Truc Thanh Ngo and Bradley Chase
Environmental sustainability and social contexts are becoming increasingly important concepts. The infusion of sustainability and humanitarian engineering (HE) into the academic…
Abstract
Purpose
Environmental sustainability and social contexts are becoming increasingly important concepts. The infusion of sustainability and humanitarian engineering (HE) into the academic core curriculum is often challenging. This study aims to provide an understanding of students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the incorporation of active learning of sustainability and humanitarian concepts into engineering education.
Design/methodology/approach
A project-based sustainability course was developed and offered to engineering undergraduates. A HE international field experience was also provided to students as an extracurricular activity. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted to assess students’ perceptions and attitudes toward sustainability and HE project learning experience. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the statistical significance of the results and demographic influences on students’ experiences.
Findings
Both project-based and international field learning experiences positively influenced the students’ perceptions of sustainable practices, social change and appreciation of the engineering profession. Multidisciplinary learning also helped students become more motivated, engage in sustainability-promoted activities and community work and improve their social interactions. Students gained practical engineering skills that they did not typically receive in traditional classroom settings and recognized the global and social responsibilities that are core to sustainable development education.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates a mixed undergraduate educational model in which students acquired sustainability concepts through a project-based engineering course and practiced social responsibility through international HE projects. The findings help engineering educators understand students’ perceptions toward sustainability and HE, providing insight into effective curriculum design and strategic inclusion of social responsibility in traditional engineering education.
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Hieu Thi Ngo, Le Duc Niem, Phong Cong Tran, Truc Thanh Nguyen, Dung Thi Doan and Huyen Thi Ngo
This paper aims at identifying perceived factors and measuring opinions about the factors' impact on academic staff development (ASD) at Tay Nguyen University (TNU), Dak Lak…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at identifying perceived factors and measuring opinions about the factors' impact on academic staff development (ASD) at Tay Nguyen University (TNU), Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) method, the multiple regression model (ordinary least squares (OLS)) and a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. A sample of 70 managerial staff, 374 lecturers and 512 students of TNU was surveyed to obtain data.
Findings
The EFA showed that opinions concerning university autonomy (UA) and university social responsibility (USR) were positively correlated. With the above two factors united as responsible autonomy (RA), the OLS indicated perceptions that RA and internal driving factor (IF) had significant and positive impacts on the ASD, while external driving factor (EF) was found to have a perceived negative influence on ASD.
Research limitations/implications
The results indicated that there appears to be a close relationship between UA and USR, and these can be considered as a factor that has apparent impacts on the ASD of the university.
Practical implications
The degree of UA and USR of TNU should be enhanced through awareness of the university's academic staff, the application of a suitable evaluation system and the efficiency of university's regulations. In addition, efforts should be made to improve internal factors such as the dissemination of educational philosophy, the suitability of strategic plans, the development of key performance indicators KPIs and the building of organizational culture – all of which will help to heighten the university’s ASD. At the same time, TNU should endeavor to quickly transform aspects of administration and management to meet the shifting requirements of the autonomous environment and competitive features of the market economy. In particular, there is a need for the academic staff themselves to have increased capacity to adapt to these changes.
Social implications
The authors' results have a broader application to not only the case of TNU but to other situations in developing countries where universities are in transitional stages as governments assign increasing autonomy and responsibility to them.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that the academic staff of TNU should be provided with both professional autonomy and adaptive capacity to foster research and educational innovation in the market-based higher education system of Vietnam. More generally, if true, the paper suggests that an increase in the degree of UA and USR should be combined with the efforts to improve the internal environments such as disseminating educational philosophy, mission, vision and strategies and building organizational culture.
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Hoai Than Nguyen, Tan Thanh Nguyen, Thi Vinh Tran Nguyen and Thi Thanh Truc Nguyen
This study sought to investigate the attitudes of Vietnamese undergraduate business students towards English-Medium Instruction (EMI) courses.
Abstract
Purpose
This study sought to investigate the attitudes of Vietnamese undergraduate business students towards English-Medium Instruction (EMI) courses.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through purposive sampling using structured questionnaires, resulting in a dataset comprising 291 responses. This study employs a combination of Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate students' perceptions of effectiveness of EMI courses, their satisfaction and loyalty.
Findings
The study’s findings revealed a noteworthy pattern: students assigned higher levels of importance to various aspects of EMI courses than the actual performance levels of these elements. Additionally, the analysis identified specific attributes that fell into different IPA quadrants, shedding light on their relative significance. Notably, the students placed their teachers' professional expertise and English proficiency in the “keep up the good work” quadrant, indicating the strengths of these attributes. In contrast, learning assessment techniques, course learning materials and electronic teaching platforms were situated in the “concentrate here” quadrant, implying room for improvement in these areas. Furthermore, it was observed that attributes falling within the “keep up the good work” quadrant had a positive effect on students' overall satisfaction and loyalty, while other characteristics did not significantly contribute to predicting these outcomes.
Originality/value
Based on these findings, the study offers recommendations for educational institutions and educators concerning the planning and implementation of EMI courses.
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Drawing on ethnographic field research on female sex workers and male clients in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s global sex industry, this paper complicates our understanding of human…
Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic field research on female sex workers and male clients in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s global sex industry, this paper complicates our understanding of human trafficking in two ways. First, introducing the term perverse humanitarianism, the paper extends work on carceral feminism by offering concrete examples of interagency commitments between NGOs and the police. Second, my ethnography reveals that women framed their relationships with male clients as mutually beneficial because the men provided them with alternate pathways to economic mobility outside of sex work. Drawing on the same tropes of victimhood employed by the NGOs, sex workers elicited sympathy from male clients that they leveraged into gifts of money. Using men’s charitable gifts, many women became small entrepreneurs who opened local businesses and empowered other sex workers far beyond what NGOs were able to provide.
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Umut Al, Pablo Andrade Blanco, Marcel Chiranov, Lina Maria Cruz Silva, Luba Nikolaeva Devetakova, Yulianto Dewata, Ieva Dryžaite, Fiona Farquharson, Maciej Kochanowicz, Tetiana Liubyva, Andrea López Naranjo, Quynh Truc Phan, Rocky Ralebipi-Simela, Irem Soydal, David Streatfield, Resego Taolo, Tâm Thị Thanh Trần and Yuliya Tkachuk
The purpose of this paper is to report on performance measurement and impact assessment progress made in 14 countries as part of the Global Libraries initiative, starting with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on performance measurement and impact assessment progress made in 14 countries as part of the Global Libraries initiative, starting with the early country grants in Mexico and Chile. For the mature grants in Bulgaria, Botswana, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Viet Nam which were recently completed or are approaching completion, the nature of the country program is outlined, before the impact assessment work is described and some recent results and conclusions are reported. A similar approach is adopted with pilot and new grants in Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey and Lithuania.
Design/methodology/approach
The country reports are presented as a series of case studies, in some cases supplementing those in an earlier special issue of this journal.
Findings
Where appropriate, recent country-specific survey findings are reported.
Practical implications
This paper shares Global Libraries IPA learning at country level with people in other countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation.
Originality/value
These cases studies reflect concentrated impact assessment and performance measurement work at country level across a range of countries over more than 12 years.
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David Streatfield, Richard Abisla, Umut Al, Violeta Bunescu, Yulianto Dewata, Camila Garroux, Daniela Greeb, Artiom Maister, Jeremy Paley, Shipra Sharma, Tripti Sharma, İrem Soydal and Tâm Thị Thanh Trần
The purpose of this paper is to report on recent performance measurement and impact evaluation progress made in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Moldova, Turkey and Vietnam as part of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on recent performance measurement and impact evaluation progress made in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Moldova, Turkey and Vietnam as part of the last phase of the Global Libraries Initiative.
Design/methodology/approach
The country reports are presented as a series of case studies, in some cases supplementing those reported earlier in this journal.
Findings
Recent country-specific survey findings are reported and some conclusions are offered.
Research limitations/implications
This paper demonstrates how the adoption of a common approach to library service evaluation across several countries can strengthen research practice at country level beyond the Global Libraries Initiative itself.
Practical implications
This paper shares Global Libraries IPA learning at country level with people in other countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local levels or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation.
Social implications
The paper shows how focusing on the impact of public library services on users can enhance the understanding of community requirements and inform the development of more effective services to library users and communities.
Originality/value
These case studies reflect concentrated impact evaluation and performance measurement work at country level across a range of countries over more than 18 years.
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Philip Hallinger, Allan Walker and Gian Tu Trung
The purpose of this paper is to review both international and domestic (i.e. Vietnamese language) journal articles and graduate theses and dissertations on educational leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review both international and domestic (i.e. Vietnamese language) journal articles and graduate theses and dissertations on educational leadership in Vietnam. The review addresses two specific goals: first, to describe and critically assess the nature of the formal knowledge base on principal leadership in Vietnam, second, to synthesize findings from the existing literature on principal leadership in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employed a method for conducting systematic reviews of research. The authors conducted a detailed, exhaustive search for international and “local” papers from Vietnam, yielding 120 research sources. Information from these papers was extracted and evaluated prior to analysis. Data analysis included both quantitative description of the “review database” as well as critical synthesis of substantive findings.
Findings
The review supports and extends an earlier review which found that the practice of educational leadership in Vietnam remains largely “invisible” to the international community of scholars. The review also yielded a highly critical assessment of research perspectives and methods used in the “local” Vietnamese studies which comprised the bulk of the authors’ database. Synthesis of substantive findings highlighted the manner by which organizational, political, and socio-cultural forces in the Vietnamese context shapes the practice of school leadership.
Research limitations/implications
First, qualitative studies are recommended that seek to describe, in-depth, the enactment of leadership in the Vietnamese context. Second, broad-scale surveys of characteristics, attitudes, and beliefs of school leaders across Vietnam are warranted. Third, the authors encourage graduate students and scholars studying school leadership in Vietnam to undertake a new generation of theory-informed studies that connect with the global literature.
Practical implications
Due to the relatively weak nature of the existing knowledge base, the authors were unable to identify specific implications for leadership practice. However, practical implications are identified for developing the research capacity needed to improve research quality in Vietnam’s universities.
Originality/value
This review is the first systematic review of educational leadership and management conducted of the Vietnamese literature. Moreover, the authors suggest that the review is original in its comprehensive coverage of both the local and international literature on educational leadership in Vietnam.
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David Streatfield, Pablo Andrade Blanco, Marcel Chiranov, Ieva Dryžaite, Maciej Kochanowicz, Tetiana Liubyva and Yuliya Tkachuk
The purpose of this paper is to describe a range of innovative (for public library performance measurement and impact assessment) methods and tools developed by country teams as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a range of innovative (for public library performance measurement and impact assessment) methods and tools developed by country teams as part of the Global Libraries (GL) initiative. Short reports are provided on: a return on investment study, a simplified data processing system for library managers and an online reporting system for public libraries in Ukraine; a study of the public image of Polish libraries in print mass media, two approaches to sustainability of performance measurement and impact assessment in Romania, through tools to conduct pop-up surveys and use of agricultural subsidies support data, assessments of changes in public library managers’ planning efforts in Poland and of their perceptions of libraries and their own role, using Modified Delphi forecasting, in Lithuania, two ways of focussing on the world of public library users by engaging non-profit organizations in library research in Poland and conducting impact studies in virtual environments in Chile.
Design/methodology/approach
A range of methods and tools and their uses are described.
Findings
No specific research findings are reported.
Research limitations/implications
All of these tools and methods have been (or are being) trialed in national public library contexts; some have been developed over several years.
Practical implications
Useful for people in other (non-GL) countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation.
Social implications
This paper is part of a GL effort to share what participants have learnt about impact planning and assessment in public libraries with the wider international libraries community.
Originality/value
The impact planning and assessment program of GL has been the largest sustained international public library evaluation program so far attempted. This paper reports on the more innovative evaluation activities undertaken at country level through this program.