligence www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 73 published by scholink inc. as an important direction for the digital transformation of the construction industry, smart construction is driving the deep integration of construction industrialization, informatization, and intelligence. in recent years, national and local governments have successively introduced policies to support the development of the smart construction industry. as a pilot city, qingdao has accumulated extensive experience in bim technology, intelligent construction, and smart sites. however, the smart construction discipline still faces challenges such as difficulties in interdisciplinary integration, an incomplete curriculum system, insufficient practical teaching resources, and lagging industry-academia collaboration, which constrain the quality of talent cultivation. therefore, constructing a scientific and rational smart construction curriculum system and promoting interdisciplinary integration and innovation in practical teaching have become urgent issues to address. this study focuses on the development of a smart construction curriculum cluster, analyzes industry trends, identifies key skill requirements, and proposes a comprehensive framework based on obe, cdio, and modular curriculum concepts, covering core courses such as smart construction technology, project management, data analysis, automation, and robotics. simultaneously, the study emphasizes the importance of practical teaching, suggesting the use of innovative teaching methods such as bim-vr, intelligent equipment, and ai technology, combined with laboratory practice, project-driven learning, and industry-academia collaboration to enhance students’ hands-on operational skills. furthermore, the study explores mechanisms for curriculum cluster evaluation and optimization to ensure the synchronization of teaching content with industry needs. ultimately, the research aims to establish a sustainable smart construction curriculum system that provides theoretical support and practical guidance for talent cultivation in higher education institutions, facilitating the digital transformation of the construction industry. 1. development of the smart construction discipline and teaching innovation 1.1 overview of smart construction discipline development and policy orientation in recent years, national and local governments have placed great emphasis on the development of smart construction. departments such as the ministry of housing and urban-rural development and the ministry of education have successively introduced policies to promote the digital, industrial, and intelligent transformation of the construction industry. for example, the “14th five-year plan for construction industry development” highlights smart construction as a key lever for enhancing the industry’s core competitiveness and calls for accelerated integration and application of technologies such as bim, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things. at the local level, qingdao, as one of the first national pilot cities for smart construction, has released a series of guidance documents explicitly outlining goals for developing the smart construction industry and cultivating talent in this field. against this backdrop, smart construction programs in higher education institutions should closely align with policy demands, optimize curriculum design, promote interdisciplinary integration, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 74 published by scholink inc. and cultivate talent equipped with new technology application skills, innovative capabilities, and engineering practical abilities to meet the industry’s urgent need for interdisciplinary professionals. 1.2 interdisciplinary integration in smart construction curricula interdisciplinary integration is the core of the smart construction curriculum system, involving multiple fields such as civil engineering, computer science, automation control, and artificial intelligence. currently, domestic smart construction curriculum systems in higher education institutions mainly follow three models: first, expanding smart construction direction courses based on civil engineering programs; second, strengthening construction industry application courses based on computer science or intelligent manufacturing programs; and third, establishing independent smart construction disciplines to form a complete interdisciplinary training system. to achieve interdisciplinary integration, the smart construction curriculum cluster should adopt a four-tier structure of “foundation + core + integration + practice,” maintaining the rigor of traditional engineering courses while enhancing the teaching of new technologies such as information technology, intelligent construction, and digital twins. by integrating multidisciplinary resources and optimizing teaching models, the smart construction curriculum system can effectively improve students’ comprehensive abilities and provide high-quality talent support for the intelligent development of the construction industry (crawford, a., & stephan, a., 2021, p. 103942). 1.3 interdisciplinary curriculum innovation interdisciplinary curriculum innovation in the smart construction discipline is primarily reflected in areas such as bim-vr platforms, robotics engineering, intelligent equipment, and ai technology applications. courses on bim-vr platforms enhance students’ understanding of building information modeling and improve their capabilities in visual management through 3d modeling and virtual reality technologies. robotics engineering courses cover automated construction, intelligent inspection, drone surveying, and other content, cultivating students’ ability to apply intelligent construction technologies. courses on intelligent equipment focus on technologies such as smart site management, structural health monitoring, and iot sensors, enhancing students’ skills in intelligent building management. courses on computer technology and ai applications integrate machine learning, computer vision, big data analytics, and other topics to explore the use of ai in construction scheduling, quality inspection, and safety management. through these curriculum innovations, the smart construction discipline can cultivate interdisciplinary talent capable of meeting the future demands of the construction industry. 1.3.1 bim-vr platform bim (building information modeling) technology is a core supporting technology for smart construction, and the introduction of vr (virtual reality) technology further enhances the visualization of architectural design, construction management, and operation and maintenance processes. the development of bim-vr platform courses aims to cultivate students’ capabilities in data modeling, virtual simulation, and intelligent analysis throughout the entire building lifecycle. course content www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 75 published by scholink inc. includes fundamental bim modeling and optimization, bim applications in construction management, vr immersive experience technology, and integrated bim-vr applications. students will learn software such as revit, navisworks, and unreal engine, and simulate engineering cases through virtual construction environments to improve their construction planning and safety management skills. the course adopts a teaching model of “theoretical instruction + software practice + case studies + simulation training,” combined with the application scenarios of bim-vr technology, enabling students to intuitively understand complex engineering problems and enhance their practical engineering abilities. through the application of the bim-vr platform, students can master digital building technologies, providing technical support for the innovative development of the future smart construction industry. 1.3.2 robotics engineering the application of robotics engineering in the field of smart construction is gradually deepening, offering new approaches for automation and intelligence in construction. this course covers the fundamental theories, programming control, construction applications, and intelligent monitoring of construction robotics technology. students will learn about cutting-edge technologies such as bricklaying robots, concrete 3d printing, and drone inspection, and master skills in ros (robot operating system), python programming, and intelligent sensor applications. the course employs a model of “theoretical teaching + experimental training + engineering case analysis,” combined with construction robotics simulation platforms and real engineering cases, to enhance students’ hands-on skills and understanding of intelligent construction. upon completion, students will possess the ability to apply construction robotics, enabling them to utilize smart construction equipment in future engineering practice, thereby improving construction quality and efficiency, and cultivating interdisciplinary talent with a cross-disciplinary background for the industry’s development. 1.3.3 intelligent equipment the application of intelligent equipment in smart construction spans automated construction, intelligent monitoring, and smart site management. this course primarily introduces key technologies such as construction intelligent sensors, automated construction machinery, and intelligent monitoring systems, aiming to equip students with the skills to operate and apply smart construction equipment. course content includes intelligent monitoring devices (e.g., iot sensors, laser scanners), automated construction equipment (e.g., unmanned construction machinery, intelligent tower cranes), and smart site management systems (e.g., bim+gis integrated platforms). through a model of “classroom teaching + equipment operation + case studies + field training,” students will learn how to use intelligent equipment to enhance the safety, precision, and automation level of construction. the design of this course helps cultivate students’ comprehensive application abilities in intelligent construction and operation management, providing technical support for the digital upgrade of the smart construction industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 76 published by scholink inc. 1.3.4 computer technology and ai applications the application of artificial intelligence and computer technology in smart construction is becoming increasingly widespread, driving the construction industry towards greater intelligence and data-driven practices. this course mainly covers ai intelligent recognition, computer vision, big data analysis, and intelligent scheduling optimization technologies, aiming to develop students’ ability to apply ai in the construction industry. course content includes construction data analysis and big data technology, machine learning and computer vision, intelligent scheduling algorithms, and integrated bim+ai applications. students will learn technologies such as python, tensorflow, and opencv, and master the application of ai in construction schedule optimization, quality inspection, and automated monitoring. the course adopts a model of “programming practice + case analysis + industry application practice,” encouraging students to engage in algorithm development based on smart construction cases, thereby improving their data analysis and intelligent optimization capabilities and fostering innovative technical talent for the future smart construction industry (sacks, r., girolami, m., & brilakis, i., 2020, p. 100011). 2. interdisciplinary smart construction curriculum cluster development 2.1 curriculum system innovation directions: obe, cdio, and modular curriculum in developing the smart construction curriculum cluster, innovating the curriculum system is key to enhancing the quality of talent cultivation. adopting outcome-based education (obe), the cdio engineering education model, and a modular curriculum structure can effectively meet the rapidly evolving demands of smart construction and strengthen the development of students’ comprehensive abilities. the obe model focuses on student learning outcomes and competency development. by establishing clear learning objectives and evaluation systems, it ensures close alignment between curriculum content and industry needs, guaranteeing that students acquire knowledge and skills directly relevant to engineering practice. the cdio model emphasizes cultivating students’ engineering practical ability and innovation skills, highlighting the four stages of “conceive, design, implement, operate” to enhance their project management and problem-solving capabilities. the modular curriculum system involves the scientific division and integration of knowledge in the smart construction field, creating distinct modules at different levels—such as foundational, core, integrated, and practical courses. this ensures students progressively enhance their skills and deepen their understanding and application abilities in smart construction at different stages. by integrating these three educational concepts, the smart construction curriculum system achieves both systematic structure and flexibility. it ensures students possess the necessary theoretical foundation, technical skills, and innovative awareness, preparing them to become interdisciplinary and innovative professionals for the industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 77 published by scholink inc. 2.2 curriculum cluster development strategy: four-tier structure (foundational-core-integrated-practical) the development strategy for the smart construction curriculum cluster should follow a four-tier structural model consisting of “foundational courses, core courses, integrated courses, and practical courses.” this ensures the curriculum content covers the entire spectrum from fundamental knowledge to practical application, fostering students’ comprehensive abilities. the foundational courses tier primarily covers traditional fundamentals of civil engineering and architecture, such as《structural mechanics》, 《architectural drawing》, and 《civil engineering materials》, providing students with a solid disciplinary base. the core courses tier focuses on the key technologies of smart construction, including building information modeling (bim), intelligent construction techniques, robotics applications, and the integrated use of ai in construction. these courses ensure students develop professional technical competencies in smart construction and cultivate their ability to devise solutions for complex engineering projects. the integrated courses tier involves interdisciplinary technological integration, such as combining bim with vr, or integrating robotics engineering with intelligent construction equipment. this promotes knowledge transfer and cross-application across multiple disciplines, enhancing students’ innovation capabilities and engineering application skills. the practical courses tier employs project-driven learning and industry-academia collaboration to immerse students in real engineering environments. through practical training in areas like project design, construction management, and intelligent technology application, this tier ensures students can effectively translate theoretical knowledge into practical engineering competence. through this four-tiered curriculum design, students can progressively master the knowledge and skills required for smart construction, enhance their overall quality, and meet the industry’s demand for interdisciplinary talent. the development strategy for the four-tier structure of the smart construction curriculum cluster is illustrated in figure 1 below. curriculum system of civil engineering specialty under the background of intelligent construction innovative practice group of integrated courses general education courses humanities general education courses general education courses of this major general education courses of other majors group of mathematics and physics foundation courses group of digital engineering design courses group of integrated courses for information, mechanicalelectrical, and civil engineering group of comprehensive courses on intelligent construction starting with information perception, taking transmission as the vein, and ending with feedback run through the whole process closed loop of engineering practice group of core courses figure 1. construction strategy for the four-tier structure of the intelligent construction professional course group www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 78 published by scholink inc. 2.3 curriculum cluster optimization and competency matrix development the optimization of curriculum clusters and the development of competency matrices are pivotal measures for enhancing the teaching quality in smart construction programs. through rational curriculum optimization and well-designed competency matrices, academic programs can better align with industry needs, ensuring students comprehensively develop their technical capabilities, innovative thinking, and practical skills during their learning process. curriculum optimization requires timely updates and adjustments to course content in response to the rapid advancement of smart construction technologies and evolving market demands. this includes strengthening instruction on emerging technologies such as bim, vr, and artificial intelligence, optimizing the overall course structure, and incorporating interdisciplinary curriculum modules. simultaneously, curriculum design should avoid single-discipline teaching models, instead fostering forward-looking, practical, and innovative course content through cross-disciplinary collaboration. the competency matrix development involves establishing clear correlations between specific courses and targeted competencies based on the educational objectives of the smart construction program. this process defines precise capability indicators that each course should achieve. the competency matrix enables scientific assessment of students’ learning progress and knowledge acquisition while providing data-driven support for curriculum adjustment and refinement. this approach not only facilitates progressive competency development throughout different learning stages but also ensures graduates possess the comprehensive capabilities required by the smart construction industry, thereby meeting the construction sector’s demand for interdisciplinary and innovative professionals. 2.4 integration of industry, education, and research: industry-academia collaboration and practical teaching base development the integration of industry, education, and research constitutes a crucial component in the development of the smart construction curriculum cluster. through industry-academia collaboration and the establishment of practical teaching bases, classroom learning can be closely aligned with actual engineering requirements, thereby enhancing students’ practical abilities and innovative capacities. industry-academia collaboration provides students with diverse practical platforms, enabling their participation in real engineering projects where they learn to translate theoretical knowledge into operational skills. by partnering with leading construction enterprises and smart construction technology companies, academic institutions can stay abreast of the latest industry developments and technological needs, ensuring the forward-looking nature and practical relevance of the curriculum. furthermore, such collaboration facilitates talent development and technological research cooperation between enterprises and universities, creating more employment opportunities and career development pathways for students. the development of practical teaching bases—including smart construction laboratories and intelligent construction site simulation centers—provides students with realistic and highly interactive learning environments. through these industry-academia jointly built bases, students www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 79 published by scholink inc. can engage in practical activities such as real engineering data analysis, construction simulation, and intelligent equipment operation, thereby cultivating their problem-solving skills and innovative thinking in engineering contexts. this integration not only enhances students’ professional competencies but also fosters a virtuous cycle between smart construction education and industry development, cultivating high-quality talent to support the digital and intelligent transformation of the construction industry. 3. curriculum cluster evaluation and sustainable development framework 3.1 continuous optimization framework for curriculum cluster development (smart construction talent training model) the continuous optimization framework for the smart construction curriculum cluster should be dynamically adjusted based on technological advancements and evolving industry demands to ensure close alignment between teaching content and practical applications. first, course materials must be regularly updated to incorporate emerging technologies and market needs in smart construction, particularly in areas such as bim, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things. second, teaching methodologies should shift from traditional lecture-based approaches to student-centered, practice-oriented models, emphasizing project-driven learning and problem-solving to enhance students’ innovative thinking and practical skills. additionally, the optimization framework should integrate a dynamic feedback mechanism, systematically gathering input from students, enterprises, and industry stakeholders to inform data-driven adjustments to curriculum design and content. this approach ensures the curriculum cluster remains technologically current while fostering students’ professional competence and lifelong learning capabilities, ultimately cultivating highly skilled, interdisciplinary talent for the smart construction industry. the continuous optimization framework for the smart construction curriculum cluster is illustrated in figure 2 below. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 80 published by scholink inc. semester 8 g r a d u a tio n d e sig n fo r in te llig e n t c o n str u c tio n --in n o v a tiv e p r a c tic e o f in te llig e n t c o n str u c tio n o r ig in a l c o u r s e s u p g r a d e d c o u r se s semester 1 introduction to engineering management cognition of engineering machinery python programming design introduction to intelligent construction semester 2 architectural drawing reading and bim modeling engineering mechanics intelligent construction technology and equipment semester 3 equipment drawing reading and bim modeling building architecture intelligent surveying and mapping big data and cloud computing professional basic courses semester 4 principles and practice of engineering quota marketoriented pricing and quota principles engineering structure iot in construction engineering iot application practice professional compulsory courses semester 5 engineering intelligent construction practice of engineering intelligent construction prefabricated technology application of artificial intelligence technology in architecture professional practice semester 6 whole process cost management practice of whole-process cost management engineering bidding and contract management bim bidding and contract management application of intelligent robots intelligent robot application training semester 7 intelligent management of engineering projects practice of intelligent management of engineering projects intelligent operation and maintenance and management comprehensive training on bim smart construction site figure 2. framework of interdisciplinary curriculum group construction system 3.2 curriculum cluster evaluation system and improvement mechanism the optimization of the curriculum cluster requires guidance from an effective evaluation system to enhance teaching quality. the evaluation framework should encompass four key dimensions: student assessments, faculty feedback, industry needs, and technological trends. student evaluations should not only reflect knowledge acquisition but also assess practical skills, teamwork, and innovative capabilities. faculty feedback should focus on the innovativeness of course design and the effectiveness of teaching methods. industry input helps evaluate students’ performance in real-world work environments, ensuring the curriculum remains aligned with sector demands. meanwhile, regular industry surveys keep the curriculum adaptive to future technological developments. based on these multidimensional insights, an improvement mechanism enables timely adjustments to course content and teaching methodologies, enhancing the integration and practicality of the curriculum system. this process ensures that graduates possess sufficient engineering competence and technological innovation skills to meet the growing talent demands of the smart construction industry. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 81 published by scholink inc. 3.3 future prospects (ai + smart construction education, smart construction, and metaverse-based teaching) looking ahead, smart construction education will deeply integrate with cutting-edge technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (ai), smart construction, and the metaverse. the incorporation of ai into smart construction education will advance teaching in areas such as data analysis, construction optimization, and quality control in architectural engineering, cultivating students’ intelligent thinking and technical application skills. the adoption of smart construction technologies will accelerate the automation and intellectualization of site management, leading to an increased emphasis in the curriculum on the practical application of iot, smart sensors, and big data analytics in construction processes. metaverse-based teaching, utilizing virtual reality (vr) and augmented reality (ar) technologies, will offer immersive learning experiences, allowing students to engage in design, construction, and management practices within virtual environments. this will strengthen their spatial awareness and engineering application abilities. the introduction of these emerging technologies will break the of traditional teaching approaches, providing students with more flexible and innovative learning experiences. such advancements will further promote the integration of smart construction education and industry development, supplying highly skilled talent to support the intelligent transformation of the future construction industry (zhou, y., zhang, j., & li, h., 2022, p. 04022001). 4. conclusion this study has focused on the interdisciplinary integration and development of a curriculum cluster for the smart construction major. it proposes a curriculum system design based on obe, cdio, and a modular course structure, while optimizing course content and a competency matrix in line with industry demands. by strengthening the instruction of core technologies such as bim, robotics engineering, intelligent equipment, and artificial intelligence, a systematic yet flexible curriculum cluster has been constructed, aiming to cultivate interdisciplinary talent with innovative capabilities and comprehensive practical skills. the research demonstrates that the innovation and integration of interdisciplinary courses can effectively enhance students’ comprehensive abilities. furthermore, the combination of industry, academia, and research provides a practical platform for curriculum implementation, enhancing its applicability and forward-looking nature. with the rapid development of the smart construction industry, future educational models will increasingly integrate cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, smart construction, and the metaverse, driving the continuous optimization and upgrading of the curriculum system. the development of the smart construction curriculum cluster not only provides high-quality talent support for the industry but also offers theoretical and practical guidance for the reform of higher education. it contributes to the intelligent and digital transformation of the construction industry, supporting its high-quality development. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 3, 2025 82 published by scholink inc. funding [fund projects] 2024 annual research project of qingdao city’s 14th five-year plan for educational science “research on the construction of an interdisciplinary intelligent construction curriculum cluster system under the context of industry-university cooperation in higher education” (qjk2024e053). references crawford, a., & stephan, a. (2021). the role of digital twins in the construction industry: a review of practices and prospects. automation in construction, 132, 103942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103942 sacks, r., girolami, m., & brilakis, i. (2020). building information modeling, artificial intelligence and construction tech. developments in the built environment, 4, 100011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100011 zhou, y., zhang, j., & li, h. (2022). integrating vr technology into construction education: a project-based learning approach. journal of civil engineering education, 148(2), 04022001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103942 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100011 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 27 original paper a study of a multiple evaluation system of college english online teaching in china fan zhang 1,2* & shuxiong feng 2 1 college of foreign languages, central south university of forestry & technology, changsha, hunan, china 2 school of education, university of delaware, newark, de, usa * fan zhang, fzhang@udel.edu received: september 2, 2021 accepted: september 17, 2021 online published: december 6, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n4p27 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n4p27 abstract the comprehensive and scientific evaluation of college english teaching in online mode is an important basis for further promoting and optimizing the pragmatic reform of college english teaching. based on the operational principle, the principle of service to students, and the feasibility principle, this study aims to construct a multiple evaluation system of online college english teaching based on three aspects: online interaction, online autonomous learning, and english online practice. a questionnaire has been conducted among undergraduates, teachers, and experts. the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) has been used to analyze the relative importance of the indicators at the first two levels in the multiple evaluation system. the results revealed that the weight coefficients of teacher-student interaction, learning resources, and english listening practice are higher, while those of learning freedom and oral english practice are lower. therefore, the online college english teaching reform should take the following measures: equipment input of college english practice teaching should be reinforced, communication channels between teachers and students should be strengthened, and online teaching resources should be enriched. keywords online teaching and learning, college english teaching, multiple evaluation system, analytic hierarchy process www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 28 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the practice in college english education in china has been conducted based on nationally unified curriculum---the college english curriculum requirements (cecr) (cai & xin, 2009; chen & klenowski, 2009). china’s ministry of education (cmoe) has initiated college english curriculum reforms nation-wide with the attempt to promote the quality of college english education to better meet the needs of socioeconomic development in china (cai & xin, 2009; chen & klenowski, 2009; zhang, 2004). the 2017 cecr advocated college english should vigorously promote the integration of the latest information technology and curriculum teaching, and continue to give play to the important role of modern educational technology, especially information technology in foreign language teaching (cmoe, 2017). the 2017 cecr called for a full use of information technology and actively create a diversified teaching and learning environment in colleges and universities (cmoe, 2017). teachers are encouraged to build and use micro-courses and moocs, transform and expand teaching content by using high-quality online education resources, and implement mixed teaching modes such as flipped classroom based on classroom and online courses, so that students can develop towards active learning, independent learning and personalized learning (cmoe, 2017). the curriculum requirements emphasized that teaching assessment is a crucial link to achieve the goal of college english teaching (xie et al., 2009; yin, 2010). according to the association for educational communications and technology (aect) (2004), the modern education technology is creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources to promote learning and improve the performance of the study and ethical practice. on the one hand, the new media, such as computers, multimedia, and internet applications in the actual teaching process, have been emphasized. on the other hand, the traditional teaching of knowledge structure’s linear defects is to be overcome to build up a diversified, multi-level, and nonlinear information structure. the modern educational technology with computer network has been gradually integrated into college english teaching in china, which has brought profound changes to the traditional english teaching model (li, 2005; wang, 2006). since 2007, many forms of college english online teaching systems have emerged, such as the new horizon college english online learning system and bingo english functional composition system (zhang & yin, 2010). the multimedia teaching system combined with digital technology enable students to communicate with each other and with teachers across time and space, and achieve the collaborative learning effects, to which the traditional teaching mode cannot be compared (brett, 2000; fang, 2011; han et al., 2014; li, 2005; lukman & krajnc, 2012). however, little research has been done to investigate the evaluation system of online college english teaching in china. this study aims to develop an effective network evaluation model of college english teaching in an online environment using the analytic hierarchy process (ahp). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 29 published by scholink inc. 2. literature review for years, previous chinese scholars have been working on the assessment of college english teaching in an online/virtual environment in china (li, 2005; peng, 2004; tong & shi, 2009; wang, 2006; yang, 2012; zhou & qin, 2005). in terms of assessment methods, scholars have emphasized the importance of adopting formative assessment methods in college english teaching (li, 2005; yang, 2012; zhou & qin, 2005). formative assessment methods include “self-correcting systems” that tap students’ potential and comprehensively examine students’ specific learning processes. formative assessment gives full play to cultivating students’ independent and cooperative learning ability (wang, 2006). however, based on the theory of connectionism, tong and shi (2009) examined the assessment system of college english teaching from the perspective of systematization, ecology, and language technology, and concluded that the assessment system must be based on formative assessment and supplemented by summative assessment. peng (2004) proposed that the assessment system of college english teaching should neither be formative nor summative but should be a dynamic assessment system that can more effectively cultivate college students’ cognitive and understanding abilities. prior researchers have also focused on the typical english composition scoring systems and scoring behaviors. in terms of the assessment model systems in different aspects of college english teaching, wan (2005) explored the application of electronic software assessment systems in english writing tests for english majors in anyang institute of technology. he explored the possibility of replacing manual assessment and found that electronic software assessment has higher reliability. zhang and yin (2010) did an overview of the relevant concepts of computer scoring for english composition, summarized the main research techniques of computer scoring for english composition, and introduced several typical computer scoring systems for english composition. researchers have conducted a targeted discussion on the practical application of online assessment systems in college english teaching in china (tan, 2008; zhou et al., 2009; zheng, 2010; zeng, 2010). for example, tan (2008) reported a study using rasch model to analyze english writing grading behavior of four raters. the results showed that the intra-rater reliability is difficult to achieve. it is necessary to establish clear grading standards and train the grading staff to ensure the correct understanding and application of grading standards (tan, 2008). zhou and colleagues (2009) found paperless examination can improve the efficiency of testing and evaluation; and a larger proportion of students (85%) and teachers (90%) have a positive attitude to it; on the other hand, they also found negative aspects of computer-based examinations, for example, deficit network technology and testing software will increase teachers’ workload infinitely; reading online will aggravate the degree of eye fatigue; 5% of students disapprove of paperless exams in writing courses; 70% of teachers worry that paperless exams are not easy to implement. zeng (2010) found the main advantages of computerized examination are mainly reflected in these four aspects: innovative examination questions can be applied; adaptability testing can be implemented; multi-dimensional capability estimation is realized; immediate diagnostic information can be provided. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 30 published by scholink inc. with the rapid development of computer technology, web-based test and evaluation of second language acquisition have a very broad development prospect. this issue has also gained popularity among scholars in other countries. for instance, akinwamide et al. (2012) explored the online autonomous learning functions and strategies with a finding that teachers’ supervision predicted the performance of esl students’ online autonomous learning. teachers need to arrange and help students to complete different online learning tasks to achieve the self-construction of knowledge. in terms of a network language learning environment, lukman and krajnc (2012) discussed the commonalities and characteristics of non-traditional teaching methods in the virtual and real learning environments. the results showed the appropriateness of nontraditional learning methods in comparison with traditional ones, although collaborative learning in both environments causes several frustration based on conflicts (personal or disagreements during the learning phase), influencing the efficiency of the learning process. dickenson and his colleagues (2010) found virtual action learning was corelated with social, cultural, technical and economic change in the society. yang (2009) believed that new media (such as blogs, etc.) facilitated learning a second language. the results showed that 43 student teachers were able to critically reflect on their thoughts and they viewed technology a useful tool for reflecting and communicating with each other. to date, the chinese scholars’ research on the evaluation of college english teaching in a virtual environment has been relatively broad, including assessment methods such as formative assessment, summative assessment, and dynamic assessment (peng, 2004; tong & shi, 2009; yin, 2010; zhou & qin, 2005), as well as the study of assessment systems in different aspects, such as the english composition network scoring system (tan, 2008; wan, 2005; zhang &yin, 2010; zhou et al., 2009). although prior existing research of the assessment of online college english teaching has focused on teaching purposes, teaching methods, and teaching practices , relatively few studies have been conducted on online teaching assessments and fewer quantitative analyses of the evaluation standards have been adopted on the issue. in addition, due to the lack of sufficient attention on the information feedback mechanism from teaching practice process, student cognitive process and interaction platforms, online college english teaching is still constrained by the traditional english teaching model. therefore, the possible contributions of this study might be as follows: first, to fill in the gap of the evaluation system research in a network environment in china by building up a multi-evaluation index system for online college english teaching; second, to supplement the literature of quantitative research on the evaluation criteria by utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) to quantitatively study the evaluation criteria of online college english teaching; third, to add onto the literature on evaluation feedback mechanism by selecting experts, teachers, and students as questionnaire participants to provide feedback. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 31 published by scholink inc. 3. theoretical framework the multi-dimensional approach of evaluation of college english language teaching in a network environment is based on the theoretical framework of the constructivism and the interaction hypothesis (ih). constructivism holds that teaching media should be a cognitive tool for students to study actively and explore cooperatively, rather than just a means to help teachers impart knowledge (chen, 2007; koohang et al., 2009; lutz & huitt, 2004; perkins, 1991; saunders & goldenberg, 1996). according to the constructivist learning theory, on the one hand, online learners independently choose the learning contents and ways to control the learning process; on the other hand, it is also necessary to evaluate the learning process and results of self-construction through self-diagnosis and self-reflection since constructivist learning is cumulative and goal-directed (yang, 2012). in the online teaching process, evaluation should be focused on formative assessment, including participation, homework submission, online discussion, online recording of the learning process, students’ self-evaluation, and peer review (yang, 2012). besides, communication with teachers and group cooperative learning should also be included to comprehensively evaluate the students’ learning effect and ensure the effectiveness and practicality of online teaching (yang, 2012). the interaction hypothesis (ih), one of the most important second language acquisition (sla) hypotheses, has also laid the theoretical foundation of the current study. the ih claims that second language development is better facilitated when learners participate in negotiated interaction, and a second language is acquired more effectively through interaction and communication (auquilla et al., 2019). a substantial body of studies has shown that interaction is inseparable from second/foreign language learning (ellis, 1994; gass, 2005; long, 1981, 1983). there are mainly two kinds of interactive activities in a multimedia and a network environment: teaching interactive activities and social interactive activities. li (2001) pointed out that teaching interaction refers to using computer network information from teaching resources, linking content, downloading information, publishing information, and so on. such interactive activities provide learners with a dynamic control of information and the opportunity to control the learning situation. social interaction is the use of e-mail, chat rooms, bulletin boards, online meetings, or other online media resources to communicate with others. through these communication activities, asking questions, offering answers, discussions, and debates can be conducted online between learners and teachers as well as between learners and learners. in a network environment, interactive activities are a dynamic process, which runs through the whole learning process (li, 2001). previous second language acquisition researchers have identified and emphasized the importance of online communication and interaction in the target language, which provides opportunities for authentic social interaction (auquilla et al., 2019; de la fuente, 2003; sachs & suh, 2007; smith, 2004). many researchers have claimed that online communication offers learners many opportunities (jepson, 2005; smith, 2004). for example, de la fuente (2003) found that face-to-face and computer-mediated www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 32 published by scholink inc. interaction appeared equally effective in promoting vocabulary acquisition. therefore, it will be of great significance to investigate the main factors of the multiple evaluation system of online college english teaching in china and their relative importance based on those conceptual foundations. 4. the present study the construction of the multiple evaluation index system for online college english teaching in china conforms to three basic principles of course evaluation (tu, 2007): orientation, feasibility, and acceptability (hu, 2008; wang, 2002; jin & wang, 2007). in terms of orientation, a multiple evaluation system should embody the correct teaching values (jin & wang, 2007): social-service-orientated and student-development-orientated. besides, feasibility requires evaluation to be consistent with the teaching context and be understood and accepted by evaluation objects (hu, 2008). the main factors of multiple evaluation systems should be described clearly and accurately, and indicators should be measurable. besides, the numerical value of each index should be evidence-based and reasonable, and the methods and the procedures of constructing the numerical value have to be widely accepted. moreover, acceptability requires the indexes in this system to be accepted by most objects and subjects (wang, 2002). thus, the difficulties of the indexes should be moderate and fair to every participant. each index in the system is relevant and relatively independent (hu, 2008). to identify the main factors of multiple evaluations of online college english teaching in china, we selected articles from cssci journals published in the past ten years. the qualitative data coding (huang, 2008) was employed to identify the specific indexes. then the frequency and percentage of each index was counted. the multiple evaluation index system was designed from three levels: network interaction, autonomous learning, and english practice, which belong to the first level. the second level includes 12 indicators: teacher-student interaction, interaction among students, human-computer interaction, social interaction, learning resources, learning freedom, information acquisition, online teaching, oral english practice, english writing practice, english listening practice, and english reading practice. the third level includes 39 evaluation indicators, such as teacher-organization interaction, students’ question and answer interaction, group cooperation interaction, and group confrontation interaction, and so on. twelve evaluation indicators belong to the network interaction dimension, 13 evaluation indicators belonging to autonomous learning, and 14 evaluation indicators belonging to network english practice (see table 1). the ahp was used to analyze the relative importance of different hierarchical indicators. this study aimed to examine the relative importance of the evaluation index at each level to determine the main factors of the online college english teaching evaluation system in china. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 33 published by scholink inc. table 1. multiple evaluation system of online college english teaching in china 5. methods 5.1 participants considering the differential influence of regional educational resources on the generalizability of the results, we selected five colleges and universities from three provinces in the eastern region, the central region, and the western region, respectively. the survey was conducted from may 2017 to january 2018 by online college english teaching experts and instructors as well as students who took the college english online courses. there was a total number of 5,639 respondents who finished and submitted the questionnaire, from which 35 were online english teaching experts, 102 were teachers, and 5,606 were students from those 15 colleges and universities. one hundred and fourteen questionnaires that were incomplete or carelessly filled out were eliminated. therefore, finally, 5,525 valid questionnaires were obtained, with an attrition rate of less than 10%. 5.2 questionnaire the questionnaire is mainly composed of four parts: the first part is demographic information of the participants, such as age, gender, affiliation, occupation, etc. the second part is the interactive network of college english teaching, which involves specifically the evaluation of 12 indicators. the third part is the evaluation of online autonomous learning of college english teaching, which involves 13 indicators. the fourth part is the evaluation of english practice in college english teaching, which specifically involves 14 indicators. the questionnaire with a 5-point likert scale ranging from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 34 published by scholink inc. “strongly disagree”, “somewhat disagree”, “neutral/no opinion”, “somewhat agree”, to “strongly agree” for each item has been rated. 5.3 the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) the ahp, developed by saaty (1980), is one of the multiple-criteria decision-making (mcdm) methods which helps to improve the effectiveness of numerical value distribution (wang & xu, 1990) and provide a simple method with multi-criteria for a complex system which is difficult to be quantified. it is widely applied to varied fields such as resource allocation, project design, maintenance management, and policy evaluation (saaty, 1980; cook et al., 1984; shen et al., 1998; cheng et al., 2005; banai, 2005). ahp has the following advantages over other methodologies: 1) including comparing to the relative importance of each index with one another based on the best benefit of an overall evaluation system, 2) simplifying the decision-making process, and 3) improving the accuracy of priorities by pairwise comparison between every two indexes at the same level. the comparability of the numerical value can be strengthened by comparing each index with one another at the same level from the lowest to the highest level in evaluation systems. therefore, ahp was used to apply to construct the multiple evaluation system of online college english teaching that can be turned into a hierarchical decision model. ahp is a method to solve a complex decision problem by breaking it down into multiple factors, but it is widely criticized for a tedious process of pairwise comparison when a number of criteria or alternatives are involved. experts’ judgments may be doubted, for they are very likely to feel tired and lose patience during this process. to avoid such a drawback, only reasonable and manageable amounts of criteria are contained in the model based on the previous related research articles published in the cssci journals. the authors of this study have acted as facilitators to take over the judgment process. therefore, ahp was regarded as the most appropriate method for this study since the data input was straightforward and convenient. the primary goal was to determine which indexes have the highest numerical value and should be included in the system. in this paper, the complicated mathematical calculations of ahp were skipped, and only a brief description of this method was provided. 6. results 6.1 descriptive characteristics of the score status based on the results from the evaluation questionnaire of online college english teaching, this study summarized the features of online interaction (b1), online autonomous learning (b2), and english online practice (b3). there were 66,300 option level observations altogether in terms of the online interaction dimension, 71,825 for the autonomous learning dimension, and 77,350 for the english practice dimension. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 35 published by scholink inc. the option level of the online interaction dimension presented right skew or positive skew distribution, with an average value of 2.83. among them, there were 11,695 samples with option 1, accounting for 17.64% of the total number. there were 17,699 samples with option 2, accounting for 26.70% of the total number. the number of samples with option 3 was 15,718, accounting for 23.71% of the total number. the number of samples with option 4 was 12,242, accounting for 18.46% of the total number. there were 8,946 samples with option grade 5, accounting for 13.49% of the total sample size (as shown in figure 1). from the comprehensive comparison, the evaluation level of online interaction dimension is between “slightly important” and “relatively important”, which is inclined to the “relatively important” option. figure 1. descriptive characteristics of the scoring status of online interaction the options of online autonomous learning dimension presented right skew or positive skew distribution, with a mean of 2.69. there were 16,425 with option 1, accounting for 22.87% of the total samples. the number of choosing other four following options was 19,682, 14,629, 11,902, and 9,187, respectively, accounting for 27.40%, 20.37%, 16.57%, and 12.79% of the total number, respectively (as shown in figure 2). from the comprehensive comparison, the evaluation level of this dimension is between “slightly important” and “relatively important”, which was inclined to the “relatively important” option. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 36 published by scholink inc. figure 2. descriptive characteristics of the scoring status of online autonomous learning the online english practice dimension options presented a normal distribution, with a mean value of 3.01. there were 10,322 samples with option 1, accounting for 13.34% of the total samples. in terms of other four options from 2 to 5, there were 16,694, 21,485, 19,527, 9,322 samples, respectively. they accounted for 21.58%, 27.78%, 25.24%, 12.05% of the total number of samples, respectively (as shown in figure 3). the evaluation level of this dimension is between “relatively important” and “very important,” which was inclined to the “relatively important”, similar to the dimensions of online interaction and autonomous learning. figure 3. descriptive characteristics of the scoring status of online english practice www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 37 published by scholink inc. by using the ahp to analyze the questionnaire data, the results showed that the relative importance of the evaluation index at the first level was on the following order: english practice (b3) > network interaction (b1) > autonomous learning (b2). in terms of the network interaction dimension, the order of the relative importance of each index should be: communication between teachers and students (c1) > social interactions (c4) > interaction among students (c2) = human-computer interaction (c3). the situation of the relative importance of indicators in the autonomous learning dimension is as follows: learning resources (c5) > online teaching (c8) > information acquisition (c7) > learning freedom (c6). the relative importance of the indexes in the network english practice dimension: english listening practice (c11) > english writing practice (c10) = english reading practice (c12) > english speaking practice (c9). therefore, the judgment matrix of the evaluation index at the first level:                  132 3 1 1 2 1 2 1 21 a the judgment matrix of the evaluation index at the second level:                    122 3 1 2 1 11 4 1 2 1 11 4 1 3441 1b ；                    123 2 1 2 1 12 3 1 3 1 2 1 1 4 1 2341 2b ；                    1 4 1 13 4124 1 2 1 13 3 1 4 1 3 1 1 3b 。 table 2 shows the weights of the first and second levels of the multiple evaluation index system. in the current paper, the relative importance and the evaluation index weight of the third level were not included and discussed because the application of the modern network technology varied at different levels in different colleges and universities, therefore, the more detailed quantitative score of the evaluation indexes at the third level may not apply. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 38 published by scholink inc. table 2. weights of multiple evaluation index system of online college english teaching in china the consistency test has been used to measure the internal stability and reliability of judgment matrices of different levels and dimensions. the lower the consistency test coefficient is, the higher the consistency of the judgment matrix will be, and the higher the accuracy of the conclusion obtained by ahp will be. in this paper, the consistency ratio c.r. was selected as the consistency test index of the multiple evaluation system. the ratio of the calculated c.i. index value and r.i. index value was used to test the consistency of the three dimensions variables: network interaction, network autonomous learning, and network english practice. the calculation formula of c.i. index is: max. . 1 n c i n     , where max is the maximum eigenvalue of the judgment matrix. by checking the table, we got the results as 58.03.. ）（ir and 90.04.. ）（ir . results showed that the consistency ratio of the first level c.r. a = 0.0079. in terms of the second level, the consistency ratio of the online interaction dimension c.r. b1 = 0.0076; the consistency ratio of the online autonomous learning dimension c.r. b2 = 0.0115; the consistency ratio of the english practice dimension c.r. b3 = 0.0076. the consistency ratios of the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 39 published by scholink inc. evaluation indexes at all the levels were less than 0.05. it can be considered that the deviations of the maximum eigenvalue of the evaluation indexes at each level from the judgment matrix order is no more than 0.05 from the average random consistency index r.i. therefore, the consistency of the judgment matrixes has been proved. in other words, the weights of the multiple evaluation index system of college english teaching obtained by the ahp were basically accurate since they conformed to the standards of consistency, stability, and reliability. 7. conclusion this study attempted to build a multi-dimensional assessment system frontline college english teaching in china from three aspects: online interaction, online autonomous learning, and english online practice, aiming to provide a reliable reference for further improving and optimizing the online college english teaching model, as well as making up for the lack of research on the assessment system in the online environment. the ahp was used to supplement the literature of quantitative research on assessment standards. experts, teachers, and students were selected as the participants of the questionnaire, so as to form assessment feedback information and fill in gaps of assessment feedback mechanism research. the results revealed that the relative importance of the evaluation index at the first level is based on the following order: english practice (b3) > network interaction (b1) > autonomous learning (b2). in terms of the network interaction dimension, the relative importance of each index should be: communication between teachers and students (c1) > social interactions (c4) > interaction among students (c2) = human-computer interaction (c3). the relative importance of indexes in the autonomous learning dimension is as follows: learning resources (c5) > online teaching (c8) > information acquisition (c7) > learning freedom (c6). the relative importance of the indexes in the network english practice dimension is: english listening practice (c11) > english writing practice (c10) = english reading practice (c12) > english speaking practice (c9). thus, the weight coefficients of teacher-student interaction, learning resources, and english listening practice are higher than those of learning freedom and english oral practice. based on the findings, there are implications for college english teaching under china’s network environment. administrators and policymakers of universities in china need to support and encourage online english courses by enhancing the curriculum design and providing professional development for teachers. in addition, it is suggested that the equipment input of college english teaching be strengthened. modern college english network practice facilities play an important role in cultivating students’ comprehensive english application ability and enhancing their autonomous learning ability. besides, the communication channels between teachers and students need to be strengthened. teachers’ role should not only be embodied in the college english classroom, but also in the online interaction among students. the cognitive construction of english learning is a cyclic process in which teachers www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 4, 2021 40 published by scholink inc. help students from discovering problems to solving problems back and forth. finally, great efforts need to be made to improve and enrich network teaching resources. developing and building a variety of network teaching resources facilitates to provide students with a good language learning environment. the current study was the first to use ahp to examine the evaluation system of online english teaching in china. but as the other studies, there are limitations to this one. first, due to the shortcomings of ordinary ahp, such as uneasily estimated range of evaluation results, uneasily determined quantitative values, and strong subjectivity, future efforts are needed to be done on a more feasible online college english teaching system in china by a revised or improved ahp. second, the specific indicators at the third level were not included and discussed in the current study due to the varied usage of the modern network technology in those colleges and universities and the paper length limit. therefore, in the future studies, the relative importance of the indexes at the third level will be calculated and reported, such that the specific implication will be discussed for the online college english teaching in china. acknowledgments this study was supported by a philosophical and social science foundation project in hunan province in china: an empirical study on multiple evaluation system of college english online teaching (no. 17wlh45), and the china scholarship council (201808430171) for fan zhang. references akinwamide, t. k., & adedara, o. g. 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(2009). research on paperless examination of writing course. foreign languages, (3), 59-65. microsoft word grhe-v2n1-p71 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 71 original paper emotional competence in a gender perspective: the experiences of male nursing students in the sexual and reproductive health clinical teaching paula diogo1,2*, madalena oliveira1,2, patricia baltar1,3 & hugo martins1,3 1 nursing research & development unit, lisbon, portugal 2 higher nursing school of lisbon, lisbon, portugal 3 fernando da fonseca hospital, amadora, portugal * paula diogo, nursing research & development unit, lisbon, portugal; higher nursing school of lisbon, lisbon, portugal received: january 17, 2019 accepted: january 25, 2019 online published: february 22, 2019 doi:10.22158/grhe.v2n1p71 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v2n1p71 abstract in the nursing degree clinical teaching, gender stereotypes can influence the emotional experience of male students, with implications on their learning and competence’s development in a health care area that is predominantly female, since it is consensual that the emotional dimension of learning can stipulate the experiences of caring. the development of emotional competence promotes a greater capacity for adaptive resilience in the face of stressful situations; consequently, to be emotionally competent is to be able to find solutions in internal resources that emerge from emotions (especially its management) and from the motivation of each individual. this interrelation between emotions and gender prompts the understanding of the male nursing students’ emotional experience of provision of care in sexual and reproductive health. in order to understand this phenomenon, is proposed a research project with a qualitative approach, exploratory and descriptive. the data will be obtained from narratives written by nursing degree male student and also from clinical teaching supervisor nurses. understanding students’ emotional experiences in clinical teaching of sexual and reproductive health, related to possible gender stereotypes and restrictions to care in this area, leading us to understand how emotion itself manages these genderized experiences, what sense it gives them and how it incorporates them into learning in clinical teaching. keywords clinical teaching nursing, male students, gender stereotypes, sexual and reproductive health, emotional www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 72 published by scholink inc. competence 1. introduction historical findings reveal that caring is associated with female, who traditionally is the one who assumes the role of caregiver, to whom is attributed greater sensitivity, availability to help the other and greater predisposition in affective and emotional sphere. to man were meant other tasks such as hunting, work and war. this social division of labour allowed the maintenance of life (collière, 2000). moreover, the nursing history refers to the associated care of female labour, in the case of a profession in which health care is “instinctive”, which led to the current health care being provided by religious and still imminently feminine. however, the multiple changes in the roles of men and women in recent decades in the public and private sphere, allowed both to coexist in the same space and to perform the same functions. nowadays, men intervene in a series of activities and tasks, gaining a new role in the sphere of caring. nonetheless, multiple gender stereotypes persist that condition individual and collective behavior, especially in the area of health and education (oliveira, 2016). with regards to healthcare, gender issues arise in portugal linked to sexual and reproductive health, historically a dimension of women’s care; so ensuring equal opportunities in this area of care also implies creating similar opportunities for nursing students, female or male, analyzing how health services are organized according to gender, perceive how male students emotionally experience these genderized experiences and generate the emotions that result from eventual gender stereotypes, likely to influence their learning in clinical teaching in this area. nevertheless, it is important to dwell on the fact that nursing care is distinct if provided by a man or a woman. they are distinguished in the intersubjective encounter, since gender crosses all our behaviors, all our attitudes and relationships (renaud, 2010). it therefore seems important to reflect on how the concept of caring has been presented socially and culturally, since it has been shaped by compliance with the female stereotype. 2. literature review 2.1 gender and health care over time stereotyped representations of care have been questioned leading to changes in organizational contexts which are supported by values that promote gender equality. however, distinguish between concepts of sex and gender seems crucial. while the former refers to physical characteristics which identify the sex each person belongs to (amâncio, 1994) the latter refers to the socially constructed differences between female and male (aboim, 2007), corresponding, on the theoretical level, to the purpose of placing the question of gender differences in the social research agenda, removing it from the domain of biology (amâncio, 2003). this last concept emerged from women’s studies in the 1970s, conducted by women’s movements demanding equal rights, and intended to report on the psychosocial and cultural differences that existed at a particular social, historical and political moment (scott, 1995; amâncio, 2004; louro, 2008). for www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 73 published by scholink inc. scott (1995), it is defined as the social discourse produced on the biological sex itself. thus, when we talk about gender we are referring to social symbolism and not only centered on biological determinism (crespo, ferreira, couto, cruz, & joaquim, 2008), so the terms sex and gender should not be used as synonyms. through social learning this “incorporation” of gender has its genesis in the early years of childhood; it is a process that precedes the perception of the body itself sexed by the child and is translated into a set of social expectations (for example the color of the clothing, toys, how to behave) and internalization of gender roles conveyed by family, school or media which are essential for this process (giddens, 2008). it acts as a social “filter” that allows the child to understand the world and its own existence in a social discourse on biological assumptions (ibid). gender can be considered as an important social marker (giddens, 2008) identifying us as male or female (nowadays with a greater tendency to break this polarization) and is also one of the social determinants of health. it is, therefore, crucial to study gender in healthcare and to explore the inequities created by it in order to reduce and even eliminate them (prazeres, 2009). this, however, requires a greater clarification of the complex matrix of variables that support it, from the conceptual point of view to the daily aspects in which it manifests (ibid). whilst there has been an effort in the social field to empower female, inequalities still persist with regards to the various spheres of male’s life including healthcare, and gender studies by women have been increasingly problematizing issues related to masculinities (wall, cunha, atalaia, rodrigues, correia, & rosa, 2016). the classic representations of masculinity and femininity coexist in contemporary times with new representations about what it is to be a man and a woman, which affect the way we look at care, people cared for and caregivers. health institutions, on the other hand, are not “alien” to these processes and often appear as privileged spaces for the reproduction of gender relations, thus justifying the present research proposal. 2.2 sexual and reproductive health the concept of sexual and reproductive health emerges from the international conference on population and development, held in cairo in 1994, and originated the designation of “reproductive rights and reproductive health” defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well, and not only the absence of disease, in all matters related to the reproductive system, in its functions and process” (united nations, 1995, p. 17). however, in order to have reproductive health it is necessary that “people are able to have a satisfactory and secure sexual life, that they have the capacity to reproduce and the freedom to decide to do so, whenever and as often as they wish” (united nations, 1995, p. 17). it is a matter of human rights to “ensure that women and man have access to the information, education and services necessary to achieve good sexual health and to exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities” (united nations, 1995, p. 18). sexual health, understood as life-enhancing and interpersonal relations (dgs, 2008), integrates the issues of sexuality considered an important human dimension that influences the quality of life; it includes not only factors of a biological nature but also psycho-affective, sociocultural, ethical-legal, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 74 published by scholink inc. political, and historical factors (who, 2006). sexuality exists throughout the entire life cycle of the individual and can be expressed in multiple ways, enriching life and interpersonal relationships; it is not limited to reproductive function, but can be translated as the search for intimacy and pleasure, fulfilling also the need for communication. identity issues (related to sex and gender identity), roles and gender relations, also integrate this comprehensive concept that is not just about sex (who, 2006). the concepts of sexual health and reproductive health are thus closely related (although nowadays in the face of a new paradigm that dissociates reproductive sexuality) and the inherent rights are deepened throughout the 1990s, at the international conference on women in beijing (1995), were embodied in the sexual and reproductive rights charter (ippf, 1996) and later, in the declaration of sexual rights (ippf, 2008), documents aimed at their promotion and protection. these initiatives made it possible to understand that, by intervening in sexual and reproductive health issues involving female and male, positive relations between the two were also being promoted, and so was equality and gender equity. in recent years, it has come to affirm the importance of investing in sexual and reproductive health issues as drivers of development and sustainability. some of the eight millennium development goals were linked to sexual and reproductive health (issues such as maternal morbidity and mortality, improved maternal health, fighting hiv/aids, fighting poverty, hunger or gender equality); some have been achieved but many are still to be met (united nations, 2015). it is therefore necessary for the health care and nursing interventions in sexual and reproductive health to focus on a diversified set of services, techniques and methods that contribute to the health and reproductive well-being, giving appropriate responses to the needs of man and women in this area, throughout the life cycle (dgs, 2008). 2.3 male students’ difficulties in a traditionally feminine care area concerning the context of nursing clinical teaching in the area of sexual and reproductive health, issues related to gender stereotypes, understood as prejudices or models that are established as standard, may arise and create obstacles to care (the caregivers, the supervisors or the clients); likewise, they can, simultaneously, influence the emotional experience and, simultaneously, the teaching-learning process of the male students. these stereotypes are based on social roles that historically have associated women to expressive function and man to instrumental function (as is the case of professions understood as an extension of informal care in a given field, such as nursing or education, where there may be devaluation of the care itself). in fact, couto, silva, schraiber, gomes and figueiredo (2011) report that health professionals can adopt different behaviors towards men and women based on stereotypes. in this sense, since traditional gender roles shape social relations, which are perpetuated by beliefs and values socially transmitted though not always perceived, we can also think that patients might behave differently when cared for by female or male nurses (cig, 2012). this may condition the access of male students to areas of care with more feminized representations such as sexual and reproductive health. nevertheless, renaud (2010) states that the intersubjective encounter conditioned by gender has no impact in the professional competence or quality of care as men and women may www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 75 published by scholink inc. display the same ethics, although phenomenally different. gender relations are also historically issues of power (scott, 1995) and although gender equality is a fundamental value of the european union, enshrined in the various european treaties, we still witness strong inequalities in access, promotion and maintenance of male’s health (prazeres, 2009); in some professions the expectations still seem to be gender-based. with regards to healthcare, gender issues arise in portugal in 2009 linked to sexual and reproductive health, historically a dimension of women’s care. in this sense, introducing the gender perspective in this area of care is also a way to promote gender equality. several equality plans have already identified the gender perspective as a priority within health policies extended to all areas of society. however adequate skills and tools are required, and the concept of gender mainstreaming, acknowledged as the set of measures and strategies that promote gender equality (perista & silva, 2005). in portugal, the 5th national plan for gender equality, citizenship and non-discrimination (2014-2017), approved by council of ministers resolution no. 103/2013, defines gender equality as referring to the rights and freedoms of men and women with a view to equal opportunities, participation and recognition in the various spheres of life (public and private). when it concerns to sexual and reproductive health services, despite some changes, the accessibility of men to care is hindered by concrete physical barriers (lack of adequate spaces, bathrooms, eating places, own circuits, written information addressed to them). this may also influence students’ perceptions of how they are accepted as male students by clients and clinical supervisors, in a much feminized care area. ensuring equal opportunities, implies creating similar opportunities for students, male and female, analyzing how health services are organized according to gender, and understand how male students emotionally perceive these genderized experiences, and how they manage the emotions that stem from eventual gender stereotypes likely to influence their learning in this area of practice. 2.4 gender and emotional competence nursing training, especially in a practice setting, should not be confined to the technical and scientific process, but also emphasize the student’s personal development by the generating role that he has in all competences, especially those of a relational nature (rabiais, 2010). that is, it is not possible to separate cognitive, social, affective and emotional dimensions when clarifying the factors that underlie the nursing care learning development. in addition to the other dimensions, the emotional dimension is essential not only for nursing practice but also for the student who often seeks success in a turbulent tangle of experiences, thoughts, and emotions that he needs to learn how to manage. to analyze the care process as a relational process impregnated with emotions and feelings (diogo, 2015), becomes an attractive horizon because the emotional experience is omnipresent in each act of caring. the emotional labour is inherent to professional performance, which justifies the awareness of using those in the relationship with the clients, making it important to understand how nurses should seek and develop the human feeling experience as an instrument of care (diogo, 2006). emotions give meaning and guide www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 76 published by scholink inc. the nurse’s actions by being explicitly intentional in their care (diogo, 2015). regarding emotional competence, some authors point out that there are no gender-specific differences; nevertheless, they alert that different management strategies for emotions may be used depending on whether they are male or female (erickson & ritter, 2001). kumar (2014), in her study on emotional labour, emotions and gender management—who sought to analyze the emotional management of nurses from a gender perspective—concluded that there are no significant differences in the strategies adopted by participants concerning emotional management (repression or emotional disguise or seeking external support). regarding the analysis of participants’ perspectives on gender issues (for example gender effects and stereotypes) revealed that they are clearly felt. in this study it is also reported that women are better prepared for emotional management than men, and there is evidence of occupational segregation in certain professions, as previously mentioned by taylor and tyler (2000). on the other hand, cottingham, johnson, and erickson (2017) in their study with nurses in the usa, conclude that there are differences, not only in emotional management but also in job satisfaction. the results indicate that gender seems to moderate the work of emotional management, which is associated in the case of men with its social “greater status”. getting less emotionally involved is less affected by negative emotions, and even when they get involved they are less likely to cover up these emotions which contributes to greater job satisfaction. currently, emotional involvement is a concept closely related to nursing care, characterized by nurses’ sensitivity to the client’s emotional needs (morse, bottorff, anderson, o’brien, & solberg, 2006). the same authors emphasize that the nurse, as an element who cares and is close to clients, absorbs their suffering experience. despite not being able to be away from this fact, it plays an important role in relieving suffering through interventions that depend on the way stands emotionally (focused on himself or on the client). it is in the daily care of the different clinical contexts that the nursing student comes in contact with the clients, establishing a relationship that determines the mobilization of their emotions, which can be a source of discomfort. specifically, in end-of-life client care, students reveal an increased need for emotional support (terry & carroll, 2008; diogo, rodrigues, sousa et al., 2017). these experiences generate powerlessness in the way the student sees its performance, touched by the difficult management of their emotions, often mirrored in feelings of abandonment and guilt (terry & carroll, 2008). the revelation of these feelings highlights the importance of supervising nurses for the student as emotional support elements in emotionally intense situations (terry & carroll, 2008) to enhance emotional competence (diogo, rodrigues, sousa et al., 2017). according to xavier (2013) the construct of “emotional competence” is not consensual and there is no clear definition of what it entails and defines. but it seems consensual that it is based on emotional intelligence, which is in line with goleman (2010). xavier (2013) also points out that the construct emotional competence includes various processes, giving rise to a variety of consequences, as well as allow us to understand, express and properly regulate the emotional phenomena. for the nursing researcher, the development of emotional competence occurs throughout life, with training and nurses’ www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 77 published by scholink inc. emotional education acting as a preponderant role in optimizing its development. 3. statement of problem 3.1 description of research problem and questions gender stereotypes impacts on the development of male’s emotional competence and influence sexual and reproductive health care. this problem is accentuated by male student’s difficulties in access to sexual and reproductive health care and their restricted participation in sexual and reproductive health learning activities. considering the purpose of this research project—to explore the emotions experienced by male students in a nursing practice setting in the sexual and reproductive health area—we intend to answer the following questions: what are male students’ emotional experiences? what are the feelings triggered by the restrictions on nursing care related to gender stereotypes? how they perceive these experiences? do they review and incorporate the practice of care in the context of sexual and reproductive health? what emotional management strategies do they use and how do they promote the development of emotional competence that positively influences care in the area of sexual and reproductive health? it is indeed important to answer the previous questions, which can shape the caring experience, since the teaching-learning process can be influenced by the affective-emotional dimension. 3.2 study objectives for the development of this project the following objectives were established: understand the emotional experience of students of bachelor’s degree in nursing in clinical teaching in the 3rd and 4th year in sexual and reproductive health. analyze the gender stereotypes that influence students’ emotional experience in the sexual and reproductive health area. identify the emotional management strategies mobilized by the male students in the sexual and reproductive health area. 4. method 4.1 research design overview qualitative approach, descriptive and exploratory. this project is structured in two phases: in the first phase, 18 learning journals written between 2009 and 2017 by male students in clinical teaching, in the area of sexual and reproductive health, will be analyzed. in the second phase, a workshop will be held with clinical supervisor nurses, in which the participants will be trained to include the gender perspective in clinical teaching, analyzing with them the results of the work performed in the first phase of this project. this workshop will also allow the collection of contributions by the participating nurses (in the form of possible strategies identified by www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 78 published by scholink inc. them) through a focus group. the data analysis will be performed according to the conventional content analysis technique (hsieh & shannon, 2005) in which the coding of categories derives directly from the text data through a predominantly inductive reasoning, and using the software nvivo 10 for organization and extraction the data relevant to the study. 4.2 study participants eighteen male students in years 4 of the nursing degree, in the scope of clinical teaching of sexual and reproductive health, and twelve nurse’s supervisors in the same clinical setting. 4.3 participant recruitment in compliance with the ethical principles in research, in april 2017 authorization was requested to the presidency and ethics committee of the nursing school for the use of the content extracted from the learning journals written by the male students. the authorization was granted upon contact with them to obtain written informed consent. the participating nurses will give their consent during the workshop. throughout the entire investigation process the confidentiality of the collected data will be guaranteed by eliminating the names of students and nurses, assigning an identification code, to which only the researchers of the educational institution will have access. 5. expected results the inclusion of the gender perspective in clinical teaching is an additional challenge for the area of sexual and reproductive health, since it is a traditionally female domain of care that has historically, socially and culturally excluded male as caregivers and as subjects of care. by having as target client’s predominantly healthy people of reproductive age, to experience processes associated with sexuality, reproductive issues and family processes, requires an approach focused on the emotional and relational issues, but also gender sensitive. it is possible that male nursing students may feel “displaced” in a predominantly feminized environment, such as in the area of sexual and reproductive health, where they have to deal with eventual gender stereotypes, clients and clinical supervisors, often female, a wealth of feminized written and oral information, often conveyed in sexist and non-inclusive language. this task will be hindered if they have not been provided with gender-sensitive training during the academic teaching and are not guided by gender-aware persons, such as clinical supervision nurses. under these conditions, students’ increased work (in relation to their female peers) is revealed by being able to deconstruct gender stereotypes, “filtering” their own representations and associated emotions about caring in this area and representations of clients and clinical supervisors. it is known that emotional competence promotes greater adaptive resilience capacity in the face of stressful situations. understanding students’ emotional experiences in clinical teaching of sexual and reproductive health, related to possible gender stereotypes and restrictions to care in this area, may facilitate the study of the phenomenon—gender stereotypes from the perspective of the male student, leading us to understand how emotion itself manages these genderized experiences, what sense it gives them and how it www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 2, no. 1, 2019 79 published by scholink inc. incorporates them into learning in clinical teaching. on the other hand, the contribution of clinical nurse supervisors will be equally important for the co-construction of strategies to improve the students learning conditions and to promote more equitable educational experiences with regard to gender. by training these professionals to recognize and work on these stereotypes, we are helping students to promote a more holistic approach in nursing practice. references aboim, s. 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(2016). livro branco: homens e igualdade de género em portugal. lisboa/cite. who. (2006). definig sexual health: report of a technical consultation on sexual health. geneva: who. xavier, s. (2013). significar a competência emocional do enfermeiro na prestação de cuidados de conforto à pessoa em fim de vida (tese de doutoramento em enfermagem). retrieved from https://ulsd067222_td_sandra_xavier.pdf global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper meta-analysis on the relationship between parenting style and personality of chinese college students yaxin yang 1 , junhua zhang 1,2* , yu zhang 1 & fang xu 1 1 school of education science, jiangsu provincial key constructive laboratory for big data of psychology and cognitive science, yancheng teachers university, yancheng, china 2 school of psychology, nanjing normal university, nanjing, china * junhua zhang, e-mail: junhuazh2003@163.com received: august 17, 2020 accepted: september 2, 2020 online published: september 29, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n4p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n4p1 abstract there have been many studies on the relationship between parenting style and personality characteristics of college students, and there are many inconsistent conclusions on the direction and intensity of the correlation. in order to explore the relationship between parenting style and personality of college students in china, this systematic review and meta analysis included 12 studies with 4,984 college students. results showed that: 1) positive parenting style was significantly negatively correlated with neuroticism and positively correlated with extraversion; 2) negative parenting style was significantly positively correlated with psychoticism and negatively correlated with neuroticism. parenting style can significantly influence college students’ personality. keywords parenting style, personality, meta-analysis, chinese college students 1. introduction college students’ sound personality not only affects the fate of themselves, but also determines the future of a country to a certain extent. when faced with difficulties and setbacks, the strong people will work hard while weak ones may fall down. many researchers have reported that one of the important factors affecting personality is parenting style (zhang, liu, & wo, 2004). generally speaking, positive, tolerant, encouraging and participatory parenting style can promote the development of individual personality, while negative parenting style is the opposite. in a word, parenting styles can help or hinder the personality development of offspring. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 2 published by scholink inc. the personality of college students needs urgent attention, and exploring the influencing factors of college students’ personality is of great significance for proposing feasible intervention strategies. chinese scholars have conducted a lot of empirical research on the influencing factors of college students’ personality, and have achieved quite fruitful results. parental rearing style is one of the important factors. however, there are many inconsistent conclusions on the direction and intensity of the correlation between the two. chen invested 563 college students and found that fathers’ overprotection, emotional warmth and understanding, were significantly positively correlated with extraversion. father’s over-protection and mother’s preference for the subject was significantly positively correlated with neuroticism and psychoticism of offspring. there was a significant negative correlation between mother’s emotional warmth and understanding and neuroticism of college students. father’s refusal, over-protection and mother’s over-interference and protection, preference for subjects were significantly positively correlated with children’s psychoticism (chen & liu, 2008). zeng’s study showed that father’s severe punishment, mother’s refusal, and severe punishment were positively correlated with psychoticism, while mother’s emotional warmth and understanding was significantly positively correlated with extraversion. parental emotional warmth and understanding were significantly negatively correlated with neuroticism, while fathers’ refusal and over-protection were significantly positively correlated with psychoticism (zeng, 2012). li’s research showed that parents’ emotional warmth and understanding were significantly negatively correlated with neuroticism and positively correlated with extraversion, and negative parenting styles were positively correlated with neuroticism (li, 2004). wu also found that parental emotional warmth and understanding were negatively correlated with psychoticism and neuroticism (wu & tang, 2000). xia’s research showed that parents’ emotional warmth is negatively correlated with psychoticism and neuroticism, and positively correlated with their extraversion. severe punishment and refusal were positively correlated with psychosis and neuroticism (xia, 2007). liu showed that severe punishment, excessive interference and refusal of fathers and severe punishment and preference of mothers were significantly positively correlated with neuroticism, while emotional warmth and understanding of fathers were significantly negatively correlated with psychoticism. extraversion was significantly positively correlated with parents’ emotional warmth and understanding (liu, 2008). there have been many studies on the relationship between parenting style and personality characteristics of college students, and their reports have shown that parenting style of college students are closely related to personality characteristics, but the researchers have not been able to reach a consistent result. for example, the r between psychoticism and father’s emotional warmth and understanding was 0.007 in zeng yu’s study and -0.158 in another study. the r between extraversion and mother’s severe punishment was -0.024 in zeng yu’s study and 0.224 in li yian’s study (li, 2004; zeng, 2012). it can be seen that there are many inconsistencies in the degree and direction of correlation between personality dimensions and parenting styles. this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to unify these studies and get a more objective conclusion. in addition, both www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 3 published by scholink inc. parenting style and personality contain too many dimensions and this weakens its guiding significance to reality. therefore, based on previous studies (lei, chiu, cui, zhou, & li, 2018), we classified them as positive parenting style and negative parenting style to simplify the conclusions. 2. method 2.1 search strategies chongqing vpn, cnki and wan fang datasets were searched on 13, april, 2020 and a total of 496 references without duplication were found. search items were as following: # 1 parenting style or parental rearing # 2 personality or neuroticism or psychoticism or extraversion searching: 1 and 2 2.2 inclusion and exclusion criteria of literature the inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) parental rearing pattern questionnaire (embu) and eysenck personality questionnaire (epq) were used; (2) subject are chinese college students; (3) there are sufficient information that meta-analysis needed such as the number of people, correlation coefficient or other parameters that can be converted into r, including t, p, etc.; (4) the language is chinese. the correlation coefficients between each dimension should be reported, and studies that only report part of the data will be excluded. for multiple publications using the same database, we link them together and extract the sufficient data from one of them. 2.3 data extraction literature screening was divided into two stages. in stage one, every reference was judged through reading the title and abstract. in stage two, full text is used to judge whether it meets the inclusion criteria. each stage was completed by two researchers independently. controversial issues were solved through negotiation or seeking senior researcher’s help. positive parenting style included emotional warmth and understanding of father and mother. negative parenting style included other dimensions (yue, li, jin, & ding, 1993). the concealment factor in epq was not involved in the follow-up analysis because it measured whether college students had lied or not 2.4 statistical analysis pearson correlation coefficient r is used as the effect size index in this meta-analysis. random effect in comprehensive meta-analysis 3.0 was used to analyze the data (cortese et al., 2018; higgins & thompson, 2002). i2 was used to assess the size of heterogeneity while egger test and funnel plot was used to detect publication bias (egger, davey smith, schneider, & minder, 1997). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 4 published by scholink inc. 3. results 3.1 characteristics of studies included a total of 496 references were retrieved. the prisma flow chart in figure 1 detailed the quantitative stages of each study. a total of 12 studies since 2000 met the standards and were input into the meta-analysis research (chen & liu, 2008; han, 2009; huang & jiang, 2016; li, 2004; liu, 2008; wu & tang, 2000; xia, 2007; xu, liu, & zhang, 2010; zeng, 2012; g. zhang, guo, & yan, 2006; l. zhang, yao, & wang, 2009; zhou, sun, & cheng, 2012). one study provided data on two groups of hui and han college students (l. zhang et al., 2009). as a result, there are 13 sets of data. the total number of college students is 4894. these college students came from chongqing, fujian, guangxi, guizhou, hebei, heilongjiang, henan, jiangxi, ningxia, shaanxi and xinjiang. one study did not report the information about the region of college students. table 1. characterizes of studies included author/year region type of study n chen (2008) guizhou journal 563 han (2009) heilongjiang dissertation 178 huang (2016) jiangxi journal 208 li (2004) unclear journal 196 liu (2008) shann’xi journal 113 wu (2000) guangxi journal 97 xia (2007) xinjiang journal 2055 xu (2010) chongqing journal 199 zeng (2012) fujian journal 245 zhang (2006) henan journal 233 zhang (2009) ningxia journal 736 zhou (2012) hebei journal 161 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 5 published by scholink inc. figure 1. preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses flow chart 3.2 relationship between positive parenting style and personality it can be seen from table 2 that there is a significant negative correlation between positive parenting style and neuroticism ((-0.144 (-0.248, -0.037), see figure 2), and a significant positive correlation between positive parenting style and extraversion (r=0.203 (0.148, 0.257), see figure 3). there is no significant correlation between positive parenting style and psychoticism (r=-0.085 (-0.236, 0.071), see figure 4). table 2. correlation between positive parenting styles and personality dimensions of personality k datasets n subjects smd (95%ci) p heterogeneity egger’s test q df p i 2 t p neuroticism 13 4894 -0.144(-0.248,-0.037) 0.008 147.924 12 0.000 91.888 0.452 0.659 extraversion 13 4894 0.203(0.148,0.257) 0.000 37.975 12 0.000 68.400 0.621 0.546 psychoticism 13 4894 -0.085(-0.236,0.071) 0.285 313.743 12 0.000 96.175 0.052 0.959 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 6 published by scholink inc. figure 2. forest plot of r between positive parenting style and neuroticism figure 3. forest plot of r between positive parenting style and extraversion www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 7 published by scholink inc. figure 4. forest plot of r between positive parenting style and psychoticism 3.3 the relationship between negative parenting style and personality as can be seen from table 3, negative parenting style has significant positive correlation with neuroticism (0.123 (0.067, 0.178), see figure 5), significant positive correlation with psychoticism (0.126 (0.085, 0.168), see figure 6), and insignificant correlation with extraversion (0.015 (-0.013, 0.043), see figure 7). table 3. correlation between negative parenting styles and personality dimensions of personality k datasets n subjects smd (95%ci) p heterogeneity egger’s test q df p i 2 t p neuroticism 13 4894 0.123(0.067,0.178) 0.000 37.673 12 0.000 68.147 0.681 0.509 psychoticism 13 4894 0.126(0.085,0.168) 0.000 20.648 12 0.056 41.884 1.637 0.129 extraversion 13 4894 0.015(-0.013,0.043) 0.302 8.440 12 0.750 0.000 0.386 0.706 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 8 published by scholink inc. figure 5. forest plot of r between negative parenting style and neuroticism figure 6. forest plot of r between negative parenting style and extraversion www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 9 published by scholink inc. figure 7. forest plot of r between negative parenting style and psychoticism 4. discussions 4.1 the influence of positive parenting style on college students’ personality high neuroticism usually means apprehension, irritability and tendencies to experience negative affect (mclarnon & romero, 2020). such people usually are under a strong emotional reaction, and often feel depressed, unhappy, and worried. when parents use more positive parenting styles such as warm understanding, the family atmosphere is more democratic. when children have more positive experience, they experience less uncertainty and less anxiety. that’s why positive parenting style was negatively and significantly correlated with neuroticism. extraversion dimension of epq was meant to measure extraversion versus introversion and a high extraversion score indicates extraversion (van hemert, van de vijver, poortinga, & georgas, 2002). this person likes to socialize and explore the outside world. when parents use more positive parenting methods such as cordial understanding, children will have more freedom, get more positive affirmation in communication with others, and become more active and brave in communication with strangers. 4.2 the influence of negative parenting style on college students’ personality people with high neuroticism usually have more negative emotions. this is closely related to the negative parenting style. some parents usually take their own standards to ask their children, and do not realize that they are too high for their children. these parents rarely encourage and praise children in time. in this “autocratic” situation, children are easy to form such bad personality characteristics as confrontation, inferiority, anxiety, withdrawal and dependence. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 10 published by scholink inc. high score in psychoticism usually means loneliness and lack of concern for others. psychoticism is believed to be closely related to inappropriate social behavior (colledani, anselmi, & robusto, 2018). a person with high psychoticism does not easily adapt to changes in the environment. when parents expect too much of their children, such families are less likely to allow children to make mistakes. if parents are too demanding and too intrusive, children are more reluctant to express their opinions. children experience less security and less autonomy. over time, children who live in a negative parenting style become less caring. that is, the greater the level of negative parenting style, the greater the level of psychoticism of college students. 4.3 comprehensive analysis parents’ positive style including warm understanding has a very good role in promoting the formation of personality characteristic. when parents show more constructive style, college students will have strong independence, strong self-esteem and self-confidence. they tend to be able to control their emotions and be skilled at using his own strength to solve various problems. however, negative parenting styles, such as severe punishment, refusal, excessive interference et al., will lead to college students’ lack of self-esteem and self-confidence. the questionnaire used in this paper is based on epq personality questionnaire and parenting style questionnaire. its advantage is to ensure the homogeneity of the study, but its disadvantage is that it cannot examine the influence of different measurement tools on the relationship. therefore, this result also suggests studies of interventions to increase positive parenting styles and reduce negative parenting styles in order to help college students shape a noble personality. studies have found that web-based parenting programs with new technologies are also helpful to parents and children (nieuwboer, fukkink, & hermanns, 2013). 5. conclusions positive parenting style was negatively correlated with neuroticism and positively correlated with extraversion. negative parenting style was positively correlated with psychoticism and positively correlated with neuroticism. therefore, parenting style can significantly influence college students’ personality traits. in order to enhance the comparability, this paper only selects embu revised by yue and epq questionnaire. however, this approach inevitably misses studies using other tools. and it makes it impossible to test the moderating effect of measuring tools. this is what needs to be improved in the future. acknowledgement this study was supported by key project of social science foundation of jiangsu province (18jya002) and key project of philosophy and social science research in colleges and universities in jiangsu province (2018sjzdi 181). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 11 published by scholink inc. 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(2008). a study on the relationship between parenting styles and personality of college students. journal of guizhou ethnic institute, 2, 183-188. colledani, d., anselmi, p., & robusto, e. (2018). using item response theory for the development of a new short form of the eysenck personality questionnaire-revised. frontiers in psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01834 cortese, s., sun, s., zhang, j., sharma, e., chang, z., kuja-halkola, r., … faraone, s. v. (2018). association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis and a swedish population-based study. the lancet psychiatry, 5(9), 717-726. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30224-4 egger, m., davey smith, g., schneider, m., & minder, c. (1997). bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. bmj, 315(7109), 629-634. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629 han, x. (2009). the relationship between personality characteristics parenting styles and loneliness of college students (master’s thesis). harbin engineering university. higgins, j. p., & thompson, s. g. (2002). quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. stat med, 21(11), 1539-1558. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.1186 huang, m., & jiang, w. (2016). a study on the relationship between parenting styles and personality of college students. modern communication, 24, 96-97. lei, h., chiu, m., cui, y., zhou, w., & li, s. (2018). parenting style and aggression: a meta-analysis of mainland chinese children and youth. children and youth services review, 94(11), 446-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.033 li, y. (2004). a study on the relationship between mental health, personality and parenting style of college students. chinese journal of health psychology, 12(5). liu, j. (2008). a study on the relationship between personality, parenting styles and achievement motivation of college students. chinese journal of health psychology, 16(2), 157-159. mc larnon, m. j. w., & romero, e. f. (2020). cross-cultural equivalence of shortened versions of the eysenck personality questionnaire: an application of the alignment method. personality and individual differences, 163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110074 nieuwboer, c. c., fukkink, r. g., & hermanns, j. m. a. (2013). online programs as tools to improve parenting: a meta-analytic review. children and youth services review, 35(11), 1823-1829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.08.008 van hemert, d. a., van de vijver, f. j. r., poortinga, y. h., & georgas, j. (2002). structural and functional equivalence of the eysenck personality questionnaire within and between countries. personality and individual differences, 33(8), 1229-1249. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(02)00007-7 wu, y., & tang, q. (2000). a preliminary study on the influence of parenting styles on personality of zhuang college students. chinese journal of school health, 21(4), 294-295. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01834 https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30224-4 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629 https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.1186 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.033 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110074 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.08.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(02)00007-7 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 4, 2020 12 published by scholink inc. xia, y. (2007). influence of parenting styles on personality and psychology of uygur and han college students in xinjiang. chinese journal of health psychology, 15(8). xu, x., liu, q., & zhang, j. (2010). a study on personality and parenting style of college students. journal of luoyang normal university, 29(2), 183-185. yue, d., li, m., jin, k., & ding, b. (1993). preliminary revision of embu and its appli cation in neurotic patients. chinese mental health journal, 7(3), 97-101. zeng, y. (2012). a study on the relationship between parenting styles and personality characteristics of college students. journal of ningbo university, 34(5), 50-54. zhang, g., guo, y., & yan, c. (2006). influence of parenting styles on personality and coping styles of college students. journal of xinxiang medical college, 23(6), 553-555. zhang, h., liu, c. m., & wo, j. z. (2004). how parenting styles impact on creativity personality of adolescents. international journal of psychology, 39(5-6), 167. zhang, l., yao, l., & wang, g. (2009). a study on the correlation between personality of college students and parental styles. journal of ningxia medical university, 31(5), 601-603. zhou, x., sun, a., & cheng, s. (2012). a study on attributional style, personality traits and parenting style of college students. chinese journal of health psychology, 3, 396-398. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper contrastive corpus analysis: investigating the use of opinion verbs in italian by greek learners katerina florou 1 1 national and kapodistrian university of athens, athens, greece received: february 28, 2020 accepted: march 9, 2020 online published: march 25, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p1 abstract in this paper, we investigate the usage of opinion verbs in italian as a foreign language and any errors this usage may cause, taking into account intralanguage and interlanguage factors. first of all, we analyze the frequency of opinion verb types, in a greek corpus of native speakers and we investigate the frequency of the same type of verbs in an italian translator learner corpus compiled by the same learners. secondly, we explore to what extent there are errors regarding the use of opinion verbs. the data will show that learners, in some cases, commit errors because of their mother tongue influence while in others they avoid using opinion verbs because of this particular lack of knowledge. keywords learner translator corpora, corpus analysis, foreign language acquisition, interlanguage analysis, linguistic features 1. introduction in this paper, we will present a study on opinion verbs, aiming to provide useful advice for italian language teachers in greece, as our main target is to facilitate the learning procedure of the italian language for greek learners. for this reason we will use corpus linguistics methods as they are “the most appropriate resource to use among the wealth of other resources available” in pedagogy (flowerdew 2009). based on the previous assumption, we examined a translator learner corpus composed by essays written by speakers of the greek language. 1.1 previous work many scientists have studied parts of speech and, in particular, verbs using monolingual or learner corpora and over the last few years we can find interesting papers combining corpus analysis and research on verbs of the italian language. giordano and voghera (2002) use data coming from the two greatest available italian corpora: the lessico di frequenza dell’ italiano parlato (lip), for spoken www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 2 published by scholink inc. italian, and the lessico di frequenzadella lingua italiana contemporanea (lif), for written italian. after analyzing the frequency and the usage of verb types, they have shown that spoken and written texts present more differences at the lexical level than at the grammatical level. miecznikowski (2006) used the same spoken corpus of the italian language (lip), in order to study modal verbs as far as their semantic and pragmatic usage are concerned and how this varies when there is a different verb conjunction. moneglia et al. (2012) studied in spoken italian and english corpora the equivalent meanings of verbs of movement in those languages. the 500 most frequent verbs of movement were investigated in both corpora. the experiment consisted of showing pictures that depict the verbs of movement, in order to retrieve the exact meaning and the correspondence between the two languages. lenci (2014) discussed some methodological problems arising from the use of corpus data for semantic verb classification and he presented a computational framework to describe the distributional properties of italian verbs using linguistic data automatically extracted from a large corpus. at the same time, we have an increasing interest for studies in parallel corpora. meyers (2002, pp. 22-23) refers to parallel corpora as a linguistic resource that “facilitates contrastive analysis of english and other languages, advance development in translation theory and enhance foreign language teaching”. bernardini (2003) reports the construction of cexi (corpus of english x italian), a corpus that involves english and italian original texts and their translations. this corpus was compiled mainly to teach sociocultural insights, discourse analysis, and foreign language aspects. in addition, the multilingual mellange ltc (castagnoli 2006) is a project aiming to exploit translator and parallel corpora using contrastive analyses and linguistic annotation in all six languages involved (italian language included). 2. background in greece, choosing the italian language as a foreign language is rather common. for most learners though, italian is the third or fourth foreign language that greeks can learn by taking, mostly, private lessons. on the other hand, english language learning is compulsory from the first grades of the primary education and french or german language learning is given on an optional basis from the age of eleven (papaefthymiou-lytra, 2012). teachers of the italian language seem to have noticed several patterns that their students have developed, in order to avoid some of the most demanding phenomena of the italian language. one of these is the way of expressing opinion and the choice of the opinion verb or cluster. the teachers’ impression is that verbs of expressing opinion, e.g., “credo”, “penso”, etc. have always been a trap. learners of the italian language tend not to use them in order to avoid using the subjunctive, which is considered a very difficult conjunction. on the other hand, the nature of some essay topics demands the use of those verbs. this automatically triggers, not only a high frequency of opinion verbs, but also a high frequency of errors. in some cases, learners prefer to use other verbs or use another conjunction instead, rather than use the subjunctive. still, the syntactic rule is clear: according to the online grammar of academia della crusca (2020) “the verbs that express […] www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 3 published by scholink inc. an opinion support the subjunctive(note 1)”. 2.1 opinion verbs in italian language according to most grammar reference books there is a vast quantity of verbs and expressions that can be used for expressing opinion such as: credere, pensare, ritenere, supporre, avere l’impressione, ipotizzare, immaginare, non sapere, non essere sicuro (note 2) and with these verbs the learner is obliged to use the subjunctive in the secondary phrase that follows. however, there are also some structures that can be used for expressing personal opinion without being followed by the subjunctive, e.g., secondo me. teachers have a certain stereotype regarding learners: they do not use the subjunctive correctly or they avoid using verbs that are related to the subjunctive. however, such a preconception is not based on evidence as, for example, in the case of spanish learners of the italian language (ceruti, 2009). furthermore, one can ask if the same strategy is followed by advanced learners of italian language or trainee translators. 3. method as rawoens (2010) underlined “multilingual corpora in cross linguistic research can be used as a tool for verification of hypothesis”. specifically, we test the widely accepted belief that greek learners of italian language produce errors when using opinion verbs or they systematically avoid them. to explore this hypothesis, we will examine a subsample of the data from the multilingual translator learner corpus (mtlc) (florou, 2019). the translations used were collected from students of the department of italian language and literature at the national and kapodistrian university of athens in greece. the corpus compiled uses greek as a source language and contains approximately 75 essays in greek and an equal number of translations in italian. the translator trainees (the level of whom in the foreign language is b2+ or c1) wrote an essay in greek, as part of their language and translation practice during their attendance on courses of the faculty of italian language and literature, and afterwards they translated their own essays into italian. in this way, we created parallel corpora and at the same time a translator learner corpus. table 1. structure of the two corpora greek corpus (ns) italian translator learner corpus n. of texts 79 79 n. of tokens 133,059 152,240 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 4 published by scholink inc. the next step was to focus on opinion verbs. first of all, we choose to tag all texts for their parts of speech in order to facilitate the retrieval of verb frequency. the tool, which provides the tagged texts, was tagant. soon after using the antconc tool (anthony, 2004) we created two frequency lists of all verbs, one from the greek corpus and one from the italian translator corpus and in the same way we spotted the clusters that introduced opinion secondary sentences. we detected three opinion verbs in the greek corpus and two opinion clusters: λοκίδφ, πηζηεύφ, ζεφρώ (note 3) and ζύκθφλα κε ηελ άπουή κοσ, ζύκθφλα κε ηελ γλώκε κοσ (note 4). consequently, we pointed out the opinion verbs and the opinion clusters, which were present into the italian translator corpus: penso, credo, considero, immagino (note 5) and second me, secondo la mia opinione (note 6). at first sight the verbs and the phrases seemed equivalent, but to gain more evidence we had to match the frequency of appearance of those elements in each corpus and, secondly, to check the correct use of the opinion verbs in the translator learner corpus. 4. results analyzing firstly the greek texts, we found many verbs that express opinion, probably because of the narrative genre of the texts and the nature of the topics. it is reasonable to assume that a topic that demands narration of personal moments, or a topic that requires the personal opinion of the writer, could lead the learner to use opinion verbs. although the findings reveal a vast use of “opinion verbs” in both languages, their presence did not always indicate personal opinion. in many cases, we saw the significance of thought or of belief, e.g., …perciò credo profondamente in dio… (fd.topic1_it.txt) […i deeply believe in god…] lo penso con nostalgia e amore (dim.topic1_it.txt) [i think of him with nostalgia and love] as a result, we had to exclude those cases and we listed the verbs and the clusters according to their equivalents, as for their meaning as shown in the following table: table 2. the presence of opinion verbs and clusters in two corpora greek corpus italian translator learner corpus νομίζω penso opinion verbs πιστεύω credo + subjunctive θεωρώ considero imagino opinion phrases σύμυωνα με την άποψή μου secondo la mia opinione + indicative σύμυωνα με την γνώμη μου www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 5 published by scholink inc. there are many cases in which the translation is equivalent to the source text, e.g., …considero che i genitori abbiano un ruolo importante..(gram.topic 2_it.txt) …ζεφρώ όηη οη γολείς έτοσλ έλαλ ρόιο ζεκαληηθό..(gram.topic2_gr.txt) [i consider that parents have an important role..] secondo me hanno organizzato tutto in modo perfetto. (vas.topic1_it.txt) καηά ηελ γλώκε κοσ ηα είταλ οργαλώζεη όια ηέιεηα. (vas.topic1_gr.txt) [in my opinion they had organize everything perfectly] in other cases verbs that do not support subjunctive (e.g., “second me”), were used instead of verbs that demand the use of subjunctive: secondo me i politici non tengono le le loro promesse (mal.topic2_it.txt) νοκίδφ όηη οη ποιηηηθοί δελ θραηούλ ηης σποζτέζεης ηοσς (mal.topic2_gr.txt) [i think that politics do not maintain their promises] there are cases like the abovementioned, that support teachers’ observations regarding learners’ strategy for subjunctive avoidance. the correct translation could be: penso che ii politici non tengano/mantengano le loro promesse. on the other hand, we noticed a few cases of the translation of opinion verbs, using the equivalent form, unsuccessfully: credo che il giovane è influenzato…(ts.topic2_it.txt) πηζηεύφ όηη ο λέος επερεάζηεθε… (ts.topic2_gr.txt) [i believe that the young man was influenced] credevo che la violenza è qualcosa normale (gal.topic2_it.txt) νόκηδα όηη ε βία ήηαλ θάηη θσζηοιογηθό (gal.topic2_gr.txt) [i thought that violence was normal] in the above examples, it is obvious that the learners used the indicative of the verb “essere”, as if the rule was never mentioned. the correct form of the phrases should be: credo cheilgiovanesiainfluenzato, for the first one, and: credevo che la violenza sia qualcosa normale. the fact that this particular verb (“essere”) is among the most frequent verbs, makes the error even more extraordinary. furthermore, the elevated level of the learners does not correspond to this kind of errors. the increased possibility of producing these errors, justifies the next phenomenon, a considerable number of zero translation/omissions as shown in the table below: table 3. the frequency of the opinion verbs and opinion clusters in two corpora greek corpus italian translator learner corpus opinionverbs 97(90.7%) 61(69.3%) opinionclusters 10(9.3%0 27(30.7%) total 107(100%) 89(100%) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 6 published by scholink inc. the above table reports quantitative evidence that supports our research hypothesis. as we mentioned previously, not all opinion verbs are translated with their equivalent verb(s). there are several verbs that were translated in opinion clusters, and this trend is obvious from the quantitative evidence reported. at least 17 opinion verbs in the greek corpus were translated with opinion clusters (approximately the 18%). in addition, the total number of learners using opinion structures in the italian translator learner corpus is lower than that of the greek corpus. the percentage of the omission is 17%, which is noteworthy given the fact that the significance of the phrase is totally different if there is not an opinion verb. therefore, it is necessary to present examples: mia madre aveva ragione (grt.topic1_it.txt) νοκίδφ όηη ε κεηέρα κοσ είτε δίθηο (grt.topic1_gr.txt) [my mother was right] …quando il mercato lavora bene… (ts.topic2_it.txt) …όηαλ ζεφρώ όηη ε αγορά ιεηηοσργεί ζφζηά… (ts.topic2_gr.txt) […when the market operates correctly…] a reliable translation of the above erroneously translated phrases could be: penso che mia madre abbia avuto ragione as to the first one and … quando considero che il mercato lavori bene… for the second example. even though the phrases in the italian translator corpus are correct from a linguistic point of view, they are considered erroneous from a translator’s aspect. the reason is obvious; in the translation, the meaning of the personal opinion is no longer present. in both examples and in the majority of the cases in which we noticed omission, the learner used the opinion verb and not an opinion cluster in his mother tongue, but avoided the equivalent verb in the italian language. for a learner, this strategy provokes meaningless changes, but for a translator or an advanced learner, reveals hesitance in using opinion verbs in translation. 5. discussion teachers’ intuition and the research hypothesis of this paper are partially confirmed. we have shown that learners and translator trainees hesitate in their use of opinion verbs, because they are directly related to the subjunctive. thus, learners use certain opinion clusters that demand the indicative in the corresponding phrase, or they commit grammatical errors by using the wrong conjunction. additionally, we observed that learners may take a third choice of not using an opinion verb at all, risking a translator error. this particular behavior can be explained by a number of reasons. it is highly possible for learners to avoid expressing their opinion in the translation, because of their lack of confidence in expressing a personal opinion in the foreign language. the mother tongue (in this case greek) naturally provides more confidence and familiarity for expressing a personal judgment. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 7 published by scholink inc. moreover, learner’s interlanguage could be another crucial reason. in the greek language opinion verbs are followed by a secondary phrase that contains a verb in indicative, which may be a pattern that the learners repeat in a foreign language (in this case italian). having the experience of teaching the italian language and using most of the course books, we can try to explain learners’ choice to avoid the subjunctive by referring to another teachers’ stereotype; “subjunctive is so difficult to learn that learners will definitely produce errors”. teachers themselves provide strategies to students, in order to avoid using subjunctive and sometimes, in order to comfort them on their mistakes, teachers underline how difficult is to use subjunctive, even for native speakers. and this is not an assumption; as della valle and patota (2009) discuss in their book, the subjunctive constitutes a difficulty also for italian native speakers. as a result, some italian linguists (serriani, 2011; frenguelli, 2017) are already speaking, not only of an erroneous use of subjunctive, but also about the possible extinction of this particular conjunction. nevertheless, there is need for further research. it seems useful to cross-examine the above observations by using another translator learner corpus of another language (e.g., english). acknowledgements a special thanks and my deep gratitude to my colleagueprofessor george mikros for his patient guidance throughout the whole project. i would also like to thank my colleagues in the department of italian language and literature for all their help and support and finally, my grateful thanks are also extended to my friend sharon nicholls for all her useful comments. references academia della crusca. (2020). retrieved february 2, 2020, from https://accademiadellacrusca.it/it/consulenza/uso-del-congiuntivo/104 anthony, l. (2004). antconc: a learner and classroom friendly, multi-platform corpus analysis toolkit iwlel. in an interactive workshop on language e-learning (pp. 7-13). retrieved february 2, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/laurence_anthony/publication/ bernardini, s. (2003). designing a corpus for translation and language teaching: the cexi experience. tesol quarterly, 37(3). https://doi.org/10.2307/3588403 castagnoli, s., kunz, k., kübler, n., & volanschi, a. (2006). designing a learner translator corpus for training purposes (pp. 1-19). proceedings of teaching and language corpora conference talc 2006, universite paris vii. ceruti, e. (2009). linguistic acontrastiva e didattica di lingue affini: l’ insegnamento dell'italiano ad un pubblico ispanofono. romanitas, 4(1), 1-14. della, v. v., & patota, g. (2009). viva il congiuntivo. milano: sperling & kupfer. florou, k. (2019). learner translator corpus: italogreco or another way to confirm teachers’ intuitions. journal of education and learning, 8(5). https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v8n5p75 https://doi.org/10.2307/3588403 https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v8n5p75 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 8 published by scholink inc. flowerdew, l. (2009). applying corpus linguistics to pedagogy: a critical evaluation. international journal of corpus linguistics, 14, 393-417. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.14.3.05flo frenguelli, m. (2017). le competenze scrittorie degli adulti. in un’indagine preliminare su produzioni scritte in italiano (phd). università degli studi di padova. retrieved from http://tesi.cab.unipd.it/54345/1/marta_frenguelli_2017.pdf giordano, r., & voghera, m. (2002). verb system and verb usage in spoken and written italian. in jadt 2002: 6es journees internationals d’ analyse statistique des donees textuelles. retrieved from http://www.parlaritaliano.it/attachments/article/204/giordano_voghera_2002.pdf lenci, a. (2014). carving verb classes from corpora. in r. simone, & f. massini (eds.), word classes: nature, typology and representations. john benjamins publishing company. https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.332.02len levin, m. (2013). the progressive verb in modern american english. in b. aarts, j. close, g. leech, & s. wallis (eds.), the verb phrase in english (pp. 187-216). cambridge university press, cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139060998.009 meyer, c. f. (2002). english corpus linguistics. cambridge: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511606311 miecznikowski, j. (2008). i verbi modali volere, potere e dovere come attivato ripresupposizionali. in e. cresti (ed.), prospettive nello studio del lessico italiano: atti del 9. congresso silfi (firenze, 14-17 giugno 2006, pp. 351-360). firenze: firenze university press. moneglia, m., galliardi, g., gregori, l., panunzi, a., paladini, s., & williams, a. (2012). la variazione dei verbi generali nei corpora di parlato spontaneo. l’ontologia imagact. in h. mello, m. pettorino, & t. raso (eds.), proceedings of the viith gscp international conference (pp. 406-411). retrieved from http://lablita.dit. unifi.it/preprint/imagact_gscp2012 papaefthymiou-lytra, s. (2012). foreign language testing and assessment in greece: an overview and appraisal. research papers in language teaching and learning, 3(1), 22-32. rawoens, g. (2010). multilingual corpora in cross-linguistic research: focus on the compilation of a dutch-swedish parallel corpus. in s. bolasco, i. chiari, & l. giuliano (eds.), jadt 2010: statistical analysis of textual data: proceedings of the 10th international conference (pp. 1287-1294). retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/multilingual-corpora-in-cross-linguistic-research%3a-ra woens/5b 301f1cbeedae2c1ec092aa65ff44db6682a01b serianni, l. (2011). dal testo di grammatical alla grammatica in atto. in l. corrà, & w. paschetto (eds.), grammatica a scuola, milano, franco angeli (pp. 72-95). https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.14.3.05flo https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.332.02len https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139060998.009 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511606311 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 9 published by scholink inc. notes note 1. translation of: reggono il congiuntivo i verbi che esprimono “[una volizione (ordine, preghiera, permesso), un’aspettativa (desiderio, timore, sospetto)] un’opinione [o una persuasione]”, tra cui: accettare, amare, aspettare, assicurarsi, attendere, augurare, chiedere, credere, curarsi, desiderare, disporre, domandare, dubitare. note 2. in order of appearance: believe, think, consider, suppose, have the impression, assume, imagine, do not know, not be sure. note 3. think, believe, consider. note 4. according to my point of view, in my opinion. note 5. think, believe, consider, imagine. note 6. according to me, in my opinion. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper enhancing knowledge quality through formative assessment and teacher talk eva zore 1 & mojca mihelič 2 1 english and slovenian language, m. a., danila kumar elementary school, ljubljana, slovenia and phd candidate, faculty of education, university of ljubljana 2 maths and physics and headmistress, m. s., danila kumar elementary school, ljubljana, slovenia received: february 21, 2025 accepted: february 28, 2025 online published: march 13, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n2p1 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n2p1 abstract this paper explores the integration of formative assessment with effective teacher communication to enhance student learning. it emphasizes the importance of personalized teaching, adapting methods to modern students’ needs, and placing students at the center of the educational process. formative assessment is highlighted as a continuous process that informs instruction and provides daily feedback, bridging the gap between current knowledge and learning goals. the paper also discusses differentiated teaching to address diverse student needs and argues for personalization in education. effective classroom management and diverse teacher communication styles, including direct instruction, questioning, feedback, and encouragement, are emphasized as crucial for supporting student learning. the study contrasts national and international education programs, advocating for a combined approach that leverages both formative and summative assessments. the paper concludes by considering the impact of formative assessment on knowledge retention, interdisciplinary integration, and the application of knowledge across various domains, ultimately preparing students for future academic and real-world challenges. keywords classroom management, teacher talk, teacher communication styles, flander’s analysis, mother tongue learning, formative assessment, personalized teaching, supportive learning environment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 2 published by scholink inc. 1. personalized teaching and classroom management effective learning and teaching extend beyond traditional frontal instruction. modern children are immersed in a technologically advanced world. despite having excellent access to information, they often struggle to efficiently utilize, comprehend, connect, or enhance it. while it is commonly assumed that their multitasking abilities are well-developed, their attention spans often appear limited. this should be considered when planning lessons and managing the classroom. the essence of quality teaching lies in a teacher who understands that the student, not a tool (e.g., a computer) or another person (e.g., the teacher), is at the center of the educational process. effective classroom management involves motivating students to be active participants throughout the lesson. lessons must be tailored to the student, not just in terms of individualization or differentiation, but enhanced into what education experts call personalization. formative assessment plays a crucial role in this. formative assessments are ongoing evaluations, observations, summaries, and reviews that inform teacher instruction and provide students with daily feedback (fisher & frey, 2007). greenstein (2010) asserts that formative assessment emphasizes learning outcomes, makes goals transparent to students, provides clear assessment criteria, and especially closes the gap between what students know and what they aim to achieve. in the context of formative assessment, it is not only the teacher who strives to achieve learning objectives. students themselves must make sense of the content being taught and set personal goals within individual units, while the teacher guides this process and provides appropriate support. the teacher does not abandon their mentorship role but rather fulfills it by thoughtfully implementing various didactic strategies that significantly promote quality learning for all students. effective classroom management and teaching strategies act reciprocally and are most effective when utilized thoughtfully. this paper, based on a presentation prepared for an expert meeting on formative assessment in february 2020, examines formative assessment as a process that includes clear intentions and success criteria, efficient student support, meaningful student feedback, student self-assessment, and peer collaboration. 2. adapting teaching methods for modern education the concept of differentiated teaching has become a staple in modern education. the inclusive nature of today’s society is far from monotonous, and in its diversity, each student is treated as a unique individual. this means that differences such as familial, social, and economic factors, cultural background, gender, interests, etc., challenge the teacher to use didactic strategies that strengthen the student’s skills and talents while encouraging progress in their weaker areas through various activities. it is an organizational measure that serves the function of individualization as a didactic principle. we talk about internal, external, and flexible differentiation of teaching (strmčnik). while the curriculum sets out program-wide objectives at the school subject level, these objectives can be tailored at the institutional and individual levels. this is not the case when it comes to standards of knowledge and related grading. fani nolimal, in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 3 published by scholink inc. her paper ―personalizacija vzgojno-izobraževalnega dela kot odgovor na izzive šolstva‖ (personalization of educational work as an answer to the educational system’s challenges), indicates that the teacher must suitably modify the learning environment (activities, learning dialogue), teaching content (materials, learning questions, teaching method/level of thinking, question types, interaction type, pace, presentation, and illustration type), and learning products/results (achievement/result types, deadline, evaluation type). specialist literature (strmčnik) defines individualization of teaching as a didactic principle, which entails modifying the pace, teaching methods, and difficulty level of lessons in accordance with the needs of an individual student. therefore, learning objectives and content vary with regard to the student’s ability, while at the same time, individualization allows students to progress through learning materials and techniques at a different pace according to their needs and abilities. this allows some students to focus on certain topics for longer, while others may skip them entirely. therefore, individualization does not solely apply to learning differences on the group level but also on the individual level. the term differentiation of teaching may also denote a process characteristic or lesson adjustment, while individualization is considered more as a quality characteristic of the learning process. both are based on the assumption that students between groups differ more or less in terms of how receptive they are to learning and how complex the content they learn is. there is also a tendency in internal differentiation and individualization to maintain naturally heterogeneous classes and sections (blažič et al., 2003, p. 216). this leads to personalization, which is not only an intersection but a union of the aforementioned mindsets. the latter ties to teaching, which is based on students’ needs and is tailored to their learning selection and specific interests. as a concept, personalization originates from a space that brings learning to the forefront, while lessons and teaching are understood as a ―service‖ to learning; the student is responsible for their own learning, while the teacher more or less assists them. of course, this means that learning objectives, content, methods, and pace may differ in a fully personalized environment. the essence of a personalized lesson is to tailor the educational system (lessons) to the student and not vice versa. pevec claims that personalization includes common objectives to ensure high quality of lessons: it allows for raising standards in a manner where teaching and learning are focused on the abilities and interests of students as well as on removing the obstacles to learning. as previously mentioned, the student is placed at the center of learning; this is done by including them in the planning of learning (they must be aware of the reasons for learning), encouraging their personal development (planning of education goals–self-realization, self-actualization, etc.), strengthening their development of learning abilities, connecting their creativity and social skills, as well as by linking the learning method with the needs of each individual student. this approach helps students build problem-solving skills, integrate knowledge with real-world issues, and, most importantly, boost their confidence and enthusiasm for learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 4 published by scholink inc. 3. effective formative assessment and teacher talk effective formative assessment of a student, their learning process, and the acquisition of knowledge involves several key components: 1) determining prior knowledge and clarifying learning intentions: this includes planning personal learning objectives in relation to common objectives. 2) planning didactic and learning strategies: these strategies are essential for the successful and efficient achievement of learning objectives. 3) collecting evidence: gathering evidence about achieving learning objectives is crucial. 4) (self)evaluation: this involves evaluating learning performance, the quality of students’ knowledge, and consequently, the performance of the teacher’s teaching. literature describes formative assessment as the ―bridge between teaching and learning‖ and highlights five key strategies: 1) clarifying, participating in defining, and understanding learning intentions and success criteria. 2) engineering effective classroom activities that elicit evidence of learning. 3) providing feedback to students. 4) activating students as learning resources for one another. 5) activating students as owners of their own learning. the discrepancy between summative grading and formative assessment is significant. while related, they do not bear the same meaning. formative evaluation assesses the entire learning process, at the end of which the student may be graded. summative grading is part of the process; however, it is documented, and the potential final grade is the result of ongoing work. the student receives ongoing preparation and effective feedback on their knowledge acquisition progress. simply put, a student cannot expect to achieve the highest grade if they did not meet objectives during the process, as set with the teacher or clarified by the teacher. according to formative assessment expert dylan wiliam (2018), five core strategies are essential for successful formative assessment practice in the classroom: 1) clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success. 2) engineering effective classroom discussions, activities, and learning tasks that elicit evidence of learning. 3) providing feedback that moves learning forward. 4) activating learners as instructional resources for one another. 5) activating learners as owners of their own learning. the student’s self-initiative or drive is also expressed in the formative assessment process. this drive is their ability to plan their progress in the learning process. the teacher’s role is to sensibly lead and guide the student. a common mistake is the lack of trust in children’s ideas, which limits their creativity, a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 5 published by scholink inc. crucial part of the learning process. formative assessment cannot replace grading, as it is a process, while grading is a final, summative state. demonstration of knowledge is the final point in a narrow time frame, where the teacher leads the student to knowledge, directs them through information, and guides them on its application. both teacher and student need to assess knowledge, determine progress, and check if learning objectives are clear on an ongoing basis. evaluation of knowledge, which also plays a selective role, is called normative evaluation by some experts (brodnik, 2017). this evaluation focuses on the extent to which the student correctly memorizes learning content. lower levels of knowledge are often evaluated, emphasizing content knowledge over process knowledge. the concept of formative evaluation is based on monitoring knowledge acquisition by students, aiming to improve learning and knowledge. higher cognitive levels of knowledge require learning through understanding, which strengthens the permanence of acquired knowledge. formative assessment is in the hands of the teacher, who must be aware of its advantages. it is important that the pedagogical head provides autonomy to the teacher regarding formative assessment, cautions and guides them through the process, and provides objective criticism. the headmaster/headmistress can lead the teacher by asking questions such as: are the learning intentions and success criteria clear? when is it important for the teacher to be heard during a lesson? what are the learning foundations and lesson objectives for the teacher? is the teacher capable of leading the child using efficient questions, or are they condescending? is the teacher guiding the student actively? is the teacher looking for an answer, or is the student only listening and repeating? teacher talk plays a crucial role in this dynamic, involving the teacher’s ability to communicate effectively, provide clear instructions, and engage students in meaningful dialogue. by focusing on teacher talk, educators can ensure that their interactions with students are purposeful and supportive, ultimately enhancing the learning experience. 4. a process of communication in classroom there is a constant interaction between teachers and students in the classroom, as the learning process is primarily a process of communication (han & tosten, 2016). the field of classroom communication has already been studied in the past. in slovenia, classroom communication was studied by o. kunst gnamuš (1992), who states that ―classroom communication explores the forms of verbal activity in teaching, their cognitive structure and social assumptions, and based on this, infers educational effects‖ (kunst gnamuš, 1992, p. 7); brajša (1993), who divides communication into intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious, planned or unplanned; b. marentič požarnik (2000); and m. ule (2005), who states that communication encompasses processes between people and within the individual. foreign authors describe it similarly, for example, j. wood (2004), who defines communication as a systemic process in which actors influence each other by transmitting symbols. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 6 published by scholink inc. to ensure communication is as effective as possible, it is important to focus on the teacher’s speech in the classroom. this speech must be based on the conversion of expert content into a pedagogical communication relationship, which consists of social and cognitive functions. in other words, the teacher’s speech in the classroom is twofold, consisting of relational and cognitive speech (kunst gnamuš, 1989; ule, 2005). relational speech is used by the teacher to establish contact with students, form and maintain mutual relationships, and create conditions for guiding and directing the student’s process (vogel, 2008; vogel, 2009). it synchronizes the flow of consciousness, achieves the exchange of ideas, agreement on their reality, correctness, or acceptability, and induces the desired student activity (teaching as guided conversation). at the same time, it connects the participants in the conversation, their sensory, cognitive, and verbal activities, creating closeness or distance, equal or unequal relationships, competitiveness or collaboration (kunst gnamuš, 1992). cognitive speech, on the other hand, is the speech of the profession or science, through which students acquire new knowledge (vogel, 2008). it includes justifying, proving, explaining, and discussing, and is characterized by the use of metalanguage. it refers to that part of pedagogical speech that relates to the subject matter (kunst gnamuš, 1992). inappropriate teacher speech can create barriers in the student’s perception and understanding of the content. martin (2021) also emphasizes the importance of teacher communication in the classroom. misalignment can have several consequences, including the creation of a communication wall between teachers and students, alienation, and poorer academic performance in the classroom. in the 1970s, experts began intensively researching verbal communication in the classroom. based on these studies, several instruments were developed to observe it (reciprocal category system, 1968; equivalent talk categories, 1970; verbal interaction category system, and flanders interaction analysis categories system (fias), 1970; student/teacher interaction classroom observation, 2016). fias is one of the most well-known observation instruments for classroom interaction. flanders (1970) classified classroom interaction into 10 categories. using his instrument, the teacher’s speech (referred to as ―teacher talk‖) is observed in seven defined categories (four of these define indirect teacher speech, such as praise and questioning, while the other three define direct teacher speech, such as lecturing and giving instructions); student speech (referred to as ―pupil talk‖) is observed in two defined categories (e.g., student responses to teacher questions), and silence (or confusion) is defined in the tenth category. the focus of the research will be on teacher speech, which can be divided into direct and indirect speech. 5. integrating formative assessment with effective teacher communication the approach used in the international baccalaureate (ib) program cannot be directly applied to the national elementary school education program, as formative assessment and evaluation are integral to the ib system, where the final grade is derived from various partial grades. according to the first paragraph of article 3 of the rules on knowledge assessment and grading and students’ progress to a higher class standing in elementary schools (2013), the national elementary school education program does www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 7 published by scholink inc. not allow teachers to grade knowledge assessments in a way that directly impacts the final grade. such assessments are only meant to gather information on how the student is meeting the objectives or standards set in the curriculum. knowledge assessment is therefore mandated, but grading it is prohibited. through these assessments, we can determine that the student has made good progress, but we cannot consider this when assigning their final grade. the final grade is merely a snapshot in time and excludes partial evaluations, which provide practical and useful feedback to the child and their parents. we should consider whether formative assessment and summative grading are opposing concepts or complementary mindsets. the current situation in the national education program differs from that in the international education program. formative assessment is the supportive path that helps the student reach their goal, while the grade is the summit (summative). the main issue with the national education program is that the rules do not allow formative assessment of the student’s progress to be considered, preventing the teacher from providing additional motivation during the learning process. this seems to contradict the goals of elementary education. the problem with such grading is that it only captures a moment in time and does not reflect actual knowledge. thus, the student receives the incorrect message that only the result matters for a good grade, not the learning journey. this devalues knowledge. the student learns that only the knowledge demonstrated at a specific moment (the day of an oral or written exam) counts, not their overall progress. for example, a student’s knowledge was assessed as good (grade 3 or uk grade equivalent c) on a written assessment at the end of the year, but this cannot be considered in the final grade. one week later, just before the end of the school year, the same student’s knowledge was graded insufficient (grade 1 or uk grade equivalent f) on an oral exam. the lack of time prevents the teacher from reassessing the student, so a negative grade from the oral exam may lead to a lower final grade, even though the teacher knows the student had an off day. is it appropriate for the teacher to break the rules (and help the student avoid a remedial exam) by considering the positive grade from the written assessment, knowing it reflects the student’s true knowledge? the ideal solution would be to combine partial grades (formative assessment) from the international education program with the snapshot grading (summative) from the national education program. teacher communication styles are crucial in this process, as they influence how effectively teachers can convey expectations, provide feedback, and support students in their learning journey. the quality of the relationship between teachers and students is an important factor in students’ cognitive and non-cognitive processes and influences their outcomes (cornelius white, 2007). education and upbringing are closely connected and depend on the quality of interpersonal relationships between teachers and students (bratanić, 1991). interpersonal communication between the teacher and the student is a fundamental condition for establishing these relationships and for effective learning and teaching (wubbels et al., 1993). in the field of education, the relationship is a process that is established between the teacher and the individual student or the entire class (bratanić, 1991). it is an interpersonal www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 8 published by scholink inc. relationship in which the student and teacher give and receive knowledge, experience, willingness to work, and cooperate. positive mutual relationships in the classroom also have a positive impact on the teacher’s relationship with students, classroom behavior, and the overall atmosphere (schutz & lee, 2014; spilt, 2011). the teacher-student relationship is one of the most important factors in teaching as it directly affects the climate and work in the classroom (doyle, 1986). classroom climate is expressed through mutual relationships, while mutual relationships also reflect the classroom climate (marn, 2006; pšunder, 1998). studies examining teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom climate have proven that a positive climate has a positive effect on students’ cognitive perceptions (wubbels & brekelmans, 1998; wubbels et al., 2006). research has shown that students’ perception of the teacher-student relationship is strongly related to their academic success (den brok et al., 2004; wubbels et al., 2006; brekelmans et al., 2005) and that a healthy mutual relationship in the classroom is a crucial prerequisite for students’ involvement in learning activities (brekelmans et al., 2000). c. razdevšek-pučko (1990) in the conclusions of her doctoral dissertation also notes that students’ ability to actively participate in the classroom positively affects their relationship with school and academic performance. improving the quality of teacher-student relationships is associated with a reduction in behavioral problems in primary schools (maldonado-carreño & votruba-drzal, 2011). the teacher uses various levers and instruments in leadership to shape a comprehensive, distinctive leadership style (kovač et al., 2004). the author defines leadership as a process in which the teacher, based on their unique abilities, personality traits, and knowledge, influences people through characteristic behavior in order to mutually achieve agreed-upon goals (kovač et al., 2004). strock (2006, in peklaj & pečjak, 2015) defines classroom leadership as the teacher’s use of various strategies to ensure an effective and positive learning environment for students, free from behavioral problems. however, authors define leadership styles in different ways. flanders (1972) distinguishes between a directive and an indirect leadership style (based on the teacher’s direct and indirect speech). a teacher with a directive leadership style offers criticism, comments, and gives instructions, thereby directing students’ activities. an indirect leadership style is demonstrated by a teacher who accepts students’ emotions, considers suggestions, and provides positive feedback. the division into authoritarian, democratic, and anarchic leadership styles emerged from lewin et al.’s (1939) research. m. pšunder (1998) cites the authoritative or directive style and the democratic or participatory style, while d. baumrind (1991) adds the permissive style to the authoritarian and authoritative styles. examples of teacher communication styles: 1) direct instruction: clearly articulate concepts and expectations to students, ensuring they grasp the objectives and success criteria. 2) questioning: employ open-ended questions to stimulate critical thinking and encourage active student participation. 3) feedback: provide constructive feedback to help students recognize their strengths and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 9 published by scholink inc. identify areas for improvement. 4) encouragement: motivate students by acknowledging their efforts and progress, fostering a supportive learning environment. 5) active listening: show genuine interest in students’ ideas and concerns, making them feel valued and understood. 6) scaffolding: offer support and guidance as students tackle challenging tasks, gradually reducing assistance as they become more proficient. 7) collaborative dialogue: engage students in discussions that promote peer learning and collective problem-solving. 8) non-verbal communication: use body language, facial expressions, and gestures to reinforce messages and maintain student engagement. tyler (1993) connects four leadership goals (directive, supportive, instructional, and delegative) within a situational theory, stating that different leadership styles can be applied in various groups and situations. wubbels’ theory of classroom leadership styles is also important. wubbels et al. (1993) developed a model that describes the communication between teachers and students based on communication styles. m. skarbø and k. skovholt (2019) assert that every teacher demonstrates a unique communication style during classroom interaction. research results related to teachers’ communication styles have shown that communication styles affect relationships in the classroom, the quality of teaching, and effective classroom leadership (brekelmans et al., 2005). based on this model, brekelmans et al. (1993) defined eight communication styles (directive, authoritative, tolerant and authoritative, tolerant, uncertain and tolerant, uncertain and aggressive, repressive, difficult). by employing these diverse communication styles, teachers can create a more dynamic and supportive learning environment. 5.1 empowering learning with teacher talk a crucial aspect of a child’s quality learning experience is receiving feedback, which includes all information given to the student about their work with the aim of enhancing their learning and knowledge. feedback should always be provided using the ―sandwich‖ method; it should not include judgments, but concrete positive observations, concrete negative observations, negative impact, wishes and recommendations, and positive changes. it must be described to the student what specifically they did, what they should change, and what positive changes will happen if they follow the suggestions (brodnik, 2017). a child can also receive feedback from a peer, known as ―critical friendship,‖ which provides insight into the quality of their learning and knowledge. it is not always suitable for the teacher to be dominant when providing feedback. this is important not only for building knowledge but also for developing social skills, peer cooperation, and evaluation. evaluation gives the student insight into the level at which they are achieving learning objectives and enables them to plan further improvements to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 10 published by scholink inc. their learning, while it also allows the teacher to reflect on effective and useful support they provide to students on the path to quality learning. teacher talk plays a significant role in this process, as it involves the teacher’s ability to communicate effectively, provide clear instructions, and engage students in meaningful dialogue. by focusing on teacher talk and feedback, educators can ensure that their interactions with students are purposeful and supportive, ultimately enhancing the learning experience. 5.2 laying the groundwork: how formative assessment builds student success formative assessment is like laying the foundation for a house. just as a strong foundation is crucial for the stability and longevity of a house, formative assessment is essential for the solid development of a student’s learning journey. here’s how they compare: 1) planning and preparation: o house foundation: before construction begins, detailed plans are drawn up, and the ground is prepared. this involves surveying the land, clearing debris, and ensuring the soil is stable. o formative assessment: similarly, formative assessment starts with understanding the student’s prior knowledge and learning needs. teachers plan lessons that build on this foundation, setting clear learning objectives. 2) continuous monitoring: o house foundation: during the construction of the foundation, builders continuously check the alignment, depth, and materials used to ensure everything is up to standard. o formative assessment: in the classroom, teachers continuously monitor students’ progress through various assessments, observations, and feedback. this helps identify areas where students may need additional support or adjustments in instruction. 3) adjustments and corrections: o house foundation: if any issues are detected during the foundation work, immediate corrections are made to prevent future problems. this might involve reinforcing certain areas or adjusting the layout. o formative assessment: when teachers notice gaps in understanding or skills, they provide timely and specific feedback to help students improve. this might involve reteaching concepts, offering additional practice, or using different instructional strategies. 4) building on a strong base: o house foundation: a well-laid foundation supports the entire structure of the house, ensuring it can withstand various stresses and remain stable over time. o formative assessment: a strong formative assessment process supports students’ ongoing learning, helping them build a solid understanding of concepts and skills. this foundation enables them to tackle more complex tasks and achieve long-term academic success. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 8, no. 2, 2025 11 published by scholink inc. 5) feedback and reflection: o house foundation: builders reflect on the foundation work to ensure it meets all standards and will support the house effectively. o formative assessment: teachers and students reflect on the learning process, using feedback to guide future learning and teaching. this reflection helps both parties understand what works well and what needs improvement. in both cases, the goal is to create a strong, reliable base that supports future growth and development. just as a house cannot stand without a solid foundation, students’ learning cannot thrive without ongoing, formative assessment to guide and support their progress. 6. resolution in devising strategies to achieve learning objectives or meet knowledge standards, both the student and the teacher must consider the learning goal and the path the student will take to reach it. this journey is influenced by the student’s prior knowledge, motivation, current progress towards the learning objective, and the methods employed to achieve this goal. the teacher acts as a mentor, guiding the learning process. formative assessment clearly enhances both the student’s learning strategies and the teacher’s instructional methods. it improves the quality of knowledge, increases student engagement in the learning process, and encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning. effective classroom management is also crucial, as it creates an environment where formative assessment can thrive. it is essential to consider how formative assessment impacts the retention of knowledge, interdisciplinary integration, and the application of knowledge across various domains. by fostering a supportive and dynamic learning environment, formative assessment not only helps students achieve their goals but also prepares them for future academic and real-world challenges. references aasheim, m., fossum, s., reedtz, c., handegård, b. h., & martinussen, m. 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(1994). pragmatično jezikoslovje, temeljni pojmi. pedagoški inštitut, center za diskurzivne študije. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 25 original paper developing a shared understanding of a sense of community in large classes tryon francis 1* , shannon kennedy-clark 1 , katrina eddles-hirsch 1 & cynthia a’beckett 1 1 school of education, university of notre dame, sydney, australia * tryon francis, school of education, university of notre dame, sydney, australia received: january 7, 2020 accepted: january 16, 2020 online published: february 17, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n1p25 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n1p25 abstract over the past ten years, universities and other tertiary level institutions have seen a considerable increase in student enrolment. this has led to larger class sizes both in the lecture hall and tutorial classroom. research has indicated that larger classes at the tertiary level have not only burdened teaching staff, but have also led to student disengagement in the lecture hall. students, new to university life, have been found to be particularly unprepared for this type of learning environment. this project explores the shared understanding of how to create a sense of community in large class sizes within a school of education. three academics formed a partnership in an effort to share techniques that actively created a sense of community in lecture halls of over 200 students. this research is relevant not only in highlighting this problem, but in the sharing of recommendations and suggestions for large group teaching. keywords community, large class sizes, tertiary level institutions 1. introduction this paper responds to key research in the australian higher education context in arguing that in spite of the challenges of large classes, it was possible to create a sense of community in teaching three different teaching areas. class sizes at australian higher education institutions have increased in the past decade to deal with the increasing demand of higher education (bradley review of australian higher education, 2008). currently, research about class size focuses on the whole university rather than individual units or subjects. most of the research tends to focus on student performance rather than student engagement with the empirical link between class size and student performance being debated for decades (towner, 2016). the premise seems logical: as class size decreases, academic achievement www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 26 published by scholink inc. increases. the research, however, is rather mixed and inconclusive. the aim of this paper is to provide the shared understanding of three academics lived experiences in teaching large cohorts in a bachelor of education degree. the three lecturers involved in the study aimed to create a sense of community and belongingness in their units by actively engaging pre-service teachers in a range of strategies and then collaboratively reflecting upon their findings in order to build this shared understanding. the results are presented as a narrative. this collaborative approach has the potential to assist in student retention and encourage students to undertake further study beyond the bachelor level degree. 1.1 background a large class is considered to consist of 80 or more students (teaching large classes brief guide: faculty of economics and business, sydney university, 2011); however, the definition of a large class varies across universities and faculties (burnett & krause, n.d.). in some disciplines, such as the sciences, an instructor-to-student ratio may be as little as 1:12 to be considered a large class. in this study, a large class is considered to consist of 200 or more students as this is the maximum number of students that can be hosted in a given lecture hall within the institution where the study was conducted. there is no auditorium/lecture hall that can host more than 200 students compared with other institutions in australia that can lecture to some 1000 students in a single sitting. this smaller lecture theatre, however, has the added pressures of repeat lectures to facilitate all 700 enrolled students in a single unit. while 200 students are much smaller than larger universities, an individual student can feel confronted by the large number of students. such large classes can make individual students feel isolated even alienated from others and this can impact negatively on the university experience (bradley review of higher education, 2008; scott, 2008). the bradley review of australian higher education (2008) states that “the teacher-to-student ratio has changed from 12.9 students per instructor in 1990 to 20.5 students per instructor in 2006” (p. 71). this large increase of student numbers in classes makes it difficult to develop community (bradley review of australian higher education, 2008; james, krause, & jennings, 2010). moltzen (2011) comments that it is only through time that the institution will respond to the individual, often in the students’ final years. in a recent study conducted by james, krause and jennings (2010), 50% of the students surveyed identified that feeling a sense of belonging to the university community was an important factor in their university experience. previous studies have found that students who attend classes four to five days per week are more likely to be engaged in the university and learning community (james, krause & jennings, 2010). at the university where this study was set, there is an emphasis on face-to-face teaching and attendance so the ability to engage students in the sense of community is increased, and the university is being proactive in developing the sense early on in the bachelor degree. james, krause and jennings (2010) comment that “universities should make the most of every opportunity to ensure that they are proactive in developing among students a sense of belonging and community from early in the first year” (p. 41). previous research has suggested the need for developing a sense of community in large classes early on in the degree and the community that is developed may be between lecturer and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 27 published by scholink inc. student; tutor and student; lecturer and tutor; lecturer and lecturer; and tutor and tutor (moltzen, 2011). the bradley review of higher education report (2008) reflects this perception by reporting that “a very significant number [of students] reported negatively on aspects of the student experience, including many who complained that in their university class sizes were too large” (p. 71). some of the factors identified in the only australian study to investigate a sense of community at the undergraduate level include but are not limited to “the social climate established on campus, the academic, social and financial support provided by the institution, student in-class and out-of class involvement with campus life, and frequent feedback provided to students and staff about their performance” (scott, 2008, p. 32). however, research also suggests that performance may also be dependent on discipline with research in fields such as political demonstrating no adverse effects on student performance (towner, 2016). 2. method and results in this qualitative design study, three aims were explored for educators: (1) to describe our shared experiences since the implementation of large cohorts; (2) to describe perception of their students’ experiences; and (3) to examine the effect that the large cohort model has on the delivery of effective education within a university setting. we adopted a shared lived experience approach. this approach of examining shared experiences is more commonly seen in health care, see, for example, the studies of de vries, leblanc, frost, alston-stepnitz, stephenson and woodyatt (2017) and ott and ross (2014). the results of our semester long live experience is presented as a narrative inquiry. narrative, as a research method, has had a rich intellectual tradition. under the broader term of narrative inquiry, researchers can use myriad types of data collection, including: storytelling, journaling, and various types of interviews (winsor, 2014). winsor (2014) further adds that writing memos can be a valuable technique to use in narrative inquiry by contributing to analysis and interpretation. the use of procedural and analytic memos were relevant to our study as they provided the researchers with a means to record experiences in a timely and efficient manner. narrative inquiry methodology is appropriate for understanding the meanings of participants’ experiences within a specified context or culture. a number of disciplines believe that human experience is actually a phenomenon that is best understood through narrative. these disciplines include: anthropology, linguistics, literary theory, theology, philosophy, psychology, organizational theory, psychotherapy, geography, history, law, women’s studies and medicine (garvis, 2015). narrative inquiry will here refer to a method of investigation into a problem, following pragmatism, inspired by john dewey (1938). following this tradition, narrative inquiry will also mean a way of knowing by telling and reflecting. narrative inquiry is a way of understanding our shared experience. it is collaboration between researchers and participants, over time in a place or series of places, and in a social context (clandinin & connelly, 2000). the primary research outputs of a narrative inquiry are constructed or co-constructed accounts that describe people’s personal and professional experiences (clandinin & connelly, 2000). these accounts offer others an opportunity to develop insights or an www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 28 published by scholink inc. understanding of the ways in which particular individuals have been affected by the events that occur in their lives (trzebiński, 2005). winsor (2014) explains that narrative inquiry is well suited to assisting researchers to understand the experiences of vulnerable populations, such as undergraduate; however, it is noted that the researchers need to become engaged collaboratively with the data analysis in order for a collective understanding of the experience to be developed. here, we offer a narrative of our experiences trying to build a community within a large lecture group. 2.1 the narrative inquiry 2.1.1 forming a professional community the school of education provides information on each academic teaching load including student numbers. three academics one new to academia, one mid-career and one senior identified the possible issues that all three may face as they taught nearly two-thirds (700 students of 1,100 students) of the students in the bachelor of education program. the initial reaction to these large classes for all three lecturers was “how are we going to manage with all of the other requirements for research and professional contributions to their research areas”. the lecturers identified the need to streamline the administrative processes such as the assessment submission procedure and from those initial discussions, a series of informal meetings occurred in how best to approach such a unit. bell (2005) identifies that peer partnerships can enhance teaching and administration by critically reviewing existing knowledge and materials to formulate new knowledge and processes. jungic, kent, and menz (2006) comment that careful time management is essential when managing large classes and from this research, weekly discussions and informal hallway discussions between the lecturers reduced the sense of feeling isolated. many topics were discussed such as management, administration issues, preparation and marking load. the academics valued the sense of community greatly and wanted to instill this into their large lectures to ensure student attrition and positive student engagement (matthews, andrews, & adams, 2011). collaborative peer engagements transpired between the three lecturers. no one lecturer had all of the answers, so the three worked together to offer opinions, thought processes, development of new strategies and solve problems together (barnard, croft, irons, & cuffe, 2011). the higher education research and development society of australia (herdsa) has identified that “support for academics in local teaching communities should include peer support amongst other initiatives” (p. 2). there is a real potential to empower academics through the peer relationship process such as the enhancement of innovation, management, engagement, teaching, learning and scholarship (bell, 2001; ferren, 2001; keig & waggoner, 1995). each academic went about the management of their own unit in a very different way, but the ideas from one lecturer to the other were shared without reservation. the students were enrolled in first and second year teaching courses in: human development and learning, science education and creative arts. whilst all three lectures were from different areas within the school of education, students often undertook two of the three units. hence, there was an opportunity for the academics to reflect upon the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 29 published by scholink inc. differing experiences of teaching the large cohorts. at this university, the university places value on working in collaboration thereby enhancing the relationship. the lecturers developed a sense of confidence in their own community through the inter-lecturer links. the success and failures experienced in managing such a large student cohort and a large number of tutors were shared in a supportive way. the lectures debriefed on almost a daily basis on how they were undertaking the management of the courses this was done on the basis of memeos that were recorded after the lectures. the community developed between the three lecturers, was that “we are all in this together and we will come out of it together at the end”. according to brennan and shah (2000), peers offer a “moral authority” that allows for a self-check in a supportive non-hierarchical environment to the way in which the lecturer is managing his or her unit. harris, farrell, bell, devlin and james (2008); bell (2001), mackinnon (2001) and magin (1998) support the view that peer review in higher education is an effective strategy when undertaking academic development such as unit coordination, teaching and learning. all three lecturers related to this form of “moral authority” as they were able to run ideas past the other academics and make a decision. the lecturers referred to this “moral authority” through: identifying assigned readings, development of lecture content, communicating with tutors, recruitment of tutors, replying to student emails and the general administration of the units. the inter-lecturer support encouraged each coordinator to develop effective tutor teams, considered an important factor in the successful management of these three large cohorts. the development of community between the three lecturers was developed with the tutor teams and subsequently passed on to students in the face-to-face teaching. 2.1.2 creating a sense of community in large classes mcmillan and chavis (1986) define community as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together” (p. 9). the essential elements of community are outlined by rovai (2002) as being: mutual inter-dependence amongst students, a sense of belonging, connectedness, spirit, trust, interactivity, common expectations, shared values and goals, and overlapping histories among members. these key aspects of community are mirrored in the objects of the university, which are: the provision of an excellent standard of: i. teaching, scholarship and research; ii. training for the professions, and iii. pastoral care for its students. the issue of pastoral care for students when we have 700 students undertaking our units presents challenges. the lecturers’ were concerned as to how they could continue to engage students so that students avoid the feeling of being a nameless and faceless individual. it has been previously established by kerr (2011) that “a student’s sense of belonging and ability to connect with teaching staff and other students played an important part in fostering student engagement and better learning www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 30 published by scholink inc. outcomes” (p. 15). so how does one ensure that there is a sense of belonging and community in such large classes with so many students? one way to provide a sense of belonging is the ability of the lecturers to strategically move throughout the lecture theater as no more than 200 students were present. this is in contrast to other higher education institutions in which there is often a fixed lectern at the front of the lecture hall, focusing attention to the lecturer (carter, barrett, & park, 2011). by moving throughout the lecture theatre, the lecturer was presented with the opportunity to have close proximity to all students regardless of where they sat. as a result of having the ability to navigate the lecture theatre, the ability for student to be active participants is encouraged rather than being passive recipients of information. current research defines personalization as the connection between the individual and the collective. according to leadbeater (2004) this is done by “allowing users a more direct, informed and creative say in rewriting the script by which the service they use is designed, planned, delivered and evaluated” (p. 59). how, however, can it possibly be achieved when teaching some 700 students in first-year who come to university with a large diversity of knowledge and skills? whilst leadbeater’s (2004) approach is respected, it is more appropriate for courses in final-years with fewer students who can work with the instructor to guide and design their course of learning. it simply would not work with a lecture of 200 students and a cohort of 700 students where students are seen as such a heterogeneous group. long and coldren (2006) identify that when lecturers are able to actively engage students in learning, the students achieved higher results and higher levels of satisfaction in the course. students who were actively involved with other students along with being actively engaged in learning rate themselves as higher performing (carter, barrett, & park, 2011). the lecturers achieved this by using a variety of engaging techniques to promote a student’s sense of belonging and to enhance their learning. the process of community between the three lecturers acted as an impetus to develop these types of strategies further. in the lecture series, all three lecturers used a variety of engagement strategies. these included asking the students to vote on possible answers/solutions, allowing students to ask questions, identifying specific students to answer questions and getting students to interact with peers in the lecture time, which are all possible in smaller lecture spaces. the lecturers often used problem questions and allowed the students time to discuss the possible answers with peers before reporting back to the lecturer. the results between groups were then tabulated so that the students had a sense of ownership of the course content. this assisted in the development of community between the students and lecturer. krause (2005) found that campus experiences can be intimidating, leaving students feeling isolated and unvalued. communicating with students and encouraging them is essential in assisting them in gaining a sense of belonging and purpose on campus. getting to know students names has been seen in the research of brehl (2013) who identifies that this strategy will enhance the sense of community. however, how can a single lecturer learn 700 names when he/she only interacts with the students for 13 hours over the entire semester and lectures are not www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 31 published by scholink inc. compulsory? a possible strategy identified was when students answered questions, they were to state their name so that the lecturer had a sense of being able to identify some of the students in the lecture. another strategy used was to get all the students to write their names on a sticky note and to randomly select a few of these per week. whilst this meant that only the vocal student’s names or the names of the students whose names were randomly selected from the sticky notes exercise, it was one way of attempting to learn some of the first-year student’s names. there are multiple ways in which university lectures can get to know students names, however, it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss every possible strategy. as coordinators we encouraged the tutors with classes of between 22-24 students to further establish the sense of community by considering the physical and social aspects of their classes. for example, the furniture in the room could be moved to provide for an inclusive environment by arranging the furniture into a u shape where everyone could see everyone else. creative initiatives were the student a sense of self-worth. teaching and educational development institute (2003) identifies that the creation of a sense of community to engage with students plays an important part in fostering student engagement and enhances learning outcomes. an examination of courses such as medicine and the sciences where there is an emphasis on significant number of contact hours per week through subsequent tutorials and laboratories, students can more easily interact with peers, tutors and lecturers. however, as students in the school of education undertake somewhere between 12-15 hours per week in face-to-face classes, it would appear that developing this sense of community has the added pressure of limited time. these lecturers identified the need to develop a sense of community not only within the lecture hall, but also with their tutor teams in order to further enhance student belonging. each lecturer took the time to meet with the tutor team prior, during and post course. previous research has found that forming a social network develops a sense of belonging (matthews, andrews, & adams, 2011) and it was therefore encouraged that the tutors should learn student names and attempt to develop this sense of community within the tutorials that consisted of 22-24 students. a number of tasks were undertaken to assist the tutor in developing this approach. often students in first-year classes experience a sense of isolation and anonymity in large classes (debowski, 2012,). as a result, a strategy employed by the lecturers was the use of group presentations/group micro-teaching/group experiments as an assessment task where students had to work cooperatively with 2-3 others. this provided the students with a sense of self-efficacy in the large units. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 1, 2020 32 published by scholink inc. 3. discussion we cannot justify large cohorts as effective teaching; however, we discovered a relational aspect enabling the three individuals to successfully counterbalance the difficulties that presented themselves in the respective units in a non-competitive environment. an informal network developed between the three lectures and encouraged our skills to successfully form a sense of community in a challenging environment. a limitation of this study was the small sample size. in future iterations of the study, we would aim for a longitudinal study in order to get more depth from the experience rather than expanding that sample size. that is, it would be good to know if the community persisted in subsequent years of the students’ degrees. also, participating academics were teaching different courses. in order to build validity into the study, another colleague reviewed the data and the narrative in order to ensure that the findings presented here were credible. on reflecting, one of the ways forward is the establishment of informal networks with non-hierarchical peers who are personally encouraging, knowledgeable and helpful. universities have, in recent times, attempted to develop this through a compulsory mentoring system; however, this is not always a requirement and the individual is responsible for forming their own network. being together in this difficult climate in teaching large classes, responding to the individual and creating a sense of community enhanced our sense of confidence and abilities to deal with complex issues that presented themselves over the course of the semester. it was refreshing for each of the lecturers involved to know physically, emotionally and psychologically what the others were going through and this added to their own survival techniques and strategies. for such a system to work effectively, all members of the peer support group shared openly and continually sought moral authority from one another on the decisions that were made as unit coordinators. this situation could have been a deterrent to continue in academia and teaching, however, the sense of confidence in informal discussions that were kept confidential from supervisors added to the lecturers’ confidence in surviving in the current climate. it is important to note that this is not a system of duplication, but rather a reflection on circumstances that many of us as academics find ourselves in current situations. references barnard, a., croft, w., irons, r., & cuffe, n. 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(2014). narrative inquiry: the experience of first-generation college students. s.l.: sage publications ltd. https://doi.org/10.3200/ctch.54.2.237-243 https://doi.org/10.1080/13601440110033689 https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144980030205 https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.512629 https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1%3c6::aid-jcop2290140103%3e3.0.co;2-i https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12032 https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v3i1.79 https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2016.1154470 https://doi.org/10.1080/13569780500053098 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 29 original paper assessing the evolution of thinking qualities in the essay prompts of college english test band 4: trends and future implications chen lingfei 1* & yao jianguang 2 1 school of foreign language, yulin normal college, yulin city, guangxi, china 2 school of history and tourism, yulin normal college, yulin city, guangxi, china * chen lingfei, school of foreign language, yulin normal college, yulin city, guangxi, china received: august 2, 2023 accepted: august 11, 2023 online published: august 22, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p29 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p29 abstract this paper provides an analysis of the essay prompts in the college english test band 4 from 2011 to june 2023, based on bloom-krathwohl’s taxonomy of educational objectives. the study explores the changes in the assessment of thinking qualities and predicts future trends in question formulation for the examination. the findings indicate a shift towards greater emphasis on critical and creative thinking abilities, aligning with national education goals. the examination has evolved to incorporate diverse prompts and question formats, moving away from traditional essay prompts towards more specialized reports and prompts that require in-depth analysis and reflection. it is anticipated that future iterations of the examination will continue to prioritize critical and creative thinking skills and may involve new question formats. overall, the evolving nature of writing in the college english test band 4 reflects the recognition of the significance of nurturing students’ critical and creative thinking abilities, which ultimately promotes effective teaching and learning of english language skills. keywords college english test band 4, essay prompts, thinking qualities, implications www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 30 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction thinking plays a dominant role in human intellectual activities. it effectively regulates the intellectual activities of the human body and has profound impacts on individuals. giordano bruno believes thinking qualities refer to the cognitive activities of the brain in terms of memory, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, and innovation. in this article, thinking qualities refer to logical thinking, critical thinking, and innovative thinking. cultivating thinking qualities has become a necessary requirement for adapting to the development of the contemporary world. on january 7, 2023, jiangsu phoenix education publishing house, ming shi international academy, and shengzhi learning jointly held the second international english teaching conference online. the theme of the conference was “future readiness-english education for the future”. over ten thousand participating teachers unanimously agreed that in the process of adapting to the development of the 21st century, learners need to possess critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and the ability to cope with global challenges. cultivating thinking qualities is an urgent requirement for enhancing national competitiveness. according to the national medium and long-term plan for education reform and development (2021-2021) (chinese ministry of education, 2021), improving the quality of education is one of the core tasks in the development of higher education. developing the thinking abilities of university students serves multiple purposes: meeting the strategic demands of national reform and socio-economic development, as well as fulfilling the requirements for cultivating talents capable of navigating the challenges of the globalized era. these talents should possess a global perspective, international awareness, high-level humanities literacy, as well as innovative and critical thinking abilities. cultivating thinking qualities is an essential requirement for developing the core literacy of university students. one of the six core literacies identified in the “core literacy for chinese students’ development” finalized in 2018 is cultural foundation, which includes the scientific spirit. it refers to the values, thinking patterns, and behavioral expressions that students form in learning, understanding, and applying scientific knowledge and skills. this includes rational thinking, critical questioning, and the courage to explore. the college english test (cet), also known as the national band 4 test, is a standardized examination organized by the ministry of education of the people’s republic of china and administered by the national education examinations authority. in terms of content of the essay writing, the cet primarily evaluates whether candidates can express central ideas, convey important or specific information, and present viewpoints and attitudes. in the writing section, coherence and logical organization are required, which assesses students’ abilities in logical thinking, divergent thinking, critical thinking, and creative thinking. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 31 published by scholink inc. the research of chinese scholars on cet-4 writing mainly focuses on the following aspects: wei fanmei et al. put forward suggestions on various writing strategies for cet-4 (2009). xiang qunxing believed that the change of cet-4 question types would bring both positive and negative refutation effects to english writing pedagogy (2018), so a new teaching model of promoting writing by listening and listening by writing should be established (zhao xinlin, 2012). fei qian analyzed cet-4 writing scoring standards, scoring methods, proposition forms, and word count requirements (2008); wan dan analyzed students’ language characteristics, thinking patterns, and language errors in cet-4 writing (2016). most scholars pay more attention to the training of critical thinking ability in writing (li wendong, 2022; wu ying, 2017; xue mingyuan, 2016, etc.). only liu li pointed out that students can use the concept of logical thinking, judgment and reasoning to examine the questions of tem-4 essays and avoid going off topic and off-topic in writing (2009). it can be seen that chinese scholars have done little research on cet-4 essay prompts and the relationship between the prompts and the quality of thinking. in order to test whether the essay prompts in the writing of cet 4 align with the requirements for developing students’ thinking qualities as outlined in the college english teaching, and to provide positive guidance for english writing teachers, helping them improve the quality of english writing teaching and cultivate students’ thinking qualities, it is necessary to analyze the essay topics from 2011 to 2023 in cet-4, which can help students identify the key thinking qualities tested in the cet 4 writing section and anticipate future changes in the assessment criteria. 2. method on the bases of bloom-krathwohl’s taxonomy of educational objectives, this thesis uses literature research method and text analysis method to study the essay prompts in the college english test band 4 from 2011 to june 2023. it mainly resolves two questions: (1) what are the changes and the trend of thinking quality reflected in the content of the writing prompts in the cet-4? (2) are the contents of the essay prompts consistent with the thinking quality orientation of the objectives outlined in the college english syllabus (2020 edition)? 2.1 concept of thinking qualities r.b. cattell defined thinking qualities as “the creative ways and processes through which a person handles, applies, and utilizes external information. it encompasses factors such as cognitive abilities, knowledge structures, thinking styles, and reasoning capabilities”. he further suggests that thinking qualities are shaped by the interaction of genetics and environment, and different genetic and environmental factors can influence individuals’ intelligence levels, thinking patterns, and habits. giordano bruno, in his book lecture on the infinite universe, defines the quality of thought as: “the quality of thought is the quality that enables us to judge whether something is true or not. it is a clear way of thinking. the distinction between the true and the false is its main characteristic”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 32 published by scholink inc. these qualities determine how we perceive the world, comprehend and judge things within it. it refers to the cognitive activities of the brain in terms of memory, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, and innovation. soviet psychologists believe that thinking qualities include analysis, synthesis, abstract generalization, comparison, systematization, and concretization. professor lin chongde, a psychology professor at beijing normal university, believes that thinking qualities are a reflection of intelligence and abilities in individuals, which include logicality, flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, and agility. professor wei canjin emphasizes the development of students’ thinking abilities, especially their visual thinking, abstract thinking, and creative thinking, in his book “cultivation of language thinking”. chinese scholars generally adopt lin chongde’s definition and consider the cultivation of thinking qualities as the primary issue in implementing core literacy. in this article, thinking qualities refer to logical thinking, critical thinking, and innovative thinking. 2.2 relationship between writing styles and thinking qualities the cet writing section encompasses four main writing styles: narrative, expository, argumentative, and practical writing. narrative writing requires clear chronological order and logical cause-effect relationships, primarily testing the logical thinking ability and rich creative thinking of university students. expository writing involves in-depth analysis and research on topics, requiring analytical thinking, summarization, and induction. it demands logical coherence and structural rigor in writing. argumentative writing involves analyzing and researching problems from various perspectives, requiring analytical thinking. it also involves evaluating the merits, drawbacks, rights, and wrongs of things, necessitating critical thinking. practical writing requires the application of practical knowledge and skills to analyze and solve real-world problems. it involves preparing creative solutions for different situations and proposing novel ideas and viewpoints, testing practical thinking abilities and innovative thinking. 2.3 the theory of categorization of educational objectives the theory of categorization of educational objectives was proposed by american educational psychologist benjamin s. bloom and his colleagues in 1956. david r. krathwohl revised the theory based on bloom’s work in 1964, resulting in the revised edition of the categorization of educational objectives, also known as the “bloom-krathwohl theory”. according to this theory, educational objectives are divided into three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. each domain is further divided into dimensions, ranging from lower to higher levels of proficiency: 1) cognitive domain: memory, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and innovation. 2) affective domain: receiving knowledge, responding, valuing. 3) psychomotor domain: receiving motor skills, responding to stimuli, guided response. this categorization provides a framework for classifying educational objectives based on different areas of development, including cognitive abilities, emotional responses, and motivational aspects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 33 published by scholink inc. 3. discussion and results this article selects writing prompts from the cet-4 exam between 2011 and june 2023 as samples to analyze their testing characteristics and future trends. the different prompts determine the types of genres, and writing in different genres directly involves the demonstration of students’ various thinking styles. the prompts determine the genre features and overall framework of the essays. understanding the frameworks and characteristics of different texts can help students comprehend the meaning conveyed by the prompts at a macro level. based on the genre classification standards proposed by gu xiangdong (2008), this article categorizes the genre types into narrative, expository, argumentative, and practical writing. additionally, advertisements, posters, notices, initiatives, recommendation letters, etc., are classified as practical writing. to visually and clearly demonstrate the different aspects of thinking qualities being assessed in the writing prompts of the cet-4 exam from 2011 to june 2023, the following table summarizes and analyzes the prompts from three dimensions: thematic determination, genre, and dimensions of thinking qualities. 3.1 analysis of the themes presented in the prompts table 1. table of the topic content, themes of the essay prompts in cet4 from 2011.06-2023.06 test time essay prompts topic content theme 2011.06 a short essay on some advantages and problems of doing shopping online, and give some advice. technology human & society 2011.12 nothing succeeds without a strong will good morality human & society 2012-06 excessive packaging social life human & society 2012-12 education pays based on the statistics provided in the chart below，describe it and comment on it. education human & society 2013-06 a brief description of the picture and express your views on the importance of doing sth small before undertaking sth big/learning skills/reading literature. good morality/ education/ education human & society 2013-12 the impact of the internet on the way people communicate/learning and explain one phenomenon; the increasing use of mobile phones in people’s life and explain the consequences based on the picture below. technology/ technology/ technology human & society 2014-06 suppose a foreign friend of yours is coming to visit your campus/hometown/china, what is the most school life/ social life/ human & society www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 34 published by scholink inc. interesting place you would like to him/her to see and why? social life 2014-12 a campus activity that has benefited you most/a course that has impressed you most in college/a classmate of yours who has influenced you most in college school life/ school life/ school life human & society 2015-06 a description of the picture and then comment on this kind of modern life/parents’ role in their children’s growth/the kid’s understanding of going to school technology/ family life/ school life human & society 2015-12 comment on the saying “listening is more important than talking.”/“listening is daily experience and a lifelong mission.”/“never go out there to see what happen, go out there to make things happen.” good morality education/ good morality human & society 2016-06 a letter to express your thanks to one of your friends who helped you most when you were in difficulty/one of your school teachers upon entering college/your parents or any family members upon making memorable achievement social life/ school life/ family life human & society 2016-12 explain the reasons for your choice to work in a state-owned business or in a joint venture/find a job or start a business of your own/take a job in a company or go to a graduate school job hunting/ job hunting/ job hunting human & society 2017-06 an advertisement on your campus website to sell a computer/a bicycle/some of the course books you used at college school life/ school life/ school life human & society 2017-12 an essay on how to best handle the relationship between parents and children/doctors and patients/teachers and students social life/ social life/ social life human & society 2018-06 the importance of reading/writing/speaking ability and how to develop it learning/ learning/ learning human & society 2018-12 the challenges of living in a big city/studying abroad/starting a career after graduation school life/ education/ employment human & society 2019-06 a news report on a volunteer activity organized by your student union to help elderly people in the school life/ school life/ human & society www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 35 published by scholink inc. neighborhood/on a visit to a local farm organized by your student union/on a visit to hope elementary school organized by your student union school life 2019-12 a recommendation letter of a city for a foreign friend to learn chinese/to teach in china/to study in china social life/ social life/ social life human & society 2020-09 the use of online dictionaries/translation apps/ppt technology/ technology/ technology human & society 2020-12 changes in the way of education/communication/transportation social life/ social life/ social life human & society 2021-06 are people becoming addicted to technology?/is technology making people lazy?/do violent video games lead to violence? technology/ technology/ technology human & society 2021-12 a proposal which may include its aim, duration, participants and activities for an orientation program to help the freshmen adapt to the new environment and academic studies/organization of a speech contest. a report on a school project of collecting used books on campus school life/ school life/ school life human & society 2022-06 a proposal to your school clinic/your school library/student union for improving its service school life/ school life/ school life human & society 2022-12 write an essay related to the short passage give below and then comment on the phenomenon that more students began to realize the importance of developing a healthy lifestyle/social ability among college students/the role of physical exercise in achieving success at college. school life/ social life/ school life human & society 2023-6 write an essay on the benefits and disadvantages and what improvement can be made on community service/on line courses/good relationship. social life/ education/ social life human & society www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 36 published by scholink inc. as shown in table 1, when examining the prompts, it can be observed that the writing prompts for the cet-4 exams from june 2011 to june 2023 do not contain obscure or difficult words, indicating a moderate level of difficulty. the essay prompts for the june 2011 and 2012 exams, both a and b versions, were the same. however, starting from 2013, the cet-4 exam changed to one set of three groups, with each group consisting of essay prompts related to three different contexts under one overarching premise. this widened the perspective of the essay assessment and led to more subtle variations in the themes being examined. the change serves two purposes. on one hand, they aim to prevent cheating among college students during exams. on the other hand, they reflect the chinese ministry of education’s increased emphasis on assessing students’ thinking abilities in foreign language proficiency. this change was mainly due to the reform of the cet-4 exam by the national college english test (cet) committee from 2013 onwards. the reformation included the elimination of cloze tests and the addition of three new types: vocabulary and phrase dictation, long reading passages, and chinese translation exercises. before this reform, the topics of the cet-4 writing exam were relatively simple and required a shorter word count. the difficulty level was roughly equivalent to task 1 in the ielts exam or the small essays in graduate school exams, slightly more challenging than the writing requirements for the national college entrance examination. however, after the reform, cet-4 writing exam has introduced graph-based essays and picture-based essays, which require students to accurately describe and analyze charts or pictures while providing their own viewpoints. additionally, there has been an inclusion of practical writing, emphasizing practical skills and effectiveness. these changes have made the cet-4 writing exam more similar to the question types in the ielts exam, increasing the demands on students’ abilities. it is not only necessary to express ideas effectively but also demonstrate higher-level thinking. this reform reflects the internationalization trend in english teaching in china, aiming to cultivate students with broader english language application skills. from 2011.06 to 2012.12, the unified composition was introduced with a total of four essays during this period. starting from 2013.06, each cet-4 examination consisted of three essays. by june 2023, there had been a total of 63 essays in this period. adding the number of essays from 2011 and 2012, the total comes to 67 essays. although each examination includes three essays, their assessment objectives and content are consistent and similar. from an analysis of the cet-4 essay prompts from 2011 to june 2023, it can be observed that there were 11 essays with technology-related topic context, 21 essays about school life, 9 essays on education and learning, 16 essays addressing social life, 2 essay focusing on family life, 4 essays discussing moral qualities, and 4 essays about job seeking and employment. these essay prompts closely relate to the daily study and practice of college students. by understanding the main idea and requirements of the prompts, students are able to construct the structure of their essays and express their thoughts effectively. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 37 published by scholink inc. from table 1, it can be observed that in terms of essay topic themes, there were 67 essays (100%) with the theme of “human and society”, while there were no essays on the themes of “human and nature” or “human and self”. it is evident that the theme of “human and society” is favored by the cet-4 essay question setters. this preference can be attributed to the fact that the relationship between people and society is a broad and profound topic, as sociality is one of the fundamental attributes of human beings. this topic can trigger people’s thoughts and discussions on social issues, values, moral principles, personal behavior, and responsibility. moreover, the relationship between people and society is an important issue of concern in the contemporary world, encompassing areas such as democracy, human rights, fairness and justice, multiculturalism, and environmental protection. therefore, by selecting such a theme for the english test, it not only tests students’ language expression abilities but also deepens their understanding and awareness of social phenomena and issues. examining the trend of cet-4 essay topics from 2011 to 2023, it is notable that the themes of “people and nature” and “people and self” were absent, with only the theme of “people and society” being examined. this indicates that the selection of essay topics places more emphasis on authenticity and creating real-life contexts, and places greater value on students’ ability to solve problems and present viewpoints. there is also a greater focus on cultivating college students’ critical thinking quality. 3.2 analysis of essay genres narrative essays often include a story plot or related descriptive vocabulary. they use descriptive words and past tense verbs to express the time and sequence of events. these essays are organized using methods such as chronological order, plot development, or personal experiences. for example, “my first day of my college life” or “the most memorable concert i ever attended”. if an essay introduces individual cases, explains history, describes phenomena, or focuses heavily on storytelling or plot development within a specific field like history, psychology, anthropology, etc., it is likely a narrative essay. examples include “the life and legacy of martin luther king jr” or “lost in the wilderness: surviving 7 days alone”. expository essays have clear instructions or process descriptions. they contain scientific knowledge or technical terms and may use numbers, charts, or other visual elements. these essays emphasize facts and truths and often use keywords such as “how to”, “explain”, “understand”, or words related to processes and steps. they require detailed descriptions and imagery. generally, they use informative language. for example, “how to use wechat pay”. argumentative essays present a clear stance or viewpoint. for instance, “is social media harmful to young people?” or “should college tuition be free?” these essays use emotionally charged words to strengthen their persuasive power, such as “should”, “must”, “necessary”, “essential”, “crucial”, etc. they cite authoritative sources or data to support their viewpoints. examples include “is global warming a real threat? a scientific analysis” or “what is the best way to reduce plastic pollution?” they encourage critical thinking and analysis through comparison and contrast, such as “are e-books www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 38 published by scholink inc. better than print books?” application essays are written to address specific issues in practical life or work, such as job applications, letters of recommendation, business correspondence, etc. the essay titles have a clear purpose and target audience. they are usually tailored for specific readers or user groups, aiming to solve specific problems or provide specific information. the titles contain explicit tasks, requirements, or instructions, such as “fill out an application form” or “prepare a sales report”. they use practical vocabulary relevant to the real-life context. the title structure is concise and clear. table 2. statistics of genres of the essay prompts in cet4 from 2011.06-2023.06 test time narration exposition argumentation practical writing 2011.06 √ 2011.12 √ 2012-06 √ 2012-12 √ 2013-06 √ 2013-12 √ 2014-06 √ 2014-12 √ 2015-06 √ 2015-12 √ 2016-06 √ 2016-12 √ 2017-06 √ 2017-12 √ 2018-06 √ 2018-12 √ 2019-06 √ 2019-12 √ 2020-09 √ 2020-12 √ 2021-06 √ 2021-12 √ 2022-06 √ 2022-12 √ 2023-6 √ total 3 10 36 18 percentage 4% 15% 54% 27% www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 39 published by scholink inc. from table 2, it can be observed that out of the total 67 essay prompts from june 2011 to june 2023, the genres of essay writing can be determined as follows: 3 narrative essay, 10 expository essays, 36 argumentative essays, and 18 application essays. taking the 2013 cet-4 question format reform as a turning point, it can be seen that before 2013, there was 1 expository essay and 3 argumentative essays, while after 2013, there was 3 narrative essay, 33 argumentative essays, and 9 expository essays. application essays started to appear after 2015, particularly in december 2021 and june 2022, where there were consecutive instances of application essay writing. in the 2021 essay prompt, the first set of questions asked students to provide suggestions for a counseling program, including its purpose, duration, participants, and activities. the second set of questions asked for suggestions on organizing a speech competition. the third set asked for a report on a school project collecting old books on campus. in the june 2022 essay prompt, the first set asked for suggestions on improving services at the school clinic, the second set asked for suggestions on improving services at the school library, and the third set asked for suggestions on enriching campus activities by the student union. it can be observed that application essays have appeared 6 times, accounting for 27%. this indicates that the cet-4 question setters place greater emphasis on college students’ practical problem-solving abilities. while there is a variety of essay genres, with only 3 narrative essay, argumentative essays still occupy the majority and continue to focus on expressing students’ viewpoints. the future trend of essay prompts will mainly focus on argumentative and application essays. 3.3 analysis of cognitive domain and thinking qualities detected in essay prompts based on bloomkrathwohl’s taxonomy of educational objectives, the cognitive domain includes memory, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, and creation. we can determine the specific thinking ability being tested in an essay by analyzing the verbs or nouns used in the prompt, thereby categorizing it under different cognitive domains. memory primarily involves memorizing definitions, facts, and other information that needs to be remembered. common instruction words include: list, describe, identify, etc. understanding entails summarizing and explaining given information. common instruction words include: explain, summarize, conclude, etc. application requires applying learned knowledge to new problems. common instruction words include: apply, use, design, etc. analysis involves classifying and comparing things. common instruction words include: analyze, compare, infer, etc. evaluation involves assessing and expressing one’s opinion on a viewpoint or action. common instruction words include: evaluate, judge, support, etc. creation entails approaching problems from a new perspective and proposing innovative solutions. common instruction words include: novel, unique, cutting-edge, breakthrough, transformative, creative, etc. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 40 published by scholink inc. logical thinking ability within the realm of thinking qualities refers to the capacity for internalized mental activities such as observation, comparison, summarization, judgment, reasoning, and synthesis. it involves using scientific logical methods to accurately and systematically express one’s thinking process. from a thinking perspective, within bloom’s classification of educational objectives, processes like “memory”, “understanding”, and “application” all fall under logical thinking. critical thinking activities involve making reasoned and well-supported judgments and evaluations based on various reasons and evidence. facione defines critical thinking as purposeful, self-regulatory judgment manifested in explanations, analysis, evaluation, and inference. critical thinking requires in-depth analysis of the object of criticism, forming a profound understanding, and then engaging in reasoning, analysis, and evaluation based on that profound understanding. from a thinking perspective, within bloom’s taxonomy, “analysis” and “evaluation” belong to critical thinking. creative thinking involves constantly seeking novelty and change in the thinking process, maintaining curiosity about new things, daring to think and experiment, validating one’s ideas, and even generating creative outcomes. it is a form of holistic thinking. according to bloom’s taxonomy for cognitive thinking levels, creation is the highest stage of cognitive thinking activities. from a thinking perspective, within bloom’s taxonomy, “creation” belongs to creative thinking. table 3 is an analysis of the cognitive domains and thinking qualities examined in the essay prompts from 2011.6 to 2023.6. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 41 published by scholink inc. table 3. cognitive domain and thinking qualities detected in essay prompts test time key words of essay prompts cognitive domain thinking qualities 2011.06 advantages, problems, doing shopping online, advice analysis evaluation critical thinking 2011.12 nothing succeeds without a strong will understanding evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2012-06 excessive packaging memory evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2012-12 education pays, describe, comment memory understanding evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2013-06 description, importance, doing sth small before undertaking sth big, learning skills, reading literature. memory understanding evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2013-12 impact, internet, communicate, learning, increasing use, mobile phones, explain the consequences understanding analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2014-06 a foreign friend, visit, campus, hometown, china, what, most interesting place, why memory understanding analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2014-12 a campus activity, benefited most, a course, impressed most, a classmate, influenced most, college memory understanding analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2015-06 description, picture, comment, modern life, parents’ role, children’s growth, understanding, going to school memory analysis evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2015-12 comment, listening, more important, talking, daily experience, a lifelong mission, never go out, see what happen, make things happen understanding evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2016-06 a letter, express, thanks, friends, teachers, parents, family members memory analysis application creativity logical thinking creative thinking 2016-12 explain, reasons, work, a state-owned business, a joint venture, find a job, start a business, take a job, company, graduate school understanding analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2017-06 an advertisement, campus website, sell a memory logical thinking www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 42 published by scholink inc. computer, a bicycle, course books application creativity creative thinking 2017-12 how, best, handle, relationship, parents, children, doctors, patients, teachers, students memory analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2018-06 importance, reading, writing, speaking how, develop memory analysis evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2018-12 challenges, living, a big city, studying abroad, starting a career understanding analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2019-06 news report, memory application logical thinking 2019-12 recommendation letter memory analysis creativity logical thinking creative thinking 2020-09 use, online dictionaries, translation apps, ppt memory application logical thinking 2020-12 changes, education, communication, transportation memory analysis logical thinking critical thinking 2021-06 people, addicted, technology, make, lazy, violent video games, violence analysis evaluation critical thinking 2021-12 a proposal memory application creativity logical thinking creative thinking 2022-06 a proposal memory application creativity logical thinking creative thinking 2022-12 comment, importance, developing a healthy lifestyle, social ability, physical exercise memory evaluation logical thinking critical thinking 2023-6 benefits and disadvantages, improvement, community service, line courses, good relationship. analysis creativity critical thinking creative thinking www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 43 published by scholink inc. based on table 3, we can get figure 1 and figure 2. figure 1. data statistics of the cognitive domain on bloom-krathwohl’s taxonomy of education in this analysis, we examine the evolution of college english writing test topics, focusing on the inclusion of educational objectives and the corresponding changes in test dimensions. the data presented in figures 1 and 2 is drawn from table 3, each examination with a total score of 1. the examination assessed multiple educational objectives, with each objective accounting for a specific proportion based on the number of objectives assessed. when considering three educational objectives in the assessment, each objective is given a weight of 0.33. this weight distribution ensures equal importance placed on each objective. similarly, when four educational objectives are assessed, each objective carries a weight of 0.25, maintaining equitable representation across all objectives. this weight allocation pattern continues for subsequent examinations. based on the data from figure 1, it can be observed that prior to 2016, the writing test for cet-4 mainly covered three dimensions: memory, comprehension, and analysis, or comprehension, memory, and evaluation. in 2016, the test expanded to include five dimensions: memory, comprehension, application, analysis, and innovation. starting from 2017, the test began assessing four dimensions, primarily focusing on memory, comprehension, analysis, and evaluation, or memory, application, analysis, and creativity. this analysis reveals 2016 as a pivotal year in the reform of the listening section of the cet-4. the reformation eliminated short dialogues, word and phrase dictation exercises, and introduced three short news articles for listening comprehension. the purpose of this reform was to emphasize the comprehensive english language skills of college students, aligning with the objectives outlined in the college english syllabus—cultivating students’ practical english abilities, enhancing intercultural www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 44 published by scholink inc. communication awareness, and improving communicative competence. as a result, the june 2016 writing test prompt required students to write a thank-you letter. in june 2017, students were tasked with writing a sales advertisement, while in june 2019, they wrote a news report. in december of the same year, students were expected to write a recommendation letter. furthermore, in december 2021 and 2022, the writing prompts involved giving advice to different recipients. these prompt variations reflect the principles of authenticity, interactivity, openness, and appropriate guidance in writing test design. they also emphasize the primary objective of college english teaching, which is to cultivate higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking and creative thinking. these objectives will continue to be reflected in future examinations. figure 2. linear trends of logical thinking, critical thinking and creative thinking ability according to the hierarchical theory of educational objectives, memory, comprehension, and application fall under logical thinking, while analysis and evaluation are components of critical thinking. creativity, on the other hand, is associated with innovative thinking. from the data presented in figure 2, it can be observed that prior to 2013, the first reform of the college english test, the college english level 4 test primarily assessed students’ logical and critical thinking skills, with very minimal focus on evaluating creative thinking abilities. between 2013 and the second reform of the college english test in 2016, the writing prompts for the level 4 test continued to emphasize logical and critical thinking. however, starting from 2016, there was a shift towards assessing creative thinking. this trend became particularly evident from 2021 onwards, where almost every examination included components that required creative thinking. this alignment with national education goals reflects the demand for nurturing innovative talents. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 45 published by scholink inc. logical thinking still holds a significant weightage, often accounting for half or even more of the assessment, while the proportion allocated to critical thinking has slightly decreased. this suggests that the examination continues to prioritize fundamental logical thinking skills. however, it is evident that the assessment of critical and creative thinking should be at the core of future level 4 writing examinations. this shift also implies that traditional essay prompts may gradually decrease, making way for topics that encourage critical analysis and innovation related to real-life issues. it is possible that new question formats, such as continuation writing based on reading materials, will be introduced to further enhance critical and creative thinking skills. for example, in december 2022, the essay prompt is “write an essay related to the short passage given below and then comment on the phenomenon that more students began to realize the importance of developing a healthy lifestyle/social ability among college students” or “the role of physical exercise in achieving success at college”. 3.4 evaluation of the essay prompts in cet-4 in alignment with the writing objectives of the college english syllabus (2020 edition) the college english syllabus (2020 edition) outlines three requirements for writing proficiency. the foundational goal focuses on the ability to describe personal experiences, emotions, and events in english. it involves writing short discussions, explanations, and descriptions on general topics or given outlines with basic language structure, clear central ideas, appropriate vocabulary usage, coherence, and basic writing techniques. the advanced goal requires expressing personal opinions on general subjects, writing abstracts for academic papers, and english essays that interpret various charts and graphs related to one’s field of study. it emphasizes complete language expression, clear viewpoints, logical organization, coherent sentences, and competent use of common written expression and communication skills. the developmental goal aims for fluent expression of personal opinions in written english, providing in-depth explanations on broad social and cultural themes. it involves writing concise reports and papers on specialized topics with clear thinking, rich content, well-structured articles, strong logical reasoning, summarization and abstracting abilities employing information from diverse sources. additionally, it requires the appropriate use of business letters, memos, and briefings, applying suitable writing techniques. table 1 reveals that the college english level 4 writing test aligns with the objectives outlined in the college english syllabus (2020 edition). the test assesses students’ ability to meet the foundational goals by evaluating their proficiency in constructing short writings with coherent structures, clear ideas, and appropriate language use. before 2013, the test primarily focused on meeting the foundational goal, which involved providing brief explanations, descriptions, and discussions on general topics. however, starting from 2013, the essay prompts began to shift towards the advanced goal. for example, in june 2015 and june 2017, there were writing prompts that required describing charts or pictures. in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 46 published by scholink inc. september 2020, there was a prompt to write about online dictionaries, translation software, and the use of powerpoint presentations. the prompt in 2017 focused on campus advertisements for selling bicycles, computers, and similar items, which aligned with the advanced goal of providing brief written introductions on specific products or services. since 2016, the cet-4 writing test has increasingly tilted towards the developmental goal. for instance, the requirement to write a report in 2019 and the prompts for a proposal in december 2021 and june 2022 indicate a focus on expressing viewpoints, emphasizing reasons and arguments, and demonstrating the ability to create specialized reports. the december 2016 prompt asked students to explain their choice to work in a state-owned business or a joint venture, find a job or start their own business, or pursue further education in graduate school. these essay prompts align with the developmental goal of expressing opinions, providing substantial reasoning and discussion, and being able to deliver specialized reports. from these observations, it is evident that the objectives of the cet4 writing test are tending towards the advanced and developmental goals. while it evaluates some aspects of expressing personal opinions and interpreting information, it might not provide sufficient opportunities for students to demonstrate in-depth thinking on social and cultural themes or write comprehensive reports and papers on specialized topics. to ensure a more comprehensive evaluation of writing abilities in line with the syllabus objectives, future iterations of the cet-4 writing test could incorporate additional prompts that encourage students to express opinions on broader themes and require them to write more extensive reports or papers. this would allow students to demonstrate their skills in logical reasoning, summarization, abstracting, critical thinking, creative thinking and the application of appropriate writing techniques across various contexts. 4. conclusion this study, based on bloom-krathwohl’s taxonomy of educational objectives, analyzed the essay prompts in the college english level 4 examination from 2011 to june 2023. it aimed to explore the changes in the assessment of thinking qualities and predict future trends in question formulation and test whether the evaluation of the cet-4 writing test is in alignment with the writing objectives of the college english syllabus (2020 edition). the ultimate goal was to utilize examinations as a means to facilitate teaching and learning. in conclusion, the analysis revealed a notable shift in the assessment of thinking qualities in the cet-4 writing test over the years. there has been a progression from primarily evaluating logical and critical thinking towards placing greater emphasis on critical and creative thinking abilities. this change aligns with the writing objectives of the college english syllabus (2020 edition) and the national education goals of fostering innovative talents and cultivating students’ ability to think critically and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 6, no. 3, 2023 47 published by scholink inc. independently. furthermore, it is evident that the cet-4 writing test has evolved to encompass a wider range of topics and question formats. traditional essay prompts have gradually decreased, giving way to more diverse prompts that require critical analysis, innovative ideas, and specialized reports. there has also been an increasing focus on expressing personal opinions, providing reasoning and argumentation, and delivering comprehensive explanations. considering these findings, it is anticipated that future iterations of the cet-4 examination will continue to emphasize critical and creative thinking skills. it is likely that the test will incorporate new question formats, such as continuation writing based on reading materials, and further encourage students to engage in in-depth analysis and reflection. overall, the evolution of the cet-4 writing test reflects a growing recognition of the importance of nurturing students’ critical and creative thinking abilities. by adapting the examination to align with evolving educational objectives, it can effectively promote both the teaching and learning of english language skills. funding this paper is the phased research result of yulin normal university 2022 teacher’s demonstration course on ideological and political education project: college english i, project no.: 2022kcszsf12. references bloom, b. s. 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(2018). a study on the backwash effect of new writing questions in tem-4 after the reform in 2016. journal of hubei normal university (philosophy and social sciences edition), 38(06), 134-139. xue, m. y. (2016). cultivating critical thinking in college english cet-4 writing teaching. journal of jiamusi vocational college, 11, 386. yang, j. (ed.). (2021). english reading teaching in junior high school with a focus on the development of thinking quality. chengdu: sichuan university press. yang, x. (2022). analysis and teaching implications of speculative abilities in english major cet-4 exam taking the reading section from 2016 to 2021 as an example. journal of sichuan university of arts and science, 32(02), 96-102. yuan, l. x. (2011). the theory and empirical study of backwash effect in language testing. research in foreign language teaching theory and practice, 04, 25-30 zhao, x. l. (2012). implications of the backwash effect of cet-4 computer-based testing on english teaching. college english (academic edition), 02, 286-289. zheng, l. (2013). a study on the influence of teaching thinking quality on english writing ability. journal of anhui university of technology (social sciences edition), 30(03), 93-95. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 32 original paper implementation of cultural competence education into athletic training programs: a qualitative report ashley m. harris 1* , jennifer l. volberding 2 , lawrence richardson 3 & w. david carr 4 1 department of athletic training, aurora university, aurora, il, usa 2 department of athletic training, oklahoma state university center for health sciences, tulsa, ok, usa 3 department of psychology, oklahoma state university, stillwater, ok, usa 4 department of athletic training, missouri state university, springfield, mo, usa * ashley m. harris, department of athletic training, aurora university, aurora, il, usa received: december 15, 2020 accepted: december 28, 2020 online published: february 5, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n1p32 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p32 abstract cultural competence education is a foundational behavior of professional practice that athletic training programs (atps) have been tasked to incorporate into their curriculums. ten atp faculty were individually interviewed to determine the current methods used to teach provision of culturally competent care. four major themes were identified: 1) barriers to cultural competence education implementation in a didactic setting, 2) strategies for incorporation into an existing didactic curriculum, 3) barriers to cultural competence education in a clinical setting, and 4) strategies to implement cultural competence education into an existing clinical model. further research is necessary to determine the effectiveness of specific strategies. keywords diversity, multicultural care, professional education, practical application 1. introduction within the united states, the lack of diversity within healthcare providers has been demonstrated to have a negative impact on the quality of healthcare provided to a highly diverse patient population (lie et al., 2011). it has been shown that cultural differences between the provider and patient may create barriers to providing the best possible care, often times due to a lack of understanding (renzaho et al., 2013; cooper et al., 2012; maurer-starks, clemons, & whalen, 2008). in research within the field of health care, a link has been established between higher patient outcomes and culturally competent www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 33 published by scholink inc. health care professionals (renzaho et al., 2013; cooper et al., 2012; lie et al., 2011; maurer-starks et al., 2008). the lack of understanding of the impact of an individual‟s culture on patient care seems especially problematic due to the lack of cultural competence seen in certified athletic trainers and athletic training students (marra et al., 2010; maurer-starks et al., 2008; volberding, 2014, 2015). marra et al. (2010) demonstrated that athletic trainers are operating at lower levels of cultural competence according to scores on the cultural competence assessment (cca), even after self-reported high levels of cultural competence prior to measure. athletic training students have also demonstrated the trend of high confidence in providing appropriate care yet lacking in the actual ability (marra et al., 2010; volberding, 2014, 2015). in an ongoing study, athletic trainers have also demonstrated the lowest scores across multiple health care professions on the modified gay affirmative practice scale (mgap) when providing care to individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (madrak, volberding, harris, richardson, unpublished data 2015). a number of approaches have been offered from researchers within the varying fields within health care as to how to make professionals more culturally competent (crawford, candlin, & roger, 2017; betancourt et al., 2016; renzaho et al., 2013; like, 2011). it has been suggested that the best way to increase the quality of healthcare provided to all patients is to attempt to increase the diversity of the practitioner population to be more reflective of the general patient population (kirmayer, 2012). this was first suggested based on the theory that less barriers to understanding would present if there was a more common background between health care providers and the patients they are treating (kirmayer, 2012). historical demographics have demonstrated the profession of athletic training lacks diversity in the practitioner population (pacquiao, 2007). the national athletic trainers‟ association (nata) demographics show that in september of 2018, only 20.1% of the professional population identified as an ethnicity other than white non-hispanic (nata, 2018), yet these individuals provide care to an extremely diverse patient population. looking at current trends regarding career setting within athletic training, the profession is seeing a departing from the traditional collegiate setting and a branching out into other areas of patient care (nata, 2018). the second most populated job setting for athletic trainers in in the secondary school setting, hosting 19.38% of our athletic training professional population (nata, 2018). clinic settings host the third most, at 12.89% (nata, 2018). the us census bureau estimates that by the year 2060, approximately only 44% of the us population will identify themselves as non-hispanic white (us census bureau, 2014), showing a major disparity between those providing care and those receiving care, should membership trends continue as they have previously. combining the changing demographics within the united states with the career setting changes within the athletic training profession, practitioners are going to be caring for an ever diversifying and changing patient population more so now than ever before. researchers do caution that there is no shown relationship between diverse populations and an increase in cultural competence at this time, further exploration will be necessary to determine effectiveness of increased diversity on cultural competence levels of practitioners (pacquiao, 2007). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 34 published by scholink inc. while increasing the exposure to a more diverse patient population has been identified as the ideal method of improving culturally competent healthcare delivery, the most common method identified in the literature of improving a clinician‟s cultural competence is seen in the form of additional training. this training typically is in the form of continuing education after national certification has already been obtained (barnes et al., 2013; renzaho et al., 2013; like, 2011). though, barnes et al. (2013) have demonstrated that the skills do not transfer when the clinician is placed in a work setting that does not support the continuing use of these skills. within the fields of pharmacy, nursing, and medical education, research has demonstrated an increase in quality of health care provided once cultural competence education had been given (d. kim, & s. kim, 2013; rowan et al., 2013; long, 2012; lie et al., 2011). within the field of athletic training, athletic trainers with self-reported diversity training scored higher on the cultural competence assessment (cca), and its two subscales, the cultural awareness and sensitivity scale (cas) and the cultural competence behavior (ccb), than those that did not, suggesting that further cultural competence education is indicated for all health care professions to improve patient outcomes (marra et al., 2010). beyond the post-certification education, research within the health care field on cultural competence education has found that there needs to be more emphasis on the education provided to students in health care fields throughout their curricula (calvillo et al., 2009; lipson & desantis, 2007; seeleman, suurmond, & stronks, 2009). specific to athletic training, we are seeing research that suggests that students want more information on this topic to allow them to be more informed clinicians with better relationships with their patients (nynas, 2015). in 2011-2012, the commission on the accreditation of athletic training education (caate) and the nata adapted and re-wrote their educational competencies to reflect the need for such education (caate, 2012; nata, 2011). the fifth edition released in 2011, competencies listed in regards to cultural competence and diversity training are found under the foundations of professional practice (nata, 2011). educational programs are also being asked by the caate to provide proof of cultural competence education under the psychosocial content area found within the fifth edition of the competencies (nata, 2011). when these governing bodies transitioned to the 2020 standards for professional master‟s programs, the language changed from a direct statement surrounding cultural competence education to: “communicate effectively and appropriately with clients/patients, family members, coaches, administrators, other health care professionals, consumers, payors, policy makers, and others” (caate, 2018). this reduction in the specific language was intended to be taken in the same spirit as previous versions of the content standards. while cultural competence education has been deemed a necessity within health care education programs, limited research exists on cultural competence education and curriculum implementation. this project seeks to determine the current practices in educating a population with limited diversity to provide culturally competent care to patients of all racial/ethnic backgrounds. our main questions included: how important do academic instructors feel cultural competence education is to the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 35 published by scholink inc. profession of athletic training, how competent do academic instructors feel in delivering cultural competence education to athletic training students?, what barriers are seen in the delivery of cultural competence education within an existing athletic training curriculum?, what implementation strategies are currently being used in the delivery of cultural competence education within athletic training education? these research questions include both the didactic and clinical aspects of an education program. 2. method to best understand the different approaches that athletic training programs (atps) are utilizing to educate students in cultural competence, the researchers selected a qualitative approach. this method allowed for rich, quality discussions in individual interviews. confidentiality was ensured to capture personal thoughts and candid responses by informing participants that neither they nor their institution would be identified. all participants reviewed and gave verbal informed consent that was approved by an institutional review board. two researchers with expertise in qualitative research design conducted all interviews. nine of the 10 interviews occurred over the phone, and one occurred in person and lasted an average of 60 minutes. interviews were preceded by a demographic questionnaire that included institutional and personal demographics, as well as a question designed to allow participants to indicate their level of perceived confidence in the delivery of cultural competence education on a likert scale from 1-5. semi-structured interviews were guided by the questions identified in table 1. table 1. interview questions questions 1) what is your definition of cultural competence? 2) do you feel that cultural competence education is an essential component of an atp and why? 3) what are the methods you are currently utilizing to educate your students in cultural competence in the classroom? 4) what are the best methods you are currently utilizing in the clinical setting to educate your students in cultural competence? 5) what in your program assists you in cultural competence education? 6) what in your program hinders your cultural competence education? 7) do you feel that your current clinical instructors/ preceptors are well educated in cultural competence and able to demonstrate this to your students? why or why not? interview questions were created and agreed upon by the research team based on current literature in cultural competence as well as in athletic training education prior to the solicitation of participants. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 36 published by scholink inc. 2.1 participants an a priori data saturation of faculty members from various athletic training programs from various institutional types and from across the country was set to establish geographical and institutional diversity. this target was met with 10 faculty members (four male, six female), representing institutions that spanned from undergraduate private religious to public doctoral research institutions and represented six of the ten nata membership districts. participants were not selected based on their cultural competence education experience, as they were meant to be representative of the larger population of athletic training educators. the full distribution of participants can be found in table 2. the average number of years of teaching experience was 13.6±7.41. table 2. participant demographics pseudonym gender years teaching # institution type ** nata district cathy female 6 private ughbcu 3 jessica female 4 private masters lp 5 mary female 24 public r3 2 patti female 13 public r2 5 ryan male 13 private r2 5 sam male 21 public r3 8 sarah female 23 public masters lp 1 steve male 14 public masters lp 2 theresa female 14 public masters lp 5 tim male 4 public masters mp 9 note. r2: higher research activity. lp: large program (annually awarding 200+ masters degrees). mp: medium program (annually awarding 100-199 masters degrees). ug-hbcu: undergraduate programs historically black college or university. **based on the carnegie classification of institutions of higher education. #years teaching in athletic training education. 2.2 data analysis quantitative data was analyzed by spss 23.0. the data analyzed included years of teaching experience and the self-rated item of perceived abilities. qualitative data were transcribed and coded by a team of three experts using general inductive method of analysis (thomas, 2006). main themes were identified, data were categorized, and conclusions were formed using the constant comparative analysis method is “based on suggested techniques to ensure trustworthiness of the study” and utilized the stages of analysis as dictated by brown et al. (2014). the team of experts first familiarized themselves with current literature on cultural competence in athletic training education and agreed on common words www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 37 published by scholink inc. and statements (brown et al., 2014). second, they each independently read the data and coded themes. the team then met to discuss and reach a consensus on overall themes. fourth, they separately read and categorized statements or segments into the agreed upon themes from the previous meeting. finally, the team discussed and reached a consensus on the coding for each statement or segment. member checks were utilized throughout the process by discussing interpretations of themes and statements with members of the original participant groups. 3. result the four major themes that were identified within the data are: 1) barriers to academic implementation of cultural competence education, 2) strategies to incorporate cultural competence education into an existing curriculum, 3) barriers to clinical implementation of cultural competence education, 4) strategies to effectively incorporate cultural competence education into the clinical setting. each of these themes is explained below, including supporting and explanatory quotes. pseudonyms were used to protect the identity of participants. 3.1 academic implementation barriers overarching barriers to academic implementation accounted for 22 different comments within the data and included subthemes such as: lack of diversity within the staff, institution, or surrounding population; discomfort in addressing the topic due to lack of perceived abilities; perceived ignorance as to how to incorporate cultural competence education; and time within the curriculum to implement material. it was stated by multiple subjects that the diversity students encountered on their campuses was limited, with the academic program of athletic training often times hovering right at or below the campus wide percentage. sarah commented: “i think one of the things that hinders would just be looking round at the faculty which we have, we‟re all white… although i‟m probably a bit more sensitive to issues because of my personal life, i can‟t know everything there is to know and i still carry my own stereotypes with me. it‟s not reflective in the people who study athletic training. we are still pretty much heavy white english speaking individuals who are studying it and my assumption is that we probably have the same reflection in the faculty who are teaching it and so knowing that the population is going to be shifting, we are going to be providing services and healthcare to a population that in some ways will be different of who we are and hence the some reason it‟s imperative that we reach out and make sure we understand it, not just because that‟s what‟s going to be happening as far as the demographics but because that‟s the right thing to do. another barrier that was discussed and presented as a consistent theme throughout the interviews with participants was the discomfort in addressing the topic due to a perceived personal lack of abilities. this was seen in both the statistical analysis of the likert scale abilities score where the average www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 38 published by scholink inc. response for a likert scale 1-5 question was a 3.15±.75 and in comments made by participants. ryan commented, “this isn‟t something that people, in athletic training at least right now… where no one talks about this out loud”. jessica added: “i think the first step is me taking an active role in how to figure that out and then educating our preceptors and our other instructors on how to incorporate it as well, not necessarily dictate on that they do that in their classroom but encourage it... and give them tools to use on how to incorporate it”. an additional component that many stated as a barrier to implementation of cultural competence was having the time within the curriculum to address the topic. sam stated: “what a lot of people would say is „time‟, how can i fit this in and i think also, the other thing that has hindered is getting other people in your program to understand the importance of it because i think some people, you need to get the „buy in‟ and for some people they feel as though students will learn these things through experience, and yes they will get better through experience but i think they need a foundational understanding just like anything we teach them”. while barriers exist, the underlying theme to the discussion was the realization that if cultural competence is not addressed, it can lead to major problems down the road. mary stated: “if we can‟t teach students to filter or be aware of the sensibilities that certain people are operating under, then we don‟t know what buttons might be pushed when working with them that can cause major damage to the professional relationship that we are trying to cultivate”. tim commented: “[it‟s] essential the idea of bringing in not only other cultures in your athletic training program, but within in the realm of athletic training in general, how to interact with other cultures so we can treat more effectively, treat more accordingly” 3.2 academic implementation strategies academic implementation strategies encompassed a wide range of ideas totaling 38 different suggestions within the data; however, a major subtheme was weaving cultural competence education throughout the entire curriculum, which accounted for 13 of the 38 suggested implementation strategies. an idea expressed by multiple subjects was the option of having subscribed implementation method; however, it was suggested more as a way to help educators to weave cultural competence into multiple areas of a curriculum over time. steve stated: “it almost seems like it‟s one of those things we need to learn some foundational information about but we also need to think about it through our entire curriculum. it‟s almost like the way www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 39 published by scholink inc. we look at writing at this point, it‟s not just something you do in an english class, it‟s something that goes throughout the curriculum”. cathy added: “you have to integrate your cultural competency through everything they do. that‟s why we talk about it in gen med and eval. and we talk about it in the clinical classes. it isn‟t a stand-alone anything because in practice it‟s not a stand-alone anything. you have to be culturally competent in everything you do”. actively working to vary in-class examples was discussed as a way that these educators were already incorporating cultural ideas into their current curricula. these ideas included such ideas as: finding ways to incorporate a wider range of cultural backgrounds into visuals and in-class scenario examples and addressing cultural issues in specific discussions to create a rich dialog. theresa gave the example: “in all of my examples, not just present pictures of a caucasian male when i‟m talking about a male, i try to show different races, different genders, different skin types in the pictures so that people can understand not every bruise is black and green or black and yellow or blue and yellow. different skin colors show up differently, so, just hitting up on the things like that”. sarah replied: “i have them [students] write a little reflection piece up to say what did you learn from this? and we learn about stereotyping and we dialogue in class, where do we get it from and how do we change those „tape record messages‟ that have given to use through family, church, media, etc. trying to get us to, whenever we bring up examples in the classroom, try to make sure that we bring up specific examples that might hit on a specific population in”. 3.3 clinical implementation barriers overarching barriers to implementation of cultural competence education in the clinical setting accounted for 23 different comments within the data and included subthemes such as: current lack of diversity in both preceptor and treated populations, lack of cultural competence in clinical staff, and lack of focus on cultural competence education as a goal within clinical education experiences. it was stated by multiple educators that the amount of diversity most students encountered on their campuses and within their clinical rotations was limited, especially due to the regional area in which they were housed. institutional demographics seemed to play a large role in the diversity of the treated population and subsequent preceptors to which students were assigned. patti commented: “we don‟t have a lot of diversity, we are very rural in a lot of things we do… we‟re very small town people compared to some of the things that people are exposed to out on the coast”. theresa said: “we‟re not a very diverse program, college, or even the larger community is not very diverse. so it‟s sometimes hard to go out and find those examples because everybody is serving as a www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 40 published by scholink inc. mentor for students or a preceptor for our students”. jessica stated: “because the sites we use are highly anglo-saxon. we use 3-4 public high schools who serve a pretty affluent community and then we use two private high schools who are very affluent communities”. cathy was able to give a unique aspect to this particular barrier to cultural competence education within their program housed at a historically black college/university (hbcu): “there is a private high school, high ses [socio-economic status] students in our area and they‟ve actually been one of the biggest supporters of our program, but it definitely means that my african american students on campus where they are the only african americans, often times, for miles, when they cover these games”. the idea was expressed by many that there was a focus to attempt to diversify the clinical experiences of the students to allow for exposure to a wide range of patient populations and preceptors. the participants indicated that the challenge in this was that the demographics of the program preceptors matched fairly closely to the demographics of the surrounding area in the lack of diversity. theresa responded: “they do their best, but again they are in a non-diverse setting themselves. so many of them came from settings that are non-diverse, so they‟ve never had the real world experience with differences”. mary said: “they [students] struggle and that‟s okay because i wasn‟t them to struggle and i want them to know what if eels like to perhaps be uncomfortable and trying to get the frustration of, i don‟t speak the language of this person, how can i help them? the reality is that, in some of our school districts, we do have some people who are speaking languages that the athletic trainer doesn‟t know and the whole thing then is, how do we handle this?” another barrier to cultural competence education was that many participants indicated that there was a lack of cultural competence in the preceptors that are used by the programs. one participant in particular, mary, gave a very poignant example of this barrier. “none of our preceptors are fluent spanish and some of them have been in that job for 10-12 years now. over that time it hasn‟t been important enough to really learn the language and as you know the last person to get a translator is the athletic trainer later in the afternoon, that‟s one of the issues and they‟re not seeing that and i try to tell them it‟s critical that you get an understanding of what the problems are because if you miscommunicate or things are not followed because there was a communication issue whether it was language or culture language, that‟s come back on you, you‟re gonna bear the brunt of that legal decision even if we don‟t talk about outcome”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 41 published by scholink inc. one participant, cathy, was once again able to add a unique challenge that she is facing at a hbcu institution that was not seen in the challenges indicated by others. “i‟m really struggling to change the language, because students speak their own slang or whatever and they take that with them to the clinic ad so we‟ve really been working to try and get them to speak proper english and use the correct terminology and to them it‟s a fine line because they identify so much with the way they speak and you‟re trying to get themselves to present differently… we‟re really struggling because you don‟t want to stifle them, we‟re trying to be sensitive to them and yet we know hoe that medical presentation comes across. for us, on this side, it‟s how much do you insist on this and how much do you change behavior when really we‟re talking about cultural issue on their side? it‟s been an interesting dynamic that i haven‟t faced before”. the third and final barrier identified was a lack of focus on cultural competence education as a goal within the clinical setting. this was indicated to be both on the part of the program disseminating information to the preceptors and on the part of the preceptors taking the initiative to do so themselves. sara offered: “what are their perceptions of the level of cultural competence of their preceptors? much of the responses that i received was that they felt that they were fairly culturally competent and i said, based on what? how often do you know they do xyz? oh, i don‟t know that. i agree, there needs to be more that‟s done as far as education, so what does that mean?” jessica commented: “i think from a professional scale, i think we‟re trying to get there but i would say professionally i think there are a lot of things that people are like what does that actually mean and i could say that probably the ebp [evidencebased practice] people think that seems silly and say ok, what do you want me to do about it? but i would also feel like cultural competence from a professional level we are at that point. ok, i know it‟s an important thing, i know i should be worried about it but i don‟t really understand what it is, how to do it, how to incorporate it, how does it fit into my practice. i think if you were to ask a lot of clinicians, they would say well, i treat everyone the same, i treat everyone medically how they need to be treated. i think they would feel that they feel they were culturally competent”. from an academic faculty perspective, many participants also addressed the lack of focus on cultural competence education on behalf of the program to the preceptors. tim commented: “i can‟t necessarily say, even as the clinical coordinator, that i spend time talking with my preceptors about how to incorporating that into their student education”. jessica responded: “i think there are ways to incorporate it into our clinical but again right now if you ask me how to do it i would say i don‟t know. i think the first step is me taking an active role in how www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 42 published by scholink inc. to figure that out and then educating our preceptors and our other instructors on how to incorporate it as well, not necessarily dictate on that they do that in their classroom but encourage it...and give them tools to use on how to incorporate it”. theresa offered: “i would definitely need help and guidance on how to do that [cultural competence education in clinical setting], especially in a low diversity type of environment. i don‟t know how to achieve that, but i would embrace putting into our clinical settings if given examples on how to do it”. 3.4 clinical implementation strategies various implementation strategies were suggested by the participants as ways to increase the amount of cultural competence education in the clinical experiences of their students. the most common recurring suggestion assumes an ideal situation where it would be possible to vary the clinical rotation location to include different cultural areas and patients of differing backgrounds. while previously indicated as a specific limitation based on the location of each institution, comments from our participants did speak to the effectiveness that the small amounts of exposure that programs were able to offer even within their given limitation. mary commented: “we do have some sites where, as i mentioned before, we have high populations of different groups of kids and i‟m sure that the students are getting some of that from the preceptor. i‟m the clinical coordinator and one of the things that i try to do is to make sure they are getting a spattering of a lot of different things”. tim said: “one big advantage is that we do have a japanese athletic trainer and she has done a tremendous amount to help our students with understanding athletic trainers from other cultures”. another implementation strategy suggested by participants is to encourage students and preceptors to have open and respectful discussions with patients from differing backgrounds. one participant, ryan, spoke to the idea of open communication being important in interactions between patients and practitioners. “five different athletes heard me say five different things, even though the words i said were the exact same”. he adds: “when we talk about preceptors in the rehabilitation clinic and orthopedic center, i think they [preceptors] probably do [address cultural competence education]. i don‟t think they use the terminology, but i think they model it because they work with all different types of patients in different situation”. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 43 published by scholink inc. sam comments: “it‟s important for my students to see from a clin ed perspective, when we do have african americans or even caucasians that aren‟t responding in a cultural norm way in regards to pain or treatment, that i talk to them about it‟s more than just looking at this person as they‟re not „sucking it up‟ like other people do, there is cultural influences going on in here”. perhaps the most profound commentary on the importance of communication and having respectful conversations revealed in the data came from one participant in particular. sara commented: “relationship is important, that‟s an ingredient and it‟s important to have good relationships. that takes an appreciation of the other person, the individual. in order to appreciate that person, i have to appreciate their culture and their perspective on things”. 4. discussion the findings of this study are similar to those in other healthcare professional programs, in that there is very little consistency in the implementation of cultural competence education among athletic training programs for various reasons. most state that time for implementation and lack of strategies or ideas on how to implement are the biggest barriers to providing quality cultural competency education for their students. this has been followed by reports of lack of diversity within both the staff and the reported patient populations at various institutions. the subjects interviewed for this study possess an average of 13.6±7.41 years of teaching experience within athletic training, though when asked on a scale of 1-5 how they perceive their abilities to incorporate cultural competence into their education programs, the average response was 3.15±.75. this has shown us that most educators that are required to implement cultural competence education into athletic training programs do not feel confident in their abilities to do so. certain participants in this study have called for more prescriptive means of implementing cultural competence education, though it seems unlikely that this will occur in the near future given the higher need for institutional autonomy. strategies for implementation of cultural competence education were given, mostly from those with higher self-reported perceived abilities, but all included the major subtheme of implementation over time. this idea accounted for 13 of the 38 implementation strategy suggestions given by participants, and the majority of the participants interviewed in this study indicated that they are currently working to weave cultural competence education into the overall curriculum at their respective institutions and not attempting to address the topic all at once. this strategy is already being used within athletic training education to demonstrate integration of material at multiple points in the curriculum for almost all other required skill content areas. strategies given by participants include diverse examples used in class settings to provide a visual consideration of diverse patient populations, reflections on personal biases related toward different cultures, and open discussion on the subject of diversity and how it www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 44 published by scholink inc. might impact injury and performance outcomes. in both medical education programs and nursing education programs, we are able to see an approach to cultural competence education that is more similar to our findings within athletic training (long, 2012; betancourt & cervantes, 2009). in an article done by betancourt and cervantes (2009), implementation strategies show integration throughout the existing medical curriculum at many different points. their focus was three pronged; first by introducing concepts to change the attitudes of their students, second by giving more information to increase the knowledge of the student in relation to culture, and third to integrate that knowledge into applicable scenarios and critical thinking skills (betancourt & cervantes, 2009). the approach for nursing is similar, focusing on communication and scenario based knowledge application (long, 2012). the implementation strategies given by the majority of the athletic training participants indicate that they follow a similar approach, first by introducing the topic and allowing the examination of biases, second by imparting knowledge that would help to increase understanding of cultural norms, and third by the use of varying case studies or in class examples to include cultural aspects, as well as the use of cultural aspects within clinical skills assessments. however, also similar to our field, betancourt and cervantes (2009) give no measurable assessment to their implementation strategies. within the research in the field of health care education, there is an ever-growing viewpoint that a clinical immersion experience within another culture as the best way to increase cultural competence in health care education (long, 2012; lipson & desantis, 2007). it would stand to reason that greater exposure to a culture other than your own would increase cultural awareness and allow for adoption of cultural norms that would allow an individual to be fully functioning within that society. within nursing programs across the country, a clinical immersion experience in a different cultural setting is becoming more and more common, though there is limited ability in measuring the impact this experience has on professional practice (long, 2012; lipson & desantis, 2007). certain athletic training programs are attempting to offer a similar experience to a small number of students, though the increasing difficulty of finding a supervising clinician outside the united states has been reported to greatly hinder the process. 4.1 limitations and suggestions for future research though the researchers attempted to be as varied as possible and capture the perspectives of educators from many different areas, backgrounds, and institutional types, this research does not encompass the entirety of approaches to cultural competence education within the field of athletic training. though there are many similarities in barriers and implementation strategies from the participants included in this study, the possibility exists that unique and personal experiences within cultural competence education are not addressed within the content of this article. further expansion on the research topic with a larger number of participants might yield different results. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 1, 2021 45 published by scholink inc. in a similar need for additional research, the effectiveness of implementation strategies has also not been explored to this date. while many helpful examples are given, measurements and assessments are in the infancy of development within athletic training and similar health care fields (betancourt & cervantes, 2009; lipson & desantis, 2007). assessment tools tend to focus on the perceptions of cultural competence or cultural awareness within students as measures of perceived levels of cultural competence (maurer-starks et al., 2008; volberding, 2014, 2015). further research is also necessary to measure not only the effectiveness of the implementation strategies given, but also to develop a measure for integration of cultural competence education concepts into clinical practice. 5. conclusions as the population of the united states continues to diversify, the at profession must be prepared to encounter and effectively communicate with a patient population that could be much different than our own. as educators, particular emphasis has been placed on the need to incorporate cultural competence education into existing curricula, regardless of our comfort level in doing so. limitations and barriers have been shown to exist in all areas of the country, with certain institutions hosting unique circumstances that might further complicate the ability for educators to increase cultural competence to the level they feel appropriate. suggested implementation strategies have been given to help those in the field navigate and possible incorporate a greater level of cultural competence education into an existing curriculum, though further research is needed to show the effectiveness of such strategies. as we continue to make cultural competence education a priority in our education programs, we as a profession can continue to strive to provide a high quality patient care experience to every individual, regardless of cultural background. references barnes, e., bullock, a. d., bailey, s. e. r., cowpe, j. g., & karaharju‐suvanto, t. 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(2013). the effectiveness of cultural competence programs in ethnic minority patient-centered health care—a systematic review of the literature. international journal for quality in health care, 25(3), 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzt006 rowan, m. s., rukholm, e., bourque-bearskin, l., baker, c., voyageur, e., & robitaille, a. (2013). cultural competence and cultural safety in canadian schools of nursing: a mixed methods study. international journal of nursing education scholarship, 10(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2012-0043 seeleman, c., suurmond, j., & stronks, k. (2009). cultural competence: a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. medical education, 43(3), 229-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03269.x thomas, d. r. (2006). a general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. american journal of evaluation, 27(2), 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748 us census bureau. (2014). u.s. interim projections by age, sex, race, and hispanic origin: 2014-2060. washington, d.c.: us census bureau. volberding, j. l. (2014). relationship between cultural competence and athletic training students‟ confidence in providing culturally competent care. athletic training and sports health care, 6(1), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.3928/19425864-20140103-02 volberding, j. l. (2015). individual, programmatic, and institutional influences on undergraduate athletic training student‟ cultural competence. journal of cultural diversity, 22(4), 134-141. https://doi.org/10.4085/100182 https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659606295679 https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzt006 https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2012-0043 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03269.x https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748 https://doi.org/10.3928/19425864-20140103-02 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 16 original paper academic ability development for academic master’s students: predicaments and pathways xiaoyu zhong 1 & yuxuan liu 1* 1 faculty of education, beijing normal university, beijing, china * yuxuan liu, faculty of education, beijing normal university, beijing, 100875, china received: may 2, 2024 accepted: may 7, 2024 online published: may 14, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n2p16 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n2p16 abstract the development of academic ability is an integral component of the all-encompassing growth of academic master’s students and the cultivation of talent in higher education. nevertheless, the current developmental trajectory of academic ability among academic master’s students is beset by numerous challenges. this study, grounded in the perspective of symbolic interactionism and employing a qualitative research methodology, examines the development of academic ability. sixteen academic master’s students from the faculty of education at beijing normal university serve as case subjects. the research reveals that, during the development of academic ability, academic master’s students establish a system of meaning comprehension involving pinpointing, orienting, and positioning. this system is founded on their perceptions and understanding of the essence and attainability of academic ability, the chain of meaning related to the purpose of academic pursuits or the benefits they yield, and the assessment system they use to judge their suitability for academic endeavors. building upon these findings, this study elucidates potential pathways to overcome these predicaments, considering both academic self-help and academic scaffolding. keywords academic ability, academic master student, postgraduate education, symbolic interactionism, qualitative research www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 17 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction academic ability is recognized as a core competency for academic master’s students (jin, 2014; cui, 2016), making its development an indispensable component of their comprehensive growth and graduate education. in 2018, general secretary xi jinping emphasized the need for higher education to focus on nurturing innovative, versatile, and applied talents. in 2020, the first-ever national graduate education conference since the founding of the people’s republic of china was convened, followed by a series of documents, such as “opinions on accelerating the reform and development of graduate education in the new era”, which standardized graduate education. these national directives regarding graduate education have provided macro-level guidance for universities and faculties in formulating educational programs. for instance, the “graduate education program for the first-level discipline of education” at the faculty of education, beijing normal university emphasizes the cultivation of research-oriented education practitioners and high-end academic talents in the field of education. this emphasis on research and academics at the target level has led to a variety of pathways in the educational process, including curriculum instruction, mentorship, student research project applications, and academic cultural festivals. however, at the practical level, institutional arrangements have not consistently yielded the expected outcomes. while the development of academic ability is undeniably a crucial aspect of academic master’s education, the discrepancy in compatibility between academic ability and the specific competencies required by various employment markets in different career directions has led to divergent interpretations of academic ability development among academic master’s students. consequently, there is a misalignment between individual development and institutional arrangements. current research on the development of academic ability among academic master’s students has been limited in terms of micro-level, bottom-up investigations. in reality, master’s students engage in a process of understanding, recognizing, and assessing themselves, objects, and situations, subsequently taking actions and forming interactions. these actions and interactions, in turn, influence their understanding, recognition, and assessment. this interpretation draws from symbolic interactionism theory. guided by this perspective, this study employs qualitative research methods to dissect the meanings constructed by academic master’s students regarding the development of academic ability, their choices of action, and the interactive processes that ensue. the study aims to elucidate the predicaments they face and identify potential pathways forward. 1.1 the essence and value of academic ability development academic ability, synonymous with research and scientific competence, encompasses critical thinking, practical skills, and sensitivity (wang, 1985; ni & zhang, 2002; xiao & hu, 2006). at its core lies the ability to identify issues within a specific field and the competence to argue, explain, and solve these problems (qiu & mo, 2009; li, 2016). currently, academic master’s students in china are distributed across 14 discipline categories, such as philosophy, law, and education. in the case of education, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 18 published by scholink inc. academic ability development extends beyond foundational competencies to include the ability to abstract and elevate educational practices (cui, 2016; liu, 2019). therefore, the development of academic ability holds dual significance. firstly, for graduate students themselves, it is a critical component of their academic competence, directly affecting their ability to meet graduation requirements such as publishing papers and writing theses, as well as influencing their future educational and career prospects (wei, 2015). secondly, at the national level, fostering academic ability is integral to the construction of higher education talent cultivation systems. 1.2 current status and influential factors of academic ability development in general, the research capacity of graduate students in china is relatively low, with innovation skills, in particular, being underdeveloped (yuan & yan, 2009). there is a prevailing lack of motivation to engage in research activities, with research often perceived as instrumental (xie & li, 2017). differentiating by subgroups, master’s students in their second and third years tend to exhibit stronger academic abilities compared to their first-year counterparts. moreover, students in natural sciences typically demonstrate more robust skills in literature retrieval and data processing compared to those in humanities and social sciences (wang, 2014). the development of academic ability is influenced by numerous factors. from an external perspective, wang hui (2009) discovers that various types of academic activities, such as educational salons, summer schools, and academic competitions, have differing impacts on the academic ability of master’s students. researchers like zhang yizhong and li yi (2014) have found that participation in academic activities contributes most significantly to improvements in data collection and processing skills, while progress in innovative capability is comparatively slower. lin zhang, chen yanqing, and cai yan (2020) have pointed out that an open environment for collective discussions and interactions can stimulate knowledge sharing and mutual inspiration. luo jianguo, xie zhiwei, and mo lirong (2021) also emphasize that positive student-advisor relationships facilitate the development of academic ability. in contrast, research focusing on intrinsic factors is relatively scarce and predominantly quantitative. this body of research indicates that factors such as reading time, cross-disciplinary reading, professional knowledge, and imagination significantly affect the academic ability development of master’s students (yang, ma, zhang & gong, 2012; ma, hu, han & chen, 2019). 1.3 challenges in academic ability development and improvement strategies the development of academic ability among academic master’s students faces several challenges. these challenges include the lack of interactivity, experiential learning, and autonomy in classroom teaching (yang et al., 2012), an unbalanced structure of mentor teams (yuan & yan, 2009), and a single evaluation standard for graduate students that does not align with the skill demands of the job market (zhu & cui, 2012). according to jin yongsheng (2014), these challenges can be categorized as knowledge challenges, power challenges, and practice challenges. knowledge challenges primarily www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 19 published by scholink inc. stem from weak disciplinary foundations, power challenges result from the ossification of academic authority, conformity, and academic production methods, and practice challenges arise due to inadequate academic training. to overcome these challenges, researchers suggest several action strategies. master’s students should engage in extensive reading, write diligently, and practice different thinking patterns and research methods (xiao & hu, 2006). advisors can form diverse teams, conduct various academic exchange activities, and encourage students to participate in their advisors’ research projects and academic events (ma et al., 2019). universities can establish regular academic practice systems, host academic forums, create academic exchange websites, and organize activities that enhance academic communication (yang et al., 2012). simultaneously, they can improve curriculum design and teaching methods to cultivate the disciplinary literacy of academic master’s students (jiang, zhu & fu, 2021). on a broader scale, yuan and yan (2009) suggest the need for a comprehensive system, including mechanisms for selecting and incentivizing graduate students and providing post-graduation support and employment feedback. 1.4 academic ability development from the perspective of symbolic interactionism the majority of existing research on academic ability development has focused on macro-level factors, offering limited insights into individual consciousness and actions. additionally, research in this area often lacks specific theoretical perspectives. this study adopts the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism theory, aiming to conduct a detailed examination of the actions and interactions of academic master’s students in academic activities such as mentorship meetings, research practices, and academic conferences, and subsequently analyze the challenges they encounter and identify potential solutions. symbolic interactionism, epitomized by scholars like george h. mead and herbert g. blumer, explores how individuals, in their actions, use symbols to interact with others and construct their sense of self. grounded in pragmatist thought influenced by william james and john dewey, and inheriting concepts like “the definition of the situation” and “the looking-glass self” from william i. thomas and charles h. cooley, mead emphasizes that the essence of the mind is the interplay between instinct and reason, the essence of the self is the interaction between the i and the me, and the essence of society is the interaction between the self and others. in all forms of interaction, the essential element is the communication between subjects and objects, mediated through symbols such as language, words, gestures, and signs (mead, 1962). blumer (1986) further posits that interaction is central to social development. through interactions with the environment, others, and even themselves (as a process of internalized social interaction), individuals continually modify and satisfy their self-needs and expectations. in essence, people fundamentally exist in interaction and are inevitably reflected in it. they create and use symbols to represent the world around them. building on this theoretical framework, this study seeks to discover and elucidate the interactive narratives in the academic ability www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 20 published by scholink inc. development of academic master’s students. 2. method this study employs a qualitative research approach, grounded in an ontological perspective that acknowledges the existence of multiple realities and an epistemological stance that recognizes the subjective perspectives of individuals. it places a strong emphasis on the meanings that phenomena and behaviors hold for the actors involved (feng, 2009). the research process is characterized by its holistic, situational, and interactive nature, with research findings emerging from dialectical dialogues and co-construction among all parties involved (chen, 2000). table 1 summarizes the data collection and analysis methods used in the study. the research context is the faculty of education at beijing normal university, a prestigious institution in the field of education in china. the study selects 16 academic master’s students, each from different specialties and academic years, as individual cases. data are collected through interviews, observations, and the collection of relevant artifacts, resulting in a corpus of over 200,000 words. data analysis is a collaborative effort involving multiple researchers who systematically compare and condense the raw data, employ progressive coding, establish logical relationships between concepts, and provide in-depth descriptions of key events. table 1. data collection and analysis methods of data collection number sex grade major plan data number methods of data analysis interview s01 female 1 curriculum theory and pedagogy employment f-s01 contextual analysis categorical analysis s02 female 1 curriculum theory and pedagogy employment f-s02 s03 female 1 educational management employment f-s03 s04 female 1 early childhood education under consideration f-s04 s05 male 1 teacher education employment f-s05 s06 female 1 educational management further study f-s06 s07 female 1 chinese educational history employment f-s07 s08 male 2 educational technology employment f-s08 s09 female 2 economics of education under consideration f-s09 s10 female 2 educational philosophy further study f-s10 s11 male 2 economics of education further study f-s11 s12 female 2 sociology of education further study f-s12 s13 male 2 educational management further study f-s13 s14 female 3 educational management under consideration f-s14 s15 female 3 educational management employment f-s15 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 21 published by scholink inc. s16 male 3 sociology of education further study f-s16 s17 female be studying for a ph.d. f-s17 t01 male teacher f-t01 t02 male teacher f-t02 t03 female teacher f-t03 observation seminar reading party o-s-s01 o-r-s01 3. result 3.1 pinpointing: perception and understanding of academic ability before taking action, academic master’s students engage in a process of understanding, perceiving, and judging themselves, the academic context, and their circumstances. at the core of these cognitive processes lies their perception and understanding of the essence and attainability of academic ability. in their eyes, academic ability encompasses a wide range of attributes, including academic qualifications, competence, and potential. it is a dynamic concept that can evolve with changes in time, space, and context. in this phase, academic master’s students navigate their academic journeys by first pinpointing their understanding of academic ability. this understanding serves as the foundation upon which subsequent actions, choices, and interactions are based. however, it is essential to note that the diversity in their perceptions can lead to varying approaches and strategies in their academic ability development. this figure illustrates the diversity of perceptions and understandings of academic ability among academic master’s students. the perceptions are categorized into four quadrants, encompassing concrete and holistic understandings, as well as sudden insight and gradual development. figure 1. classification of perceptions of academic ability www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 22 published by scholink inc. quadrant i: concrete understanding and epiphanic development in quadrant i, characterized by concrete understanding and epiphanic development, academic master’s students place a strong emphasis on practical aspects of academic ability. this quadrant encompasses a range of abilities, such as sensitivity to issues, insightful observation of phenomena, concept generation and clarification, as well as the ability to grasp and interpret policies. in this quadrant, individuals with strong academic abilities are described as having “their own set of concepts to explain everything” (f-s10) or as being able to “clearly understand the newly implemented policies and future trends” (f-s17). these abilities cannot be acquired quickly but are relatively easier to recognize and are considered innate talents. they can be expressed verbally but are challenging to control. quadrant ii: concrete understanding and gradual development quadrant ii, characterized by concrete understanding and gradual development, focuses on discourse-related skills. this quadrant includes abilities related to adhering to academic norms, professional writing and communication, as well as the accumulation of expertise in theoretical perspectives, research methods, research topics, and information retrieval. mastery of the “historical context of disciplinary development” (f-s16) or “specific research fields and topics” (f-s17) is emphasized. achieving the ability to “parrot theories” (f-t01) in a particular field is seen as foundational, expressible, accumulative, and controllable. quadrant iii: holistic understanding and gradual development quadrant iii, emphasizing holistic understanding and gradual development, places a strong emphasis on rationality. this quadrant includes abilities related to innovative thinking, critical thinking, logical reasoning, and theoretical construction. it points toward a particular scholarly thinking style characterized as “linear, straightforward, and in-depth” (f-s02). it also highlights the ability to engage in theoretical construction: “in the process of applying a learned theory, being able to generate something extra, … contributing and enhancing the existing body of knowledge” (f-t01). quadrant iv: holistic understanding and epiphanic development in quadrant iv, characterized by holistic understanding and epiphanic development, the focus is on sensibility. some interviewees use terms like inspiration, curiosity, emotional resonance, and academic temperament to describe this type of academic ability. for example, they may say, “speaking like a master’s student, the so-called academic temperament, academic image” (f-t01). in reality, it is difficult to express this type of ability verbally. “in fact, academic ability is used in all aspects of life, but it is a silent presence” (f-s15). these four quadrants provide a framework for understanding the diverse perceptions and developmental paths of academic ability among academic master’s students. each quadrant highlights different aspects of academic ability, from practical skills to theoretical thinking, and from concrete understanding to holistic insight. these perceptions and understandings play a crucial role in shaping academic master’s students’ actions, choices, and interactions in their academic journeys. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 23 published by scholink inc. 3.2 orientating: a chain of meaning about what scholarship is for or leads to once academic master’s students grasp what academic ability entails, they embark on a path that connects their career aspirations (the visible thread) with their identification of academic values (the underlying thread). this connection results in a meaning chain that outlines what academic pursuits aim to achieve. career planning encompasses decisions related to choosing a major, determining future academic pursuits, and making choices about employment opportunities. these career plans can vary among individuals, and even within the same individual, plans may evolve over time. in this section, we briefly categorize career planning into four distinct types. table 2. career planning of academic master’s students admission planning—employment admission planning—further study current planning—employment come for employment and go for employment come for further study and go for employment current planning— further study come for employment and go for further study come for further study and go for further study as shown in table 2, the first category can be described as “come for employment, go for employment”. in this group, students primarily view their academic pursuits as a means to secure better job opportunities. they believe that obtaining a higher degree than their undergraduate level is essential in today’s competitive job market. as one participant expressed, “in today’s society, if you want to seek a better job, you need a higher degree than a bachelor’s” (f-s11). some of these individuals do not see the need to invest excessive time and effort in academic pursuits beyond meeting the minimum graduation requirements. their goal during their graduate studies is to fulfill the basic academic requirements. the second type represents a shift in perspective from “come for further study, go for employment”. for some students, their initial motivation for pursuing academic excellence and considering further education may wane over time. these students may begin their academic journey with aspirations of pursuing a ph.d. but may reconsider their goals as they progress through their studies. as one participant reflected, “when i first started, if possible, i wanted to pursue a ph.d., but after experiencing a year of hardship, i find my desire to pursue a ph.d. decreasing” (f-s09). academic pursuits are no longer their sole focus, and they may start exploring alternative career paths. the third category, “come for employment, go for further study”, represents an idealized type. some students in this category envision a future where they can seamlessly transition from employment to further academic pursuits. this group’s members perceive academic ability as valuable for both immediate employment opportunities and their long-term academic goals. however, this category may be less common among participants. the fourth type, “come for further study, go for further study”, corresponds to those who envision an academic career path. they are a subset of students with strong www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 24 published by scholink inc. academic abilities and a high enthusiasm for academic pursuits. as one participant articulated, “i came to graduate school with the intention and goal of enhancing my academic abilities and conducting research. i hope to continue in this direction” (f-s15). differences in career planning also reflect variations in academic value identification. academic value identification can be distilled into three facets: a sense of accomplishment, a sense of significance, and a sense of comfort. the sense of accomplishment arises from the challenges posed by academic research, the pleasure of overcoming cognitive limitations, and the joy of delving deeper into knowledge. as one participant described, “academics allow me to continuously dig deeper, providing fresh perspectives on many phenomena in the world” (f-s06). the sense of significance derives from the act of interpreting or solving real-world problems and the pursuit of a deeper understanding of truth and goodness. the sense of comfort originates from the alignment between academic work and personal traits and the happiness experienced within the academic community. it is expressed as “the unparalleled inner joy of constantly enriching knowledge” (f-s05) or “the joy of academic stardom, similar to being a fan of academic stars” (f-s16). 3.3 positioning: assessing one’s suitability for academia positioning and orientation emphasize one’s expectations of themselves and the external environment. the self is viewed through the lenses of “looking at oneself as others see oneself”, and academic master’s students constantly use an assessment system to be aware of their own status. this assessment system includes evaluations from oneself, evaluations from others, and self-evaluations. it allows master’s students to assess their own actions based on their understanding and expectations of others’ reactions. this assessment helps them determine whether they are suitable for academia, whether it feels like “struggling with pursuing a ph.d.” (f-s08), having “a gap in pursuing a ph.d.” (f-s07), or feeling “in my element” (f-s12). assessment includes overall, daily, and ongoing comparisons, as well as a fragmented evaluation process where receiving awards and recognitions or producing academic achievements serves as a watershed moment. it is a continuous, fragmented, and selective process. furthermore, this assessment system is fluid. longitudinally, it evolves over time with increasing access to databases, maturation of methodologies, rising expectations, and changing standards. horizontally, it is relative and comparative, as one participant noted, “it’s not a fixed standard; it’s unclear and undefined, it’s a comparison within the group” (f-t01). finally, the assessment system can be hegemonic, as the societal or academic community’s evaluation system tends to have a quantitative and standardized orientation. metrics like “publication count” and “impact factor” serve as symbolic influences on the actions of graduate students and their advisors. they must, to a certain extent, adhere to this orientation. in summary, assessment criteria consist of both explicit and entrenched components as well as implicit and fluid elements. explicit criteria typically involve standardized comparisons of academic achievements and journal quality, while implicit criteria pertain to the demonstration of knowledge www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 25 published by scholink inc. reserves, problem awareness, logical deduction ability, knowledge construction ability, and communication skills. interestingly, teachers often focus on problem awareness, while students tend to emphasize logical thinking. explicit standards provide constraints and guidance, while implicit standards are more subjective. contradictions between the two may lead to unclear self-positioning or constrain one’s time and productivity. as one participant pointed out, “academic achievements are just surface-level; it varies across different disciplines” (f-s08). the inherent contradictions within assessment criteria can result in a lack of clear self-positioning or can impede progress over time. for instance, for research in fields like educational history, which requires time for contemplating issues and constructing theoretical frameworks, adhering to an annual assessment schedule may hinder productivity. this discourages many students and scholars from pursuing valuable but time-consuming “unpopular research” (f-t02). 4. conclusion master’s students in academia perceive their understanding of academic competence and attainability as distributed along a continuum encompassing specific and holistic understanding, as well as sudden and gradual development. they establish a link between academic value identification and career planning, forming a chain of meaning regarding what academia means to them and what it can bring. they continuously employ an assessment system to gauge their self-awareness and judge whether they are suited for an academic path. the interplay of understanding perception, meaning chain, and assessment system constitutes a framework of meaning interpretation known as positioning, direction, and location. this system is partly internalized in their thoughts and partly externalized as symbols, evolving within various interactive contexts such as classrooms and academic meetings. 5. discussion prior research has explored various aspects of the development of academic competence, including mentorship relationships, curriculum instruction, communication platforms, evaluation mechanisms, and career planning. this study corroborates some of these findings. for instance, in the context of mentorship relationships, it is crucial for mentors to encourage and provide opportunities for students to actively engage in research projects and academic exchange activities (ma et al., 2019). regarding curriculum instruction, the diversity and interactivity of interactions between teachers and students, as well as among peers, play a pivotal role in enhancing academic competence. therefore, graduate education should move beyond didactic teaching and emphasize interaction, experiential learning, and autonomy (lin et al., 2020). in response to these challenges, this study offers several recommendations. from the perspective of graduate students themselves, they can embark on academic self-rescue by reading classic literature, actively participating in academic and social practices, engaging in oral and written expressions, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 26 published by scholink inc. seeking like-minded individuals, and establishing networks for communication. from the viewpoint of mentors and the academic communities they foster, there is an opportunity to enhance the sense of belonging and identity among academic master’s students by clearly defining the purpose of education and cultivating a sense of belonging within the academic community. lastly, in terms of improving the training methods within higher education institutions, it is essential to conduct comprehensive research to identify the most pressing needs of different student groups and address these needs promptly and adequately. this may involve creating an academic atmosphere, establishing avenues for academic collaboration and exchange, offering tailored courses, implementing classroom teaching reforms, and strengthening external collaborations to provide ample opportunities for academic and social practices. acknowledgements throughout the writing of this dissertation i have received a great deal of support and assistance. i would particularly like to acknowledge my team members for their wonderful collaboration and patient support. references blumer, h. g. 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(2017). the research level of postgraduate students and its impact on employment: based on an empirical survey of 8 universities. fudan education forum, 15(1), 62-69. yang, g., ma, r., zhang, j. s., & gong, l. y. (2012). a study on the relationship between information behavior and scientific research innovation ability of postgraduates: a case study of jilin university. library and information service, 56(24), 77-82. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 2, 2024 28 published by scholink inc. yuan, b. t., & yan, j. l. (2009). an analysis of the current situation and influencing factors of graduate students’ innovation ability in china: based on the results of three graduate education quality surveys. peking university education review, 7(2), 12-20, 188. zhang, y. z., & li, y. (2014). reflections on developing research abilities of graduate students of liberal arts from the perspective of academic activities. journal of graduate education, (06), 42-46. zhu, z. y., & cui, x. j. (2012). graduate academic competence: a theoretical framework based on policy text analysis. tsinghua journal of education, 33(6), 92-99. global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 31 original paper coping with education during lockdowns amidst covid-19 pandemic wahab ali 1* 1 education department, school of humanities & arts, the university of fiji, lautoka, fiji received: april 12, 2021 accepted: april 21, 2021 online published: may 27, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n2p31 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n2p31 abstract the outbreak of corona virus disease (covid-19) in china in december 2019 has rapidly morphed into an unprecedented health, economic and educational crisis globally. this study focuses on tertiary students’ perspectives on emergency remote learning (ert) amidst covid-19 pandemic. the schools in fiji closed its doors to face-to-face classes on 20 th march, 2020 and tertiary institutes followed suit. this study was conducted to establish how tertiary students were coping with online learning at a university in fiji. subsequently, telephone interviews were held as it was most appropriate method at this time of lock down and social distancing amidst covid 19 pandemic. a meta-synthesis methodology was also adopted for this study and pertinent literature was visited to capture the essence of continued learning during these unprecedented times. findings reveal that students were slowly adapting to online learning or e-learning. findings also reveal that lack of gadgets like laptops and desktops were major issues faced by the students. this is followed by lack of access to high quality internet and connectivity problems followed by lack of confidence in using online learning platforms. this exploratory paper proposes that students need to be well versed with technology and technological gadgets to enhance learning especially during these exceptional times. keywords technology, digital generation, learning platforms, internet, gadgets, covid-19, online teaching, lockdown 1. introduction with over 2 million confirmed covid-19 cases globally and over 150,000 deaths worldwide, the global pandemic is causing devastation in the global economy leaving millions jobless around the world. although the pacific island countries (pics) have recorded a smaller number of cases of covid-19, they have implemented travel restrictions and border closures to prevent imported cases of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 32 published by scholink inc. the covid-19. likewise, many countries have imposed public health emergencies, lockdowns, curfews and social distancing to prevent the transmission of covid-19. in light of the rising concerns about the spread of covid-19 and calls to contain the corona virus, a growing number of tertiary institutions have shut down in regards to face-to-face classes globally. the corona virus has revealed emerging vulnerabilities in education systems around the world. it is now clear that society needs flexible and resilient education systems as we face unpredictable futures (zhang, wang, yang, & wang, 2020). large-scale, national efforts to utilize technology in support of remote learning, distance education and online learning during the covid-19 pandemic are emerging and evolving quickly. likewise, literature highlights certain deficiencies such as the weakness of online teaching infrastructure, the inexperience of teachers, the information gap, the complex environment at home, and so forth (murgatrotd, 2020). however, despite certain limitations, current situation demands action so that the education of the students is not affected in any way. for example, china initiated a suspending classes without stopping learning policy to see that learning was not compromised at any time during covid 19 pandemic lockdown (zhang et al., 2020). on similar note, to tackle online learning problems, huang, liu, tlili, yang, & wang (2020) suggest education providers need to further promote the construction of the educational information and equip students with standardized home-based teaching and learning materials. according to a unesco report by the end of 2019, covid-19 had started spreading rapidly worldwide, causing the death of over 3000 people. subsequently, several countries started initiating relevant strategies to contain this virus, including school closures. subsequently, as of 12th march, 2020 forty six countries in five different continents announced school and university closures to contain the spread of covid-19 (r. h. huang et al., 2020). international organizations started paying particular attention to the document education response in crises and emergencies. unesco stated in the education 2030 incheon declaration and framework for action that countries should: provide alternative modes of learning and education for children and adolescents who are not in education institutions, and put in place equivalency and bridging programmes, recognized and accredited by the state, to ensure flexible learning in both formal and non-formal settings, including in emergency situations (r. h. huang et al., 2020, p. 1). subsequently, to contain the covid-19, the chinese government has banned most-face-to-face activities, including teaching. the chinese ministry of education has launched an initiative entitled disrupted classes, undisrupted learning to provide flexible online learning to hundreds of millions students from their homes (r. h. huang et al., 2020). the rapid evolution of information communication and technology (ict) and the increasing complexity that comes with its exploding potential explains why integration of technology in education continues to receive special attention particularly, in wake of covid 19 pandemic. these conspicuous perceptions and the massive lockdown in the midst of current covid 19 pandemic has provided the intrinsic motivation for this www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 33 published by scholink inc. study. 2. context of study in response to the global spread of the virus and advice from the who, the fijian government has heightened its level of preparedness in anticipation of an outbreak. on 19th march, 2020 the prime minister of fiji honourable voreqe bainimarama officially announced that fiji had the first confirmed case of covid 19 through a press conference. lockdown was declared for greater lautoka area and the schools were closed from 20th march, 2020. tertiary institutions followed suit and staff were tasked to work from home and make transition to online learning. a week later a ban was placed on inter-island travel dampening the spirits of many students wishing to travel to and from outer islands. however, everyone understood the reasons behind the lockdown as the (government) was ensuring that the spread of covid 19 was contained and did not spread to maritime region. fiji has not been only affected by covid 19 but was also brushed by tropical cyclone harold in the month of march in 2020. the deadly pacific storm cyclone harold did massive damage in fiji, tearing off roofs and flooding towns as it caused mass devastation across the country. many of the students attending the university were socially and economically affected as their houses were damaged and crops were destroyed. as such it can be established that students attending the university were not only affected economically and physically by covid-19 but also by the destruction caused by cyclone harold. 3. aim of the study the swift and sudden evolution to online learning seemed to be the only option for universities for maintaining continuity of teaching and learning while facing the threat of extended closures due to covid-19 pandemic. subsequently, this study intends to examine how students were coping with their online studies and the issues that were affecting them in their studies during such unprecedented times. subsequently, the study was guided by the following research questions: 1) how are you coping with rapid transition to online learning? 2) what are some of the challenges you face in adapting to online learning? 3) how do you intend to address these challenges if the situation is prolonged? the above questions assisted in addressing the aim of the study and in revealing how students were trying to cope with online and distance education during covid 19 pandemic and closure of tertiary institutions nationally. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 34 published by scholink inc. 4. literature review in response to covid-19 pandemic, education systems worldwide have started strategizing the online delivery of education so that students’ studies are least affected. the rapid transition has created stress on our educational systems from primary to higher education settings. during this emergency period, our higher education students are moving away from the traditional classrooms to online learning from their homes. these new environments and contexts are diverse and dramatically different from each other, which has significantly changed the way in which students engage and learn (xie, heddy, & vongkulluksn, 2019). likewise, there is substantial literature on the integration of ict in classrooms. in a global context, both developed and developing countries recognize the value of integrating ict tools for their economic development. developed countries, like united states, for instance, spends more than us$10 billion annually in educational technology in public schools while australia spends approximately aud$8 billion in ict integrated related activities in schools (albugarni & ahmed, 2015). likewise, a number of developing countries like india and uganda have adopted programs aimed at implementing ict integrated pedagogies to reinforce the teaching learning process (ssewanyana & busler, 2007). as they believe the use of considerable ict tools act as sufficient drivers to boost the country’s education towards creating economy based development. literature entails that success comes more easily where online learning was already widespread and where tools to support online learning, are already a constituent part of what an education system (who, 2020). previous research indicates that the sheer presence of ict does not directly influence teaching but instead it should be effectively integrated with teaching contents and pedagogies (earle, 2002). likewise, chen (2010) supports the views of russell, bebell, o’dwyer, and o’connor (2003) that teachers can use ict for improving the productivity of conducting daily tasks such as preparing and delivering lessons, keeping student records and communicating with parents. not only ict integration benefits students, it also provides a learning platform for the teachers by enabling them to take ownership and practice knowledge renewal on their own (li, yamaguchi, & takada, 2018). given the relentless advent of ict in education arena, its use in enhancing classroom based instruction to support student-centred education has been widely discussed. american psychological association, as one of its recommendations has encouraged teachers to consider implementing appropriate technological and instructional practices to facilitate student-centred learning (li et al., 2018). however, vrasidas (2015) is quite sceptical about the use of ict despite being equipped with computers and internet services as there may be lack of adequate time for lesson preparations and unsupportive curriculum design. he reiterates that just having the resources does not imply that ict can be easily implemented but there needs to be the presence of other supportive factors and one such factor is teacher readiness (vrasidas, 2015). that is why yunus (2007) is assertive that before ict can be effectively integrated teachers should be provided adequate training and support in ict and pedagogy. in this regard, veen (veen, 1993) establishes that teachers’ pedagogical skills were more important than their technical ict skills in influencing their use of computers for teaching and learning. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 35 published by scholink inc. nevertheless, the use of ict in education is considered an important innovation in classroom teaching, and is advocated by many educational policy-makers (mirzajani, mahmud, ayub, & wong, 2016). the integration of technology in the classroom is viewed as an important strategy to increase the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. likewise, literature stresses the availability of personal computers and laptops as essential for the effective utilization of e-learning since this mode of pedagogy is computer-based (mutisya & makokha, 2016). likewise, staff are encouraged to integrate technology into their instructional practices, as ict is believed to have the potential to revolutionize an outmoded educational system (aczel, peake, & hardy, 2008). similar views were held by hew and brush (2007) who are confident that integration of ict in the field of education is inevitable, as technology becomes a “need” and not just a “want” in our lives. ict induced pedagogy favours our students as they prefer to discover and create unique solutions to learning problems (wheeler, yeomans, & wheeler, 2008). hence they do not view the staff as the one who has all the answers, rather view the them as a resource person, model and helper who should encourage explorations (cheta, 2014). subsequently, this generation has a special affinity to mobile devices such as smart phones as they want to be connected with a special appetite for digital media (kurkovsky & syta, 2010). the preceding views are supported by a study undertaken by the government of canada where they found that millennials like to be connected 24/7 and they prefer using mobile phones over land lines and texting over talking using the phones (tanner, 2010). indeed, digital environments have infiltrated and changed the lives of young people the world over and this alteration in them needs to be understood and appreciated by all. ultimately, preparing to move education outside of traditional physical classrooms in response to covid-19 requires thought, coordination and careful decision-making. this paper is a starting point for planning and supporting a significant district transformation. 5. methodology methodology demystifies the research process and the belief systems that are constructed on ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions. subsequently, this study was conducted from within an interpretive paradigm, and this action has implications for the selection of an appropriate research design. accordingly, an exploratory research design was found to be most appropriate to unveil the salient intricacies associated with online learning especially in wake of covid 19, the worldwide lockdown and social distancing. exploratory studies are a valuable means of asking questions to establish baseline information that could be later used as a launch pad for further research. the sample size was small but each participant did provide a considerable body of data in response to the interview questions, giving each participant ample opportunities to revisit ideas and report their own experiences in detail. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 36 published by scholink inc. subsequently, telephone interviews were held and meta-synthesis of pertinent literature on how teachers were seeing that students’ education is not affected during this lockdown. the use of telephones as a medium for conducting interviews is becoming an increasingly popular data collection method. in recent years, interviewing has transformed in response to the proliferation of technology as researchers seek alternative methods to reduce costs and increase the reach of their data collection. one way that researchers have approached this is through the increasing use of telephones in the collection of interview data and the current situation leaves no option. the increasing popularity of the telephone interview as a research method may be a reflection of broader social change and technological advances, with increased use and acceptability of telephone communication. research has revealed that telephone interviewing is comparable to face to face interviewing (carr & worth, 2001). in this case eight students known as s1-t8 were interviewed and the findings are presented in a thematic approach. these students were part of a cohort of students enrolled in the first year program at the university. an interview protocol was developed with the following questions: 1) how are you coping with rapid transition to online learning? 2) do you have a laptop or desktop at home? 3) what other electronic gadgets do you use to access your work? 4) what are some of the challenges you face in adapting to online learning? 5) how do you intend to address these challenges if the situation is prolonged? likewise, qualitative meta-synthesis is an intentional and coherent approach to analyzing data across qualitative studies. it is a process that enables researchers to identify a specific research question and then search for, select, appraise, summarize, and combine qualitative evidence to address the research question. this process uses rigorous qualitative methods to synthesize existing qualitative studies to construct greater meaning through an interpretative process. the purpose of this article is to describe qualitative meta-synthesis as an innovative research approach in light of covid 19 and the associated lockdowns and social distancing regulations. although this is not a new research approach in other fields, it offers a promising practice in the fields of online and remote learning interventions. this article explores how qualitative meta-synthesis can be a practical and effective approach of inquiry about how online and distance learning can enable the continuation of the teaching and learning process in the midst of covid 19 and associated lockdowns. 6. findings and discussion the ensuing sections present the findings in collaboration with pertinent literature on the influence of technology in conceptualizing pedagogy and practice at he level. world context according to world health organization there are 1 699 595 confirmed covid 19 cases in the world, with 106 138 confirmed deaths and the virus has affected 213 countries as at 12th april, 2020. in the emerging and ever-changing covid-19 context, many countries are being affected by covid 19 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 37 published by scholink inc. (who, 2020). according to unesco some 190 countries across the globe have closed their schools and university to stop the spread of coronavirus. this has forced an estimated 1.5 billion learners to stay at home (unesco, 2020). unesco further recommends that investment in remote learning should both mitigate the immediate disruption caused by covid-19 and establish approaches to develop more open and flexible education systems for the future. since closing schools to contain the covid-19 pandemic, governments have been deploying distance learning solutions and grappling with the complexity of provisioning education remotely, from delivering content and supporting teachers to providing guidance to families and addressing connectivity challenges. equity is the paramount concern because closures disproportionately hurt vulnerable and disadvantaged students who rely on schools for a range of social services, including health and nutrition. closure of educational institutions, even when temporary, is problematic for numerous reasons. foremost, there is a reduction in instructional time, which impacts students’ learning achievement. when schools close, educational performance suffers due to lack of instructional time. disrupting schooling also leads to other harder to measure losses, including inconveniences to families and decreased economic productivity as parents struggle to balance work obligations with childcare. the closures also compound educational inequities as economically advantaged families tend to have higher levels of education and more resources to fill learning gaps and provide enrichment activities to children who cannot attend school. similarly, covid-19 pandemic has brought about an evitable situation where educational institutions have been closed causing them to look at other options of lesson delivery like online learning. likewise, many educational institutions are either closed or on the verge of closing physically and are moving towards online and remote learning. for example, schools in new york offer examples of successful adaptation and rapid deployment of educational technology products, like the video-conferencing platform zoom and moodle. significantly, some schools had existing experience with these technologies that they were able to expand; they weren’t starting from scratch with new and untested tech solutions (czerniewicz, 2020). likewise, some schools in australia have struggled with accommodating the rapid switch to online learning. in like manner, institutions have rapidly innovated and implemented online learning, due in part to established familiarity with the necessary tools, teaching approaches and considerations with online learning. this has resulted in less disruption for many students unable to return to face-to-face classes. literature further entails that teaching online isn’t a solo sport. teachers and parents need training in how to involve students in online discussions and facilitate their deeper understanding of taught material. according to czerniewicz (2020) instructional designers or educational technologists can help staff figure out how to best teach with technology and make the most of online learning. there is no doubt that institutions lack preparation and planning measures, to avoid the excessive demands and tensions that come from adopting things quickly (pan, 2020). there is a clear need for online learning expertise in this crisis and it should serve as a reminder that institutions need to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 38 published by scholink inc. cultivate this competency. institutions may like to outsource online learning so that they are able to benefit from the expertise of expert professionals. the mass closure of schools in the eu was done to slow down the spread of covid-19, the respiratory infection that has now killed more than 106 138 people worldwide. governments’ world over are looking for measures that will keep students safe, while finding ways to continue to provide courses online. literature shows that education administrators are urging staff to cooperate and share know-how and digital infrastructures for teaching online in the quarantined and locked down areas (czerniewicz, 2020). countries most affected by the virus are doing their best to continue teaching. for example, italy was the first eu member state to close its schools and move to online learning before the entire country was placed under quarantine. similarly, denmark, greece, ireland, hungary and poland have followed suit and suspended face-to-face teaching in all schools. likewise, italy distributed free sim cards to students without access to internet. notably, in romania, after the government closed all schools, several of them moved their courses online as a precaution. since social distancing is as important as being locked out, schools across europe are scrambling to set up technical systems needed to move courses, exams, research and other activities online. the university of warsaw has cancelled all lectures and classes unless conducted on-line. by the same token, belgium has decided to move classes online as much as possible and cancelled large-scale events. staff members have been asked to work from home as much as possible. literature reveals that schools globally are assuming responsibility, and are doing everything they could do to slow down the further spread of the corona virus. similar precautions have also been taken outside the eu in neighbouring ukraine and moldova, where governments have decided to suspend face-to-face courses in schools and banned large gatherings. educational institutions want to ensure that students are not disadvantaged by this unprecedented global situation. they encourage universities to continue offering classes in virtual mode to avoid the likelihood of being exposed to the corona virus. in order to complete the academic year, senior decision makers announced that blended learning or remote learning strategies that could be used to enable students to complete their courses. this action has caught many academics and professionals supporting teaching and learning off guard, especially to those who are doing it for the first time. however, according to czerniewicz (2020), this change is inevitable as the current covid 19 situation demands it for the safety of students and the teaching staff. coping with rapid transition the emergency transition to online and blended learning in light of covid-19 brings along with it, its own share of difficulties and complications. in contrast to experiences that are well planned from the beginning and designed to be online, emergency remote teaching (ert) is a temporary shift of instructional delivery to an alternate delivery mode due to crisis circumstances (hodges, moore, lockee, trust, & bond, 2020) as in this case it is due to covid 19. it involves the use of remote teaching solutions for instruction or education that would otherwise be delivered face-to-face or as blended mode and that would return to that format once the crisis or emergency is abated. interview www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 39 published by scholink inc. findings revel that all (100%) the students found the rapid transition difficult and complicated. student 8 stated that: the change to go fully online learning is not only difficult but impossible for me in my village in the island as it doesn’t have constant internet service. as such, i had to move to another village on the island that has a tower and stay with my relatives to access internet on my mobile phone. this village is about 2km away and only accessible on horseback or a boat around the island. similar sentiments were shared by s5 who stays in the highlands and has no internet reception in her village. she also has to travel to a nearby settlement to have the internet reception. even then the internet reception is of poor quality. according to s5: my biggest issue is the internet connectivity. the internet connecting symbol or the loading symbol keeps moving in circular motion searching for internet signals which leads to lack of synchronization between sound and movement especially during online classes. this settlement is nearby but it is very time consuming due to poor reception and slow internet. during systematic transition all these environmental factors are taken into consideration but not much could be done during rapid transition period. moreover, hodges et al. (2020) are assertive that the primary objective in these circumstances is not to re-create a robust educational ecosystem but rather to provide temporary access to instruction and instructional supports in a manner that is quick to set up and is reliably available during an emergency or crisis. in this case covid 19 did not give the opportunity to pre plan but to take immediate action. it must be established that staff and students were not prepared and caught off guard for this sudden change, especially those in developing countries (cosn, 2020). there is no exception to the situation in fiji as students in the study faced similar problems. it must also be noted that students in this case were neither mentally nor socially prepared for online learning. likewise, there are certain paradoxes and delusions associated with net generation that needs to be considered as the belief that they know all about ict is a fatal misconception. similar sentiments are shared by world bank (2020a) that by simply pointing students to large online repositories, without appropriate guidance would not auger well during the covid 19 pandemic lockdown. for despite they may be technology canny, they may lack the theoretical knowledge base required for particular occupation. evidence for in support can be found in the study of o’sullivan (2018) who strongly advocates that many young people, the so-called digital natives, have shown limitations in their use of technology. there have been numerous studies worldwide and one such study in 2014 signposted a huge disparity between young people’s false impression and their real knowledge of computer skills (sommer, 2014). considering covid 19 pandemic world bank further reiterate that most students will have great difficulty accessing online learning, especially those staying that have poor internet access and are subject to numerous other disadvantages (world bank, 2020b). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 40 published by scholink inc. major challenges moving online, on an untested and unprecedented scale brings along with it many challenges and dilemmas. this is because moving educational institution systems to remote learning environment isn’t just a technical issue but it is a pedagogical and instructional challenge. likewise, cosn (2020) is assertive that a successful effort to move learning outside of traditional classroom and building structure requires a close cross-collaboration between instructional, content, and technology teams. before pulling the trigger on technology initiatives there are a number of issues that should be taken into consideration. moreover, according to cosn (2020) taking students and staff out of the classroom is a pedagogical transformation that requires rapid mobilization across the different stakeholders for effective delivery of online learning. findings reveal that one of the main challenges faced by students is the lack of appropriate digital gadgets. many of the students do not have the necessary technologies and resources that they need to engage and succeed in emergency online courses. table 1 shows the gadgets students use to access online learning. table 1. gadgets used by students during the lockdown student gadgets used availability of internet s1 laptop yes, no problem with speed and connectivity s2 smart phone yes, but slow speed s3 laptop yes, no problem s4 desktop yes but slow at times s5 smart phone slow service in nearby settlement s6 tablet yes, no problem with speed and connectivity s7 analogue phone not at home but in village tele-centre s8 smart phone not in village but another village on the island findings reveal that majority of the students have access to some sort of electronic gadgets but only some of them have access to a laptop or desktop. it must be realized that these are the ideal gadgets for effective online learning as compared with just smart phones at university level. unfortunately, one of the students’ interviewed stated he did not have any digital gadget apart from an analogue mobile phone. similar sentiments are shared by students’ association of another university that their students who are studying online also lack information and communication tools like laptops and smart devices (deo, 2020a). as such, it can be concluded that lack of access to basic digital tools is a major impediment to successful online education. consequently, another tertiary institution in fiji is making available 700 tablets to its students who do not have access to learning tools from home. the institution is hopeful that the distribution will ensure everyone has a fair chance to education and equal learning experience (deo, 2020b). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 41 published by scholink inc. findings further reveal that availability of internet is the second major problem faced by the students in the current study. while majority of them have access to internet, the quality is not good enough for online learning. three of the students do not have access to good quality internet while two students do not have internet access at all. the world is moving swiftly towards ubiquitous connectivity and this phenomenon has changed how we think and live in the 21stcentury. the internet has revolutionized the world as it has broken all barriers of distance, location and time (tran dinh tan, polyakova, & shipilova, 2015). likewise, internet has become an important instructional tool in higher education institutions globally. according to hung, huang, and hwang (2014) a simple search online can result in getting many educational websites with abundance of learning resources in a short span of time. as such, the availability of high speed internet is vital for effective delivery of online and remote learning. in like manner all the students mentioned the difficulty in accessing google meet online learning platform. this was something new for them and they didn’t have any training or workshop in this regard. s2 stated that: this was the first time i heard about this learning platform and did not know how to use it. we should have been taught how to use it or we should have used it during our classes at the university. however, the tutorials prepared by the it department were very helpful. although, i had faced difficulty initially, but now i am able to come online with my lecturer. i found this quite interesting as we could talk and discuss and even see one another. it can be assumed that the adoption of e-learning will be slow as it is still at its infancy stage and that the initial period would have certain teething problems. according to wang and wang (2020) the transition to fully online, virtual learning almost always results in adaptation difficulties. they further state that this occurs for a number of reasons, including a lack of familiarity with the tools and a lack of a conducive environment at home to support online learning. likewise, motivation to continue with online learning despites the odds including insufficient access to bandwidth and devices present a real challenge for the students (wang & wang, 2020). on similar note, the ministry of education in fiji encourages all students to complete secondary education with good results so that they could have quality tertiary education. ministry of education offers loans under tertiary education loans scheme (tels) and toppers scholarships to deserving fijians to study at universities and other tertiary institutions in fiji. subsequently, tels is a scheme that is intended to provide finance to fijians who qualify for higher education at any approved institutions, but are unable to support themselves financially. the scheme provides student loans to eligible fijians to enable them realize their dreams of higher education in line with the fijians government’s vision of “building a smarter fiji” (tslb, 2019). considering the current situation it is unequivocally recommended that part of the grant should cover the purchase of online learning gadgets such as laptops and tablets for the students. one of the universities has already begun discussion with tertiary scholarship and loans board to allow students to purchase laptops for students using the tertiary education loans scheme book allowance in an effort to bridge the digital divide faced by www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 42 published by scholink inc. some of its students (narayan, 2020). this is because some students do not have laptops or tablets which can enable them to actively participate in online learning. university administrations try to ensure students have access to devices that can aid their studies, as some students don’t have the resources or the finances to purchase or borrow these devices to continue learning online. according to narayan (2020) the administrations are aware that these unprecedented times require innovative thinking to ensure that none of the students get left behind without any fault of theirs. on similar note, the world bank is mindful of the fact that few education systems, even the most high performing, may be not be that well equipped to offer online learning for all students at such a large scale. technological advances often outpace the ability of decision makers to keep up considering the cost and infrastructure support (world bank, 2020b). it must be established that to deliver effective online and blended learning there needs to be appropriate ict support in way of infrastructure and tools as well as hardware and software support system. there is no doubt that the integration of the ict as an instructional device in academic courses has escalated at a rapid rate. subsequently universities and colleges have started implementing applications like moodle and educational blogs to supplement existing pedagogy and practice (becker, 2000). likewise, ruzgar (2005) agrees with (becker, 2000) that it is common in universities and colleges to provide online resources to supplement online learning. however, it must be acknowledged that majority of the educational institutions in developing countries neither have the infrastructure nor expertise about how to go online and fiji is no exception. to go truly online one needs to have software and hardware infrastructure system. in other words, institutions need a department that can handle all ict related activities. accordingly, all participant spoke highly about the university’s supportive it department. according to s2: our it department staff has been very helpful and respond to our inquiries in very efficient manner. they always attend to our calls and explain the issues requested. they are also very prompt in responding to our emails and attend to our log in issues. i am really thankful to them for their expert guidance and timely assistance. i wouldn’t have been able to do my course without their assistance. likewise, literature entails that in order to deliver effective classroom experience, there are key systems that need to be in place including a learning management system and student information system for effective delivery of online lessons (cosn, 2020). in addition to having access to online learning environment, students and staff need devices laptops, tablets and smartphone with which to access online learning. ensuring access to systems and devices only provides limited options for taking teaching and learning into a virtual environment. the success of this approach is also heavily dependent on internet connectivity and speed. the online experience can be extremely frustrating if students find systems slow and unresponsive due to bandwidth challenges. maybe covid 19 has provided a launch-pad for further discussion and adoption of online softwares and hardwares for fully fledged delivery of online classes. subsequently, covid 19 pandemic has provided a solid reason for www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 43 published by scholink inc. those who were thinking of going online to make the move. however, world bank has stressed that most online learners will experience difficulties if they are not assisted. considering covid 19 pandemic world bank further reiterate that most students will have great difficulty accessing online learning, especially those staying that have poor internet access and are subject to numerous other disadvantages (world bank, 2020b) way forward the current crisis crystallises the dilemma policymakers are facing in going online in the interim closure of educational institutions to reduce the spread of covid 19. on similar note, moorhouse (2020) stresses that whenever educational planning is done in times of crises, it requires quick and creative solutions. literature entails that during times of crisis one needs to think outside the box to generate various possible solutions that help meet the new needs for our learners and communities (hodges et al., 2020). findings reveal that the severe short-term disruption is felt by many families in fiji as this home schooling is not only a massive shock to parents’ productivity, but also to student’s social life and learning. it must be recognized that covid-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis and schools are closed to prevent the spread of corona virus. bearing the previous statement in mind, teachers and parents have accepted that online and distance learning is appropriate and good for all and in combating the spread of covid 19 (r. h. huang et al., 2020). it is wise to understand ert in this manner, so that we can divorce it from planned online learning. there are many examples of other countries responding to closure of educational institutions in a time of crisis by implementing models such as mobile learning, radio, blended learning, or other solutions that are contextually more feasible (murgatrotd, 2020). likewise, the university has made arrangements with internet companies to enable students to access university website and subsequent learning platforms free of charge. on similar note, the added stress of the virus pandemic may have caused some students’ disengagement in overall academic activities. in addition, when rapidly moving from face-to-face to online, both learners and instructors get physically separated leading to a sense of isolation and detached. even unesco (2020) agrees that in many instances students, may not be ready for emergency online learning; therefore, engaging them is a major challenge. however, it must be established that emergency remote teaching or rapid online learning may be different from systematic online learning which requires a lot of pre-planning (hodges et al., 2020). in this instance the schools were shut suddenly to avoid the spread of covid 19 and not much time was given for the preparation for the online delivery of the lessons. this is why the speed with which this move to online instruction is unprecedented and staggering. there is no doubt that the global lockdown of education institutions has caused major interruption in students’ learning and evoked disruptions in internal assessments. with the spread of the covid-19, countries are implementing emergency plans to slow down and limit the spread of the virus and simultaneously prepare for a possible longer term disruption of face to face sessions. in the context of necessary closures, different forms of online education and distance www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 44 published by scholink inc. education resources are being mobilised. findings reveal that students are going beyond their means to see that their education is least affected during covid 19 pandemic. to make the rapid online transition feasible: • students need to have access to digital learning tools like laptops, desktops and tablets; • students need to have access to high quality internet service; • staff need to be well versed with online teaching strategies; • video tutorial about how to use learning applications could be placed on the moodle; • administration should ramp up information dissemination and awareness-raising activities; to inform students, and parents of the risks associated with covid-19; and • administration should ensure that adequate information about the pandemic is provided, especially when it comes to reducing the risk of getting sick and infecting others. moreover, the world bank has highlighted a number of concerns as education providers are rushing to go online so that education of the students are least affected in times of social distancing amidst covid 19 pandemic. for example, transitioning to online learning at scale is a very difficult and highly complex undertaking for education systems, even in the best of circumstances (world bank, 2020b). world bank goes further and states that academic subjects that are largely lecture-based and lend themselves to self-study are easier to move online quickly. subjects in which learning content has already been digitized, especially where it is explicitly aligned with official school curricula, offer better candidates for online learning in the short term than those that do not. world bank also cautions all to be aware that much of what happens in classes cannot be easily transferred online. instructional approaches, content, pacing, interaction models, and assessment may all need to be adapted when transitioning to online learning (world bank, 2020b). all these processes may be time consuming but a start needs to be made as it is not a matter of choice but a necessity in response to covid 19 pandemic. 7. limitations naturally, studies do have certain limitations and, in this case, only qualitative methods were used. the results in this study could not be verified by other means such as survey and other independent measures as only interviews and meta-analysis were used in the study. consequently, these results should be viewed as a snapshot of online learning as an option in light of the drastic impact of covid 19 pandemic. thus, the exploratory findings present a solid platform for debate and discussion and a sound platform for further in-depth research on the subject matter. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 45 published by scholink inc. 8. implications and conclusions there is no doubt that lockdown is causing considerable hardship and disruption everywhere and has really affected the education globally. in order to effectively transit to emergency remote learning amidst covid-19 pandemic it is recommended that: • students need to have access to e-learning gadgets like laptops, smart phones and desktops; • students should be supported with ict technology and internet connectivity; • students need to have access to high quality internet service; • students need to be well versed with online learning platforms; • authorities need to subsidise the purchase of online gadgets for students; • lecturers need to be well equipped with online teaching strategies; • online assistance services should be provided to students needing ict assistance; • universities need to establish decentralised libraries and printing services; and • universities should invest heavily in the improvement of e-learning infrastructure, e-learning content development and enhancement of e-learning awareness. in essence, covid 19 pandemic and social distancing requirement has presented undue challenges on all stakeholders to go online as they have to work in a time constraint and resource restraint situation. it must be established that adopting online learning environment isn’t just a technical issue but it is a pedagogical and instructional challenge too. technology is the means for delivery and requires a close cross-collaboration between instructional, content, and technology teams. in essence, ict has become a potent force in transforming the educational landscape the world over. however, preparing to move education outside of traditional physical classrooms in response to covid-19 requires thought, coordination and careful decision-making. likewise, students in the study mentioned lack of electronic gadgets like laptops and desktops as the leading challenge followed by poor or inadequate internet connectivity. this document is a starting point for planning and supporting a significant learning transformation. there has obviously been a great influence of technology in the online lives of young people. this digitalised revolution can synergise the educational ambitions and interests of the students who have become digital addicts. in essence, covid 19 has provided us with the opportunity to adopt online learning as education systems need to be abreast 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(2020). suspending classeswithout stopping learning: china’s education emergency management policy in the covid-19 outbreak. journal of risk and financial management, 13(55), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm13030055 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101788 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0958344007000614 https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm13030055 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 63 original paper gamification for teamwork skills: can a challenge-based online tournament help students learn new knowledge collaboratively in teams? lisa law 1* , martin lau 1 , y. w. leung 1 , theresa kwong 1 & eva y. w. wong 1 1 centre for holistic teaching and learning, hong kong baptist university, hong kong * lisa law, email: lisalaw@hkbu.edu.hk received: april 27, 2020 accepted: may 8, 2020 online published: may 26, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p63 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n2p63 abstract the interest in deploying innovative technologies with gamification to engage student learning in enjoyable style has been growing. this study aimed to investigate whether a purposely designed etournament with the integration of concepts of gamification and team development could help the participating tertiary education students (n=416) from a variety of backgrounds in terms of culture and discipline to learn to work in teams collaboratively in a challenge-based online game. the qualitative data collected from the top 10 teams’ online discussions supported that the thoughtful design of the etournament did facilitate their development of teamwork skills. in addition, quantitative data collected from two of the post-game questionnaire questions indicated that over 79% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they enjoyed the etournament in general, and over 84% of respondents strongly agree or agree that they become more aware of the seventeen united nations sustainable development goals because of the etournament. notwithstanding, findings in this study show little evidence in supporting team-playing in pagamo due to the design of the game regardless of the teamwork skills developed in the early stage of the etournament. suggestions to address the limitations of this study are also presented for future improvement. keywords gamification, innovative technologies, multicultural and multidisciplinary, teamwork skills www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 64 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction with the recent trends of globalization and technology advancement, high level of teamwork skills are commonly required from all graduates to be able to work in a diverse team environment for the workforce in the 21 st century. the popularity of adopting digital games not only motivate students to learn in an enjoyable and engaging environment, but they also provide students with the opportunity to learn to work in teams collaboratively (suh, wagner, & liu, 2016). gamification is the application of game design elements in a non-game context (deterding, dixon, khaled, & nacke, 2011). the benefits of gamification have attracted the attention of many educators/educational developers in the tertiary education sector to provide learning platforms to learn to work in teams collaboratively. the use of e-tools like learning management systems (lms) and instant messaging platforms allow virtual team members from different parts of the world to carry out their discussions on given tasks (powell, piccoli, & ives, 2004) online in real-time mode. an etournament with the adoption of advanced technologies and challenge-based online game was designed in this study with the intention of engaging and motivating student learning to solve current real-world problems (gibson, 2012) collaboratively in teams which could, in turn, facilitate their teamwork skills. kiili (2005) suggested that online games could facilitate participants’ learning effectiveness, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal interactions. team, regardless of whether they are face-to-face or virtual, evolve as members learn about each other, resolve conflicts in style and values, and develop trust, cohesion, and shared norms (bormann, 1990; tuckman, 1965). team interactions differ overtime based on a group’s stage of development (mcgrath, 1991). virtual team interactions and activities accelerate leading up to interim deadlines (gersick, 1988). many studies explained the effectiveness of using gamification to engage and motivate student learning, however, there are few studies to investigate whether integrating the concepts of gamification and team development could help tertiary education students with multicultural and multidisciplinary to learn new knowledge collaboratively in a challenge-based online game platform. the purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate whether the design of an etournament with the integration of concepts of gamification and team development could help a number of 416 (n=416) tertiary education students with multicultural and multidisciplinary to develop their teamwork skills through playing a challenge-based online game called pagamo. all the virtual teams formed in this study had to complete a series of online tasks and training, from strategising to playing by answering questions on the seventeen united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs) correctly. virtual teams, by definition, are teams that are geographically and/or temporally dispersed and are brought together by information and communication technologies (icts) to accomplish assigned tasks (powell et al., 2004). hence, good use of technology choices are key to developing successful virtual team processes and structure (maruping & agarwal, 2004) together with digital games to enhance learning effectiveness, learning motivation, and learning attitudes (shih, shih, shih, su, & chuang, 2010). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 65 published by scholink inc. this study was conducted under a project titled “developing multidisciplinary and multicultural competences through gamification and challenge-based collaborative learning” (“ccgame project” in short) which is led by one of the leading liberal arts universities in hong kong, in collaboration with three other higher education institutions in hong kong as well as a university in australia. the project is funded by the university grants committee of the hong kong special administrative region and the leader university, and its aim is to better prepare students to work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams by deploying gamified learning. the ccgame project is unique in such a way that the project team adopted a gamified and challenge-based approach with an aim to nurture students’ competences to solve global challenges. the seventeen sdgs (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) proposed by the united nations were adopted as the theme of collaborative tasks/challenges in this study. after conducting the first etournament in early 2019 as a pilot and with reference to the internal review as well as the participant feedback and comments, several enhancements were implemented, and the etournament was run again in january 2020 by inviting tertiary education students from all over the world. 416 participants from 42 home regions and 37 higher education institutions were recruited and deliberately put into teams of 4-5 by the project team, in which all members were of diverse backgrounds and new to each other. in order to proceed to the different stages of the etournament, all the virtual teams had to complete a series of online tasks and training in moodle, from strategising to playing an online game (pagamo) by answering questions correctly on the seventeen sdgs. multiple sources of evidence were used in this descriptive case study (yin, 1984, p. 23) to interpret the development of virtual teams over a period of 16 days of the etournament. in this study, qualitative methods such as online chat contents and audio-recorded online discussions were used to allow us to examine events from a holistic perspective as they occurred naturally. these methods are oriented toward discovery and exploration, and lead to the generation of a theory that is thoroughly found from the data (reichardt & cook, 1979). the top 10 teams’ online discussions collected from their chosen messaging platforms during the etournament in relation to team building and game strategising (i.e., missions selected; strategies to acquire/attack/upgrade the territory in pagamo to earn scores etc.) were analysed and the findings were further supplemented with the quantitative data collected from the two selected post-game questionnaire questions regarding participants’ overall impression of the etournament and their perceived improvement of increasing awareness of sdgs. the four themes categorised from the keyword framework devised for this study are positively coherent with the rationale of designing this etournament in terms of team building and game strategising. quantitative results also reviewed that over 79% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they enjoyed the etournament in general, and 84% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they become more aware of the sdgs because of the etournament. findings from the qualitative data may offer different views from that of the quantitative one but they should support each other in terms of the study paradigms (smith & heshusius, 1986) and such a comparison is useful for establishing validity and reliability (goetz & lecompte, 1984) of a study. however, findings in this study showed little evidence in supporting team-playing in pagamo due to the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 66 published by scholink inc. nature of the game design itself regardless of the teamwork skills developed in the early stage of the etournament. suggestions to address some limitations found in this study will also be presented for future improvement. the findings in this study provided some useful insights for educators/educational developers who want to deploy similar innovative technologies to facilitate students’ collaborative team learning through gamification when they can only meet online. 2. literature review 2.1 what is gamification and challenging game-based learning? gamification refers to the use of game elements, such as design techniques, thinking, and mechanics to enhance non-game contexts to engage users with the adoption of information technologies (khaleel, sahhari, wook, & ismail, 2016, p. 868). gamification does not require “game playing” in the traditional sense, but it requires the adoption of the reward system of games, where participants receive points, proceed to higher levels, or receive badges for good performance (deterding et al., 2011). this setting allows participants to experience game-like dynamics to earn rewards (e.g., points and badges), track their performance, set goals, join challenges, and compete with others in the community (burke, 2014). wang and chen (2010) found that challenging games enable students more challenging and engaging in gaming activities. therefore, the positive impact of using challenge-based approach gamification can improve student’s engagement, expanding time working on tasks, and increasing satisfaction/enjoyment with learning (gibson, 2018; johnson & adams, 2010). suh et al. (2016) reported that gamification could offer a wider variety of solutions that can better motivate students to learn collaboratively instead of individually. clarke-midura, code, mayrath, and dede (2012) suggested that digital games and simulations designed for team performance are characterised by integrated, media-rich contexts with multiple layers of interaction with peers as well as computational resources, which provides a foundation for authentic performance of individual and team-based problem-solving processes. 2.2 gamified learning experience gamified learning not only offers students enjoyable learning experience but also improves their positive perceptions of the overall game experience if they are able to interact with games effectively as suggested by klimmt, hartmann, and frey (2007). chen, wann-yih, and dennison (2018) further concluded the enjoyable gamified learning experience is dependent on: (i) how participants feel during game-play; (ii) whether game experience matches the prerequisite and characteristics; and (iii) balance between participants’ own abilities/skills and demands of the game-tasks. 2.3 how the use of internet technology facilitate virtual team-collaboration? the popularity of using internet technology to connect the world allows immediate responses with constant updates through messaging applications like whatsapp, wechat, skype etc. the immediacy of responses received from the virtual platform can better facilitate discussion and engagement with a constant update (rozzell et al., 2014). participants are likely using other platforms like social media more frequently for discussion (bolton et al., 2013; lau, chan, wong, kwong, & gibson, 2019). with the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 67 published by scholink inc. support of the advanced technologies to facilitate the online challenge-based gamified learning, students will be motivated by their curiosity and desire to learn more by solving real-world problems themselves individually or as a team (gibson, irving, & scott, 2017). 2.4 how to develop students’ teamwork skills for the workforce in the 21st century via online game-based learning? in view of the globalization, it is important for tertiary education students to develop their teamwork skills for the workforce in the 21 st century. the benefits of using online game-based learning can be adopted to facilitate students’ teamwork skills development in terms of (i) communication skills; (ii) collaborative skills; (iii) critical thinking skills; and (iv) motivation. bodnar and clark (2017) remarked that the use of online game-based learning could enhance students’ oral and written communication skills (p. 36) when they worked together for game activities. bakan and bakan (2018) observed that participants in the game-based learning environment could work collaboratively to achieve the game goals which created a space where they can freely explain, discuss, and listen to each other (p. 17). cicchino (2015) suggested that by using game-based learning for problem-solving can effectively facilitate students’ higher levels of critical thinking development. last but not least, brewer et al. (2013) also suggested that gamification can improve students’ motivation when they managed to complete related task activities in a game. 2.5 adopting tuckman’s four stages of team development model for developing virtual team it is suggested by tuckman’s four stages of team development model that teams are developed through the process of four stages, i.e., stage 1: forming-team members are concerned with resolving both interpersonal relationships and task activities; stage 2: storming-starts when intra-group conflict, arises as team members resist the influence of the team and rebel against the accomplishment of the task; stage 3: norming-where in-group feeling and cohesiveness develop, new standards evolve and new roles are adopted; stage 4: performing-in which the teams shows proficiency in working together to achieve its goals and becomes more flexible in following their procedures for working together (tuckman, 1965). if a team can be defined as “any group of people who work together” (collins, 2020) according to the collins dictionary, then a virtual team would share more or less the same characteristics. the main difference is the virtual team mainly works in an online environment. it was pointed out by adams and adams (1997) that a virtual team would rely on electronic communication tools for task discussions because the members were geographically separated. 3. background of the study the project team organised the first “united nations sdg international etournament” in early 2019 with 9 of the 17 sdgs adopted as a pilot run. according to the experience gained and the student feedback collected from the first etournament, the project team implemented several improvements to the etournament with all the 17 sdgs adopted, and ran the improved etournament in january 2020 (the event schedule is shown in figure 1). there were 3 objectives for the 2020 etournament, namely to (1) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 68 published by scholink inc. provide opportunities to students from different parts of the world, who do not know each other before joining the etournament, to learn to work together as online teams to complete specific tasks; (2) allow the participating students to learn more about the sdgs; and (3) learn about the different cultures and background of their teammates. figure 1. schedule of etournament 2020 a major concern of forming virtual teams in this etournament was team-building, as the members of each team were put together by the project team and they did not know each other. with reference to tuckman’s four stages of team development (tuckman, 1965), the project team purposely designed the procedure of facilitating diverse virtual team development with the effective use of information technologies. table 1 below explains how the project team facilitated the virtual team development in each stage of the etournament in reference to tuckman’s model as mentioned in section 2.5. table 1. development of virtual teams for etournament 2020 with effective use of information technologies and online challenge-based gamified learning 4 stages of tuckman’s team development development of virtual teams for etournament 2020 with effective use of information technologies and online challenge-based gamified learning forming in this orientation phase, the project team formed the teams by:  taking the role to form virtual teams of 4 or 5 participants rather than by participants themselves to ensure diversity (more details will be given below);  explaining the details of the etournament to all participants through the “welcome guide”; www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 69 published by scholink inc.  encouraging virtual team members to make efforts to know each other via online discussions;  collecting teams’ preferred instant messaging applications (i.e., skype, wechat, whatsapp or moodle) via discussion forum in moodle in stage 1. note: project team has the right to access every team’s chosen chat platform for progress monitoring and data collection purposes. storming in this internal team problem-solving phase, newly formed virtual teams come to know each other better and should be able to:  identify each team member’s strengths and weaknesses in achieving the goals of the etournament before appointing their respective team leaders through communication over different instant messaging tools as suggested by the project team;  appoint respective team leaders as the contact point between the team and the project team. he/she also has to manage any conflicts that may arise from within their virtual team members. norming a stage of growth and productivity developed among the virtual teams during a period of 5 days in stage 1 of etournament for “team strategising”. the project team provided concise online training materials on moodle like understanding culture, teamwork, managing conflicts, a brief guide on pagamo, for each participant to self-learn themselves in their free time in order to prepare/move the teamsfrom the team development phase to the idea development phase for playing pagamo online, i.e., team strategising. the relationship of the virtual team members should have strengthened in this stage when they agreed on rules and strategies on how to approach/play the game which in turn should increase their trust with each other as a team. performing a final stage for qualified virtual teams to work together to compete on pagamo through answering questions related to the seventeen sdgs during a period of 7 days in stage 2 of the etournament. each team was assigned with an sdg and was invited to allocate at least 40 minutes for a detailed synchronous online discussion-the purpose was to allow participants the opportunity to exchange and share each other’s own experience and knowledge about the chosen sdg. a two-stage “strategise-play” approach was adopted for etournament 2020. figure 2 shows more details of the 2 stages of the etournament. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 70 published by scholink inc. figure 2. stages of etournament 2020 one of the uniqueness of the etournament was on the team formation. while most competitions require participants to form teams by themselves, it was prohibited in the etournament. in order to ensure a good mix of students of different backgrounds in a team, teams were formed by the project team. one of the rules followed by the project team in grouping the enrolled students into teams was that there should not be more than 2 students coming from the same institution, even if their home countries/regions were different. at the beginning of the etournament, 84 virtual teams, of 4 or 5 students per team, were formed among 416 participants. moodle was deployed as the portal site of the etournament, which provided information to the students such as the “welcome guide” of the etournament, for them to complete some of the tasks required, and acted as (for most of the teams) the alternative messaging platform before they chose and moved to their preferred instant messaging platform. when the students played in stage 1 of the etournament (duration: 5 days), they were required to, firstly on the portal site, get to know the teammates and agree on the instant messaging platform to be used during the game (the teams could choose from skype, wechat or whatsapp, or to stay on the moodle portal site for the discussions). then, the teams moved to the chosen platform and continued the remaining stage 1 tasks: (i) to agree on who would be the team leader; (ii) to choose the characters to be used in the pagamo game in stage 2 to maximise the chance of winning; (iii) to agree on how the team would collaborate (e.g., meeting frequencies); and (iv) to start to work out the team’s game strategies for the pagamo game in stage 2. when stage 1 ended, an initial review on the discussions of each team was done to determine the activeness of the participants. all inactive participants were disqualified. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 71 published by scholink inc. due to the fact that there were teams with members disqualified, regrouping was done so that the qualified teams in stage 2 were of more even team sizes. in stage 2 (duration: 7 days), participants were required to (i) expand/upgrade their territory on pagamo as much as possible by answering related sdgs questions, (ii) revisit the game strategies discussion done in stage 1 for adjustments, if necessary. at the beginning of the pagamo game, a small territory in a virtual world was allocated to each participant by the project team as a start. participants could (i) acquire the empty slots next to their territories, (ii) attack others’ territories next to their territories, and (iii) “train” their own territories for better resistance to attacks. figure 3 shows the flowchart of playing pagamo. all the mentioned actions were possible only if they answered the sdg questions correctly. figure 3. the game play of pagamo a typical pagamo game screen is shown in figure 4. the bigger the territory expanded/upgraded, the higher the score one would get for the game. on playing pagamo in stage 2, participants were given a brief guide on how to play pagamo in moodle. they could select and complete “missions” of a chosen sdg according to the levels of difficulty (i.e., normal or hard; see figure 5) for different rates of scoring. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 72 published by scholink inc. figure 4. the pagamo game screen figure 5. different missions for the sdgs in order to facilitate students to learn more about the different cultures and backgrounds of their teammates, an sdg was assigned to each team, and the teams were invited to spend at least 40 minutes on a synchronous online discussion (skype or zoom were suggested) to discuss on the assigned sdg in more depth, and to submit the recording of the discussion to the project team for a 20% bonus to the team score. to help the teams get started with the discussions, the project team prepared sets of guiding questions for each sdg (see figure 6). figure 6. a sample of the guiding questions for the synchronous online discussions 3.1 scores and incentives the scores of individuals and teams were calculated according to a number of factors, such as the quantity and quality of the discussions done during the etournament, team members’ performance in the pagamo game in stage 2 (including the number of correct sdg questions answered, size and level of the land acquired, amount of land upgrades, etc.), and the number of active members on the team. in addition, to motivate students to complete particular activities throughout the etournament, a number of bonus and penalty scores were set up as incentives. for example, a bonusteam score was given to the teams which completed the synchronous discussion on the assigned sdg, and a penalty was imposed to teams which did not have team leaders. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 73 published by scholink inc. based on the scores, winning teams and individuals were determined, and cash prizes were awarded. the winners were also invited to share their etournament experience in an online symposium to be organised by the project team in june 2020. 4. method 4.1 participants 416 students from 42 home regions (studying at 38 higher education institutions around the world, majoring in different disciplines) registered for the etournament through open recruitment. 84 teams were formed by the project team as mentioned previously. after stage 1, inactive students were disqualified and 268 students (64% of the initial number of participants) could proceed to stage 2 to play pagamo. team regrouping was done to the teams with disqualified students, resulting in 59 teams competing with each other on pagamo in stage 2. during the etournament, student discussions were recorded as evidence of participation. 4.2 data collection to obtain performance data of the teams and individual students for scoring, and to better understand whether the etournament could help participants learn new knowledge collaboratively online, data collection from several sources at different stages of the etournament was done. figure 7 illustrates the data taken for the analyses of this study. figure 7. data collection in the study the focus of this study was on the two types of data collected. the first type of data was the online discussions of the teams. the chat histories of top 10 teams were extracted. the top 10 teams consisted of totally 43 participants with the size of each team ranged from 4 to 5 participants. the chat histories were analysed through the text mining results from education university of hong kong’s bilingual text mining system (tms; http://analytics.ied.edu.hk/tms). one of the core functions of the tms is to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 74 published by scholink inc. “mine” text data by obtaining the occurrence frequencies of specific words against a predefined “keyword framework”, which contains categorised lists of keywords and their synonyms (a group of a particular keyword and its synonyms is referred as a “keyword group” in this study). when those text-matching frequencies were inspected by categories, they could be regarded as indicators showing whether students discussed the topics relevant to the various aspects of the etournament, as well as their extents. in addition, by comparing the keyword occurrence frequencies obtained from the text data collected at different time periods of the etournament, the changes of discussion foci could be observed. as mentioned above, a keyword framework containing words relevant to the study was required. for this study such a framework was created by adding the keywords anticipated to appear in the online discussions, with further synonyms and related words added according to the observations from the etournament, thesaurus lookup as well as the latent dirichlet allocation processing provided by the tms on the discussions collected from all the teams. the keywords were then categorised into four main themes according to the discussion questions set for the etournament: team building (8 keyword groups), team leader (5 keyword groups), collaboration (4 keyword groups) and game strategy (13 keyword groups). please refer to the appendix for the full list. in addition to the chat histories of the teams done on the instant messaging platforms, the online discussions analysis also included those on moodle, on which most of the teams performed initial discussions before agreeing and moving to the instant messaging platforms approved by the etournament project team. this was to ensure that a more complete picture of the discussions of the target teams were obtained and analysed. the following four text mining exercises (see table 2) were carried out in order to obtain the occurrence frequencies of the keywords of the four themes mentioned above. also, by comparing the frequencies in stage 1 with those in stage 2, the relevant changes in discussion foci over the course of the etournament could be observed. table 2. the four text mining exercises etournament stage 1 etournament stage 2 discussions on team building 1. the discussions on the 3 questions (getting to know the teammates, electing the team leader, and ways to work together) performed in the 5-day stage 1 of the etournament 2. the discussions on the 3 questions (getting to know the teammates, electing the team leader, and ways to work together) performed in the 7-day stage 2 of the etournament, as well as the 4-day break between the stages discussions on game strategising 3. the discussions on game strategies performed in the 5-day stage 1 of the etournament 4. the discussions on game strategies performed in the 7-day stage 1 of the etournament, as well as the 4-day break between the stages www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 75 published by scholink inc. to better differentiate the discussions on team building from those on strategising, the teams were advised to create two chat groups on their preferred instant messaging platforms, namely “team development” (for team building) and “idea development” (for strategising) for discussion accordingly. as it servesonly as an advice, it was observed that some teams just performed their online discussions in a single chat group, or some of them discussed on all required topics without observing the nature of the chat groups. the second type of data analysed in this study was the quantitative data collected from the post-game questionnaire for which all the participants who remained active at the end of stage 2 were invited to complete. the responses to two of the questions in the questionnaire—one asking their “overall impression” of the etournament and another asking their “perceived improvement of sdgs awareness”, with the demographic data of the students (i.e., their levels of study) correlated—will be analysed and presented. the responses to these two questions could serve as indicators showing the effectiveness of the etournament. 5. results figure 8 shows the keyword occurrence frequency comparison (stage 1 versus stage 2) of the discussions related to “team development” of the top 10 teams. figure 8. keyword occurrence frequencies of the discussions related to “team development” of the top 10 teams (stage 1 vs. stage 2) www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 76 published by scholink inc. as illustrated in figure 8 (see the appendix for the keywords shown on the x-axis), keywords were grouped under four themes (i.e., team building, team leader, collaboration and game strategy) with their respective occurrence frequencies found in stage 1 and 2 of the etournament upon the online discussions in relation to team development. it was observed that the winning teams did a lot of discussions on team building in stage 1 than stage 2; moreover, from the keywords matched, the discussions were seemed to cover not only team building but also the game strategies. this may reflect that winning teams wished to be better prepared for the game by communicating with each other and discussing related strategies on playing pagamo which involved their interpersonal communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills to come up with a common consensus in achieving the goals of the etournament. furthermore, figure 9 shows the keyword occurrence frequency comparison (stage 1 versus stage 2) of the discussions related to “strategising” of the top 10 teams. figure 9. keyword occurrence frequencies of the discussions related to “strategising” of the top 10 teams (stage 1 vs. stage 2) according to figure 9 (see the appendix for the keywords shown on the x-axis), there were more discussions on game strategies in stage 2 than stage 1, which is expected, and that the discussions focused on the strategies rather than team building. this observation has reflected that the winning team members placed much of their attention on strategising for the game in stage 2, as they may regard their team building had finished. these game-winning behaviours seem to be a result of enjoying the challenges (wang & chen, 2010) provided by the game which appears to contribute to the success of the teams. however, no team-playing evidence was recorded in playing pagamo. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 77 published by scholink inc. in addition, the four highlighted themes shown in figure 8 and figure 9 fully match with the rationale of team development as suggested by tuckman (1965) that the project team adopted in developing the virtual teams of etournament 2020 with the use of information technologies as described in table 1. these findings appear to provide positive support to the right approach that the project team adopted for this study. overall impression and perceived improvement of sdgs awareness and the level of study of the participant students 286 participants who were qualified to proceed to stage 2 of etournament were invited to respond to a post-game questionnaire, in which there are two questions about their “overall impression of the etournament” and their “perceived improvement of sdgs awareness” respectively: q1. in general, i enjoyed playing this etournament q2. i become more aware of the united nations sustainable development goals because of this etournament (both questions are on likert scale, i.e., 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree) 162 out of 268 responses (60%) were received, which included 10 sub-degree student participants, 112 undergraduate student participants, 28 master degree student participants and 12 doctoral student participants. the results are shown in table 3 below. table 3. mean and standard deviation of participants’ overall impression of the etournament and perceived improvement of increasing sdgs awareness (n=162) question items level of study n mean sd q1: in general, i enjoyed playing this etournament sub-degree 10 3.7 1.16 bachelor’s degree 112 3.99 0.935 master degree 28 4.18 0.772 doctoral degree 12 4.17 0.718 total 162 4.02 0.909 q2: i become more aware of the sdg sub-degree 10 3.4 1.265 bachelor’s degree 112 4.283 0.808 master degree 28 4.32 0.819 doctoral degree 12 4.42 0.793 total 162 4.24 0.862 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 78 published by scholink inc. in general, most participants enjoyed the etournament with a mean value of 4.02 (m=4.02) and agreed that the etournament had raised their awareness of the sdgs with a mean value of 4.24 (m=4.24). the results also indicate that participants from undergraduate and postgraduate degree levels tended to favour with a higher rate, while the sub-degree level of participants had given lower rates in both “overall impression” of the etournament and “perceived improvement of sdgs awareness”. while the sample size is rather small, it seems to indicate that the gamification through etournament had more impact on participants with higher academic study level as it required a certain level of self-motivation and self-learning skills towards game-playing. in summary, the overall impression of this etournament, 79% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they enjoyed the etournament in general, and 84% (see figure 10) of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they become more aware of the sdgs because of the etournament. figure 10. charts showing the “overall impression”of the etournament (top) and the “perceived improvement of sdgs awareness” (bottom) of the respondents (n=162) 6. discussion under the model of tuckman’s four stages of team development (tuckman, 1965), this study was designed in such a way to foster a number of 416 international tertiary education students of diverse backgrounds to learn to work in teams collaboratively (suh et al., 2016) through playing a challenge-based online game (pagamo) by answering questions on the seventeen sdgs. a series of online tasks and training was designed to prepare participants to understand the necessary team building concepts like team communication, collaborative teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking, and how to play pagamo. findings revealed that 79% of respondents enjoyed and engaged in the challenge gaming activities (wang & chen, 2010) designed in the etournament because of their good feeling of playing the game that matched the game prerequisite and their ability to handle the demands of the game-tasks as suggested by chen, wu and dennison (2018). 84% of the respondents become more aware www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 79 published by scholink inc. of the sdgs (see figure 10). the reward system adopted in the etournament required participants to complete the mandatory online tasks/training before they were qualified to move up stages and earn scoring as explained in section 3.1 for good performance, this kind of setting allowed participants to experience game-like dynamics as suggested by deterding et al. (2011). different data analyses were carried out onto the online discussions of the top 10 teams, as described in section 4.2. the four themes according to the discussion questions set for the etournament, namely team building, team leader, collaboration and game strategy were closely followed the design strategy of the etournament for fostering the team development of the virtual teams under the model of tuckman’s four stages of team development (tuckman, 1965) as described in table 1. below are the observations made from figure 8 regarding the keyword occurrence frequencies of the discussions related to “team development” of the top 10 teams.  at the beginning of the etournament, the team members were new to each other, and the winning team members spent a lot of time on discussing team-related issues (i.e., team building) and game strategies in stage 1 than in stage 2 under the provision of icts and e-tools (powell et al., 2004) to communicate with each other. the use of these e-tools like instant messaging could enhance virtual team’s ability to interact and create a strategic advantage (razmerita, kirchner, & sudzina, 2009) online with instant responses.  winning team members seemed to demonstrate their interpersonal communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills when discussing with their virtual teammates to come out with a common consensus in achieving the game goals (i.e., team’s game strategies) of the etournament in stage 1.  with the better understanding of the goals of the etournament after completing a series of online tasks and training, the winning team members spent more time on discussing the best candidate among themselves to be the respective team leaders under the theme of “team leader” in stage 1 than in stage 2.  once team members developed trust and the winning team members spent more time on discussing how to collaborate with each other for playing the game in stage 1 under the theme of “collaboration” than that of stage 2.  it was observed that the virtual teams spent a significant amount of time in discussing game strategies in stage 1 than in stage 2 under the theme of “game strategy” which appears to contribute to their success in playing the game. further observations were made from figure 9 regarding the keyword occurrence frequencies of the discussions related to “idea development” of the top 10 teams are described below.  the frequencies show that the members of the winning teams spent a lot of time on discussing game strategies and very little in team-related matters in stage 2 as participants mainly focused on strategies how to play pagamo in order to earn more score and neglected the team playing element. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 80 published by scholink inc.  the pagamo game is designed for individual players rather than teams. despite the fact that team members’ scores would be combined as the team’s score, it was observed that participants played the challenges of pagamo by themselves. not much teamwork skills nor game strategising they discussed in the early stage of the etournament could apply in playing pagamo in stage 2. there was no record of recording team playing pattern. 7. conclusion in summary, the study indicated that a thoughtful design of the etournament by integrating the concepts of gamification and the four stages of tuckman’s team development model as explained in table 1, could facilitate participants from multicultural and multidisciplinary to learn to work in teams collaboratively in a challenge-based online game. in addition, the etournament had provided game-like dynamics (burke, 2014) for participants to earn rewards like scores, prizes as described in section 3.1 which seemed to motivate their participation as reflected by the number of 268 out of 416 participants qualified to proceed to stage 2 of etournament to play the challenging game of pagamo. from the evidence presented in the previous sections, many participants seemed to be able to learn to work in virtual teams collaboratively through the different stages of the etournament with increasing enjoyment in learning new knowledge (gibson, 2018; johnson & adams, 2010). by relating the results obtained from post-game questionnaire, requiring participants to answer sdg-related questions on the challenge-based gamified learning platform pagamo seemed to promote their awareness of the issues relevant to the sdgs. the analysis results of this study appear to show that the provision of information technologies and etools in the study greatly facilitate participants’ teamwork skills as explained previously. in addition, gamification via challenge-based learning could enhance student’s learning by offering a more enjoyable and motivating experience at the individual level as well as at team level if the game was designed in a team-playing style. furthermore, it could be seen that the teamwork skills developed at the early stages of the etournament facilitated participants’ interpersonal communication, collaborative learning and team-based problem-solving skills which are all important teamwork skills for the 21 st century. therefore, this study concludes that the adoption of challenge-based online game could help students from multicultural and multidisciplinary to learn new knowledge collaboratively in teams to some degree, which in turn facilitated their teamwork skills development. these are encouraging results from the thoughtful design of the etournament. 8. limitations despite the positive and supportive findings found in this study, no record or evidence of team-playing game was found due to the design of pagamo as it was a very much an individual-playing game and data collection for team-playing was therefore missing. moreover, more specific teamwork elements could be incorporated/built into the team-playing game design for direct data collection from the game www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 81 published by scholink inc. itself. last but not least, the period of time for team development could be longer to allow team members more time to develop their trust and confidence in working together as a virtual team for achieving higher game performance. a period of 16 days designed for this etournament was rather short. these limitations could be used as tips for future improvement if a similar design will be used to engage and motivate student learning through online gamified learning in the tertiary education sector where international students can only meet online. acknowledgement the authors would like to thank the university grants committee of the hong kong special administrative region and hong kong baptist university for funding this project. references adams, j. r., & adams, l. l. 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(1984). case study research: design and methods. beverly hills, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.6.975 https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496491222001 https://doi.org/10.1145/968464.968467 https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520911010981 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.06.006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.04.009 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x015001004 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022100 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703290903525838 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 2, 2020 84 published by scholink inc. appendix keyword framework for this study identified themes keywords matching team building introduction/ introduce/ name glad/good/happy/welcome/delighted/ nice year/freshman/sophomore/postgraduate/undergraduate/master/doctor/doctoral/associate degree/bachelor degree/certificate/diploma/degree department/faculty/university/college/major/specialisation/specialization sustainable development goals/sdg/sdgs interested/interesting/look forward/looking forward/expect/expectation/expects/hope/hopes/wish/wishes/friend/friends/together/altogether/anticipate language/ languages experience/interest/experiences/interests team leader leader/leadership/leaderships member/team/role/members/roles/teams/teamwork nominate/elect/volunteer/suggest/nominates/election/elects/volunteers/suggests support/recommend/contribute/work/contact/supports/recommends/contributes/works/contributions/contribution agree/consent collaboration wechat/whatsapp/phone/id/ skype/facebook/fb/ instagram/ig/telegram/tg/messenger/line groups/group/form/forms team/formation meet/discuss/chat/meets/chats/share/shares game strategy game/strategy/rule/strategies/rules/method/methods/idea character/characters/attributes/attribute/account/avatar attack/occupy/upgrade/invade/expand/attacks/occupies/upgrades/invades/invasion/expands/expansion/assault/assaults land/sea/tile/territory/score/multiplier/penalty/wealth/ground/lands/seas/tiles/territories/scores/multipliers/penalties/ defense/defends/defend/protect/protection/protects divide/division/group/groups/divides/grouping level/levels/construct/constructions/builds/point time/hour/minutes/hours/minute/times/energy/money/hp tool/item/terrain/portal/backpack/treasure/tools/items/terrains/portals/backpacks/treasures/resources/resource topic/topics/subtopic/sub-topic/subtopics/sub-topics/question/questions/answer/answers aggressive/conservative/advantage/advantages recover/recovery/win baatar/ buy/ portal global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 22 original paper leading change and crisis: how transformational changes can be successful nowadays? evangelia fragouli 1* & theodora tourlaki 2 1 school of business, university of dundee, dundee, uk 2 hellenic open university, patras, greece * evangelia fragouli, e-mail: e.fragouli@dundee.ac.uk received: july 14, 2020 accepted: july 24, 2020 online published: september 2, 2020 doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n3p22 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v3n3p22 abstract nowadays, the world scene is changing at a fast pace. the increase of competition, technological developments, financial downturns, market expansion, legal and political instabilities are forcing the international business environment to transformational changes. researchers agree that most transformation efforts produce only middle level results. changes can be stimulating in an organization, but are often met with negative emotions such as stress and fear which result in resistance and in organizational crisis. literature review reveals that crisis will always accompany changes. the aims of this study are to bridge leadership effectiveness and leader’s competencies in the context of leading change and crisis under the optimal profile of transformational leadership. the study is based on a critical literature review following a qualitative research approach of reviewing secondary data and sources. the main conclusion of this study is that transformational changes can be successful with the proper guidance and support of the leaders. transformational leadership is considered critical during times of change because of the importance leaders to encourage and implement changes but also to encourage, engage and motivate their followers to accept changes. keywords transformational change, crisis, crisis management, leadership, transformational leader www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 23 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the increasingly turbulent environment, the effect of globalization, the new technological developments, new markets, new legislation, economic crises, mergers and acquisitions, are some of the macro-environmental factors affecting and forcing the world and organizations to change fast (van tonder, 2004). micro-environmental factors like the renewal of technological systems, management practices and corporate culture also create the need for change to organizations. these factors compel the organizations, which aim to remain competitive and satisfy their customers, to adapt the demanded changes, and only these who will manage it will survive (burnes, 2009). there are three categories of change (anderson, d. & anderson, l., 2001; scheele, 2013): a) specific change initiatives that have to be executed within specific deadlines, b) continuous improvement changes as part of business; and c) transformational changes (ashkenas, 2015). the large-scale organizational change or transformational change is very complex and challenging. organizational change is a highly complicated psychosocial process (bandura, 1997; goleman, boyatzis, & mckee, 2002) which affects individuals’ emotions. the change process provokes negative emotions to the individuals like stress, fear, denial, anxiety, cynicism (barnett, 1999; curtis & white, 2002). this results in increase of employees’ resistance towards the requested changes which very often leads them to failure causing eventually crisis in organizations (bruckman, 2008; warrick, 2009). in most of the organizations, crises are usually considered to be threats however, effective leaders can see crisis situations as opportunities, which can thrive with organizational change both within the organization and its stakeholders. barbu and nastase (2010) state that changes may constitute a complex environment which urges effective leaders to deal with numerous opportunities and threats in a faster and better way. leadership plays a significant role in the current competitive era which is characterized by uncertainty; and it becomes the key enabler of the change process and implementation (hayes, 2014). leadership is critical to any attempt of change. authors agree that organizations require leadership that will be able to foresee the necessary alterations for change and will manage to address correctly the need for change, convince, motivate and inspire employees to accept and adopt towards this change accordingly (bass, 1990; burke & cooper, 2006). according to kotter (1995), the leaders are the drivers for changes in organizations. effective leadership brings effective changes (deal & kennedy, 1999). any leader who deals with change is responsible to take initiatives for the successful change implementation in organizations (beer & nohria, 2000). competent leaders are closely related to the successful change implementation. the same author supports that competence means to effectively manage knowledge, skills and capabilities. at this point, transformational leadership enters in discussion. leadership has evolved from participative and task driven style, towards transformational leadership style, meaning that leaders can be both participative and directive to their efforts for successful and effective outcomes (meyer & kirsten, 2005). apart from the desired outcomes, transformational leadership also influences employment relations, as it involves the followers’ participation to the change process. it entails a course where both leaders and followers put transcend their ego and work together for the best of their https://hbr.org/search?term=ron%20ashkenas www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 24 published by scholink inc. organization; their co-operation also develops a high level of motivation and morale (burns, 2010). moreover, transformational leadership moderates the effects of crises deriving from organizational change failures. crisis implies change for the routine procedures, which affects significantly both the organization and its stakeholders with possible positive or negative consequences (mumford et al., 2007). the same authors claim that the collective collaboration between the transformational leaders and the followers (through empowerment) may contribute to the generation of creative alternatives to handle a crisis. for successful changes, leaders must crack the code of change, meaning that they must deeply comprehend the process and the nature of the changes (beer & nohria, 2000). according to ashkanasy and daus (2002) it is the leader who is responsible to diagnose the soonest possible whether there are negative incidents in the business environment to deal with; it is the leader who must influence individuals to achieve the desired goals (northouse, 2016). lastly, in order to bring successful changes and deal with crisis deriving from them the transformational leaders must possess the right competencies, characteristics and skills. 1.1 aim of research, research questions & objectives this study introduces the need for organizational change and its significance for organizations’ survival. further, it investigates the research on leadership in connection to successful change process. reference is also made to the context of crisis resulting from changes due to external and internal forces and employees’ adverse reaction. the study also gives insights into the relationship between the transformational leader and the employees who resist to changes and determines the importance of transformational leadership. finally, it expands research on how transformational leaders should act, and what are the characteristics, the competencies and the skills that they must possess to overcome any obstacles and motivate employees to react positively during organizational changes. the main research questions to be answered in this study are: 1) which factors influence transformational changes to fail? 2) how transformational changes cause organizational crisis? 3) what are the leaders competencies to lead change and crisis? 4) what needs to be done for successful transformational changes; the objectives of this study are to examine and explore leaders’ role in transformational changes and crisis resulting from these changes, and, what they should do to manage them in order to get a positively successful outcome. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 25 published by scholink inc. 2. method the study adopts the literature review method which was conducted to assess the current state of research on leading change and crisis. literature review has the advantage to provide information in a short period time, that is why it is the most appropriate method to use when there is time restriction and limited access to support. the information for the study has been collected from various sources, such as books, scientific publications and articles, regarding transformational changes, leading changes and crisis; and leadership. these sources helped to identify what is already known about leading change and crisis and how extensively they have been researched. moreover, with the literature review method the experts of the topic in discussion were identified. 3. change management & transformational change in the present competitive era, modern organizations are faced with several challenges from the external environment which are political, social and economic in nature. along with the pressures of such factors, the organizations have to compete by coping up with the challenges posed due to globalization, technological innovation, changes in the preferences/lifestyle changes, acute skill shortage and workforce issues, financial forces and also changes in the legislations internationally. 3.1 the importance and need for change in organizations “change” is as complex term with numerous meanings as it is synonymous with concepts like “transformation, growth, development, evolution, revolution, metamorphosis, innovation, and transition” (stickland, 2002, p. 14). change is a natural process that must be seen as any other normal situation in life, without fear and/or rejection (mccleskey, 2014). the need for change and transformation is a reality that affects all companies at some point in their lives although it differs from one organization to another since each organization is a different entity and having a different culture (stace & dunphy, 2001). it is commonly accepted that change momentum is greater than ever in the current business setting and it appears in all sizes, forms and shapes, affecting organizations of all business sectors (todnem, 2005). collerette, delis and perro (1997) state that organizational change is “a relatively sustainable change occurring in the micro-environment system of the organization, provided that this change can be detected by the individuals who are connected with that system” (p. 6). burdus and androniceanu’s (2000 as cited in bruckman, 2008) support that the organizational changes are either the answer to external changes or the answer to other internal factors, like a manager’s desire to apply new methods. according to grouard and meston (1998) as cited in hayes, 2014, the organizational change refers to minor or significant transformation of the structures and competences, which set up during the development process of the organizations. skringer and stevens (2008) as cited in hayes, 2014 describe change as “a transition from one state to another state. cummings & worley (2005) support that organizational changes best describe how an organization moves for a current state to a desired future state, because future of the change is uncertain. moreover, they claim that people who are involved in the change process need to be convinced that it is worthwhile to abandon current www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 26 published by scholink inc. status quo and adopt change. pierce, gardner and dunham (2002) support there are two types of change, the reactive and the proactive change. the reactive change results from the external and internal forces to the organization while the proactive change happens when the organization decides to make changes. according to ackerman (1997) and anderson and anderson (2001) there are three types of changes occurring in organizations: the developmental, which is either planned or emergent. according to hayes (2014) incremental changes spotlight a process to do things better than the past through continuous, adaptation and modification. in current literature change is presented first, as undoubtfully necessary for organizational survival, second, as a threat to organizations and third, as an issue of leadership (thurlow & mills, 2009). for the individuals who will deal with the change it is important to identify the right change model in order to plan, manage, implement and evaluate the change (pearson, vaughan, & fitzgerald, 2005). 3.2 transformational changes organizational changes sometimes are also called as organizational transformation actions (cummings & worley, 2005). transformational change is large and significant. transformational change means deep and profound change that organizations need to adapt and apply in order to align with the demands and challenges deriving from both external and internal forces of the new corporate environment (pieterse, caniels, & homan, 2012, pp. 799-800). these incremental changes spotlight a process to do things better than the past through continuous, adaptation and modification (hayes, 2014). under these circumstances, employees are obliged to adopt these new changes and deal with any unexpected situations resulting from them (zwick, 2002). transformational change is about a process which requires a long time for its completion and necessitates excellent co-ordination and sturdy management support (kotter, 1995; zhou & shalley, 2007). it concerns a process of organization’s reinvention and formulation of business with a vision for the future (ashkenas, 2015). according to stace and dunphy (2001) the traits of transformational change refer to a new concept of the organization’s strategy that develops employees’ work commitment, creates new organizational culture and encourages employees to accept and support change. these views help to visualize the impact of transformational change on organizational strategies, and to understand its dimensions; the new set of cultural principles, new behaviors, renewal of processes and a revised management approach tuned with its initiative. chapman (2002) suggested that transformational change means change in values, beliefs and behaviors. according to cummings and worley (2005) transformational change brings ideal adjustments for the individuals and therefore organizations. according to anderson, d. and anderson, l. (2001) transformational change is the most complicated type of change that organizations need to confront nowadays. transformation implies significant change from one condition to another, which may completely change the way individuals see their work, their customers and themselves. according to paton and mccalman (2008) to manage change effectively, organizations must follow a specific course; first, to identify possible damage, then to find alternatives and decide which one corresponds best for organization’s future survival and finally to implement the needed change. there www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 27 published by scholink inc. are leaders who have not yet realized that organizational changes differ from transformational changes and they are challenged to experiment and adopt new skills and capabilities in order to succeed their implementation. therefore, it is crucial that leaders understand and clear out which type of change they have to lead in their organization, especially when it comes to transformational change (ashkenas, 2015). moreover, it is critical to comprehend the driver for the change and set the appropriate ground in order to be successful (anderson, d. & anderson, l., 2001). 3.3 resistance to change and transformational changes research has shown that organizations’ transformational efforts fail to succeed by 70% (hughes, 2011; beer & nohria, 2000). schraeder (2004) discovered that only 34% of organizations could achieve a positive outcome from organizational changes. many researchers and authors agree that the main reason for this failure of change initiatives is resistance to change. erwin (2009) claims that “if resistance exists it constitutes an important cause of change initiatives’ failure” (p. 10). resistance constitutes a phenomenon that affects the change process, in various ways. the persons involved in the process may either slow down its initiation or even prevent its implementation. resistance may provoke distorted perception, barriers, wrong prioritization and low motivation among the employees as well lack of innovative response. people tend to perceive the need for change as a threat regardless whether changes are large or small, real or imagined, intended or unintended (palmer, dunford, & akin, 2009). above this, if they are not well informed about the required changes they will certainly pose resistance against the process (paton & mccalman, 2008). fulop, linstead and lilley (2009) claim that individuals become hostile when they cannot embrace the change initiative or a component of the change progress. van toder (2004) adds that change, without any exception, is a stressful situation with negative outcomes which largely depends on the method leaders use during the change process. employees prefer to stick to their traditional way of working rather than acquiring new methods. thus, it is up to the leaders to make it either easier or harder for the employees to accept their method during change process. ford et al. (2008, as cited in palmer et al., 2009) claim that resistance can increase awareness among participants, emerge their participation and engagement and promote learning process for the past pitfalls (erwin, 2009). karyn (2002) claims that resistance can be prevented if there are major organizational changes, and in particular these changes modify values and visions, which are in accordance with the existing order. resistance may have a positive effect to the decision making for transformation. from a positive perspective, resistance can play a catalytic role in the successful implementation of change. although transformational changes are made for the benefit of the organization or its employees, they are more prone to resistance, thus it is more difficult for the employees to adopt them. according to reardon et al. (1998) as cited in scheele (2013) these changes can be accepted only with the contribution of effective leadership that will make people understand the benefits from change and will reinforce their willing to change. active resistance proves the existence of strong emotions and values that could help people who resist change to become supporters of the change. understanding resistance to change means to exam the individual reasons for resisting, which www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 28 published by scholink inc. are associated with system dynamics at the organization’s level (yukl, 2013). 3.3.1 factors that provoke resistance to change and transformational change armenakis and bedeian (1999), claim that people resist to change efforts mainly because of the employees’ emotions, the fear for the unknown, the stress, anxiety and uncertainty, which changes may bring. many authors/researchers agree that there are several common forces for employees’ resistance (lunenburg & ornstein, 2008; mullins, 2005): fear of the unknown future, habit, economic implications, security, interference with need for fulfillment, selective information processing, inconvenience or loss of freedom, threats to power or influence, knowledge and skill obsolescence, organizational structure, limited resources, groups inertia. de jager (2001) states that people resist to changes due to an ability deficiency (“i can’t or don’t know how”) and due to a willingness deficiency (“i don’t want to,” “there’s nothing in this for me,” “change hasn’t worked well for me in the past”). resistance is caused by individual factors, personality traits like high need for control, need for achievement etc.; group factors, that is social norms and participation in decision making and organizational factors, such as challenges to the status quo; threats due to the unknown. according to kotter and schlesinger (2008) there are four common factors for human resistance to change: parochial self-interest, misunderstanding and lack of trust, different assessments, low tolerance for change. oreg (2006 as cited in lunenburg et al., 2008) has developed a theoretical model of resistance to change which describes the relation of acceptance towards organizational transformation and shows why employees resist, the kinds of resistance and its implications. other factors affecting employee resistance to change are the lack of communication, employees’ non-participation and the lack of change facilitation procedures in the change process (griffin et al., 2006), as well deficient employee’s motivation and the quality of leadership. good communication leads to employees’ openness and readiness. interactional and procedural justice are also connected to employees’ reactions to organizational changes (armenakis et al., 2007; bernerth et al., 2007) as they seem that their influence to the way people perceive justice mitigates resistance to change. according to kotter and cohen (2002) as cited in kotter et al. (2008) the role of principals (change agents or managers) in change efforts is very important, as their possible failure to support change may demotivate employees. furthermore, principal support is connected to higher readiness to change and lower negative perceptions of change effectiveness (logan & ganster, 2007). principal support has a great impact to effective and behavioral resistance towards organizational restructuring. 3.4 transformational changes cause organizational crisis understanding the importance of changes’ imposed in organizations is one of the most challenging duties to be carried out by managers and leaders. as already presented, most of the organizations are compelled to tremendous change due to various external factors like the globalization, e-business and technological developments, the economic and political instability world-wide, as well internal factors such as culture. however, it is likely that these changes will lead to organizational crisis (burke et al., 2006). beal (2007) supports that crises appear to be new unexpected situations to the organization, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 29 published by scholink inc. outside its typical structure, therefore, the unpredictable need for change which comes unplanned may also trigger organizational crisis. venette (2003) advocates that crisis is a transformation process where the old regime can no longer exist; therefore, there is need for change. the process of change affects both the organization and its employees, more specifically it influences what and how the organisation operates and the way the organisation’s departments work together and communicate. strong emotions may revolt from any type of change whether it is an opportunity or a crisis arise. in general, unpredictable changes threaten employees’ motivation, increase their resistance (leana & barry, 2000; leana & van buren, 1999) and may lead to organizational crises. in fact, there are organizations which because of rapid transformational change have totally collapsed. crisis is a fundamental element of the human journey, which will always accompany change. crisis appears in all forms, driving people into chaos and uncertainty. for example, people technology expansion has radically changed human lives and has improved their quality, however, it is accompanied by complexity leading to crisis. the more complex an infrastructure is the more possible it is to encounter the malignancies of external and internal forces which cause the crisis. internal forces like the relational interactions of people in their organizations, in combination to the complexity and diversity of the business environment makes it difficult for individuations to adapt to the changing conditions thus conflicts are created between them and the organizations (malloch & porter o’ grady, 2009). 4. leading change and crisis leading change is one of the most important and difficult responsibilities for leaders who deal with change. it entails inspiring, guiding, encouraging, and facilitating followers’ effort to adopt changes in order to improve or even survive their business, which for some authors this is cornerstone of leadership (yukl, 2013). according to griffin and moorhead (2006) the essence to successfully lead change is the leaders’ ability to influence their followers. to lead a change presupposes that the leader has to recognize the problem, diagnose it, find possible solutions and implement the right one. not all the attempts for corporate change are successful (scheele, 2013). leading change as the increasing effort to improve the success rate of the change initiatives, and the leadership effort to obliterate policies and behaviors that erode the change efforts. the same authors claim that leaders should persuade their followers of their honest effort to implement changes so that the latter can do the same. moreover, leaders must be good listeners, to show understanding and be ready to change their behaviour if it is required to minimize followers’ resistance. spiro (2011) as cited in scheele (2013) has suggested eight steps for leading change successfully: determine the change strategy, in terms of timelines; assess readiness, make it better for all parties; analyse the stakeholders, recognize the motivation levels; secure a small early win; minimize resistance; engage the key players in collaborative planning, both internal and external parties; scale and sustain the change strategy; build in on-going monitoring and cause corrections. kotter (2011) has identified that 70% of major efforts in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 30 published by scholink inc. organizations fail. to avoid failure and increase the chances of success kotter (2011) developed another process of steps which will help organization to succeed transformational changes in today’s wrap-speed world. the first four steps help mitigate a hardened status quo; the steps from five to seven introduce many new practices and the final step imports the changes and helps them integrate into organization’s culture. namely: step #1. establish a sense of urgency, step #2. form a powerful guiding coalition, step #3. develop a vision and strategy; step #4. plan for and generate short-terms wins; step 5. consolidate improvements and produce more change; step 6. institutionalize new approaches. kotter (1996) claims that for successful change it is important to follow the eight steps in the same sequence as described here above. he states that some people may try to detour one or more steps during a change effort. especially, when it comes to a “simple” decision about reorganization or an acquisition, people may try to transform their organizations only with steps five to seven. the truth is that if the phase of steps one to four is avoided the base on which change will occur is not solid. additionally, if step eight is not completed, changes will never be consolidated. finally, he claims that even if, only one step is skipped from the specific order various problems may arise. griffin and moorhead (2006) stress that the ability of the leaders to influence their followers is the cornerstone of leading change successfully. according to them success will stem from three particularly changes: change in perceptions, change in attitudes, change in behaviors. 4.1 key success factors for leading transformational changes successful transformational change requires that leaders focus to three critical areas: content (external, impersonal), people (internal, personal) and process. content refers to the factors which organization needs to change and concerns mostly external ones, like strategy, systems, structure, technology etc. people is about subjective and internal drivers which include behaviors, the emotions, skills and the mindset of the persons who are participating in the change process either planning for, designing, implementing it or being impacted by the change. it also includes cultural changes. process is about all the resulting actions or strategies from both content and people (external and internal) changes used to drive the change initiative with success (anderson, d. & anderson, l., 2010, p. 24). the bonding of these three areas content (what), people (who) and process (how) form an integrated process approach to lead transformation. the breaking up of the content changes and the people changes is one of the reasons leading to failed transformational efforts. moreover, process requirements cannot be ignored. for successful leading change, transformation leaders must concentrate on content, human factors and the change process (anderson, d. & anderson, l., 2010). kotter and schlesinger (2008) suggest that in order to lead change successfully leaders must determine the type of resistance they will confront and respond appropriately to deal with it. organizational changes urge the organizations to learn how to change (poell, yorks, & marsick, 2009). the element of learning is considered to be a crucial principle for successful change (franz, 2010; schein, 2004; weick & quinn, 1999). according to miller (2012) as cited in mitchell (2013) employees must be ready and willing to accept changes and leaders must www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 31 published by scholink inc. transform their organizations on a regular basis in order to remain competitive. both organizations and employees must realize the value and purpose of the change initiatives, how they are of benefit to them and manage to maintain them for a long time. 4.2 leading crisis as the business environment is constantly changing, the organizations meet strategic challenges and therefore they are compelled to amend their strategies so that they adopt new changes and deal with potential crisis deriving from them, in order to survive and remain competitive (crandall, parnell, & spillan, 2014). by this way, the leaders will achieve a long-term, proactive attitude to their strategic planning. however, leaders must be cautious as it may be difficult to distinguish between their strategic challenges and traditional organizational crises (crandall, parnell, & spillan, 2014). the leaders are not always ready to handle crisis and this has a negative impact to orgnaisation’s profitability, market position and reputation (garcia, 2006) and although they are aware about these consequences their agenda does not include training on crisis leadership. therefore, attributes like leading the change process, taking risks and advancing organizational agility during a crisis may lose the lead from other issues related to communication and public relations (james & wooten, 2005). according to the organizational psychologist, erika hayes james, there are two types of organizational crisis. firstly, sudden crises which happen without any warning and the organization and its leaders are not aware of them, and therefore, they are not accountable for them and secondly, smoldering crises which start as minor internal situations which develop further due to leaders’ negligence, therefore, it is them to blame for. robert and lajtha (2002) state that each crisis is unique, thus leaders should react differently as per the situation they confront. crisis situations require competent leaders to manage and lead crisis with strategies that will enable them to benefit from crisis and accomplish change and growth within organizations with success (fragouli & ibidapo, 2015). researchers have identified a five-stage framework (mitroff, 2005) which represents the stages of a crisis and the leaders’ practices to be effective during leading crisis. the stages along with the areas that crisis leaders must focus through key questions about each one of them are presented as follows (james & wooten, 2004): signal detection; preparation/prevention; containment/damage limitation; recovery; organizational learning. learning is the final stage where crisis leaders try to understand which organizational factors led to crisis and then leverage this understanding to apply the necessary changes to organization’s systems and processes. moreover, they encourage learning from crisis’ effects from past occurrences. 4.2.1 crisis leadership competencies companies and communities worldwide have been devastated by domestic terrorism, natural disasters, power outages, white collar crimes cyberattacks, economic and fiscal crises and life threatening pandemias. these crises bring organizational crises associated with negative impacts like loss of profits, decreased productivity expensive costs needed for business recovery (james & wooten, 2011). during these times of crises the most important issue is how the leader will handle the crisis than the crisis itself, meaning that the leader must acquire the appropriate competencies to limit the degree of damage www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 32 published by scholink inc. or even avoid it, although crises happen inevitably. in addition, it is important that the leader learns from the crisis to prevent repeat occurrences (james & wooten, 2011). organizational crises may be generated by organizations’ failures and managerial incompetency. therefore, leaders must develop the appropriate set of knowledge, skills and behaviors to prevent and confront crisis and strategic issues effectively (garcia, 2006; mitroff, 2005) and determine what are the necessary actions that must be taken (walsh, 1995). leadership behaviour is responsible for the effective responsiveness to organizational crisis. moreover, leaders must encourage employees’ engagement in knowledge acquisition and formulate the right strategies to resolve crisis (dutton & jackson, 1987; wooten & james, 2004). that is why a crisis mindset requires that leaders have the worst-case scenario in mind, and at the same time they suggest solutions. organizations and leaders must have contingency plans in mind, in order to respond to emergencies requiring analysis, assignments and actions (bernstein & rakowitz, 2012). there are five competencies which leaders must acquire in order to have a holistic approach about organization, crisis, environment and the stakeholders, during and after a crisis (james & wooten, 2004; james, 2008): a) to build trust in the company, b) to reform the organisation’s mindset, c) to identify clear and disputable vulnerabilities of the organization d) to be wise, courageous and decide rapidly, e) to learn from crisis to effect change. all the above mentioned leaders’ competencies are the ideal for all business leaders to acquire both during times of crisis and all other business situation like transformation (james & wooten, 2011). 4.3 leadership style, transformational changes & transformational leadership leadership style is part of the overall leadership concept which reveals how a leader can lead and support his followers to perform a task successfully (chan, ng & jee, 2012). there are many leadership styles, which along with the leadership theories emanate from three main categories: personality traits; context, situation or task; and/or philosophical. in 1978, james mcgregor burns argued about transactional and transformational leadership style. transaction leaders lead through social exchange (bass & rigio, 2006) while transformational leaders motivate and inspire their followers to achieve success. according to derungs-ruhier (2011), these two leadership styles are the new models connected to charismatic and strategic leadership. in 1991, avolio and bass introduced the full range of leadership model which is the most appropriate and commonly used leadership model focusing on leaders’ behaviors towards the labor pool; and includes three leadership styles: the laissez-faire, the transactional and the transformational style (antonakis, avolio, & sivasubramanian, 2003). the laissez faire or free reign leadership style or non-leadership style describes a leader who has given the control to his followers on everything without any involvement by his side. the leader’s limited participation demonstrates escaping responsibilities and avoidance to complete tasks. this behavior frustrates followers and triggers their demotivation. the transactional style assumes transaction, a beneficial relationship between the leader and his followers. the leader rewards the followers’ efforts and ensures their behavior meets organisation’s expectations (bass, 1998; burns, 2010). specifically, the leader set goals and states explicitly what he expects from his followers then he www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 33 published by scholink inc. organizes, supervises and provides feedback so that everyone is on task, and when the followers succeed to perform positively they are rewarded unlike, if they fail they are punished. transactional leadership style encompasses different kinds of behaviors (bass & rigio, 2006). contrariwise, transformational leadership style differs from both above-mentioned styles as it entails a philosophy about the future with long-term goals and high values that augment employees’ commitment and their satisfaction. bass (1990) separated the concepts between transactional and transformational leadership and suggested that leaders should exercise each leadership depending on the situation (wofford & goodwin, 1994). james macgregor burns (2010) in his work leadership, first referred to the transformational leadership theory by stating the diametrically opposites with transactional leadership, and supported that transformational leadership is needed today opposed to the old style of transactional leadership. transformational leadership demonstrates a positive correlation to organizational effectiveness. it brings positive results at many sectors, such as the managerial; the team’s performance (waldman, bass, & einstein, 2011) and the employees’ improved attitudes, like job satisfaction. according to northouse (2016, p. 161), “transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people” and thus organizations can transform as well. bass (1990) in his pioneering book, suggested that transformational leadership is more possible to appear during periods of organizational change and transition. transformational leadership theory belongs to modern leadership theories, which are associated with leadership effectiveness in changes and in particular it refers to the relationship and trust developed between the leaders and the followers (higgs, 2003). according to paton and mccalman (2001) change is an integral part of the organizations which can neither disappear nor dissipate and leaders need to possess certain transformational leadership behaviors to lead change process effectively. according to krishnan (2002), the major ingredient of the transformational leadership is the leader’s ability to motivate his followers to accomplish more than they ever expected. transformational leadership increases the influence at the highest leadership level because they act like role models to the employees. transformational leaders have a high level of competences, skills and experience in their working field and they are characterized by strong commitment, integrity and ethics, deep-rooted in the culture through vision (lowder, 2009). they are charismatic personalities with high moral and ethical who wish to motivate and inspire their employees and help them fulfill their potential (higgs, 2003). transformational leaders influence employees’ attitudes by alleging a positive vision for the future, develop an interactive intellectual dialogue with them about change and nourish their confidence in implementing change. they motivate employees to overcome themselves, inspires collective work rather than individual in order to successfully manage organizational changes and achieve the organization’s goals. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 34 published by scholink inc. 4.3.1 the dimensions of transformational leadership there are four common dimensions (bass & riggio, 2006): idealized influence (yukl, 2013; bass & rigio, 2006) inspirational motivation (im). according to tims et al. (2011), through intellectual stimulation leaders develop a culture of active thinking which enhances employees’ participation in the organization. research has shown that all four dimensions influence organizational changes in a different way (avolio & bass, 2004) and they are linked to leadership effectiveness and high performance of the employees. more specifically, it results that with idealized influence followers are willing to trust and emulate the leader. the leader increases confidence and ethical standards. shamir (1993) as cited in bass and rigio (2006) posits that leaders with high confidence and self-determination can transform their followers through regular communication and the provision of confidence and self-esteem and lead them to achieve great accomplishments. leithwood and jantzi (2000) suggest that there are six dimensions of transformational leadership that the leader holds and applies: to build vision and goals, to provide intellectual stimulation, to offer individualized support, to symbolize professional practices and values. to demonstrate high performance expectations, to develop structures to enhance participation in decisions. ancona et al. (2007) refer to four behaviors that a leader processes: sense making, visioning, relating and inventing. if a leader shows weakness in solving out a case his employees will lose their enthusiasm and energy and will be ineffective in implementing changes. yates also supports that leaders have a 4-e framework of capabilities that includes: envisioning a values-driven set of goals and strategies, enabling their achievement by selecting appropriate methods, tools and people, empowering others by developing trust and interdependence between leaders and followers, energizing everybody to drive the change. northouse (2016) states that although the transformational leader has a crucial role in the transformation process he is inextricably linked with the followers. moreover, northouse (2016) supports that a transformational leader has the following qualities: creates a vision; is a role model with high ethical and values; is a change agent and illustrates how to initiate and implement change; helps others so that they contribute to the organization’s growth, thus help the organisation; empowers followers to do their best for the organization; listens to all aspects and develops cooperation. posdakoff et al. (2016), recognize six behaviors that characterize the transformational leaders: the provision of an appropriate model; the identification and articulation of a vision; promotion of group goals; provision of individual support. the leader shows respect to the needs and feelings of his followers; intellectual stimulation. high performance expectations. higgs and rowland (2011) as cited in hayes (2014) have reported that successful change implementation includes five behaviors of leaders: creating the case for change ,ensuring that change is based on an in-depth understanding of the issues, engaging others and building commitment, developing effective plans and good monitoring practices facilitating and developing the capability of those involved. transformational leaders act with ethics and values that go beyond their agenda and conviction. their main characteristic is their ability to comprehend interpersonal relationships and to view the qualities, beliefs and personality of their team’s individuals. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 35 published by scholink inc. however, transformational leadership and ethical behaviors are not easy to relate, but situational factors like the type of the industry can bring the desired equilibrium. the end values of the transformational leaders like honor, justice, integrity can transform followers and make them change their own beliefs, attitudes and goals and thus bring positive coherence between the leaders’ and followers’ value systems (krishnan, 2002). transformational leaders are confident about being successful without relying on luck to achieve their goals. ιt is this belief they have for themselves, that helps them to transform the people around them (chammas, 2010). they lead changes in strategies, mission and culture through qualities like shared values, vision and relationship building and thus create compelling change to both an organization and its employees (griffin, 2003). 5. conclusion the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership and successful transformational changes and crisis situations as their outcome. in order to examine this a literature review was presented and was critically reviewed in order to develop an essential understanding. change is inevitable. it has become a key component for organizations who seek to perform successfully and maintain the competitive edge, though innovation and sustainability efforts. once the need for change is identified, organizations are forced to adopt large-scale changes, the transformational changes, at some point of their lives so that effectively respond to the new trends of the global spectrum. however, the process of transformational change in an organization is very challenging and complex. transformational changes rise strong emotions to the change recipients, which may emerge their resistance and result in failure of the whole change process, followed by organizational crisis. within this context, leadership plays a significant role in leading change and crisis. leadership is important to practice throughout the organizational initiatives as contributes to the provision of support, collaboration and transfer of knowledge within the organization (davis, 2014). moreover, leadership is also important for managing crisis, which appears unpredictably and unexpectedly and requires immediate attention and response. leading change and crisis also require specific competencies of the leaders. the main conclusion of the study is that there can be no separation between leadership and change due to their interdependence. it is also concluded that transformational leadership is the most appropriate style to conquer transformation. transformational leaders possess the appropriated competencies, attributes and behaviors to motivate, inspire and convince change recipients of the necessity of change and accept it, enabling them to bring successful change. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 3, no. 3, 2020 36 published by scholink inc. references ackerman, l. 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(2002). employee resistance against innovation. international journal of manpower, 23(6), 542-552. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720210446397 https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720210446397 global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 24 original paper towards the systematic development of marketing students’ creativity jack a. lesser 1* & denise e. williams 2 1 department of marketing, supply chain and international business, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, usa 2 department of entrepreneurship, and human resource management, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, usa * jack a. lesser, department of marketing, supply chain and international business, metropolitan state university, minneapolis, mn, usa received: february 23, 2024 accepted: february 28, 2024 online published: march 11, 2024 doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p24 url:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p24 abstract many university marketing students feel uncomfortable about developing creative thinking skills during college. however, they will soon graduate and face a need to utilize their creative abilities and contribute to their organizations. therefore, this article provides a wide range of strategies to develop students’ creative abilities in marketing classes. it uses gagné’s classical nine instructional events (i.e., gagné et al., 2005) to develop the strategies because gagné systematically and comprehensively examines how to develop effective instructional stages across the entire learning process. the article also focuses on developing specific strategies to help students build creative competencies for very different teaching modes, such as asynchronous and synchronous online, hyflex, and conventional face-to-face classes. by developing strategies for different modes, the instructor will be able to have comparative insight into how to adjust marketing courses to maximally stimulate students’ creativity, regardless of the type of course. keywords creativity, teaching pedagogy, instructional effectiveness, teaching modes, marketing instruction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 25 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction university business students need to learn how to develop creative thinking skills. the national association of colleges and employers (nace) identifies key competencies for effective career readiness, that require creative thinking skills, including effective problem-solving, managing rapidly changing technology, and navigating diverse perspectives and divergent thinking in the workplace and society (national association of colleges and employers, 2021). indeed, the twenty-first-century business environment has faced unprecedented changes including a global pandemic, a diverse and inclusive workforce, and challenges with innovations that use artificial intelligence, strategies for sustainability, drones, free electronic auto charging facilities, and smartphone electrocardiogram sensors, to name a few, which demand new competencies in creativity and innovative thinking from their future leaders, today’s students. these university business students, and future executives and workforce, also need to have a degree of comfort and self-efficacy in examining issues, such as the ones above, that are uncertain, ambiguous, and complex. university students often feel uncomfortable making decisions that do not have “right or wrong” answers. for example, as aylesworth and cleary (2020) argue, everyone is born to be creative, but students have increasing social pressures at home, school, and in the community, that often cultivate more transactional behaviors and coping skills required to navigate through their lives; thus, resulting in lower interest in creativity by the time they enter college. aylesworth and cleary (2020, p. 249) explain that college students learn to develop a “fear of failure”, and they avoid taking risks that may lead to failure. with a focus on performance, some students believe that they need to have a “3.00” gpa; and, they do not want to be involved in classroom activities that lead to barriers or potential failure in securing high grades. aylesworth and cleary (2020, p. 249) also explain that many students do not want classroom experiences that have much tolerance for ambiguity (i.e., they want to avoid classroom experiences with outcomes that are uncertain and unpredictable). it is often simpler and quicker to solve problems that are straightforward. for example, many students take multiple choice exams in early courses, and they do not have practice with experiences that involve ambiguity. the development of creativity and innovation competencies in the classroom empowers and strengthens students’ decision-making capacity, necessary for mitigating ambiguity and uncertainty. krishen (2021) provides an illustration of running ultramarathon races (races that are over 26.2 miles long) which, as she explains, is why it is also important to teach about ambiguity in business courses. according to krishen (2021), a marathon runner who is “fixated” on reasons why s/he cannot finish a hundred-mile race will not finish it. similar to carol dweck’s (2006) work on the growth mindset, krishen (2021) emphasizes the need for business leaders to develop their growth perspective of achieving a “hundred-mile” race challenge that stretches their firms to win their races. this requires a mindset and belief that they can manage changes, reframe failure, and positively triumph, despite www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 26 published by scholink inc. potential uncertainty and difficulty. business students, too, have the opportunity to be empowered by learning how to develop creative solutions and not be limited by a fixed mindset about ambiguity. in other words, business leaders and business students can have, as dweck (2006) argues, a fixed or a growth mindset. a fixed mindset suggests that a person cannot improve in abilities over time, and a growth mindset indicates that a person can learn to make changes in abilities to master his or her environment (dweck, 2006). a business student can and will find value in learning to have a growth mindset in courses and show perseverance to make creative business changes that master the environment. therefore, this article will present a variety of suggestions to help students develop a creative “growth mindset” in introductory marketing courses. most of the suggestions apply to other business disciplines as well. however, the authors of this article have experience in marketing and entrepreneurship, and they apply these best practices to these disciplines. some attention has been given to examining creativity in marketing courses. as discussed earlier, aylesworth and cleary (2020) conducted research on creativity in marketing. other investigators have also examined creativity in marketing courses, such as azinheira et al. (2022), green (2019), mccorkle et al. (2007), ramocki (2014), and win (2014). several problems exist with these areas of research, though, that lead to the contributions of this article. except for ramocki (2014), the investigators have not tended to provide specific strategies about how to develop creativity in marketing courses. furthermore, they have viewed creativity as a very general consideration that applies to every aspect of a marketing course. investigators have generally not provided any form of a systematic approach to improve a creative mindset, across the different stages of instructional development of a course. furthermore, investigators have addressed creativity as though it applies in the same manner in all forms of marketing courses. yet, different types of teaching modes exist (such as asynchronous online, synchronous online, and conventional on-campus classes). instructors can benefit from learning how they can develop students’ creative mindsets when teaching different types of courses. therefore, this article provides rather detailed strategies about how to develop students’ creativity across different stages involved in instructional development. it also considers how to develop a creative mindset for different modes of marketing that instructors teach. to develop strategies that enhance students’ creativity across different stages of instruction, this article adopts gagné's classical nine instructional events (e.g., gagné et al., 2005). gagné’s events are used as the article’s theoretical foundation to explain how to stimulate students to develop a creative “growth mindset” in a course. gagné’s instructional events are extremely influential and widely used across disciplines for developing effective courses and instructional designs (dempsey, 2002; dick, 2003; white, 2002). therefore, gagné’s events provide a particularly strong theoretical basis for developing ideas that can apply to different types of faculty when developing courses that seek to engage creativity thinking competency development. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 27 published by scholink inc. this article begins by explaining gagné’s (e.g., gagné et al., 2005) nine instructional events. it will then discuss some primary general considerations about how marketing students can develop a creative mindset for each of the stages in the model. finally, the article will propose specific teaching strategies for marketing that move students through gagné’s different events. different modalities of marketing courses are often offered, such as on-campus, online asynchronous, online synchronous, and hyflex (instruction that is both online and on-campus); and, different suggestions will focus on these forms of course instruction. by including each of these types of teaching modalities, the article provides strong comparative insights about how to develop teaching strategies that keep students creatively immersed in their marketing classes. 1.1 gagné’s nine instructional events robert gagné’s nine instructional events (i.e., gagné et al., 2005) have been applied to almost every area concerned with improving individuals’ learning. the models have been used to train health professionals in patient treatment (basir et al., 2021; wong, 2018), to teach the physical sciences (çalışkan, 2014; house, 2002; smaldino & thompson, 1990), and to instruct students in creative disciplines (baba et al., 2017; ludin et al., 2018; hamizi et al., 2022). gagné’s instructional events have been as widely used as any teaching model to develop effective courses and instruction (fields, 1996; martin et al., 2007; reiser, 2002). these intuitively appealing events are simultaneously systematic “stages of instruction” that can be used to teach students. they are shown in figure 1 below, as adapted from gagné, briggs, and wagner (1992). 1) gaining attention—capture the students’ attention. 2) informing learners of the objectives—inform students of the objectives so that they understand what they will learn. 3) stimulating recall of prerequisite learning—help students make sense of new knowledge by showing how it relates to previous experiences 4) presenting the stimulus material—present the material in a meaningful way, breaking the content into chunks and providing helpful examples. 5) providing learning guidance—offer guidance, suggestions, and help to students so that they learn the material. 6) eliciting the performance—provide practice to learn the material. 7) providing feedback about performance—have feedback so that students can improve. 8) assessing the performance—test students to determine whether they have met learning objectives. 9) enhancing retention and transfer—help the learner transfer knowledge to later “real world” experiences. figure 1. events of instruction www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 28 published by scholink inc. gagné, briggs, and wagner’s (1992) events not only have been widely used in education since the 1960s, but they are also intuitively simple to understand and apply. following figure 1, initially, the instructor should gain the attention of students. for example, when teaching the first class of a course, the instructor needs to get students to focus on what s/he is about to say. then, the instructor should inform learners about the material’s objectives. by doing this, the instructor keeps students “on target” and enables them to appreciate why different areas of coverage are relevant. if the instructor wants students to learn how to develop an effective advertisement and states this objective, students can understand why different areas of discussion connect to developing an effective advertisement. the instructor proactively takes a step further and stimulates the recall of prerequisite learning. often, the best way for students to appreciate a topic is for them to recall and appreciate how it relates to an area that has already been relevant. at this point, the instructor should present the material. however, the instructor is “more” than a presenter of material. s/he also attempts to provide active guidance so that students understand the material being covered. once the instructor covers the material and actively guides students to understand it, the instructor elicits performance or has students practice and apply the new knowledge. at this point, the instructor provides feedback that explains how the student can improve. the instructor also takes steps to assess students’ performance and evaluate how well they comprehend and apply the material. finally, the instructor helps students appreciate how the material applies to their broader lives and career choices. 1.2 systematic development of students’ creativity through gagné’s events below, different strategies are discussed that the instructor may use to develop students’ interest in creatively examining marketing issues when the course begins, throughout the course, and years later, when the course is only a memory but applied in their lived experiences. the article uses gagné’s events to develop a systematic framework for developing students through stages. when discussing each of the events, some overview considerations are initially examined to ensure the success of the event. then, a few strategies are suggested for these different events when teaching different course modalities. for simplicity, the only types of courses considered below are online asynchronous (online courses that do not require that students go to classes at a regular time), online synchronous (online courses that require that students meet online with the instructor at regularly held times), hyflex (courses offering students the choice of participating in person or online), and conventional on campus (classes that have meetings on campus at regular times). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 29 published by scholink inc. 2. event one: gaining attention–some general considerations for its success gagné’s (i.e., gagné et al., 2005) first stage of instructional design involves “getting attention”. a primary theme about how a marketing course can “get attention”, and also inspire students to develop a creative mindset, can be understood through kelman’s (i.e., 1958; 1974) classical social influence theory. kelman’s (1958) social influence stages offer progressive levels of engagement, beginning with compliance, then identification, and finally, internalization. social influence initially begins by having individuals “comply” with, or adhere to, a request. in compliance, individuals do not have an internal desire to be involved. later, after individuals “comply” with a request, they may “identify” with the appeal of the message. later yet, they may “internalize”, or accept, the message as though it stems from personal values (kelman, 1958, p. 53). a basic type of compliance is, “getting attention”. students may comply with an instructor by paying attention to an introductory email about the course. what causes compliance that leads to identification, or even internalization, from the emails, or in any other manner? it is central that the student, when complying, also begins to identify with the message’s “personal relevance” (kelman, 1958; kelman, 1974). the instructor should initially get the student to pay attention to a message, and simultaneously, identify with it. for example, a marketing instructor wants students to have a creative mindset. therefore, the instructor should get attention in a manner that enables the student to identify with the relevance of having a creative mindset during the course. in the next section, a few strategies for focusing attention on assignments are considered that also simultaneously assist students to identify with, and later even internalize, a desire to be creative. as a brief illustration: an introductory course letter might be used to obtain initial student attention to the course. many instructors write an introductory email letter at the beginning of the course. an abbreviated copy of such a letter is shown in appendix 1. the letter generates attention through humor, and it has the broader goal of building a positive attitude about the course’s creativity. one added consideration is also important when developing attention in marketing courses: generally, students are the same people who take conventional and online classes. treat asynchronous online students (those who do not formally meet for classes) in as similar of a personalized way as on-campus and synchronous online students (those who meet formally online for classes) as possible. three “key rules” to be effective when getting initial course attention and in all of the learning stages, are: be personalized, be more personalized, and be more personalized, yet. emphasize the same personalized teaching approaches to the extent humanly possible, whether online or offline. given the challenge of self-motivation and self-monitoring required by online courses, it is important for the instructor to creatively think of the “equivalent” level of engagement in the online modality as in conventional classes. motivate online students through approaches that focus on personalization and building relationships. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 30 published by scholink inc. 2.1 event one: generating attention–a few strategies for different teaching modalities table 1. strategies to generate attention asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional introduce course: have “owner’s manual” email. offer emotional/ relationship-building: through introductory video that explains importance of creativity. post first discussion board assignment: that explains the relevance of creativity. socialize: develop ways for student inter-engagement outside of class, such as through an “online café” (bonk & khoo, 2014, p. 62). reinforce accountability: insist that students are at first class and require that they have their video on during zoom meetings. presence: require that videos are active when in zoom classes. advertise: the course, and its emphasis on creativity. to students before they take it. engage: ensure outreach to online audience. provide evidence: invite previously successful students to be guests so they can explain the importance of a creative mindset was important to them. only a few illustrations are provided in table 1 about getting attention. some can be used for more than one teaching mode. most of the ideas in this article are ones that have been applied in courses in a minority-serving midwest university where innovation is encouraged. the book, tec-variety: 100+ activities for motivating and retaining learners online, by curtis bonk and elaine khoo (2014), is a useful reference for ideas that may help supplement these ideas. some of the tec-variety suggestions are directly used in this article. the course introduction “owner’s manual” introductory email for asynchronous online courses focuses on generating attention to early assignments and establishing an interest in being creative. it was discussed in the previous section, and an abbreviated illustration of the letter is in appendix i. it uses humor, and inspirational quotes, designed to make it different than other introduction emails sent to students. it also attempts to extend beyond getting attention to relationship and self-efficacy building. the letter is concerned with ensuring that the student has a strong “support system” of help from the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 31 published by scholink inc. instructor. this introductory email can be recorded by the instructor as a zoom message and uploaded into the course. another asynchronous online strategy involves providing a creative online video that goes over the course and explains why the course’s creativity will help students understand concepts needed later in their lives. for example, an instructor might develop a video of a hypothetical, humorous coffee shop for pet owners, and their pets. it might explain the different stages of the course (determine the target market, develop the marketing mix, etc.) to reinforce why creativity will help them make decisions about the coffee shop and other areas of business that they will likely face in the future. a third asynchronous online strategy involves having an online café where students can casually meet with others (also discussed by bonk and khoo, 2014, p. 62). asynchronous students may not have on-campus “friends”, and an online café may help them to develop social support so that they more richly enjoy the course. encouraging a short reflection paper for points generated after the experience documents engagement and invites the student to consider the relevance of the course content. the synchronous online course suggestions reinforce the importance of student involvement in zoom classes. for example, students are strongly required to be in attendance during the first class. attendance in each other live online class is mandated. this creates the opportunity for stackable learning experiences from one meeting to the next, utilizing small group breakouts for discussion and group ideation exercises. in addition, students are asked to have their video cameras on during zoom classes and show verbal involvement in the course discussions. course points issued for these requests help to generate compliance. one other synchronous consideration: “advertise” the course to those who will take the course later. “promote” the course and its fun through attractive graphics design, use of prior student testimonials, and even statements from corporate leaders about the value of creativity competency development in their organizations. by sharing information within the university’s social media and other classes, students will take the class with the realization that creativity is a necessary part of marketing. for hyflex courses, the authors advocate that those who do not attend the on-campus meeting be given strong personalized attention. it is easy for online students to lose interest, with attention given to members of those who attend the class. focused involvement should be given to them. consider creating online teams in small groups for exercise engagement while the in-person students are participating in live experiential learning. finally, for a conventional class, it is important to take advantage of the natural strengths of meeting in person. consider, for example, inviting students who took the course during earlier semesters to share their experiences, explain how the marketing course’s creativity was helpful to them, and ask them to lead a discussion with current students about how creativity in a marketing course will be necessary for years after the course is over. additionally, consider including guest speakers, such as alumni or community leaders with marketing responsibility, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 32 published by scholink inc. in the course to increase student engagement, provide practical application of key course concepts, and be potential mentors. 3. event two: informing listeners of objectives—some general considerations for its success most courses and course text chapters have formal objectives. these objectives serve as a “roadmap” and can be designed to assist students in experiencing an inspirational learning journey. however, the discussion of teaching objectives can be the least memorable part of a class. while objectives are often not internalized well by students, instructors can utilize methods such as short quizzes at the start of the semester on facts from the syllabus to encourage attention. additionally, the instructor can “show” and not just “tell” students about why objectives are relevant by using interesting illustrations. furthermore, instructors are encouraged to be creative, themselves, and come up with alternative, engaging, and “fun” ways to generate student engagement in the objectives. 3.1 event two: informing listeners of objectives—a few strategies for different teaching modalities table 2. inform listeners of objectives asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional reframe the quiz: incorporate a short, fun quiz over the syllabus. inspire: adopt the conventional class strategy here. utilize small group breakouts for idea-generation sessions. encourage students to develop a journal that allows them to review “lived experiences” during the week. smart goals: invite students to create specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely goals for the course with a personal commitment to achieve them (bonk & khoo, 2014, p. 55). consider using a self or team contract to create accountability. inspire: write class objectives in a way that answers the question “why take this course”. personalize: ask students to explain how the objectives are relevant to their “lived experiences”. for asynchronous classes, consider having students take a small, perhaps even humorous, quiz over the syllabus. then, students will be able to develop an initial basis to appreciate the course goals when they are unfolded. the strategy for hyflex classes, about asking students to make personal commitments, can be applied to any of the teaching modes. this strategy is suggested in tec variety by bonk and khoo (2014, p. 55), and it can be powerful. in it, students make personal commitments that they wish to undertake that are based on different course objectives. for example, a student may wish to develop a stronger personal expertise in store design based on a course objective about store design. s/he could www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 33 published by scholink inc. explain the desire to develop expertise in the area and discuss why it is an interesting career possibility. “personal commitments” force students to reflect on what they want to have as personal course outcomes and how they will attempt to develop personal relevance from these outcomes. the instructor may use discussion boards so that others in the class can observe and reflect on the student’s anticipated commitments; thus, creating a community of accountability. finally, a conventional class can build on its natural interactivity. the instructor can have students prepare before the first class about the relevance of the first-class objectives. for any mode, consider working with the students to create smart goals for themselves throughout the semester related to the course. students may also “journal” how they think that the different objectives will be relevant to them across their lives and explain their beliefs in the class. reflection journals are excellent tools to encourage students to use throughout the semester to track their ideas, thoughts, and outcomes. 4. event three: stimulating recall of prerequisite learning—some general considerations for success anything that can be done to stimulate students’ earlier positive experiences will make them more motivated. by trying to recall earlier experiences of success or reframing initially disappointing events to lessons learned, students are starting to integrate their earlier understanding of how to be successful in life with new information from the course (i.e., gagné, 1980; gagné, 1988). they are attempting to develop wisdom about how to be successful (i.e., smartwood, 2013), and the instructor serves as a key catalyst to “stoke” their internal fires by helping them to connect previous experiences with course material. indeed, one of the most prolific scholars about “wisdom”, robert sternberg, discussed how to be wise in a manner that strongly pertains to stimulating students to recall experiences in classes. he explained, “wisdom is not just a way of thinking about things; it is a way of doing things. if people wish to be wise, they have to act wisely, not just think wisely (sternberg, 2003, p. 188)”. applied to teaching, the instructor may invite students to apply earlier experiences that relate to the course because making the connection of life, to learning, generates an internal wisdom about how the course material is relevant. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 34 published by scholink inc. 4.1 event three: stimulating recall of prerequisite learning—a few strategies for different modes table 3. stimulate recall of prerequisite learning asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional enjoy: develop a fun “owner’s manual” for students to answer in discussion boards since there are no formal classes. engage: use small group breakouts to discuss and document learning from the “owner’s manual” for course project. competition: create team building exercises where on-campus/off-campus have friendly competition over the “owner’s manual”; offer prizes for incentives such as points or popular, easy-to-read books/audio tapes on creativity. experience: involve students using “owner’s manual” with game during class. again, learning is heavily concerned with connecting previous knowledge to future knowledge. often, students in marketing courses develop comprehensive marketing plans with numerous different stages. other business courses are similar and require that students develop comprehensive plans that have numerous stages, too. the “owner’s manual” listed for synchronous courses is an approach that has proven to be successful in supporting students’ understanding of such complex processes, which are often semester-long and become the focus of a course. as an illustration, the instructor might prepare a humorous “owner’s manual” (or overall set of instructions for a complex project). years ago, one author of this article had students learn relatively complex marketing research processes for a detailed marketing research course. the students needed to deeply understand these complex stages because they were about to conduct “live projects” for real organizations. an instructor might use the same steps below for any complex business project. first, the students read a humorous “owner’s manual” or a set of instructions for each of the different stages. then, the students were asked to pretend that they fell asleep after a long day. in “their sleep”, students imagined that they met sam walton of walmart. they pretended to follow the different (complex) stages of marketing research covered in the project owner’s manual. furthermore, in “their pretend sleep”, they tried to explain, in a written document, to sam walton how to improve walmart’s strategies through the different steps discussed in the owner’s manual. of course, they did not meet sam walton; they pretended that they met him. by meeting with “sam walton” about a highly familiar firm, they easily applied existing knowledge. by using humor, fantasy, and projection about someone else (a “pretend” sam walton), they explained how they applied quite complex research stages in a fun www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 35 published by scholink inc. manner. finally, students met online with the professor/ (alias, “sam walton”) and verbally went over the different stages. the other illustrations in table 4 are similar, and they may be used interchangeably for different teaching modes. for example, for conventional classes, the same approach as above may be used. however, the instructor may make a “game” during class about the class questions over different stages. for example, the instructor might select a student to be the class “coach”. when students answer questions correctly about the stages of the plan, the instructor might yell “stellar” loudly, and the coach would enter on an excel spreadsheet the “stellar” received by each student. the “stellar” count may then represent a certain number of added m/c questions that each student would later get correct on the next quiz. for hyflex courses, instead, the instructor may have those who are in the class compete with those at home. using zoom, students can collaborate as teams in an attempt to answer questions. for asynchronous, or more simplified projects, students might answer owner manual questions in a discussion board. 5. event four: presenting the stimulus material—some general considerations for success the single most important “present the content” consideration may be from alice isen’s well-known research about problem-solving. she and her investigators (i.e., isen, daubman & nowicki, 1987) had students attempt to solve difficult problems. she found that they were much more able to solve the problems when they were given “candy”. when students were given candy, they had fun coming up with solutions. isen and others (i.e., isen, daubman & nowicki, 1987; isen, 1999) often examined the roles of using positive emotions and fun to stimulate individuals to come up with complex solutions. when presenting material, create a learning environment that works as a catalyst for positive and uplifting engagement with their peers. this “positive affect” allows students to use their mental resources more deeply. by providing students with experiences that generate a state of “fun” or happiness, they can reduce inhibited beliefs and handle difficult forms of learning and analysis experiences more effectively. the literature on happiness finds a correlation with productivity, achievement, and proclivity toward motivation (oerlemans & bakker, 2018; lyubomirsky et al., 2005; diener et al., 1999). even more broadly, it is important for students to feel “intrinsically motivated” (or want to be involved) in their learning. intrinsic motivation is concerned with being involved for its own sake because the individual innately wants to master his or her own destiny (deci & ryan, 2013). encouraging students to have a desire for deeper involvement is core to intrinsically motivated learning. intrinsic motivation is broader than “enjoyment” because it is concerned with “why” students enjoy (to master the environment). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 36 published by scholink inc. applied to marketing courses: marketing tends to be an “open environment” field that has no “right or wrong” answers. an “intrinsic motivation” (getting students excited for its own sake) teaching philosophy is particularly important in marketing and other “open environment” courses. it is key to excite marketing students for its own sake, as opposed to trying to find “right or wrong” answers. how to “present the content”, that stresses “intrinsic motivation” in an open-environment area, such as marketing? as background about how to do this, consider a research study conducted by one of the authors of this article (lesser, 2001). the author examined a wide range of different types of motives of individuals. part of the study focused on the following different considerations of intrinsic motivation: pure enjoyment, perceived competence, self-determination, curiosity, self-determination, curiosity, and a sense of challenge. the research found that none of these dimensions could be statistically separated. for example, a desire for perceived competence was statically inseparable from having a desire for challenge, or from a desire for pure enjoyment. applied to presenting content in courses: use all of the different intrinsic motivation dimensions when presenting course content. they build on each other. make courses “fun”. have emails that show humor. the marketing instructor is attempting to make a student feel more challenged by using a sense of humor. reach each student individually, as much as possible, and show a sense of self-determination. the student will find the material to have personal relevance. make comments in discussion boards, and through assignments that “build up a student’s perceived competence”. change teaching approaches and always make students feel a sense of challenge. liberally use each of these different forms of intrinsic motivation together. 5.1 event four: presenting the stimulus material—a few strategies for different teaching modes table 4. present stimulus material asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional use humor: prepare humorous, inspirational videos of material each week. reflect: provide students with earlier papers. ask previous students who wrote them to prepare advice. pop quiz: prepare a humorous “pop quiz” over material that students need to answer before first class. give humorous gifts to praise students when they answer questions. game: make a game out of having online students compete with those who come to classes. party: same “pop quiz” as for synchronous students but focuses even more on having a special class party. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 37 published by scholink inc. when presenting stimulus materials during teaching, it is important to use all of the different dimensions of intrinsic motivation. encourage students to enjoy the material, be curious and challenged, feel more competent, and have a sense of self-determination. the different strategies presented across the modalities are most effective when the instructor attempts to use all of these intrinsic motivation dimensions together. some strategies in the table involve a humorous “pop quiz”. it is no “pop quiz”, but merely a fun chance for students to review areas with the instructor with the title, “pop quiz”. by telling students in advance that they have a “hoax” pop quiz for the next class, they paradoxically find the experience to be fun and unintimidating. the humorous “pop quiz” should use each of the different types of intrinsic motivation. the instructor might give students a pop quiz, couched with obvious humor and perhaps written in jokerman font at the end of a class, to summarize the material. students are asked to answer the questions at the beginning of the next class. the instructor can build on the suspense of the “fun quiz” by having joke emails between the two classes about different possible answers. during the class period, the instructor may give small “gag gifts” and other minor awards to students. the instructor should attempt to “build up” students who get questions correct, as well as those who do not, to support their perceived competence. for example, the instructor might yell, “stellar”, after a student gets a “pop quiz” question correct in class. when a student misses or fails to answer, the instructor might ask him or her to try (again) and yell, “stellar” when the student indeed tries. another student might record the number of “stellars” that students receive, and the instructor would use the “stellar count” to award students with gag gifts and, possibly, add “questions correct” on the next quiz (realize that some instructors are more comfortable than others, about providing humor. in addition, some diverse faculty may be very concerned about establishing credibility in the classroom. they may have a very concrete concern about how humor can reduce their effectiveness if they are not careful). 6. event five: providing learning guidance—some general considerations for success “presenting content” and “providing learning guidance” are interrelated, “flip sides” of the same educational process. “providing learning guidance” is heavily concerned with being a 24 x 7 personalized support system to develop strong student engagement with the content. it often means to provide a sense of student intrinsic motivation and make students feel excited and challenged, outside of the formal class. in marketing courses, having learning guidance also partially means helping students develop an increased tolerance for ambiguity about the relatively abstract and open-environment areas that are part of marketing courses. how does an instructor develop a “24 x 7” student support system to feel excited about courses that require a relatively high tolerance for ambiguity? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 38 published by scholink inc. in part, think of ways to make tolerance for ambiguity a positive course attribute. in marketing and other “open environment” courses that require a tolerance for ambiguity, students need to have a creative mindset and self-efficacy in their ability to find solutions. there is no simple solution about how to make students develop an open-minded creative mindset when analyzing ambiguous situations. however, developing students’ tolerance for ambiguity appears to be critical so that they effectively manage the turbulent environments of the future. furthermore, the instructor ought to explain why it is important to have a tolerance for ambiguity. indeed, an instructor might build on the baden and higgs (2015) explanation of wisdom as knowing “what we do not know”. specifically, they (baden & higgs, 2015) argue that “it is wiser to pursue incomplete, messy, contextualized, uncertain knowledge that enriches our understanding of how to promote human welfare than to amass lots of clean data that is easy to manipulate and present, but yet is based on false assumptions” (p. 541). the instructor needs to explain to students that the development of skills that will enable them to manage ambiguity, is key to providing lasting solutions and having career success in addition, the instructor ought to be very positive about how easy—and “fun”—it is for students to become proficient at developing a creative mindset. the instructor can integrate each of the different intrinsic motivation dimensions when thinking of creative ways to help students expand creative ideas, both inside and outside of actual classes. for example, outside of formal classes, the instructor can help students attempt to “self-determine” how concepts relate to their own lived experiences and later lives. during actual classes, the instructor might call on students in a personalized manner, such as by using their initials or nicknames, being very careful to ensure correct pronunciations, particularly given the variety of indigenous pronunciations. even when emailing students, perhaps the instructor should continue using their initials or nicknames. more importantly, the instructor ought to think of ways to have positive reinforcement unexpectedly. for example, when one student in a team of members makes a nice contribution, write a team email about the thought that was shown. make an ongoing, out-of-class effort to build up students through the interrelated dimensions of enjoyment, perceived competence, curiosity, challenge, and self-determination. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 39 published by scholink inc. 6.1 event five: providing learning guidance—a few strategies for different modes table 5. provide learning guidance asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional be accessible: provide a humorous “help button” on course website. have zoom meetings to work with small groups of students. justify creativity: early in the course, explain the relevance of having a tolerance for ambiguity in life. give unexpected help: identify areas early that may be difficult for students. provide numerous illustrations to help them. prepare work that students do not expect from the instructor. support students: encourage students to get help from the instructor and others. some students may be able to meet each other over coffee. support students through others: develop ongoing help from the faculty, and previous students, about how to deal with ambiguous issues. have a course “board of directors” consisting of earlier students who did well. they hold brief “office hours” with current students. the instructor is a coach, and s/he involves their creative mindsets to generate stimulating, engaging, and creative ways to help students help themselves. an “asynchronous online” strategy involves having a “help button” in different parts of the student’s course web pages. use it to offer ways to get personal help. several added illustrations are provided for learning guidance in table 5. indeed, have a “board of directors” of previous students or alumni who work with the instructor to assist students. they could meet with students one hour per week, in the instructor’s office or online, and be given titles for their help. 7. event six: eliciting performance—some general considerations for success eliciting performance, or inviting students to practice what they have learned, is an important way for students to develop a lasting ability to develop strategies for an uncertain environment. the best way to get students to practice is to be proactive. write to students early and ask if they may help with assignments. be “kind but firm” when getting students to practice. be extremely positive and concerned in emails, and in every possible interaction. think of ways to help students, even before they start working on the assignments, too. nevertheless, be firm about requesting that everyone practices and completes assignments. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 40 published by scholink inc. stress that students initially take small steps to practice course concepts. write, and talk with, students early about helping them and show a sense of humor (for example, possibly write, “do it today because halloween is not far away”). be extremely positive when students are late on early assignments, but request compliance about completing “small steps”/assignments over time. 7.1 event six: eliciting performance—a few strategies for different modes table 6. elicit performance asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional have role models: in tec book, poster sessions, and gallery tours, “online café” from bonk & khoo (2014, pp. 275-276): request that students from earlier semesters make assignments available for current students. this “poster gallery tour” can be kept permanently. develop party: same as for event 4, synchronous online. prepare “fun” assignment answered as a “fun party” during zoom class. use peer coaching: adapted from tec book, select a critical friend, from bonk & khoo (2014, pp. 275-276): select a “friend” in class, or at home, who can critically evaluate the work of another. proofing helps learning: in tec book, grammar check, peer check, bonk & khoo (2014, pp. 272-273). have students edit drafts of other students. this editorial process helps students understand the entire logic of an assignment. two areas to elicit performance, in table 7, are simple to appreciate, and practical. first, as discussed for the hyflex mode, have students select a “friend” in the class who can critically evaluate the member’s work. anyone can feel “stuck” when developing assignments, particularly when preparing creative work. it can be invaluable to find a “friend” who helps out. the other strategy, for conventional classes, is also invaluable. ask members to “proof” drafts of work from others. “proofing” is extremely educational; a student who proofs considers how to develop the overall flow of the work, and understands the logic involved in applying concepts. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 41 published by scholink inc. 8. events seven and eight: providing feedback about performance and assessing the performance—some general considerations for success gagné (i.e., gagné et al., 2005) consider event seven, providing feedback, to be about formative feedback so that students can improve. event eight, assessing feedback, is about the student’s final assessment of learning. this section gives the most attention to event seven or providing formative feedback. when developing formative feedback, it is important to give timely feedback so that the student can learn from it and improve later work. develop a “progressive strategy” that gives students a chance to become better and better at developing their work. this is particularly important for courses that center on creative and abstract concepts, such as marketing courses. attempt to have multiple different overlapping assignments that interactively build into each other. some early assignments can be handled in discussion boards and be worth little. others can be worth more but are still viewed to be practice for final papers. ideally, students should develop final papers that have gone through earlier stages of practice and development. team projects, too, can be evaluated several times during the semester, with the first one having only a minimal grade. another consideration about feedback: how “kind” should evaluative comments be, and how detailed? for example, an instructor of this article initially tends to write “kind comments” in his evaluations. then, he considers different specific sections of student papers and discusses specific areas that need improvement. most of the time, students appreciate the “up-front” kind, detailed comments. however, be aware that some students from structured fields tend to dislike kindness—and detailed suggestions. many of them are from disciplines in which answers tend to be more “right or wrong”. the goal needs to be focused on encouragement but also continuous improvement and authentic feedback on the areas of development. pintrich and schunk (1996) argue that, when encouraging learners with praise, to be direct and unambiguous and tie comments to positive learning outcomes. brophy (2010) also suggests, “when praise is bland and uniformly presented, and given without regard to performance, it tends to be ineffective (p. 262)”. the best approach is to write a polished draft of comments to students. write believable comments of praise that show thought and effort. explain specific ways that the student should improve and how these forms of improvement will help the student in later assignments. when the instructor reads the later work, bring up the areas of improvement and how much they are valued. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 42 published by scholink inc. 8.1 events seven and eight: providing feedback about performance and assessing the performance—a few strategies for different modes table 7. provide feedback and assess performance asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional provide feedback: write a polished “basic” draft of comments that begin with strong praise, to the extent possible, and then provide detailed suggestions for improvement. make it polished, detailed, and to the point. provide feedback: include online practice reviews and practice tests. assess performance: administer pre-and post-tests to check for progression of performance. provide feedback, in tec book, from bonk & khoo (2014, pp. 84-85): have mentors available through mobile messaging for help. provide feedback: embed formative assessment opportunities throughout course website. provide feedback: in tec book, from bonk & khoo (2014, pp. 77-78). have students reflect on what is working well, and not working well. this gives students a formative chance to give advice. assess performance: revise 20% of each class every semester. usually impossible to drastically change most courses. in creative courses, such as marketing, students are encouraged to have as much of a chance to practice polishing work, through earlier assignments as possible. most of the “providing feedback” suggestions, in table 7 are concerned with being progressive in providing feedback. students in the class, earlier students, guest executives, and other professors, can be used to assess students’ performance. it can be painful to receive criticism from anyone. have a healthy amount of humor and authentic kindness when others evaluate students. encourage students to realize that they are developing feedback skills which will help them when they seek management positions in the future. think of ways to make their formative evaluations engaging, interactive, and enjoyable, as well as educational. furthermore, develop pre-/post-tests to evaluate performance. often, instructors’ evaluations can help the instructor develop long-term improvement and simultaneously give students a chance to enhance their understanding of concepts during the course. for example, as suggested for hybrid classes in table 7, the instructor can incorporate numerous different open-ended oral or written questions to give students a chance to reflect on the course and its evaluations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 43 published by scholink inc. 9. event nine: enhance retention and transfer—some general considerations for success the final step here is to help students remember concepts in a more lasting manner by having them practice the materials in ways that they will use later in life. by giving a liberal amount of attention to “why the student should care”, when going over concepts, the instructor is providing application and “the why” for students that encourages their self-motivation to learn. the instructor has a good “real world” reason for including most areas in a course; the student, at every turn, needs to know the “good reason”. 9.1 event nine: enhance retention and transfer—a few strategies for different modes table 8. enhance retention and transfer asynchronous online synchronous online hyflex conventional reward students: give students awards for course efforts—that they can use in their career searches. remember course through an email: at the end of the course, ask students to write an email to their email accounts. they should explain two abilities that the course taught them to have that they most want to remember in the future. role play: pretend, at the end of the course, that students select a well-known business pioneer (i.e., steve jobs) to discuss their projects. ask them what this person would likely have considered the projects’ contributions. diversity value: take advantage of differences in backgrounds of students by asking them to explain how the course, now, allows them to handle issues differently in their lives. support from others: have final student presentations open to faculty, executives, and parents. guests discuss the contributions of the student’s work in class. the illustrations in table 8 are designed for students to “internalize” the abstract abilities that they have developed in the course and recognize the importance of these abilities later. consider, for example, the second illustration for asynchronous classes, in table 8. near the end of the course, students are asked to send themselves an email to different email accounts and write in the subject area of the email, open in (five years from the date written). in the body of the email, they ought to list two abilities that the course has taught them to develop, and conclude the email with the phrase, “believe in yourself”. some students will forget about the email for a couple of years. yet, most students, several years after www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 44 published by scholink inc. graduation, will find the emails, and realize that they have important creative abilities stimulated partially by the course. the other illustrations in table 8 are also concerned with stimulating an appreciation of “later life” abilities developed from the course. for example, as discussed in table 8 for synchronous courses, students might pretend that a well-known business pioneer was in the final class, such as steve jobs. what, according to the students, might the pioneer argue are contributions of the projects? furthermore, invite relatives, work colleagues, industry leaders, faculty members, and other guests to attend student presentations and discuss the relevance of their presentations for later in the students’ lives. 10. summary: towards the systematic development of students’ creativity the introduction of this article explained that many students feel uncomfortable about developing creative abilities in their business courses. some students have a fear of failure and worry that creativity in courses can impact their gpa. others do not have much tolerance for ambiguity. they have had multiple choice quizzes, and highly structured early courses, and find creative business courses to be intimidating. however, these students’ eventual careers, and lives, depend on developing creative problem-solving abilities. this article provides some suggestions to develop students’ creative abilities in introductory marketing courses. it uses gagné’s nine “instructional events” (i.e., gagné et al., 2005) because the events provide a systematic set of stages to improve any form of instruction. furthermore, this article attempts to “go beyond” gagné’s events and offers best practices and new ideas that directly assist students to be more creative. for example, the article is initially concerned about getting students’ attention so that they come to classes and read course materials. however, it also focuses on ways to change the student’s “mindset” for appreciating creativity throughout the course, with humorous “course manual” emails (see appendix 1), and an online cafe’ so that class members develop a foundation of social support. the article also attempts to inspire students to build on their earlier experiences by requesting that they read a humorous “owner’s manual” of the course, and applying complex concepts by pretending that they were responding to “sam walton”. this approach attempts to use humor, fantasy, peer engagement, and projection to get students to relax and use their creativity. additionally, the article focuses on engaging students through all of the types of intrinsic motivation. when attempting to “stretch” students by using all dimensions, such as pure enjoyment, curiosity, challenge, improved perceptions of competence, and self-determination, sequentially, the receptivity of the student for creativity is enhanced. finally, evaluations, and all instructor teaching, are concerned with ensuring that students develop abilities for five or ten years in the future, and not just for today. the illustrations in this article are limited. of course, instructors ought to first consider their own teaching styles and develop strategies that best fit their styles, goals, and time considerations. hopefully, the illustrations will stimulate instructors to expand on these ideas and come up with new, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 45 published by scholink inc. inspirational strategies that represent their styles and constraints. the illustrations in this article are about “how” and “why” to teach students to be creative. in combination with gagne’s events, they provide a systematic road map about “what” can be considered to develop creative minds and “when”. references aylesworth, a., & cleary, r. 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(2021). where there’s a will, there’s a way: synthesizing creativity, contagious motivation, and unique projects into the course experience. journal of marketing education, 44, 41-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/02734753211006820 lesser, j. (2001). representation of intrinsic motivation in shopping behavior [review of representation of intrinsic motivation in shopping behavior]. in winter american marketing association proceedings. american marketing association. ludin, n., neo, m., & yeen-ju, h. t. (2018). microlearning application in a multimedia environment to enhance students learning. https://doi.org/10.5220/0007041703920397 https://doi.org/10.26666/rmp.ajtve.2022.1.2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.228 https://doi.org/10.1002/0470013494.ch25 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122 https://doi.org/10.1177/002200275800200106 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315129693-6 https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s309001 https://doi.org/10.1177/02734753211006820 https://doi.org/10.5220/0007041703920397 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 47 published by scholink inc. lyubomirsky, s., king, l., & diener, e. (2005). the benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success? psychological bulletin, 131(6), 803-855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803 mccorkle, d. e., payan, j. m., reardon, j., & kling, n. d. (2007). perceptions and reality: creativity in the marketing classroom. journal of marketing education, 29(3), 254-261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475307306892 mcwilliam, e. (2007). is creativity teachable? conceptualising the creativity/pedagogy relationship in higher education. in proceedings of the 30th herdsa annual conference (pp. 1-8). higher education research and development society of australasia inc. national association of colleges and employers. (2021, march). competences for a career ready workplace. retrieved from nace-career-readiness-competencies-revised-apr-2021.pdf oerlemans, w. g. m., & bakker, a. b. (2018). motivating job characteristics and happiness at work: a multilevel perspective. the journal of applied psychology, 103(11), 1230-1241. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000318 pintrich, p. r., & schunk, d. h. (1996). motivation in education: theory, research, and applications. englewood cliffs, nj: merrill. ramocki, s. p. (2014). teaching creativity in the marketing curriculum. marketing education review, 24(3), 183-196. https://doi.org/10.2753/mer1052-8008240301 sternberg. r. j. (2003). wics: the relations among intelligence, creativity, and wisdom. in wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized (pp. 177-188). https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511509612.009 swartwood, j. d. (2013). wisdom as an expert skill. ethical theory and moral practice, 16(3), 511-528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-012-9367-2 win, t. s. (2014). marketing the entrepreneurial artist in the innovation age: aesthetic labor, artistic subjectivity, and the creative industries. anthropology of work review, 35(1), 2-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/awr.12026 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803 https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475307306892 https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000318 https://doi.org/10.2753/mer1052-8008240301 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511509612.009 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-012-9367-2 https://doi.org/10.1111/awr.12026 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 48 published by scholink inc. appendix appendix 1: inspirational introductory email “put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. this is the secret of success”.—swami sivananda if you hear a voice within you say, “you cannot paint”, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.—vincent van gogh “you can’t use up creativity. the more you use, the more you have”.—maya angelou “laughter is the fireworks of the soul”.—josh billings dear marketing students, i have always had a strong sense of humor. it has helped me “break the ice” and make people comfortable about trying new things! i will likely continue to show a sense of humor in almost everything i do! understand, though, that i want you to have fun in this course—and it begins by developing a good initial foundation. your new mktg. xxx course is now open, and i want you to take it for a spin! your new owner’s manual: what to do when you sit in the driver’s seat? when you sit into the “car seat”, check the controls before you put the course into drive. race to my introductory welcome announcement! then, drive through the different comments and assignments in week one. take a spin through them now! they will take little gas or require any need to use your car’s map navigation. now, put the course into drive! rev up your engine and realize that you are going to enjoy the experience! what can stop you? going into reverse by waiting a bit too long to read any chapters of the book? or getting an older edition of the book? this will be similar to putting the wrong gasoline in your tank! in addition, realize that i am the “back seat driver” who wants to help you! i cannot do my job and help you unless you write me for help. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 7, no. 1, 2024 49 published by scholink inc. take a brief spin through the book! few chapters are due before you take your first driving quiz during the third week. you should not need to get out and “kick your tires”. if you think that you will, honk at xxx@xxx.edu. take a spin around the block now! know that i have a sense of humor—and always will—and that i take your experience this semester seriously, too! there are no “secrets” to driving this vehicle other than to start a little bit early—and keeping in touch if i may do anything. you are “required” to have a most exhilarating semester!! some of you have had a long drive this last year, with the pandemic, and other terrible events! believe in the inspirational quotes at the top of this letter—and they will drive you to go through any spooky road!! i am going to love having you in this course! the best!!, dr. xxx mailto:xxx@xxx.edu global research in higher education issn 2576-196x (print) issn 2576-1951 (online) vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 1 original paper assessing the results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations: an empirical study amir hossain 1 1 ph.d. (research fellow) in english, ju, bangladesh received: december 26, 2020 accepted: january 28, 2021 online published: march 27, 2021 doi:10.22158/grhe.v4n2p1 url: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n2p1 abstract this study aims to look at an assessment of the results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations of 2018 to unveil a 21 st -century education system of bangladesh. it aims to focus on the comparative discussion of the pass rate of different education boards. it would like to find out noticeable reasons for unsatisfactory results of hsc level learners under the ten education boards. the creative system, ict, english, science and mathematics, financial constraints, lack of private tutor and teacher, strict evaluation of scripts, question paper leak, nepotism, and copying in the examination hall are responsible for unsatisfactory results. on the other hand, this paper would like to foster some important aspects for satisfactory results, including to ban question paper leak, to ban copying in the examination hall, and to ban coaching center, to train teachers, to recruit subject-wise expert teachers, to take the frequent test, to create corruption-free education, to motivate learners for creative writing, to establish english language club, to modify syllabus design and lesson plan, to provide funding opportunities and computer training program. for data collection and questionnaire survey, the researcher goes to three colleges in the gazipur district of bangladesh. thirty participants, including students, teachers, and guardians are requested to take part in the test so that the real picture of the results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations can be exposed. thus, it would like to show a novel dimension of bangladesh education system. keywords hsc level learners, bangladesh education system, reasons for unsatisfactory results, ict, english and mathematics, question paper leak www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 2 published by scholink inc. 1. introduction the government of bangladesh places great importance on the education system. in this regard, the government is trying its utmost to transform its huge population into human resources. education for all (efa) is the constitutional responsibility of the government. the constitution affirms equal rights in education for all and sundry. considering this, the government emphasizes providing education to the backward population and its female citizens. the government provides free education up to hsc (class-xii) for the female along with a stipend. it is expected that this will contribute to enhancing the enrollment rate of female students by decreasing the rate of dropouts and enriching the country with an educated mass. bangladesh conforms fully to the un’s education for all (efa) objectives (note 1) and the millennium development goals (mdg) (note 2) as well as other education-related international declarations. article 17 of the bangladesh constitution provides that all children receive free and compulsory education (note 3). this study assesses the results of hsc level and its equivalence examinations of the year 2018 with a view to exposing the current bangladesh education system. it focuses on the comparative discussion of the pass rate of several education boards. it identifies some reasons for unsatisfactory results of hsc level students under the ten education boards. the creative system, ict, english, science and mathematics, financial constraints, lack of private tutor and teacher, strict evaluation of scripts, question paper leak, nepotism, and copying in the examination hall are deemed as unsatisfactory results. for this purpose, the researcher tries to foster some important issues for satisfactory results, including to ban question paper leak, to ban copying in the examination hall, and to ban coaching center, to train teachers, to recruit subject-wise teachers, to take the frequent quiz, to create a corruption-free educational environment, to motivate learners for creative writing, to establish english language club, to modify syllabus design and lesson plan, to provide funding opportunities and computer training program. for data collection and questionnaire survey, the researcher goes to three colleges in the gazipur district of bangladesh. participants, including students, teachers, and guardians take part in the test to highlight the real picture of the results of the higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations. this research-work aims to unveil the reasons for unsatisfactory results of hsc level and its equivalence examinations. 2. literature review in educational research, beliefs about teaching and learning are categorized into two dimensions. they are: traditional and modern. these two dimensions are termed as direct vs. indirect; conventional vs. contemporary; teacher-centered vs. student-centered approach of the teaching-learning process. recent reforms in science education are based on modern/constructivist theories of learning. the teacher-centered classroom/the traditional dimension teaching is a central element of transmission based on the behaviorist approach to teaching and learning approaches. psychologists working within www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 3 published by scholink inc. this paradigm are interested in the effect of reinforcement, practice, and external motivation on a network of associations and learned behaviors (fosnot, 1996). ara (2005) points out that the standard of english teaching in a developing country, like bangladesh, is anything, but satisfactory due to the dearth of adequately qualified teachers; and this inadequacy raises the question of the effectiveness of training. what she wants to express here is that a teacher should receive training courses to develop his teaching skill and how to teach and what to teach and from his teaching skill what his students would be able to learn. without training courses, he can’t be able to realize teaching and learning outcomes and strategies. so, any teacher needs to take the training course just after he is recruited at any educational institution. without a training course, a teacher can’t be able to teach his students properly in the classroom. khan (2005) comments that in bangladesh, the teaching community is underpaid; and as a result, one opts for the teaching profession as a last resort, thus the increasing number of inefficient teachers in the teaching community. khan wants to focus on the teaching profession in such a way that though teaching is a noble profession, it is not regarded as a social status due to the poor salary structure. but, the current government has taken some steps to increase salary for the teachers so that they can be able to meet every day’s needs or to bear educational expenses for their children and other familial matters. tsai (2006) focuses on the evaluation of the relationship between the different beliefs: adequate coherence exists between the subjects’ scientific epistemological beliefs and their classroom teaching. what this critic means here is that there must have a better interaction between a teacher and his pupils in the classroom and beyond. classroom teaching depends on a teacher’s performance and strategy. if a student can completely learn his lesson in the class, he doesn’t need to study at home. so, a teacher tries to emphasize his classroom teaching strategy. according to nelleke et al. (2010), two types of rationales are well-established: a) the way science is taught, and b) students often perceive science education to be limited because most topics of the science curriculum and syllabus design are chosen by the teachers. science education is very difficult for the weaker students at educational institutions across the country. physics, chemistry, and biology seem to be hard for most of the learners. they don’t understand theoretical issues and question patterns in science education. teachers must be knowledgeable and well-conversant on scientific dictum. they must gather practical research experience in physics, chemistry, and biology to teach the learners in the classroom or beyond. teachers try to inspire their students to study and to find out problematic issues of science education so that they may answer any questions based on creative knowledge, but not on bookish knowledge. in this regard, teachers should have a proper understanding of the creative and critical sense of science subjects. markic & eilks (2010) emphasizes the broad and triangulated image regarding the science student teachers’ beliefs on teaching-learning science from four different domain of science teaching. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 4 published by scholink inc. table 1. traditional & modern teaching policy according to rasheed (2012), there are enormous challenges to both learners and teachers in bangladeshi mainstream classrooms because of the irregularities within english, the words borrowed from other languages; and the consequent different phonological representations. it is a very apparent issue that most students at educational institutions are weak in english. as a result, they have lost their attention to learning the english language. when the english examination approaches or knocks at the door, they get afraid of english whether they will pass or fail in the examination. this terrific sense always touches their mind. the case is that it is not feasible for any learner to develop the english teaching aspects traditional idea modern idea teaching policy teacher-centred, teacher lectures, communicating predetermined knowledge; student-centered, student set their aim, determine resources, and activities what will help them fulfill those goals, hands-on tasks, practical work, investigation, and research work. teacher’s performance dispense accurate knowledge; set learning aim, and investigate student’s knowledge by finding out predetermined response. it is a teacher who will determine what to teach and how to teach as a dictator. the facilitator, help students to develop their inquiry, listen carefully to students’ interpretation of data, paying particular attention to any individual’s conundrum, puzzlement, and confusion. student’s ideas (correct or incorrect) are always given priority. student’s performance the passive role, teacher-directed, recipient of information, listening to explanation from teachers, taking notes, raising questions only on occasion, learning until mastery. the active role, creator of knowledge as an autonomous explorer. self-directed learning. curriculum design popular view, planed and well-sequenced structured curriculum, a finite body of predetermined knowledge, fixed and rigid. the more interactive and dynamic curriculum, like a matrix. relaxed and flexible. focusing on thinking and understanding by problem solving or inquiry. classroom management whole class instruction, routine activities, more formal, calm and quite in nature. offer a variety of avenues for exploration various routes of approach. more casual, many things happening; small or peer group. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 5 published by scholink inc. language depending on the cramming system. he must come out from this obsolete idea; if he succeeds, he will master this subject. in this sense, the role of a teacher is a must to inspire the students so that he can properly realize the importance and necessity of the english language for his real-life situation. according to hannah (2013), how a teacher organizes his class, or how he controls it, he yields positive or negative consequences for his students. if a teacher is unmotivated, or negative, there will be a negative impact on his students in the classroom. similarly, if a teacher is motivated or positive, he will likely have a helpful impact on his students as well. a teacher needs to understand this cause and effect to understand how to organize his classroom to create a better learning environment. moreover, hannah argues that the classroom is where learners will gain an understanding of their place in the world and the gifts that they have to offer. it is where all students develop what they want their future to look like, as well as knowledge of the skills are needed to reach that goal. the classroom environment is a must for an elementary learner. a student’s psychology develops through classroom milieu how to behave or speak with others. it is the sole duty of the teachers to help their learners complete the whole lesson in the class; they will have to study or investigate the clue how a weaker student can be understood very easily so that he can learn his lesson in the class. the supplementary task is a heavy burden for the weaker students. there are many poor and meritorious students at educational institutions throughout the country, who have to face financial constraints, cannot expend money for private tutoring. therefore, it is the duty and responsibility of the class teacher is to inspire his learners to complete the lesson during class time. alam (2014) points out that here in bangladesh, the environment of learning english is to some extent unfavorable because it is often seen that a person is interested in learning english is normally laughed at and criticized severely and ignorantly by the people around the learners because of the mistakes, like the poor habit of speaking english. such ruthless criticism prevents a learner of english from exercising in it; and, it ultimately fails. in bangladesh, it is seen that there are lots of highly educated or normally educated persons who are very much interested to speak english, but they don’t have any english speaking fluency. the reason is that they don’t try to develop their spoken fluency at all. again when anyone speaks english, they can understand properly what he speaks, or shares with the listener. but he can’t speak. such a scenario is very common in non-speaking countries, including bangladesh. whatever the case is, the real fact is that spoken english completely depends upon the regular habit of the speaker. there is a proverb: “we learn by mistakes”. so habit is the master of himself. there is no alternative way of practice and effort. according to rahman (2015), the english language is taught as a compulsory subject starting from elementary level to tertiary level for the students in bangladesh education system. whether the students study in different streams of education, they have to learn english from the very beginning of their academic lives. in the education policy of bangladesh, much emphasis has been given to learn english the reason is that english is, undoubtedly, the actual global language. english curriculum for secondary and higher secondary levels fail to prescribe and adopt an empirical approach to the teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 6 published by scholink inc. and learning of english. when the results are published throughout the year, it is mostly noticed that most of the students of humanities group cut a sorry figure in english examinations. due to this situation, they fail to come out successful in their effort and targets. students are very much weak in writing and speaking skills; they have no proper understanding of the grammatical skill and writing skill. moreover, when they would like to decide to participate at the admission test of the tertiary level, they fail to secure expected scores, like toefl and ielts. hossain (2016) points out that the syllabus and curriculum are examination-oriented and prevent students from acquiring language competency. from this remark, amir thinks syllabus design and curriculum should be prepared according to the demand of the higher secondary level learners so that they can keep aloof themselves from question paper leak and copying in the examination hall. the government, the chairman of the education board, educationists, education minister, and the concerned authorities of the country must take pragmatic steps to ensure the quality of education. through concerted efforts, syllabus and curriculum would be made so that the students of all levels can be able to cope with the current global education system. we should bear in mind that the prosperity and failure of a country largely rely upon sustainable development of economy, society, and politics. the education system of a certain country is more developed; the socio-economic condition of that country is more developed. the syllabus and curriculum should be prepared in such a way that no student can get the opportunity of leaking the question papers and copying in the examination halls across the country. according to imon (2017), in bangladesh, the conventional methodologies of teaching had been practiced to equip children with the necessary skills and prepare them for the challenges of the 21 st -century globe. the government of bangladesh took the initiative to integrate ict (information and communications technology) in education and started to implement it from 2009 on a small scale. in 2010, the government of bangladesh came out with a new education policy where they emphasized the integration of ict as a medium of instruction and set a goal to achieve ict skills for every student. as a result, the master plan of ict integration in education came out in 2013 to ensure technology usage at the secondary and higher secondary levels of bangladesh education system. after the generation of education policy and master plan for the implementation process, the government has started to integrate ict in all levels of education. integration of ict in education is still an ongoing process in bangladesh, and it is not easy to shift traditionally pedagogical practices by emerging instructional approaches. however, ict can perform the important role of developing the intellectuality of the younger learners in bangladesh and can make them communicate with the developed countries of the world. without having ict knowledge, many meritorious students of bangladesh are deprived of the global education system. we know that ict can bring about sustainable development of the bangladesh education system. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 7 published by scholink inc. 3. results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations according to nizamul haque, a staff reporter of the daily ittefaq, the effect of change of script assessment system has fallen on the results in the higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations (held in 2018) in bangladesh. due to this system, the pass rate and gpa-5 of hsc and its equivalence examinations have decreased like the previous year. an average pass rate of examinees is 66.64%; 29,262 examinees have got gpa-5 under 10 education boards. in 2017 the pass rate of examinees was 68.91%, and 37,969 examinees got gpa-5. the pass rate has lessened by 2.79%. in terms of gpa-5, the number of examinees has decreased-8,707. in 2016, the pass rate was 74.70%; and 58,276 examinees got gpa-5 (the daily ittefaq, col. 2, p. 1). in the hsc and its equivalence examinations of the year 2018, the total number of examinees is 12, 88,757. among them, 8, 58,801 examinees have passed the examination. 10, 72,028 students have participated in the examination under 10 general education boards. 6, 91,958 examinees have passed the examination. the pass rate is 64.55%. 25,562 students have secured gpa-5. in comparison with last year, the number of gpa-5 has decreased-7,680. now this study would like to focus on the results of 10 education boards in bangladesh: 3.1 dhaka board in the year 2018, in dhaka board, the pass rate is 66.13%. under this board, a total number of 3, 69,760 examinees participated in the examination. 2, 44,512 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 1, 18,399 male and 1, 26,113 female. and, 12,938 students secured gpa-5. 3.2 rajshahi board in rajshahi board, the pass rate is 66.51%. under this board, a total number of 1, 39,330 examinees participated in the examination. 92,674 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 46,608 males and 45,686 females. and, 4,138 students secured gpa-5. 3.3 cumilla board in cumilla board, the pass rate is 65.42%. under this board, a total number of 1, 13,666 examinees participated in the examination. 67,820 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 30,368 males and 37,452 females. and, 944 students secured gpa-5. 3.4 jessore board in jessore board, the pass rate is 60.40%. under this board, a total number of 1, 9,692 examinees participated in the examination. 66,258 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 31,652 males and 34,606 females. and, 2,089 students secured gpa-5. 3.5 chittagong board in chittagong board, the pass rate is 62.73%. under this board, the total number of 96,858 examinees participated in the examination. 60,755 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 28,326 males and 33,429 females. and, 1,613 students secured gpa-5. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 8 published by scholink inc. 3.6 barisal board in barisal board, the pass rate is 70.55%. under this board, the total number of 62,173 examinees participated in the examination. 43,861 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 20,791 males and 23,070 females. and, 670 students secured gpa-5. 3.7 sylhet board in sylhet board, the pass rate is 62.11%. under this board, the total number of 71,042 examinees participated in the examination. 44,127 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 19,186 males and 24,941 females. and, 837 students secured gpa-5. 3.8 dinajpur board in dinajpur board, the pass rate is 60.21%. under this board, a total number of 1, 19,507 examinees participated in the examination. 71,951 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 34,884 male and 37,067 female. and, 2,297 students secured gpa-5. 3.9 madrasah board in madrasah board, the pass rate is 78.67%. under this board, the total number of 97,793 examinees participated in the examination. 76,932 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 42,907 male and 34,025 female. and, 1, 244 students secured gpa-5. 3.10 technical education board in the technical education board, the pass rate is 75.50%. under this board, a total number of 1, 18,097 examinees participated in the examination. 89,089 examinees passed the examination. among them, there are 60,923 males and 28,166 females. and, 1, 456 students secured gpa-5 (the daily ittefaq, col. 2, p. 15). 4. comparative discussion of pass rate according to staff correspondence of the daily manab zamin, within seven years the results of hsc examinations of 2018 are the lowest. the number of gpa-5 has also lessened in comparison with the year 2017. the negative pass rate of the number of institutions has increased across the country. to pass 0% the number of institutions has decreased. though the pass rate of female students is higher than males, the number of gpa-5 of male students is upward. the concerned authorities have condemned the unsatisfactory results of humanities group, english, physics, and ict for lessening the pass rate. due to the decreasing 10% pass rate of both sylhet and jessore education boards as well as the 5% pass rate of rajshahi and dinajpur education boards, the overall results have cut a sorry figure in the examinations. moreover, owing to less gpa-5 of the science group, the number of gpa-5 of all boards has also lessened. according to the statistics of education boards, after the year 2011, the results of 2018 are the least. in 2011 the pass rate was 75.08% (the daily manab zamin, col. 1, p. 1). due to the decreasing 2% pass rate of 2012, the pass rate was 73.05%. in 2013 the pass rate was 71.13%. within seven years the pass rate of 2014 was the highest, which was 78.33%. in 2015 due to lessening 9%, the pass rate was 69.60%. in 2016 owing to increasing 5% of pass rate was 74.07%. in www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 9 published by scholink inc. 2017 the pass rate went down; and due to decreasing 6%, the pass rate was 68.91%. in a press briefing, education minister nurul islam nahid says that their government has taken six strategies to protect the question paper leak in the examinations across the country. nahid also comments that strict carefulness, rules, and instructions are followed; and some important steps have been taken to assess question papers, to revise, to print, to package, to process trunk, and to send the centers. the minister also says that to take the seat is compulsory for each examinee commencing the examination before 30 minutes; to bring all sets of question papers from the treasury to the centers commencing the examination before 30 minutes; to reach the question papers from the treasury to the centers along with the officers and the police; to send set-code via sms to the dutiful officers starting the examination before 25 minutes; to collect question papers from special safety envelops; and the police, rab, cid, the officers from ministry of education, different councils, all boards, district and field administration vigilance team have been prepared during the exam period. according to the information of published results, under 10 education boards, a total of 12, 88, 757 examinees have taken part in the higher secondary examinations and among them, 8, 58,801 students have passed. the average pass rate of 10 education boards is 66.64%. in the year 2017, its rate was 68.91%. 2.27% of the pass rate has decreased in comparison with the last year. 29,262 examinees have secured gpa-5 in 2018. last year 37,969 examinees got gpa-5. 8,707 examinees have failed to secure gpa-5 in comparison with the previous year. 400 educational institutions have come out successful in holding 100% of pass rate. 132 institutions have failed to hold 100% of pass rate in comparison with the last year. no examinee from 55 educational institutions has passed the examination. 17 numbers of institutions have lessened in terms of 100% failure rate. a total number of 10, 72, 028 examinees has taken part in the examination under 8 education boards; and among them, 6, 91, 958 examinees have come out successful. the pass rate is 64.05%. last year its rate was 66.84%. 2.29% of the pass rate is less than the previous year. it is seen in the published results that under 8 education boards, the barisal education board has occupied the best position of pass rate, which is 70.55%. the pass rate of the dinajpur board is the least. in this board, the pass rate is 60.40%. in cumilla board 15.90% of pass rate is more than the previous year. its pass rate is 60.21%. the pass rate is 66.13% in dhaka board, 66.51% in rajshahi board, 60.40% in jessore board, 62.73% in chittagong board, and 62.11% in sylhet board. under the madrasah board, a total of 97,793 examinees have participated in the examination and among them, 76,932 examinees have passed. on this board, the pass rate is 78.67%. though the pass rate has lessened in comparison with other 9 education boards, 1.66% of pass rate has increased in the madrasah board; and the number of gpa-5 has decreased. 1,244 examinees have secured gpa-5. last year its number was 1,815. 571 examinees have failed to get gpa-5. under the technical education board, a total of 1, 18,000 examinees have participated in the examination; among them, 89,089 examinees have passed. on this board, the pass rate is 75.50%. last year its rate was 81.33%. 5.83% of the pass rate has decreased. 2,456 examinees have got gpa-5. last www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 10 published by scholink inc. year its number was 2,669. 213 students have failed to get gpa-5 in comparison with the previous year. under dhaka board, a total of 285 examinees have participated in the overseas seven centers; and among them, 263 examinees have passed in the examination. the pass rate is 92.28%. 16 examinees have secured gpa-5. under eight education boards, students from science and home economics groups have occupied the highest position in terms of pass rate, which is 79.14%. 21,171 examinees have secured gpa-5. in business studies, the pass rate is 68.55%; and 2,437 examinees have got gpa-5. in the humanities group, the pass rate is 56.46%; and 1,954 students have secured gpa-5. the pass rate of female students is higher than males, but boys have got gpa-5 more than girls. this year 6, 80,848 examinees have participated in the examination; and among them, 4, 34,958 examines have passed. the pass rate is 63.88%. 15,581 students have obtained gpa-5. on the other hand, 6, 07,909 females have participated in the examination; and among them, 4, 23,843 girls have come out successful. the female’s pass rate is 69.64%. 13,681 female have got gpa-5. 5.84% of the female have passed the examination more than the male. but, boys have got gpa-5 more than girls (the daily manab zamin, col.1 + , p. 8). 5. reasons for unsatisfactory results according to sariful alam sumon, a staff reporter of the kaler kantho: in 2018 examinees of hsc and its equivalence examinations have cut a sorry figure due to the poor results of english, ict, and humanities group as well as the script evaluation of the creative system. students have cut a sorry figure in the examinations due to the creative system of each subject. on the other hand, in 2018, there was no allegation of question paper leak. the current government has followed strict rules to take the examinations. altogether, five reasons are mostly noticed behind the unsatisfactory results of the higher secondary examinations. the concerned authorities have condemned the difficult examinations of science and ict (the kaler kantho, col. 6, p. 1). girls have cut a better figure than boys. according to the chairmen and the controllers of examinations of different education boards, students have cut a sorry figure due to english subjects. except for dhaka board, most of the students of humanities group in different education boards have participated in the examinations. students of the humanities group are afraid of english examinations. examinees of all boards have cut a sorry figure in english examinations. pass rate and gpa-5 have been decreasing for several years. the pass rate has decreased by 2.27% in comparison with the previous year. the number of gpa-5 is the least. the number of gpa-5 has lessened by 8,707. though the index of results goes downward, the concerned authorities think that bangladesh education system is getting developed. education minister nurul islam nahid thinks that the pass rate has decreased owing to the scientific script assessment process. he says: “we are advancing toward a quality education system. though the pass rate is less, i ensure the fact that all scripts have been evaluated www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 11 published by scholink inc. properly. we are very careful about developing quality education. we want to make a better educational environment for our students” (the kaler kantho, col. 4, p. 8). other indexes are also downward like pass rate and gpa-5. under 10 education boards, 12, 88,757 examinees have participated in the examinations and among them, 8, 58,801 examinees have passed. the average pass rate is 66.64%. in 2017 its rate was 68.91%. 29,262 students have got gpa-5; last year 37,969 students got gpa-5. examinees have cut a sorry figure in english and ict. in english the pass rate is 75.48% under dhaka board, 72.67% under rajshahi, 73.35% under cumilla, 65% under jessore, 73.74% under chittagong, 71.06% under barisal, 82.33% under sylhet, 65.51% under dinajpur, and 88.89% under madrasah. the result of almost all boards is 80% in ict. the pass rate is 82.83% in ict under dhaka board, 93.54% under rajshahi, 92.15% under cumilla, 85.60% under jessore, 83.94% under chittagong, 87.61% under barisal, 92.46% under sylhet, 88.33% under dinajpur, and 93.99% under madrasah. in 2018, students have cut a sorry figure in physics. some examinees are deprived of gpa-5 owning to physics. the pass rate is 86.15% in physics under dhaka board, 86.10% under rajshahi, 92.50% under cumilla, 81.11% under jessore, 75.26% under chittagong, 78.86% under barisal, 90.32% under sylhet, 77.44% under dinajpur, and 96.11% under madrasah board. almost half of the examinees from humanities group have participated in the examinations under 10 education boards. 5, 64,231 examinees from this group have taken part in the examination; and among them, 3, 18,544 examinees have passed. its pass rate is 56.46%. about 10% is less than the average pass rate. 1,954 examinees have got gpa-5 from humanities group. in science group, the pass rate is 79.14%; and 21,171 students have got gpa-5. the pass rate in business studies is 64.55%, and 2,437 students have got gpa-5. according to the information of the ministry of education, examiners have been assessing scripts through a creative system since 2017. scripts are getting evaluated properly. in the year 2018, a model answer is given to each examiner so that they can assess the scripts very carefully and easily. nobody can get more marks though they write unsatisfactory answers in the scripts. on the contrary, nobody can get poor marks though they write satisfactory answers. this is why a model answer is provided to the examiners. the head examiners evaluate 12% of scripts besides training the teachers. it is seen in the result analysis that 10% of examinees have failed to come out successful in the examinations under jessore and sylhet boards in comparison with the last year. the pass rate under dinajpur board is the least, and its impact has fallen on the overall results. in each subject mcq system of 30 marks has been getting held since last year. due to this system, the average number of examinees has lessened. boys have cut a sorry figure in the examinations than girls. the pass rate of girls is 69.72%, while the pass rate of boys is 63.88%. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 12 published by scholink inc. the controller of examinations, madhab chandra rudra of jessore education board comments that most of the students are from humanities group under jessore board. most of them have cut a sorry figure in english. due to english, the pass rate has decreased. but, the pass rate in science group and business studies is satisfactory. according to ex-professor siddiqur rahman, institute of education and research, university of dhaka, except last 2-3 years, gpa rate and pass rate had been on the increase, but the quality education was not on the increase in the same way. maybe, answer scripts weren’t evaluated properly by the inexpert teachers, as a result, many students secured gpa-5 despite having poor knowledge of their subjects. now, the teachers are trying to evaluate the scripts properly though the results aren’t satisfactory. we want that all scripts should be assessed confidentially (the prothom alo, col. 4. p. 2). [my translation] it is known that most of the teachers have a poor idea concerning creative knowledge. still now half of the teachers cannot understand properly creative questions. how it is feasible for the teachers to teach their students in the classrooms through the creative approach. the concerned authorities have also raised the current issue. in 50 sets of questions of 26 subjects, a creative system has been followed. as a result, those who haven’t understood the creative question, have cut a very sorry figure in the examinations. however, in 2018, the pass rate under madrasah board is the highest. its rate is 78.67%. 97,793 examinees have participated in the examination; and among them, 76,932 examinees have passed. 1,244 students have secured gpa-5. technical board has occupied the second position in terms of pass rate. the pass rate is 75.50%. 1, 18,000 examinees have taken part in the examinations; and among them, 89,089 students have come out successful. 2,456 examinees have got gpa-5 under bangladesh technical board. the pass rate under barisal board has occupied the topmost position among all general education boards. the pass rate is 70.55% under barisal, 66.13% under dhaka, 66.51% under rajshahi, 65.42% under cumilla, 60.40% under jessore, 62.73% under chittagong, 62.11% under sylhet, and 60.21% under dinajpur board. students of cumilla board have come out successful in comparison with the year 2017 when the pass rate was 49.52%. in 2018, the pass rate has increased by 16%. 12,938 examinees under dhaka board have secured gpa-5; 4,138 examinees under rajshahi, 2,456 examinees under technical board, 2,297 examinees under dinajpur, 2,089 examinees under jessore, 1,613 examinees under chittagong, 1,244 examinees under madrasah, 944 examinees under cumilla, 873 examinees under sylhet, and 670 examinees under barisal board have secured gpa-5. in comparison with the year 2017, 7,774 examinees have failed to secure gpa-5 under dhaka board. in this regard, the chairman of dhaka board, professor md. ziaul haque has expressed his view that most of the students have failed to carry good marks in science subjects, and the questions have become very tough to answer for them. it is the major reason to decrease the number of gpa-5. he www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 13 published by scholink inc. also says that the concerned authorities have followed strict rules and regulations while evaluating the scripts, and they have tried utmost to ban question paper leak, and have assessed the answers scripts very carefully. 6. important steps for satisfactory results the failure of a country is largely responsible for its poor education system. education aims to make a man conscious of his own life so that he can be able to maintain his livelihood. an educated person has a lot of duties and responsibilities to the society where he resides. he can show the light of education to the ignorant communities. in this regard, we mention a well-reputed statement of napoleon bonaparte: “if you give me an educated mother, i will give you an educated nation”. certainly, we realize that the nation’s progress depends on an educated mother. the government as well as the conscious countrymen should come forward to globalize the education system scientifically and technologically. the government should take immediate steps to how oriented-education can be implemented in a state where the nation can play an important role in establishing a prosperous country and nation. as we know the global education system is changing very rapidly. so we should try heart and soul to globalize our current education system. for this task, we must look at the western education system, how the teachers apply the theory of education policy and practice; and how this policy can be implemented for educational purposes. in the contexts of the higher secondary level education system, i would like to focus on some key points through which probable solutions can be drawn in the following ways: 6.1 to ban question paper leak nowadays in bangladesh question paper leak has become a major concern in the public examinations at the hsc and equivalence levels. question paper leak has brought about negative impacts on the mind of the younger leaners. for this situation, the quality of education has decreased. there is a proverb regarding education: “education is the backbone of a nation”. the education system must be upgraded according to the age of demand. we have to understand that the economic prosperity of a country depends on the education system. this situation won’t be worsened. the conscious nation should come forward so that nobody can leak the question paper in all public examinations across the country. the first and foremost duty of the government is to ban the question paper leak by hook or by crook. the criminals must be punished severely so that they can never dare to do such an illegal act in the future. 6.2 to train teacher a teacher is trained for training the students. if a teacher has no training knowledge, or background how he can train his students while discussing any relevant issues in the classroom. i think, after recruiting a teacher at any educational institution, he must be trained how to and what to teach his students. without practical experiences, no teacher can teach properly; he may have a better result or higher degree, but if he does not know teaching skills, he will certainly fail to teach students properly. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 14 published by scholink inc. the government must take practical steps to train the novice teachers immediately. a teacher has to help the students understand in such a way that they can learn their lesson in the class instead of at home. while a teacher will teach the students in the classroom, he will provide more examples along with illustrations, images, and, guidelines. to perform these tasks, a teacher must be trained conversantly so that the young learners may come out successful while acquiring knowledge academically. he must study and practice at home before taking his class. 6.3 to appoint subject-wise expert teacher while a teacher is appointed to teach any subjects at any educational institutions all over the country, he must be knowledgeable and expert in his subject on what he has already studied. recruitment policy ought to be fair and free. the recruitment test and interview process must be taken confidentially based on their merit. corruption free recruitment must be implemented throughout the state. a teacher as a candidate may be a poor person while he participates in the recruitment test, the governing committee, or the government body should emphasize his basic knowledge and wit. the reason i want to apply here is that a deserving and meritorious person should be appointed at any institution in the country. recruitment policy should be honest and quite confidential to upgrade education policy and practice. the recruitment committee must understand the fact that the prosperity of a country largely relies upon the scientific education system. in this regard, corruption-free education policy and practice must be ensured for all students and teachers. 6.4 to ban coaching center all over the country, the coaching center has sprung like an umbrella. fully educated, half-educated, or little educated men and women have engaged themselves in private tutoring. the aim of the teachers and the owners of the coaching center is to prepare their students in such a way that they can answer the questions in all examinations so that they can cut a good figure in the examinations. but, the situation in bangladesh is the opposite. the main policy of the coaching center is to collect students from different sources and to earn a large sum of money from innocent parents and students. some teachers of the coaching center are found to have a secret link with the powerful authority of the education board. from them, teachers collect the (fake) questions in exchange for money; and then, they sell the (fake) questions to the young learners. such types of unsocial activities have occurred through the coaching center across the country. as a result, the students are cheated; and it hampers a great impact on their psychology negatively. coaching centers should follow the norms and regulations of pedagogical approaches strictly with a view to implementing a postmodern education system for the greater welfare of the younger community. 6.5 to take extra class if any student fails to understand his lesson within a specific time in the classroom, a teacher will have to take extra classes, especially for the weaker students so that they need not study at home. if we look at the japanese education system, we will be able to learn that a teacher teaches his students in the class, or also at home until he learns his lesson properly. he teaches his students voluntarily. it means www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 15 published by scholink inc. that he continues to teach his students until he completely realizes his lesson. the fact is that many a time some students in the class don’t understand the lecture delivered by the teachers due to poor time management. in that case, the authority of the institution should take important steps so that extra classes can be taken, especially for english, math, and science subjects. 6.6 to remove corruption from education system it is known to everybody that the essence of the education system of a country is lessened due to corruption and unfair means in the examination hall. many teachers and high officials lose their integrity and dignity due to malpractice in society and the community. nobody expects the corrupt education system for which the young learners may go astray. when any teacher is appointed at any institution, the recruiters should keep themselves aloof from corruption. corruption can give nothing to the nation itself, but its impact is very dangerous and dire on the upcoming generation. to save this heinous and hideous situation, the government as well as the dutiful citizen should come forward. the motto of a nation should be: “we want a corruption-free education system; there is no corruption in the educational environment anywhere in the country”. 6.7 to take frequent test i think the frequent test for evaluating the students’ performance on their subject-based knowledge, especially english, mathematics, and science, will certainly bring the best result in any examinations. when the frequent test is taken based on class discussion besides delivering the teacher’s lecture, the weaker students can do better because he is compelled to study at home or school; he thinks that he is determined to come out successful in the test; he will certainly try to take it as a challenge in this sense that he will have to obtain good remarks. certainly, this frequent test will help them cut a good figure in the public examination. the principal as well as the managing committee should take fruitful steps to make the class teachers alert of the frequent test. if this education system is continued at the higher secondary level, it seems to us that most of the young learners would come out successful in their future endeavors. 6.8 to ban copying in exam hall copying in the examination hall is a very common picture in the hsc and equivalence levels of the bangladesh education system. it is a traditional practice. the invigilators, local political leaders, and the institutional authority are mainly responsible for this crime. to ban this malpractice, the government should enforce the law strictly; those who are directly involved to supply copying in the examination, should be punished with an iron rod, or sent them to jail immediately, or should be fined without making any delay. copying in the examination hall hampers our education system indeed; its severe impact falls on the mind of the young learners. the government should ban copying in the examination hall by hook or by crook; otherwise, the whole education system will get hampered. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 16 published by scholink inc. 6.9 to keep aloof from helping students in exam hall another problem in the examination hall is noticed besides copying in the examination. most of the invigilators help the students answer their questions directly. before commencing the examination, some teachers collect a huge sum of money from the candidates in the condition that they help the students answer the question or make room for them to copy/see others’ answer scripts freely. for this malpractice, the local political leaders are greatly responsible. to ban this illegal act, before commencing the examination, the dutiful magistrate of each center will be conscious of the dishonest means in the examination hall. he will take immediate steps to catch the criminals; and at the same time, he will send them to jail with a fine. in this regard, the local authority and the principal should take effective steps to keep the teachers aloof from helping the students answer the questions in the examination hall. 6.10 to motivate learners for creative writing the first and foremost duty of a teacher is to motivate his students on how to write creatively in the classroom or beyond. he will prepare the questions in such a way that no student can directly learn the lesson by heart; rather he will be compelled to apply his basic knowledge to answer any questions. the teacher will give the questions for the examinations so that he can keep themself aloof from cramming notion. many a time in the public examinations of the higher secondary level, it is seen that questions are very difficult to answer because what the students have learned at home or school don’t get common questions. in that situation, if any student has a basic performance on creative writing, he will very fairly answer all questions. so, i think creative writing is a must for developing the students’ merit or cutting a good figure in public examinations. 6.11 to make guardians alert and sensitive it is the duty and responsibility of the teachers to make the students’ guardians conscious of education: will they attend the class on time? will they learn their class lesson properly? what is their result of weekly test/monthly test/pretest? will they abide by the rules and regulations of the institution or not? the teacher must inform such issues to their parents directly. moreover, many brilliant students are found to fall victim to eve-teasing, drug addiction, and unsocial activity across the country. in school life, they are found to have addicted to such malpractices. in this situation, the role of the teachers is much more than the guardians; he will try to understand his students concerning the real-life situation of the age in place of academic punishment. he must inform the parents of the students’ success and failure concerning his examinations from time to time. 6.12 to establish english language club english language club plays an important role to develop the four skills of the english language. if there is an opportunity to participate in the language club for each learner, i think they will come out successful in developing speaking skills. to develop speaking skills, group discussion is a must. if such a language club is established in art institutions throughout the country, the students will certainly be able to extend their speaking skills. at the secondary level, if they are capable of speaking and writing www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 17 published by scholink inc. skills of the english language, at the later stage of life, they will secure better scores in ielts/tofel test if they intend to study abroad for higher education. 6.13 to modify syllabus & lesson plan national curriculum and textbook board syllabus should be designed in such a way that students can be able to gather creative knowledge of english, math, and science. a syllabus should be age-oriented and creative so that any student can have no chance to copy in the examination hall. on the other hand, based on the syllabus, the teacher should prepare their class lesson. without the lesson plan, it is very difficult for the teachers to teach his students in the class, which has to be a systematic way. the education system must be dealt with syllabus design and lesson plan. so, the authority of the ministry of education and education board is to take proper steps on how syllabus design can be creative and copied free in the examination halls. they should guide the teachers on how to lesson plan can be appropriate and implemented. teachers should take teaching and learning training courses on how to prepare lesson plans and syllabus design in an ultra-modern method. 6.14 to provide funding supports there are many poor and meritorious students at the hsc and equivalence levels all over the country. due to the financial crisis, many young learners fall apart from education; their dream remains a dream, which is never fulfilled. their parents cannot afford to educate their children due to poverty even they are not able to purchase books or other necessary materials. the government and the school authority should help them provide funding opportunities so that they can prosecute their study. books, learning materials, uniforms, and tiffin should be provided free for the downtrodden students of educational institutions. the authority especially in the rural areas should collect reasonable fees from the poor students. in this regard, the role of the government is a must. without having funding supports, many bright students are getting deprived of education. as a result, they get themselves engaged in unsocial activities, like drug addiction, stealing, eve-teasing, rape, kidnapping, and smuggling in the name of politics. 6.15 to enlarge class size in bangladesh, the class size is very small and not very spacious in comparison with the number of students. each year students are on the increase, class size remains the same. on a single bench, more than 5-6 students are sitting together; as a result, it is very difficult for them to understand the class lecture. they can’t write and sit freely in the class due to the small class size. another problem is that while they sit for the examination, they try to copy others’ answer scripts. they lose their attention from the study. they go to the exam hall depending on others’ mercy. when any school is established, the class size will have to be spacious and large so that learners can learn their lesson in a jolly mood. 6.16 to visit college if the board authority, as well as the authority of education of ministry, frequently visits the educational institutions, how the teachers take classes, how they teach them, are the students capable of understanding their lesson properly? if any teacher fails to perform his duty and responsibility while he www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 18 published by scholink inc. will stay at school during the working period, i think, the authority has to take steps for those who break the rules and regulations of the institution. to my sense, the government ought to follow strict rules to punish those who violate educational norms. it is possible when the authority will visit the institutions frequently, they will be able to find out the negative and positive aspects of the institutions. 6.17 to provide computer training program in a competitive age, we can’t think of our existence without computers and english. to shine in life or to get a lucrative job, both computer and english training courses are greatly indispensable for all sorts of teachers and students. nowadays, it is found that many students are very much eager to study abroad for higher education. it is quite impossible for them without a computer and english to study abroad. they must have conversant with computer & four skills of english language indeed. the fact is that computer training programs must be necessary for students and teachers if they would like to receive a real education. table 2. reasons of failure and success in the ict, english, mathematics, and science exams total question a b c d 1 2 3 0 5 2 4 1 2 3 3 2 4 0 4 4 3 3 1 3 5 2 3 2 3 6 2 3 2 3 7 2 2 3 3 8 2 4 1 3 9 3 2 1 4 10 4 2 0 4 total a=26 b=27 c=12 d=35 7. data collection in this current study, a written survey questionnaire has been used. the survey has been carried out in different higher secondary colleges at gazipur in bangladesh through a questionnaire process. the researcher visits 3-colleges, tongi government college, shafiuddin sarker academy & college, and scholars’ school and college; and collects data from the higher secondary level students, teachers, and guardians. he distributes the typed-questionnaires to the respondents and requests to provide information spontaneously. data collection takes place during october-november 2018. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 19 published by scholink inc. for the convenience of comprehension and acceptance of the respondents, the questions are delivered to the students in the english version. all the questionnaires are administered in face-to-face classes and beyond. students and parents take around 30-minutes and teachers 20-minutes to tick the right options from the alternatives. data collection takes place without any interference from teachers or parents. thus, the researcher guarantees the reliability of the results. while the data is collected, scripts are processed for analysis and interpretation. while collecting data, teachers are asked why they (t) are blamed for the poor results of their students, copying in the examination hall, and question paper leak, they try to refuse the right answer. also, students are blamed for watching television, wasting time on facebook, and for not adhering to study, they try to show lame excuse. students help the researcher collect data; but, some teachers are not found to be cooperative and supportive. participants are informed that their participation in this study is strictly voluntary and any information obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with them will remain quite confidential and will be disclosed only with their permission. there are no known physical, psychological, social, or legal risks in this study beyond those of ordinary life. furthermore, it is highlighted that there is no cost to the participants for participation in this project. 8. data analysis figure 1. shafiuddin sarker academy & college, tongi, gazipur www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 20 published by scholink inc. from the above chart, it is clear that 35% of students select the “d” option because they think that there is no alternative means without a coaching center and private tutoring. on the contrary, only 12% of students select the “c” option. the reason may be mentioned here that students don’t get satisfactory and reasonable options in multiple-choice. in the pie chart, it is seen that “a” and “b” options are almost the same were 26% and 27% of students select. there is only a 1% difference between their choices. at shafiuddin sarker academy & college situated at tongi under the district of gazipur, bangladesh, students think that they cut a sorry figure in the hsc examination of 2018 due to getting poor marks/grades in ict, english, mathematics, and science. in this regard, they express different views with the researcher that the role of the private tutor is much more than the class teacher. the reason is that teachers can’t complete the class lesson due to time constraints. facebook and watching television are responsible for the poor results at the hsc level. rural students are weak in ict, english, mathematics, and science. as a result, they cut a sorry figure in the exam. they don’t have the opportunity to come into contact with expert teachers like urban students. for the question paper leak, students support jail penalty and fine. the research also shows that girls are doing better results in the examination because they are very much attentive to study than boys. table 3. complexities of syllabus design and lesson plan total question a b c d 1 6 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 4 3 4 2 2 2 4 4 2 1 3 5 4 3 2 1 6 5 3 2 0 7 3 3 1 3 8 3 3 0 4 9 4 3 1 2 10 5 2 1 2 total a=40 b=25 c=13 d=22 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 21 published by scholink inc. figure 3. shafiuddin sarker academy & college and scholars school & college, tongi, gazipur table 4. reasons of failure and success in the ict, english, mathematics, and science exams total question a b c d 1 4 3 0 3 2 5 2 1 2 3 3 3 2 2 4 3 3 2 2 5 1 4 2 3 6 4 3 0 3 7 1 2 3 4 8 2 3 2 3 9 2 3 2 3 10 2 3 2 3 total a=27 b=29 c=16 d=28 from the above chart, it is seen that 40% of teachers tick “a” option in this sense that leak of question paper due to a coaching center, poor results of rural students owning to experienced teachers, lack of creative writing and creative system, a poor funding opportunity for weaker students are minutely presented in this study to evaluate the general concepts of the hsc level teachers. on the contrary, only 13% of teachers select the “c” option because there is an important option for them: “syllabus design www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 22 published by scholink inc. and lesson plan should be revised, re-modified, and updated”. most of them select this reasonable option. this research also shows that teachers emphasize the establishment of english language club at the college level; and, they also blame the coaching centers and the officials of education boards due to the leak of question papers. crooked teachers are blamed for copying in the examination hall because they help students copy others’ scripts and take money from students. figure 4. tongi government college, gazipur this quantitative study was conducted at tongi government college under gazipur district, bangladesh. from this study, it is seen that 29% of guardians selected the “b” option which includes students can cut a good figure in the examinations by giving good teachers; reasons for unsatisfactory results are noticed due to lack of attention, financial constraints, poor grade in english, ict, mathematics, and science, private tutors, class teachers, and psychological conflicts. participants then select “a” and “d” options, where the difference is only 1% between their choices. they express their views that syllabus design and lesson plan ought to be modified for better results; computer learning is necessary for students; those who leak the question papers should be sent to jail and fined; teachers’ recruitment policy and education system should be free, fair and corruption-free; and students should spend 15 hours for study. “c” is the least choice where only 16% of guardians tick, which includes lack of proper care, coaching center, watching television, lack of private tutor at home, and traditional education system. the above said reasons are opined by guardians concerning unsatisfactory results in the hsc and its equivalent examinations. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 23 published by scholink inc. 9. conclusion and recommendations in this study, the researcher has tried to assess the results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations of 2018 to unveil a 21 st -century education system of bangladesh. he has focused on the comparative discussion of the pass rate of different education boards. he has discussed some noticeable reasons for unsatisfactory results of the hsc level students under the ten education boards. the main reasons for unsatisfactory results are dealt with the creative system, ict, english, science and mathematics, financial constraints, lack of private tutor and teacher, strict evaluation of scripts, question paper leak, nepotism, and copying in the examination hall. moreover, this study has fostered some important aspects for satisfactory results, including to ban question paper leak, to train teachers, to recruit subject-wise teachers, to ban copying in the examination hall, to take a frequent test, to create corruption-free education, to motivate learners for creative writing, to ban coaching center, to establish english language club, to modify syllabus design and lesson plan, to provide funding opportunities and computer training program. for data collection and questionnaire survey, three intermediate colleges of gazipur district were selected where students, teachers, and guardians were requested to participate in the test. thus, this study has highlighted the real picture of the results of the higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations of 2018. its target is to uphold an innovative dimension of bangladesh education system. from the discussion said above in the light of evaluating the results of higher secondary level and its equivalence examinations, it becomes clear that hsc and its equivalent levels students cut a sorry figure in english, mathematics, ict, and science owning to the lack of proper guidelines of teachers and guardians. moreover, traditional teaching policy is also a key factor for which students have been cutting a sorry figure in the examinations. however, considering the aforesaid issues and discussions, the following recommendations can be suggested as proper steps to expose the existing situations for better results of hsc level learners:  science and technology-based education can be a proper step for brilliant success.  english, mathematics, ict, and science must be taken extra-care of until students can realize.  creative writing, creative system, and quiz tests must be given priority.  the syllabus design and lesson plan must be modified following the capability of students.  english speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills must be emphasized so that students can participate in the ielts or toefl test at any time.  english language club and computer training course ought to be ensured.  group discussion in the field of teaching can be a suitable step by fostering their important roles and teaching students practical knowledge.  research-based teaching is necessary from the very beginning of the study period.  corrupt politics-free and fair education can be a good model to build up a prosperous nation.  skilled and expert teachers should be recruited at all colleges.  stipend and scholarship should be provided for rural living students. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 24 published by scholink inc.  reasonable tuition fees can be ensured for spreading knowledge and education.  nepotism, copying in the examination hall, coaching center, and question paper leak must be banned strictly.  script evaluation policy must be flexible.  ultra-modern education policy and strategy must be followed up. references ahmed, m. (20 july, 2018). the daily prothom alo (col. 4, p. 2). alam, m. s. (2014). problems in english language teaching and learning in bangladesh and my recommendation on it. ara, a. (2005). teaching of english in bangladesh: problems and solutions. stamford journal of english, 1, 59-62. fosnot, c. t. (1996). constructivism: a psychological theory of learning. constructivism: theory, perspective and practice (pp. 8-33). new york and london. hannah, r. (2013). the effect of classroom environment on student learning. scholars works at wmj. haque, n. (20 july, 2018). the daily ittefaq (col. 2 + , p. 15 + ). hasan, m. (2015). condition of english in bangladesh: second language or foreign language. hossain, md. amir. (2016). education system and result of psc, jsc, ebtedayee, and jdc examination: a case study of bangladesh. journal of education and training, 3(1). macrothink institute, usa. https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v3i1.8969 imon, m. m., & imran, i. (2017). ict integration in secondary education in bangladesh: a study of policy and practice. master of philosophy in comparative and international education. department of education faculty of educational sciences university of oslo. khan, h. r. (2005). perception of trainee teachers: implications for effective teaching of english. stamford journal of english, 1, 119-129. markic, s., & eilks, i. (2010). mixed method approach to characterize the beliefs on science teaching and learning of freshman science student teachers from different science teaching domains. in m. f. tasar, & g. cakmakci (eds.), contemporary science education research: teaching (pp. 21-28). ankara, turkey: pegem akademi. nelleke, a. h., belo, j. h., van, d., & nico, v. (2010). teachers’ beliefs about making physics engaging and comprehensible for secondary students in the netherlands. in m. f. tasar, & cakmakcl (eds.), contemporary science education research: teaching (pp. 29-39). ankara, turkey: pegem akademi. rahman, m. (2015). teaching english at hsc level in bangladesh. asa university review, 9(1). rasheed, m. m. a. (2012). learning english language in bangladesh: clt and beyond. critical literacy: theories and practice. https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v3i1.8969 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 25 published by scholink inc. staff correspondence. (20 july, 2018). the daily manab zamin (col. 1 + , p. 1 + ). sumon, s. a. (20 july, 2018). the kaler kantho (col. 4 + , p. 1 + ). tsai, c. c. (2002). nested epistemologies: science teachers’ beliefs of teaching and learning. international journal of science education, 24(8), 771-783. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690110049132 notes note 1. bangladesh: education for all 2015 national review. ministry of primary and mass education, government of bangladesh. unesco.org. note 2. millennium development goals: bangladesh progress report 2015. general economics division (ged), bangladesh planning commission. plancomm.gov.bd. note 3. “the constitution of the people’s republic of bangladesh: article 17 (free and compulsory education)”. bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd. appendixes appendix for students 1. to do well in the examination, which thing do you give most priority? a) coaching centre b) formal learning c) informal learning d) coaching centre and formal learning 2. why do many students at the higher secondary level cut a sorry figure in the examination? a) lack of poor knowledge of english b) due to mathematics c) due to physics, chemistry & biology d) due to ict, english, mathematics, and science 3. do you think teachers’ role is much more than your parents for better results? a) no. i don’t think so. b) yes. i think so. c) parents’ role is more important than teachers. d) i don’t support teachers’ role because they give more priority on private tutoring than class teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690110049132 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002305/230507e.pdf http://www.plancomm.gov.bd/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/mdgs-bangladeh-progress-report_-pdf_final_september-2015.pdf http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=367&sections_id=24565 http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=367&sections_id=24565 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 26 published by scholink inc. 4. how much time do you spend for study round the clock? a) 20 hrs. b) 16 hrs. c) 12 hrs. d) 8 hrs. 5. do you think facebook or watching television impacts negatively upon your study? a) yes. i think so. b) no. i don’t think so. c) facebook or watching television helps a student do a better result in the examination. d) facebook or watching television helps a student increase general knowledge of english language. 6. the number of gpa-5 is getting lessened owing to a) ict b) english c) history d) ict, english, mathematics, and science 7. “students living the rural areas in bangladesh don’t get ample opportunity of education.”-why? a) poverty b) experienced and expert teachers c) parents aren’t careful d) teachers teaching at colleges aren’t attentive to students. 8. students passing from madrasah board don’t get chance to study at public university due to a) arabic & islamic studies b) english, ict, mathematics, and science c) english, bengali and general knowledge d) students passing from madrasah board aren’t permitted 9. what punishment do you support for “question paper leak?” a) death penalty b) jail penalty and fined c) fine www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 27 published by scholink inc. d) none of above 10. “currently, it is seen that girls are doing better results in the examination than boys.” why it is getting happened. a) girls are staying at home always. as a result, they have enough time to study. b) girls are more meritorious than boys. c) girls are doing better results hoping for shinning in life. d) girls are very much attentive to their study than boys. appendix for teachers 1. who are greatly responsible for leaking question paper? a) teachers b) guardians c) private tutors d) owners of coaching centre and the officials of education boards 2. why teachers are blamed for copying in the examination hall. a) due to taking money from students. b) due to helping students copy others’ answer scripts. c) owing to supplying notebooks from outside. d) owing to the political pressure. 3. many teachers don’t try to understand creative system of the question pattern. the reason is that a) they don’t try to study ins and outs of the book. b) they have no time to practise creative knowledge. c) they are always very busy to teach their students; so, they don’t try to understand. d) they have no primary and secondary sources; so, they don’t bother about creative system. 4. why do the students living the in the rural areas of bangladesh can’t do well in the examination. the reason is that a) they don’t get expert and experienced teachers b) they have financial constraints to buy books. c) they are weak in english, mathematics, ict, and science. d) they don’t get opportunity of question paper leak. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 28 published by scholink inc. 5. question papers are getting leaked due to a) coaching centre b) teachers’ dishonest means c) political leaders d) the big boss of education boards of bangladesh 6. students living in the urban areas cut a good figure in the examinations on account of a) good teachers b) colleges have ultra-modern facilities c) a lot of coaching centres d) question paper leak 7. teachers should motivate their students for a) creative writing b) critical writing c) copying in the examination hall d) going to coaching centre 8. as a teacher, do you think english language club ought to be established a) at college b) at school c) at madrasah d) at home 9. syllabus design and lesson plan should be a) re-modified b) changed c) revised, re-modified, and updated d) unchanged 10. funding opportunities should be provided for a) weaker students b) poor but meritorious students c) bright students for brilliant results d) none of above www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 29 published by scholink inc. appendix for guardians 1. as a guardian, do you think that teacher’s recruitment policy ought to be a) fare and honest b) corrupted c) donated d) politically connected 2. for which reason can a student cut a sorry figure in the examination? a) financial constraints b) lack of good teachers c) lack of proper care d) above all of them 3. for which reason can a student cut a good figure in the examination? a) by providing financial supports b) by giving good teachers c) owning to coaching centre d) by giving good teachers and coaching centre 4. what are the reasons of unsatisfactory results? a) ict, english, mathematics, and science b) students don’t study attentively c) students don’t get good teachers d) students are habituated to facebook 5. do you think how much time a student should spend for study? a) 20 hrs. b) 15 hrs. c) 12hrs. d) 8hrs. 6. those who leak question papers should be a) beaten b) fined c) sent to jail d) hanged www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe global research in higher education vol. 4, no. 2, 2021 30 published by scholink inc. 7. the number of gpa-5 has decreased due to a) poor results in ict, english, mathematics, and science b) lack of attention in study c) watching television d) facebook 8. for satisfactory results a) syllabus and lesson plan should be modified b) good teachers should be appointed c) private tutors should be appointed at home d) students should be attentive to study 9. computer training program helps a student a) learn computer b) get a good job c) go to abroad for higher education d) get a good mark in ict 10. education system ought to be a) fare and corruption free b) scientific and technological c) traditional d) both a & b 