Towards an Anti-Racist, Culturally Responsive, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education

This chapter summarizes the ongoing efforts of faculty to develop a program of study embedded in an educational doctorate (EdD) program intended to develop critically conscious educational leaders and change agents. It discusses how courses were collaboratively developed as well as how faculty decided on and began to employ an experimental self-study action research Dissertation in Practice. This chapter then outlines what was learned as a team of collaborators about the best ways to establish coherence and cultivate deep learning to support students' ability to work with adults in the context of instruction and curriculum to address historically entrenched inequities that differentially disadvantage some students while granting privileges to others.

Standards and Guidelines for a New Decade

As the field evolved, so too, has the Gerontology and Geriatrics Curricular Standards and Guidelines in Higher Education. The 7th edition is focused on the integration of the highly vetted AGHE Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education. Through this work we establish a set of standards and guidelines that provides the foundation for excellence in gerontology and health professions education at various levels and across a range of programs in the US and globally. The document provide a model for institutions of higher education in the development of new programs, a basis for program assessment and evaluation, guidance for academic or institutional reviews in existing programs, and a platform for what constitutes a program of study in gerontology/geriatrics or health professions programs for students, the public, and employers. An overview of the development of the 7th edition and suggestions for its use will be provided.

Recalibrating Institutional Choreographies for future-focused learning and teaching.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions worldwide have had to immediately pivot to online distance learning and teaching. While institutions with a grounding in open, distance and flexible learning have done reasonably well in the circumstances, the majority of institutions have struggled with this sudden move away from their conventional campus-based operations. Examples of the few successful adoption and implementation of online learning and teaching are however, boutique and small-scale operations in one program of study, one Department or Faculty. Clearly missing from this scenario are examples of large scale and institution-wide adoption of open, online, distance and flexible learning. This is a consequence of the limitations of existing operational infrastructure as well as mindsets. These are hard to change in the best of times, although they are long-term benefit and resilience against future disturbances of the sorts we are currently experiencing, they must change. This kind of change requires institution-wide reimagination and reengineering of conventional practices.

Selecting Program of Study for Undergraduate Students in the Valley View University, Kumasi

The paper investigates the selection of courses of study by undergraduates of Valley View University, Kumasi. Data were collected from the school of social science education which focused on 10% of the total population, two hundred and ten (210). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version. Findings of the study reveal that economic influence has been found the most important allied to the desired choice of the programme of study. Other factors include school, peer and gender influence. It further argues that, for students to have access to their preferred program of study, there should be E-learning, academic guidance, orientation and avoidance of family influence. The study further recommends that families should serve as guides and support their wards in the selection of courses rather than imposing various programmes on them due to reasons such as sustainment of family business. In addition, Ghana Education Service (GES) should inculcate guidance and counseling into the Senior High School (SHS) syllabus to enhance prior knowledge on the selection of course or programme of study in the tertiary institutions and organizations of career exploration activities to help them decide on the programme of study.

A Cross-Sectional Study to Assess Knowledge of COVID-19 among Undergraduate Students in North-Central Ecuador

Adherence to preventive measures is influenced by people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices towards a disease; therefore, assessing knowledge of COVID-19 is critical in the overall effort to contain the outbreak. This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates (n = 3621) of different programs and different levels of education associated with universities in north-central Ecuador. The form consisted of 32 questions covering demographics, symptoms, detection, treatment, transmission, prevention and knowledge of the virus. The rate of correct answers was 75.5% (21.1 ± 5 out of 28), with differences observed regarding program of study, educational level and location of institution (α = 0.05), although effect size analyses showed that these differences could not be considered large. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that lower scores were associated with initial stages of education, careers related to social sciences and location of institution. Participants possessed sufficient knowledge about detection, transmission and prevention, although they overestimated fatality rate and were less confident about the characteristics of the virus and the effectiveness of traditional medicine. Consequently, future educational programs must place emphasis on addressing deficient knowledge. Certainly, improving COVID-19 literacy will promote the appropriate application of protective measures aimed at preventing the virus’ spread.

Researching anxiety of pre-service teachers in teaching science and mathematics program

This study purposed to investigate researching anxiety of pre-service teachers that might want to explain why they are able to learn successfully in the context of difference in program of study. There were 15 pre-service teachers in M.Ed. program of teaching science and mathematics voluntary participated. Learning Anxiety Questionnaire (LAQ) was employed their anxiety towards learning through Google Form. The study revealed that pre-service teachers had anxiety at medium level. However, some of item present they had different level of anxiety. The effective learning for decreasing level anxiety needs to be more discussed.

Analysis of Three Methodological Approaches in the Use of Gamification in Vocational Training

A reduced interest and low motivation in learning amongst vocational students has become a challenge with many traditional strategies not capable of providing a solution to motivation and encouraging participation in learning. The use of elements of games in non-recreational environments (gamification) may be a possible solution, since research indicates an improvement in user experience and engagement, with possibilities of improved motivation and behavioral results. However not all studies obtain positive results, the success of gamification is influenced by the design, the sample, and the context. This study analyzes a gamification design with the most common elements in three methodological approaches (teacher-centered, student-centered, and mixed) in three different periods throughout a program of study with vocational training students. The results indicate that the mixed approach performed worse than the other two. Carrying out a greater number of tasks did not imply a better result in the subject marks, but rather paying more attention to each task influences the result positively.

Developing Optimal Student Plans of Study

Advisors in a small graduate program needed to be able to help students with a wide variety of needs and preferences in terms of starting term, pace of study, program of study, and mode of course delivery to identify plans of study in a dynamic fashion and enable them to follow those plans. Course sections were limited and needed to serve multiple programs and all types of students in those programs. Last-second schedule changes due to overly large or small registration numbers were problematic. Special arrangements to allow students to graduate on time were frequent and costly and lowered academic quality. Analytical tools were developed to help with the planning and alleviate these issues. The tools and the overall approach should be of interest to educational institutions and programs that need to offer a wide variety of students extensive flexibility and choices within a highly constrained scheduling environment.

Analysis of Orientalist Discourse in an Alberta Social Studies Text Resource

The aim of this paper is to explore how the Alberta Social Studies 30-1 textbook, Perspectives on Ideology (Fielding et al., 2009) can contribute to orientalist discourse in its presentation of Islam, especially with respect to terrorism, extremism, and illiberalism—three concepts that appear in the Alberta Social Studies Program of Study. Using a content and discourse analysis, the study found three central findings that contributed to an orientalist framing of Islam: a lack of nuanced discussion of Islam; positioning Islam as a source of terrorism; and a lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing following injustices perpetrated towards Muslims in Canada. This study concludes by offering ways in which social studies curricular support materials may interrogate to disrupt orientalist discourse, and challenges social studies educators to critically examine the limitations of some of the most common resource materials at their disposal.

Is the Transfer of Russian Engineering Education to the American Liberal Arts System Relevant?

In his Address to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020, the President of Russia set the task “to enable students after their second year to choose a new direction or program of study, including related professions”. Solving this problem requires transformation of the higher education system in Russia. Discussion has arisen in the educational community about the ways of this transformation. One of the possible options was the transfer of Russian education to the American Liberal Arts system. In order to verify the feasibility of using the Liberal Arts system for the training of engineers, a comparative study was carried out. As a result, it was concluded that proposals to replace the Russian system of higher education with the American Liberal Arts system for engineering education are not relevant, because the main basic goals and principles of building these systems coincide and the existing differences are due to the specifics of engineering activities.