Authentic Assessment in Online Higher Education

Among the increasing pressures on today's higher education providers are the call from employers for improved preparedness of graduates for entering the workforce and the expectation from students that their learning be personalized and targeted toward their unique professional goals. Authentic performance assessment is proposed as an opportunity for higher education to collaborate with industry and create targeted and personalized skills-based performance assessment for adult learners as a means for closing the skills gap between school and work. This chapter provides in-depth descriptions of the characteristics of authentic performance assessment and steps and strategies for creating them.

Peculiarities of the correlation between professional well-being and organizational commitment of information technology specialists

The article analyzes the problem of the correlation between professional well-being and organizational commitment of specialists in the field of IT in Ukraine. The concept of "professional well-being" is defined as the psychological state of the employee associated with the efficiency and productivity of his work; the concept of "organizational commitment" as an emotional attachment, identification with the norms and values of the organization, acceptance of goals, excessive work in the interests of the company. The professional well-being was studied according to the method of "Professional well-being" K. Ruth (indicators: autonomy in professional activity, competence, professional growth, positive relations in the team, professional goals, acceptance of oneself as a professional, general indicator); and organizational commitment according to the method of "Professional demand for personality" O. Kharitonova (indicators: satisfaction with the realization of professional potential, belonging to the professional community, experiencing professional demand, professional competence, professional authority, evaluation of professional results, attitude to others, self- esteem and general indicator of personal demand in the professional plan) and the Questionnaire of J. Meyer and N. Allen "Scale of organizational commitment" (indicators: affective loyalty, normative loyalty, continuance loyalty). The correlation between professional well-being and organizational commitment has been empirically identified by correlation analysis. Loyalty scales have been found to be negatively correlated with professional well-being scales, suggesting that the more competent an IT professional considers himself, the less likely he is to become loyal to an organization. It is concluded that the structure of professional well-being and commitment to the company of IT employees has its own characteristics and requires more detailed further research.

“I Apology no no I Mean I Am Sorry … Please Let Me Explain That First”: Enhancing Communicative Language Competence of Thai University Students Through CEFR-Based Online Intercultural Communication

During this COVID-19 pandemic, no one can deny the value of online communication. It has saved our lives by preventing us from going outdoors and becoming infected, while also facilitating achievement of various personal and professional goals. Online communication can also assist us with our academic goals, whether it is used to communicate with supervisors or with people from other lingua-cultural backgrounds to practice the language. This form of communication is emphasized in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) framework, which is one of the most significant guidelines for language teaching and learning throughout the world. The present research has two aims: first, to determine the extent to which CEFR-based online intercultural communication can improve Thai students’ communicative language competence, and second, to investigate Thai students’ attitudes toward CEFR-based online intercultural communication and international volunteers. The results received from 15 fifth-year dual B.A. (Chinese) and B.CM. (Traditional Chinese Medicine) students and international volunteers using various research instruments revealed that Thai students could increase their communicative language competence after participating in CEFR-based intercultural communication activities. This encompassed linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic abilities that correspond to the CEFR (2001) scales. In terms of attitudes, the study indicated that, because they were more confident in their communicative language ability, they had a positive attitude toward the CEFR-based online intercultural communication activities and their international volunteers. Finally, further research on this topic should include a proper design of online communication activities as well as methods for assessing students’ competency both before and after participation.

“We always report under pressure”: Professionalism and journalistic identity among regional journalists in a conflict zone

This study explores how regional journalists in Pakistan conceptualize journalistic professionalism, how they perceive their journalistic identities, and how local socio-political and economic realities shape their professional identification. Analysis of interviews with 33 journalists working in Pakistan’s Pakhtunkhwa province indicated a tension between striving for professionalism as defined by Western journalistic standards and meeting the demands of their local conditions. Participants described professionalism as providing clear, accurate, objective, and ethical coverage of issues. However, constraints including unavailability of funding, the need to hold multiple jobs, threats to personal safety, and absence of education and training prevented them from meeting their professional goals. The journalists discursively negotiated and constituted their professional identities in response to the conditions in their respective areas.

Research Methods to Study and Empower Crowd Workers

The artificial intelligence (AI) industry has created new jobs that are essential to the real world deployment of intelligent systems. Part of the job focuses on labelling data for machine learning models or having workers complete tasks that AI alone cannot do. These workers are usually known as ‘crowd workers’—they are part of a large distributed crowd that is jointly (but separately) working on the tasks although they are often invisible to end-users, leading to workers often being paid below minimum wage and having limited career growth. In this chapter, we draw upon the field of human–computer interaction to provide research methods for studying and empowering crowd workers. We present our Computational Worker Leagues which enable workers to work towards their desired professional goals and also supply quantitative information about crowdsourcing markets. This chapter demonstrates the benefits of this approach and highlights important factors to consider when researching the experiences of crowd workers.

Personal therapy as an important aspect of psychologists and psychotherapists' professional training

ntroduction. Personal therapy is an emotionally and professionally important experience that should be central to the training and development ofhealth professionals -psychologists and psychotherapists.Aim. Based on the analysis of latest research, to identify the main trends in giving personal therapy to counselors and psychologists as a mandatory part of their professional training.Results. Personal therapy, according to foreign research, is at the epicenter of psychologists' educational space. In most European countries and the United States, personal therapy is a prerequisite to obtaining a degree in counseling. In those countries, personaltherapy is received by every three out of four psychology students, while in Ukraine only one out of four students goes into therapy. Specialists value their personal experience of therapy more than their didactic training. The inclusion of personal therapy in the educational process helps to achieve students' personal and professional goals, as well as to increase their levels of self-awareness and professional identification through the internalization of their professional qualities.Conclusions. The analysis of latest relevant research has found a strong need for psychology/psychotherapy students' personal therapy as an effective method of forming their professional position and necessary professional qualities.

The problem of forming the motivation of student youth in the field of physical culture

The article considers the problems of increasing interest and ways to involve students in physical culture and sports. It is determined that in matters of motivation of student youth such qualities of the teacher's personality as compassion, benevolence, sensitivity, justice, purposefulness play a significant role. The teacher is obliged to monitor their appearance and keep themselves in good shape, to have their own approach to each student, and most importantly - to be interested in their work. It is also determined that the organization of normal life of student youth entering a new independent adult life depends on the conditions and traditions of the educational institution in which they study. The modern lifestyle and behavior of students is greatly influenced by living and living conditions, financial opportunities, material prosperity, organization of education and recreation, diet and quality of food. Of great importance are the interpersonal relationships that develop in the student environment, the motives of youth. The implementation of these functions is through the solution of some tasks: to gain experience in the creative use of physical culture and sports to achieve life and professional goals, providing general and professional physical training, which determines the psychophysical readiness of students for future professions, forming motivational and value attitude of students to physical culture, attitude to a healthy lifestyle, physical self-improvement and self-education, the need for regular exercise and sports, mastering the scientific and practical foundations of a healthy lifestyle and physical culture, mastering the system of practical skills and abilities to ensure the preservation and strengthening of health , mental well-being, development and improvement of psychophysical abilities and personal qualities, self-determination in physical culture, formation at students of understanding of a role of physical culture in development of the person and preparation for professional activity; development of personality and its preparation for professional activity

Security as an Interesting Area of Scientific Research

For every human being, the primary value is the protection of health and life and the desire to live in peace, be safe and be able to pursue their and professional goals. It will become real when the safety that has accompanied people since ancient times is guaranteed. Nowadays, it is not only a problem of a given person; the issues concerning protection and defence of a person against threats, resulting both from natural forces and the effects of human activity, are in the orbit of interest of many institutions. The present times create conditions for events unfavourable to people and to their safety, which is a timeless and high priority value. In security research, both initial hypotheses and results are formulated with the intention of better understanding threats treated as a relatively autonomous category of social phenomena. Security, as a category of social phenomena, is looked at from many points of view, with the aim of detecting more general mechanisms and regularities of social life, especially in the areas of growing threats and pathologies. The result of the research is not only in-depth knowledge of the causes of threats (diagnosis), but also proposals for changes and improvement of the mechanisms and institutions used to prevent and neutralise threats. In this context, it should be noted that the undertaken research activities shall be aimed at building a safe environment. In order to be highly effective, activities must use achievements of the world of science and act in accordance with this methodology. Interdisciplinary research should skilfully apply social research methods appropriate to the research problem being addressed.

Designing, Implementation and Evaluation of an E-portfolio for Assessment of Surgical Technologist Students in Iran: a Mixed Method Study

Background: Building a portfolio is an appropriate method for assessing competency and practice in clinical settings. Portfolio assessment provides opportunities for students to reflect on their performance and therefore could have a critical role in observing students' progress and developing competencies. With the emphasis of modern medical education on e-portfolios, the present study was done to design, implement, and evaluate an electronic portfolio to assess surgical technologist students learning in Iran.Methods: This mixed study was conducted in three stages: "designing," "implementation," and "evaluation." The "design" stage included a literature review, the completion and modification of the list of portfolio items, and content approval by experts. The "implementation" stage involved loading the system, holding workshops for students and clinical preceptors. Finally, the "evaluation" stage included assessing preceptors' and students' satisfaction, knowledge, and clinical skills and recording the number of reflections. Results: The paired sample t-test result shows that students' knowledge and clinical skills significantly improved. More than two-thirds of the students and preceptors were thoroughly satisfied with the e-portfolio assessment. On average, each student had more than three reflections recorded.Conclusions: Using an e-portfolio assessment satisfies students and preceptors, improves surgical technologist students' knowledge and skills, and supports their progress toward achieving professional goals; therefore, it is recommended as a comprehensive and cost-effective assessment method.