Search Results for
"Higher education"

Graduate and Degree Apprenticeships (G/DAs) are relatively new work-based learning (WBL) degree programs in the UK which were established with the aim "to meet key skills needs, enhance productivity, strengthen university and employer partnerships, and offer a new route into work". These programs have been growing in popularity in the UK in recent years. While work-based learning itself is not a novel concept and several countries in the international SIGCSE community offer WBL programs in higher education, formal degree programs remain rare. This work presents an exploration of some of the challenges and opportunities in running such programs in the UK as the programs became formalized. We sent an initial survey to all 61 institutions in the UK that offer G/DAs in computing. 18 institutions responded and we conducted in-depth follow-up interviews with representatives from 10 institutions. We report themes related to the kinds of students and employers participating in these programs, how the design of G/DAs differs from that of traditional degree programs, and differences between these programs that may not be initially apparent. These findings provide insights that can support educators interested in developing similar formal WBL programs. © 2024 ACM.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate, explore, and characterise the perceptions of the Indian private sector employers on the 21st century 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration) skills gap, which affects their productivity. Need for Study: This research aims to shed light on the significant issue of the soft skills gap, precisely the 4Cs skills in India. Soft skills, including the 4Cs, are complex and crucial for organisations, and the shortage of these skills among the workforce is a growing concern. This research addresses enterprises’ challenges in bridging this gap by exploring different ways to utilise these skills. Methodology: Fifty-six respondents were interviewed based on cluster sampling. An invitation was sent to 40 private sector organisations from five different industries. Only 15 organisations agreed to participate in the interview process. Findings: A total of seven were generated from the data, which included: (1) explicit and timely feedback; (2) compassion and understanding; (3) motivation deficiency; (4) lack of collaboration synergies; (5) lack of practical knowledge; (6) interpersonal skills; and (7) creating team culture. Implication: Given the prevalent skills gap, it is challenging for Indian industries and organisations to remain competitive in the global market. Investing in the education system, providing students with the necessary academic and vocational skills, and equipping them with soft skills, such as the 21st century 4Cs skills is essential to address this issue. Investment is necessary to prepare the workforce to meet the demands of emerging businesses and technologies, ensuring that industries and organisations remain competitive. © 2024 by Ishfaq Hussain Bhat and Shilpi Gupta Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

The information technology industry has been identified as a priority industry for development in Hong Kong. Within this sector, there are a growing number of “new collar” jobs that may not require a traditional four-year degree. However, these jobs require a combination of technical and soft skills that are not often taught in secondary schools. The Applied Learning course titled “Tech Basics” was introduced to five secondary schools in 2019. It has the unique feature of bringing together secondary schools, a local public university, and industry partners in curriculum design and program delivery, to provide students with work-integrated learning. The curriculum includes authentic work environment exposure components such as company visits, mentorship programs, industry-led project competitions, and internships. This paper is a case study presenting detailed information on the program’s model of work-integrated learning as. well as its evaluation. It explains the different roles of secondary schools, higher education institutes, and industry partners. To assess the impact of the program, three rounds of surveys were conducted among students taking the course and a control group over a three-year period. The theoretical framework of work integrated learning and mentoring was reviewed. Survey results and additional qualitative data are presented. Feedback from secondary school teachers and mentors from the industry is analyzed. Challenges for the future development of the Tech Basics course are discussed. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023.

As computational thinking becomes increasingly essential, the challenge of designing effective teaching approaches to foster students’ abilities in this area persists, especially for higher order thinking skills. This study addresses this challenge by proposing and implementing a peer assessment-based Scrum project (PA-SP) learning approach in university computer programming learning. The approach involves dividing 98 third-year college students into an experimental group, which employs the PA-SP approach, and a control group, which uses the conventional Scrum project (C-SP) approach. The study investigates the impact of the PA-SP approach on students’ programming projects, learning motivation, project collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and cognitive load. The results demonstrate that the PA-SP approach significantly enhances learning achievement and motivation while also improving collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. By providing practical insights into effective teaching strategies to promote students’ computational thinking, this research has significant implications for improving programming education in universities. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is essential for developing future-ready learners in both secondary and higher education levels. However, as students transition to higher education, many encounter challenges with independent learning and research. This can negatively impact their higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), engagement, and practical expertise. This study introduces a solution: Computational Thinking Scaffolding (CTS) in the Jupyter Notebook environment, designed to enhance STEM education at the tertiary level. CTS incorporates five phases: Decomposition, Pattern Recognition, Abstraction, Algorithm Design, and Evaluation. Utilizing a quasi-experimental method, we assessed the impact of CTS on the HOTS, engagement, and practical skills of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Our findings hold substantial relevance for university educators, academic advisors, and curriculum designers aiming to enhance students’ HOTS and hands-on capabilities in STEM disciplines. The results validate the effectiveness of CTS in elevating tertiary STEM learning outcomes, and they spotlight the adaptability of the Jupyter Notebook as a valuable tool in higher education. In conclusion, our research underscores the merits of CTS for improving outcomes in higher STEM education and sets a benchmark for future endeavors in this domain. © The Author(s) 2023.

Several studies have analyzed the outcome of vocational education and training (VET); however, they primarily compared individuals with different qualification levels. This perspective neglects the fact that adolescents can differ in their training courses and transition to the labor market. Thus far, evidence on the consequences of different VET-to-labor market transition patterns is scarce. Therefore, the present study distinguished different VET-to-labor market transition patterns of German trainees and analyzed the long-term consequences on subjective well-being (SWB) later in life. Our results show in-between differences in the SWB of trainees in further life by different VET-to-labor market transition patterns. Compared to individuals with direct VET-to-labor market transitions, individuals who experienced a premature training termination and did not return to institutionalized education were more likely to have lower SWB later in life. Additionally, participating in general or higher education programs after VET seems to be beneficial. However, completing multiple VET programs did not influence SWB. The results underline the importance of strategies to prevent early leaving from education and training. © The Author(s) 2023.

Apart from having specific knowledge, graduates are expected to possess a set of soft and hard skills to be employed. This study aims to identify soft and hard skills relevant to the future workforce in the electrical and electronic (E&E) industry based on two perspectives; academicians from public higher education institution (HEI) and E&E industry players. Further, the study aims to investigate skills gaps between two stakeholders. A total of 50 academicians and 31 industry players in Malaysia were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using an independent t-test. In terms of soft skills, analytical thinking skills, communication skills, and discipline were more perceived by academicians, whereas decision-making skills, teamwork skills, and discipline were more favored by industry players. For hard skills, both players favored technology use, except for organizational capabilities which were perceived more by academicians while troubleshooting was favored more by industry players. This study contributes to the collaboration between public HEI and the E&E industry to address the skills gaps, which will benefit all stakeholders. This study focuses on the skills that are perceived more by both stakeholders. © 2024, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.

Despite the significant increase in college students with disabilities (SWD) enrolled in higher education over the past few decades, they face unique challenges in pursuing their career goals and have a much lower employment rate than those without disabilities. To date, no review study has been systematically conducted to examine SWD’ career needs and factors that influence their career outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to explore salient career development issues among SWD through the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). Following Joanna Briggs Institute’s scoping review methodology, we included 48 studies in this review. Applying SCCT as the theoretical framework, we generated five themes from the scoping review: (a) targeted career outcomes, (b) self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations, (c) person inputs, (d) learning experiences, and (e) contextual influences. Implications for practice and research are discussed. © The Author(s) 2024.

This study aims to analyse the relationship between critical thinking and the learning experience provided by instructors through active learning models, specifically Project-based Learning (PjBL) and Simulation-based Learning (SBL), to the potential achievement of academic performance in undergraduate students. The main analysis technique employed in this research was logistic regression, with additional analysis techniques including discriminant validity, EFA, as well as Kendall's and Spearman's correlation, serving as a robustness check. The results of this study indicate significant correlations and effects of critical thinking (CT) on academic performance. higher levels of CT are associated with a greater likelihood of achieving academic excellence, as indicated by the cum laude distinction, compared to not attaining this distinction. Experiences of receiving PjBL (0.025; 6.816) and SBL (0.014; 14.35) predicted the potential for improving academic performance to reach cum laude recognition, relative to not achieving this distinction. Furthermore, other intercept factors need to be considered to achieve cum laude compared to not achieving cum laude. We recommend that policymakers in higher education, instructors, and others focus on enhancing critical thinking and utilizing both Pub and SBL as learning models to improve students' academic performance. © 2024 Eurasian Society of Educational Research. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant shift towards more innovative teaching methods, highlighting the need for continuous and flexible learning approaches. Thus, it is relevant to explore the casuistry of the various applications of microlearning and nanolearning in higher education, and identify the thematic trends and topics little explored in the pandemic and post-pandemic scenario. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to carry out a bibliometric review under a quantitative approach and at an exploratory-descriptive level, on the existing literature in the Scopus database. As a result, it was possible to identify that the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced scientific production in the application of microlearning in higher education to a greater extent with respect to nanolearning. Furthermore, the prevalent themes identified in the existing literature are the effectiveness and adaptation of microlearning in different areas of higher education, such as medicine and engineering, the development of competencies and skills through microlearning in university students and the evaluation of the impact of innovative teaching strategies such as microlearning in higher education. Therefore, it is concluded that, in the current post-pandemic context, a clear focus on the application, integration and evaluation of the impact of microlearning in higher education prevails; however, a significant gap is identified in the adoption of nanolearning, which is in an emerging phase of development. ©Authors.