This paper is the second part of a comprehensive report about a research study that aims to assess the relationship between the university experience and student outcomes as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is the second part of a comprehensive report about a research study that aims to assess the relationship between the university experience and student outcomes as a means of determining a university's success in meeting its educational goals.
Design/methodology/approach
While Part I has described the process of how data were collected and the various methods of analysis to examine relationships among variables discussed, Part II provides a summary of the findings and the discussion to synthesise evidence pertaining to the impact of university on a range of outcomes associated with university attendance.
Findings
This paper gives a detailed report and a comprehensive summary of the major findings. The results of the study are reported systematically, guided by the four research questions. Answers to each of the research questions address those major concerns raised by the said question. Detailed analyses using tables and figures are presented for data summary and interpretation.
Research limitations/implications
While the research has identified a web of interrelated factors in the university environment that affect learning, it may have omitted other influences on university outcomes such as institutional governance, culture, and context. Therefore, the research may have fallen short of accounting for variables such as campus culture, governance arrangement, leadership style, teaching methods and assessment schemes, and so forth.
Practical implications
The research provides improvement data for university administrators and practitioners to shed light on policy and practice that make up the institutional environment.
Originality/value
The rich fund of research data on the effects of university on student outcomes promotes critical self‐examination and discussion among practitioners in higher education for a better understanding of what causes changes in students and what conditions in the university environment will facilitate or inhibit student growth and development.
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This paper was written for practitioners in higher education, including academics and instructional designers who are engaged in curriculum revision. It aims to examine the notion…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper was written for practitioners in higher education, including academics and instructional designers who are engaged in curriculum revision. It aims to examine the notion of outcomes-based education, survey the literature and provide a critical review of the outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education. The outcomes-based approach is completely student-centred, which focuses on what students know and can actually do. Sharpening the focus onto student learning outcomes goes beyond mere tinkering with traditional structures and methods; it really constitutes a paradigm shift in educational philosophy and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper begins with a summary of developments in institutional quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education in recent decades. Then, it identifies the underlying concepts and principles that characterize the outcomes-based approach for the design and improvement of curriculum and instruction in higher education. Finally, the outcomes-based approach is critically reviewed for its value from the perspectives of both practical and philosophical considerations.
Findings
In so doing, it is directed to the heightening of sensitivity as to the manner and situations in which the outcomes-based approach may be employed.
Originality/value
A final note is that while learning outcomes approaches are useful, care is needed to take into account the different views and perceptions of those involved in defining learning outcomes and to keep the ultimate goal of improving student learning clearly in mind. Care must also be taken to avoid rigidity and conceptual reification during implementation in curriculum and instructional design.
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A study to measure the influence of higher education on students’ academic, social and personal growth was conducted at a local university in Hong Kong in 2000. The setting was…
Abstract
A study to measure the influence of higher education on students’ academic, social and personal growth was conducted at a local university in Hong Kong in 2000. The setting was Lingnan University in Hong Kong, a small government‐funded liberal arts university. The empirical investigation adopts an approach of assessing quality of university education using data collected from individual students about their subjective experiences during the university years and their perceptions of the value of the educational experience.
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This paper is the first part of a comprehensive report about a research study that aims to assess the relationship between the university experience and student outcomes as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is the first part of a comprehensive report about a research study that aims to assess the relationship between the university experience and student outcomes as a means of determining a university's success in meeting its educational goals.
Design/methodology/approach
It focuses on the research methodology deployed. Underlying the methodology are four research questions that determine the empirical design, the process, the selection, and the adaptation of an appropriate measurement instrument.
Findings
While this paper, the first part of a research report, focuses primarily on the research methodology, the second part (to be published as a separate paper) will report on the findings, discussions and implications for assessing universities based on student experiences and learning outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
This paper will interrogate the various methods of analysis and identify the limitations that are inherent in the overall design.
Practical implications
An alternative approach to quality assessment in higher education is suggested to encourage institutions to be more oriented towards student learning and the development of comprehensive databases for better institutional planning and decision making.
Originality/value
It sheds light on an instrument that aims to understand the students' experience in all aspects during their undergraduate years; and to identify how much of the growth and development can be attributed to the quality university experience that the institution provides for its students.
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Cesar Suva and Katerina Palova
Settlement services in Canada have only recently started offering support and programming for emotional wellness issues faced by newcomers to Canada (immigrants who have been in…
Abstract
Settlement services in Canada have only recently started offering support and programming for emotional wellness issues faced by newcomers to Canada (immigrants who have been in Canada for less than 5 years). Funding for such services has steadily increased over the past 5 years, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater investment in ensuring the emotional wellness of immigrants is spurring new settlement services and programming. These include a wide array of configurations and approaches across the different geographies of Canada. This is evidence that providing such services for newcomers is in the early stages of implementation, characterised by experimentation and precarity. Mental and emotional wellness programming is in contrast with more established services, such as those meant to provide language learning, where common assessment tools, measures of proficiency and progress are well established. With funding from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), this chapter features data from a 2-year project that examined emotional wellness services for immigrants offered in four cities in western Canada between 2018 and 2020. The study used surveys and interviews with clients and focus groups with front-line staff to understand client needs and discern the issues and impact of emotional wellness programming. Findings include apparent limitations in staff capacity and expertise to provide help when needed, the inappropriateness of service models meant for other contexts and complex funding requirements resulting in issues of access and the overall precarity of such programming.
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Nina Becket and Maureen Brookes
Despite the abundance of research on quality management there is no universal consensus on how best to measure quality in higher education. This paper undertakes a critical…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the abundance of research on quality management there is no universal consensus on how best to measure quality in higher education. This paper undertakes a critical evaluation of the different methods used to assess the quality of provision in higher education departments in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on relevant literature, the authors develop a quality audit tool that incorporates all key components of effective quality management programmes and apply it to a single UK case study department.
Findings
The findings suggest that the potential for quality enhancement is determined by the manner in which the evaluation is conducted and subsequent change implemented. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is currently an emphasis on internally derived quantitative data and there is potential to enhance the management of the quality of HE programmes.
Originality/value
This paper concentrated on the development of a quality audit tool and tested this within one UK department.
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Maureen Snow Andrade and Jonathan H. Westover
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to determine if job satisfaction increases with age, and if this is consistent across countries; and second, if individuals belonging…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to determine if job satisfaction increases with age, and if this is consistent across countries; and second, if individuals belonging to the same age cohort, who experience similar life conditions and events and have been posited to share common attitudes and behaviors, differ in terms of job satisfaction, and if this difference is comparable across countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study provides a comparative analysis of the impact of age and generational differences on job satisfaction globally, based on non-panel longitudinal data from the most recent wave of the International Social Survey Program (Work Orientations IV, 2015).
Findings
Age has a positive statistically significant impact on job satisfaction (e.g. the older you get, the more satisfied you are with your job). However, the same analysis with each specific age cohort indicates that age is only statistically significant with the baby boomers. Statistically significant cross-generational differences exist in the levels of job satisfaction across generations and cross-generational differences in the determinants of job satisfaction. Most differences are seen between the silent generation and the other three age cohorts.
Originality/value
Previous comparative studies have found that job satisfaction across generations, even within the same or similar countries, shows little variation. Research measuring the relationship between age and job satisfaction indicates three key contradictory findings – satisfaction increases with age, decreases with age, or no relationship exists. The current large-scale, global study updates and extends previous research by exploring similarities and differences in job satisfaction and work quality characteristics by age cohort, with a global sample.
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Leo Yat Ming Sin and Suk‐ching Ho
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the…
Abstract
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.