Academic literature on the topic 'Academic achievement College dropouts Universities and colleges Education, Higher'

Aim/Purpose: One of the main objectives of higher education institutions is to provide a high-quality education to their students and reduce dropout rates. This can be achieved by predicting students’ academic achievement early using Educational Data Mining (EDM). This study aims to predict students’ final grades and identify honorary students at an early stage. Background: EDM research has emerged as an exciting research area, which can unfold valuable knowledge from educational databases for many purposes, such as identifying the dropouts and students who need special attention and discovering honorary students for allocating scholarships. Methodology: In this work, we have collected 300 undergraduate students’ records from three departments of a Computer and Information Science College at a university located in Saudi Arabia. We compared the performance of six data mining methods in predicting academic achievement. Those methods are C4.5, Simple CART, LADTree, Naïve Bayes, Bayes Net with ADTree, and Random Forest. Contribution: We tested the significance of correlation attribute predictors using four different methods. We found 9 out of 18 proposed features with a significant correlation for predicting students’ academic achievement after their 4th semester. Those features are student GPA during the first four semesters, the number of failed courses during the first four semesters, and the grades of three core courses, i.e., database fundamentals, programming language (1), and computer network fundamentals. Findings: The empirical results show the following: (i) the main features that can predict students’ academic achievement are the student GPA during the first four semesters, the number of failed courses during the first four semesters, and the grades of three core courses; (ii) Naïve Bayes classifier performed better than Tree-based Models in predicting students’ academic achievement in general, however, Random Forest outperformed Naïve Bayes in predicting honorary students; (iii) English language skills do not play an essential role in students’ success at the college of Computer and Information Sciences; and (iv) studying an orientation year does not contribute to students’ success. Recommendations for Practitioners: We would recommend instructors to consider using EDM in predicting students’ academic achievement and benefit from that in customizing students’ learning experience based on their different needs. Recommendation for Researchers: We would highly endorse that researchers apply more EDM studies across various universities and compare between them. For example, future research could investigate the effects of offering tutoring sessions for students who fail core courses in their first semesters, examine the role of language skills in social science programs, and examine the role of the orientation year in other programs. Impact on Society: The prediction of academic performance can help both teachers and students in many ways. It also enables the early discovery of honorary students. Thus, well-deserved opportunities can be offered; for example, scholarships, internships, and workshops. It can also help identify students who require special attention to take an appropriate intervention at the earliest stage possible. Moreover, instructors can be aware of each student’s capability and customize the teaching tasks based on students’ needs. Future Research: For future work, the experiment can be repeated with a larger dataset. It could also be extended with more distinctive attributes to reach more accurate results that are useful for improving the students’ learning outcomes. Moreover, experiments could be done using other data mining algorithms to get a broader approach and more valuable and accurate outputs.

Research Studies in Higher Education: Educating Multicultural College Students is a collection of nine studies that examine the experiences of underrepresented students enrolled in colleges and universities across the US. Presenting both quantitative and qualitative findings, this book enhances our understanding of current topics such as equity, access, achievement, and retention, focusing on the experiences of students. For international students and scholars, this book offers an insight into significant hurdles faced by many multicultural and non-traditional students and recommendations presented to improve college retention and academic success. This book examines the effectiveness of programs and policies intended to assist students of color, first generation college students, low-income students, undecided students, and non-traditional students.

The aim of this study is to examine and explore factors that impact the successful growth of student diversity at colleges and universities in the United States of America. Special emphasis is placed on America’s five decade struggle since the 1970s to increase college access and success for underserved youth. The paper reviews select federal policies and collaborative efforts by higher education institutions to diversify the population of college students, toward realizing the potential of untapped talent. In addition, the authors review and examine statistics and trends in graduation rates for undergraduate students from First-Generation (FG), Underrepresented Minority (URM) and/or Low-Income (LI) backgrounds, and highlight programs at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) that have demonstrated improvements in graduating URM undergraduate students. Likewise, the study describes initiatives that have attempted to address the graduation gap in higher education. Readers will have an opportunity to learn about the premier national program promoting diversity and academic achievement. The study closes with a discussion and evidence for continued national interest and attention to building successful academic enrichment, support, and achievement programs for students from diverse backgrounds.

HBCUs traditionally build bridges, not fences, for their neighbors.–Barbara S. FrankleIn its truest sense, higher education is aimed at fostering academic achievement and educating students for good and productive citizenship. With this purpose in mind, over the past few decades there has been a proliferation of research on civic engagement. Although substantial in size and reach, the civic engagement literature is limited in terms of depth and scope. Many scholars working in this area have sought to define civic engagement as well as service learning; service learning is believed to lead to greater civic engagement and to increase educational attainment by some scholars and practitioners. Of note, this scholarship aims to defend civic engagement by providing a philosophical justification for it, reclaiming the historic civic purpose of higher education, or providing an assessment of student outcomes, including participation in protest, voting knowledge and behavior, and the impact of service learning. The civic engagement literature also demonstrates the level of engagement among undergraduate students and provides in-depth case studies of college and university initiatives to engage local communities throughout the nation. Scholars of civic engagement have focused on many different types of majority institutions, including small private colleges, state universities, land grant institutions, and private research universities. Most of these studies draw on how the unique histories of these various sectors of higher education position them for civic engagement work as well as the institutional efforts to engage local communities.

This study aims to shed light on the professional development of the teaching staff members in the Sudanese universities, and the experience of the University of Bahri as a model which is renewable and in line with the spirit and requirements of the modern age as well as the quality of its teaching staff. The Researcher applied the analytical descriptive method and defined the study tool in accordance with the objectives, questions, and methodology of the study, where the researcher chose the closed open questionnaire to collect information from the teaching staff members in the University of Bahri who studied the professional diploma amounting to (60). The diploma was provided by the College of Education in the framework of the professional development of the university’s teaching staff members. The most important findings of the study were that: most of the students after the completion of the professional diploma study are able to practice teaching skills with high professionalism, integrate technology in higher education, apply the scientific principles in designing and developing University curricula, use of modern teaching strategies in teaching undergraduate courses. In the light of these findings, the researcher presented important recommendations and complementary to this aspect, such as the follow-up of the teaching staff performance of those who had completed the professional diploma after returning to their colleges and the impact of that on student academic achievement.

Human Resource management is necessary for higher education institutions, because it is seen to enhance the achievement of the objectives of institutional effectiveness. To reach this objective, the study of human resources management by an educational institution to be very important, because it will be able to show how educational institutions should acquire, develop, use, evaluate, and maintain employee quantitatively and qualitatively. Development of human resources is sensed as to the personal empowerment of employees. Empowerment is done with the intention that potential, abilities and basic skills possessed by employees can be enhanced or may be used as an effort to shore up the smooth implementation of activities. In the concept of human resource development are two sides of profits, personal first employees to be more professional, well-trained and able to act decisively and quickly. On the organizational side of human resource development brings the advantage of implementation of the well, as supported by HR that has been professionally trained, and can reduce costs for training and further education. From a number of management functions are initiated by management experts, the main component of management are considered capable of facing future challenges universities as academic institutions include "planning, resource management, and assessment of results" These three major components will proceed in determining the shape of each cycle which one another at every stage of management. With the assessment of the results, will be able to describe the performance of college management. Performance evaluation then became the basis for planning the next stage of management, therefore, the planning process is dynamic (dynamic planning) and not static. Planning compiled based on performance evaluation to be a reference in designing the resource management within a few years. Overall management process should be conducted in a professional, effective and efficient in order to create good governance colleges. In the PP. No. 66 of 2010 stated that the management of the education unit is based on the following principles: Nonprofit, Accountability, Guarantor of quality, transparency and equitable access. While the model of development of human resources management approach is: a model of clerical, legal, financial, managerial and humanistic models. Human Resouce Development practices, employee performance results will look better and increase if the principles of human resource management universities applied in practice management and delivery of higher education. As the cornerstone of the general implementation of human resource development of quality higher education is to use humanistic approach. Because the use of humanistic approach, will be able to balance the provision of education between clerical and financial concepts.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to study the institutional environment of higher medical and medical colleges (HMC and MC), including such components as «The quality of the educational process»; «Administration of the educational process and safety culture»; «The quality of the scientific process»; «The quality of the clinical process»; «Anti-corruption culture and anti-corruption». Methods.The research was carried out on the basis of a survey of students, teachers and administrative and management personnel (AMP). In total, respondents from 73 HMC and MC took part in the survey, including 13 110 students, 825 teachers and 199 representatives of AMP. Results. An analysis of the qualitative characteristics of the persons who were accepted in the survey indicates a lack of nursing education and an insufficient level of academic achievement (confirmed by a scientific / academic degree) in the majority of AMP and teachers of the HMC and MC. At the same time, teachers with little pedagogical experience and AMP with no / short duration of pedagogical experience tend to overestimate all the studied questions. Analysis of the administration of the educational process and safety culture indicates that teachers and AMP give a much higher assessment of ensuring the rights of students and the level of friendliness of relations with students than the students themselves, which, in fact, indicates insufficient contact between teachers and AMP with students in terms of assessing their needs and requirements; The analysis of the quality of the scientific process indicates that the least accessible for the research work of students are the presence of electives in scientific areas, work in the laboratory, the opportunity to travel to scientific conferences in the Republic of Kazakhstan, to near and far abroad. All categories of respondents require building competence in working with scientific knowledge bases Scopus, Web of Science Nursing Reference Center Plus, CINAHL (EBSCO). An analysis of the quality of the clinical process indicates that, on average, only 2/3 of the respondents, students and teachers note satisfaction with the equipment of clinical sites, the provision of the necessary premises and resources from the clinical sites, access to medical equipment at clinical sites, and access to patients. AMP tends to give a higher assessment of the quality of the clinical process. An analysis of the level of anti-corruption culture indicates that the greatest risk of situations in which elements of corruption in college are most common occurs when entering college, when passing midterm exams (ratings), when passing final exams and tests. As the main reasons for corruption in college, the majority of respondents indicate the low level of teacher salaries, low interest in studying among students. The teaching staff and the AMP give a much higher assessment of satisfaction with the level of response of the college administration to complaints regarding the facts of corruption and unethical attitude than the students themselves. Сonclusions. The results of the study indicate the need to strengthen the selection of personnel for the AMP positions in colleges with the introduction of a mandatory requirement for the presence of at least 5 years of teaching experience, the presence of an academic degree. According to the experience of leading foreign universities and colleges, it is necessary to encourage the practice of combining teaching positions and positions of administrative and managerial personnel. It is necessary to introduce mandatory certification of college teachers, as well as mandatory certification of AMP, every 3-5 years according to clear KPI criteria that assess their work. The discrepancy in the assessments of certain categories of respondents indicates the need for regular feedback from students, conducting questionnaires by teaching staff, AMP and other categories of employees in order to study the institutional environment of MC and HMC and prompt response to problems voiced by students and employees. Keywords: medical college, medical education, Kazakhstan.

Refereed publications (also known as peer-reviewed) are the currency of academia, yet many PhD theses in Australia result in only one or two such papers. Typically, a doctoral thesis requires the candidate to present (and pass) a public Confirmation Seminar, around nine to twelve months into candidacy, in which a panel of the candidate’s supervisors and invited experts adjudicate upon whether the work is likely to continue and ultimately succeed in the goal of a coherent and original contribution to knowledge. A Final Seminar, also public and sometimes involving the traditional viva voce or oral defence of the thesis, is presented two or three months before approval is given to send the 80,000 to 100,000 word tome off for external examination. And that soul-destroying or elation-releasing examiner’s verdict can be many months in the delivery: a limbo-like period during which the candidate’s status as a student is ended and her or his receipt of any scholarship or funding guerdon is terminated with perfunctory speed. This is the only time most students spend seriously writing up their research for publication although, naturally, many are more involved in job hunting as they pin their hopes on passing the thesis examination.There is, however, a slightly more palatable alternative to this nail-biting process of the traditional PhD, and that is the PhD by Published Papers (also known as PhD by Publications or PhD by Published Works). The form of my own soon-to-be-submitted thesis, it permits the submission for examination of a collection of papers that have been refereed and accepted (or are in the process of being refereed) for publication in academic journals or books. Apart from the obvious benefits in getting published early in one’s (hopefully) burgeoning academic career, it also takes away a lot of the stress come final submission time. After all, I try to assure myself, the thesis examiners can’t really discredit the process of double-blind, peer-review the bulk of the thesis has already undergone: their job is to examine how well I’ve unified the papers into a cohesive thesis … right? But perhaps they should at least be wary, because, unfortunately, the requirements for this kind of PhD vary considerably from institution to institution and there have been some cases where the submitted work is of questionable quality compared to that produced by graduates from more demanding universities. Hence, this paper argues that in my subject area of interest—film and television studies—there is a huge range in the set requirements for doctorates, from universities that award the degree to film artists for prior published work that has undergone little or no academic scrutiny and has involved little or no on-campus participation to at least three Australian universities that require candidates be enrolled for a minimum period of full-time study and only submit scholarly work generated and published (or submitted for publication) during candidature. I would also suggest that uncertainty about where a graduate’s work rests on this continuum risks confusing a hard-won PhD by Published Papers with the sometimes risible honorary doctorate. Let’s begin by dredging the depths of those murky, quasi-academic waters to examine the occasionally less-than-salubrious honorary doctorate. The conferring of this degree is generally a recognition of an individual’s body of (usually published) work but is often conferred for contributions to knowledge or society in general that are not even remotely academic. The honorary doctorate does not usually carry with it the right to use the title “Dr” (although many self-aggrandising recipients in the non-academic world flout this unwritten code of conduct, and, indeed, Monash University’s Monash Magazine had no hesitation in describing its 2008 recipient, musician, screenwriter, and art-school-dropout Nick Cave, as “Dr Cave” (O’Loughlin)). Some shady universities even offer such degrees for sale or ‘donation’ and thus do great damage to that institution’s credibility as well as to the credibility of the degree itself. Such overseas “diploma mills”—including Ashwood University, Belford University, Glendale University and Suffield University—are identified by their advertising of “Life Experience Degrees,” for which a curriculum vitae outlining the prospective graduand’s oeuvre is accepted on face value as long as their credit cards are not rejected. An aspiring screen auteur simply specifies film and television as their major and before you can shout “Cut!” there’s a degree in the mail. Most of these pseudo-universities are not based in Australia but are perfectly happy to confer their ‘titles’ to any well-heeled, vanity-driven Australians capable of completing the online form. Nevertheless, many academics fear a similarly disreputable marketplace might develop here, and Norfolk Island-based Greenwich University presents a particularly illuminating example. Previously empowered by an Act of Parliament consented to by Senator Ian Macdonald, the then Minister for Territories, this “university” had the legal right to confer honorary degrees from 1998. The Act was eventually overridden by legislation passed in 2002, after a concerted effort by the Australian Universities Quality Agency Ltd. and the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee to force the accreditation requirements of the Australian Qualifications Framework upon the institution in question, thus preventing it from making degrees available for purchase over the Internet. Greenwich University did not seek re-approval and soon relocated to its original home of Hawaii (Brown). But even real universities flounder in similarly muddy waters when, unsolicited, they make dubious decisions to grant degrees to individuals they hold in high esteem. Although meaning well by not courting pecuniary gain, they nevertheless invite criticism over their choice of recipient for their honoris causa, despite the decision usually only being reached after a process of debate and discussion by university committees. Often people are rewarded, it seems, as much for their fame as for their achievements or publications. One such example of a celebrity who has had his onscreen renown recognised by an honorary doctorate is film and television actor/comedian Billy Connolly who was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by The University of Glasgow in 2006, prompting Stuart Jeffries to complain that “something has gone terribly wrong in British academia” (Jeffries). Eileen McNamara also bemoans the levels to which some institutions will sink to in search of media attention and exposure, when she writes of St Andrews University in Scotland conferring an honorary doctorate to film actor and producer, Michael Douglas: “What was designed to acknowledge intellectual achievement has devolved into a publicity grab with universities competing for celebrity honorees” (McNamara). Fame as an actor (and the list gets even weirder when the scope of enquiry is widened beyond the field of film and television), seems to be an achievement worth recognising with an honorary doctorate, according to some universities, and this kind of discredit is best avoided by Australian institutions of higher learning if they are to maintain credibility. Certainly, universities down under would do well to follow elsewhere than in the footprints of Long Island University’s Southampton College. Perhaps the height of academic prostitution of parchments for the attention of mass media occurred when in 1996 this US school bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Amphibious Letters upon that mop-like puppet of film and television fame known as the “muppet,” Kermit the Frog. Indeed, this polystyrene and cloth creation with an anonymous hand operating its mouth had its acceptance speech duly published (see “Kermit’s Acceptance Speech”) and the Long Island University’s Southampton College received much valuable press. After all, any publicity is good publicity. Or perhaps this furry frog’s honorary degree was a cynical stunt meant to highlight the ridiculousness of the practice? In 1986 a similar example, much closer to my own home, occurred when in anticipation and condemnation of the conferral of an honorary doctorate upon Prince Philip by Monash University in Melbourne, the “Members of the Monash Association of Students had earlier given a 21-month-old Chihuahua an honorary science degree” (Jeffries), effectively suggesting that the honorary doctorate is, in fact, a dog of a degree. On a more serious note, there have been honorary doctorates conferred upon far more worthy recipients in the field of film and television by some Australian universities. Indigenous film-maker Tracey Moffatt was awarded an honorary doctorate by Griffith University in November of 2004. Moffatt was a graduate of the Griffith University’s film school and had an excellent body of work including the films Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (1990) and beDevil (1993). Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter David Williamson was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by The University of Queensland in December of 2004. His work had previously picked up four Australian Film Institute awards for best screenplay. An Honorary Doctorate of Visual and Performing Arts was given to film director Fred Schepisi AO by The University of Melbourne in May of 2006. His films had also been earlier recognised with Australian Film Institute awards as well as the Golden Globe Best Miniseries or Television Movie award for Empire Falls in 2006. Director George Miller was crowned with an Honorary Doctorate in Film from the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School in April 2007, although he already had a medical doctor’s testamur on his wall. In May of this year, filmmaker George Gittoes, a fine arts dropout from The University of Sydney, received an honorary doctorate by The University of New South Wales. His documentaries, Soundtrack to War (2005) and Rampage (2006), screened at the Sydney and Berlin film festivals, and he has been employed by the Australian Government as an official war artist. Interestingly, the high quality screen work recognised by these Australian universities may have earned the recipients ‘real’ PhDs had they sought the qualification. Many of these film artists could have just as easily submitted their work for the degree of PhD by Published Papers at several universities that accept prior work in lieu of an original exegesis, and where a film is equated with a book or journal article. But such universities still invite comparisons of their PhDs by Published Papers with honorary doctorates due to rather too-easy-to-meet criteria. The privately funded Bond University, for example, recommends a minimum full-time enrolment of just three months and certainly seems more lax in its regulations than other Antipodean institution: a healthy curriculum vitae and payment of the prescribed fee (currently AUD$24,500 per annum) are the only requirements. Restricting my enquiries once again to the field of my own research, film and television, I note that Dr. Ingo Petzke achieved his 2004 PhD by Published Works based upon films produced in Germany well before enrolling at Bond, contextualized within a discussion of the history of avant-garde film-making in that country. Might not a cynic enquire as to how this PhD significantly differs from an honorary doctorate? Although Petzke undoubtedly paid his fees and met all of Bond’s requirements for his thesis entitled Slow Motion: Thirty Years in Film, one cannot criticise that cynic for wondering if Petzke’s films are indeed equivalent to a collection of refereed papers. It should be noted that Bond is not alone when it comes to awarding candidates the PhD by Published Papers for work published or screened in the distant past. Although yet to grant it in the area of film or television, Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) is an institution that distinctly specifies its PhD by Publications is to be awarded for “research which has been carried out prior to admission to candidature” (8). Similarly, the Griffith Law School states: “The PhD (by publications) is awarded to established researchers who have an international reputation based on already published works” (1). It appears that Bond is no solitary voice in the academic wilderness, for SUT and the Griffith Law School also apparently consider the usual milestones of Confirmation and Final Seminars to be unnecessary if the so-called candidate is already well published. Like Bond, Griffith University (GU) is prepared to consider a collection of films to be equivalent to a number of refereed papers. Dr Ian Lang’s 2002 PhD (by Publication) thesis entitled Conditional Truths: Remapping Paths To Documentary ‘Independence’ contains not refereed, scholarly articles but the following videos: Wheels Across the Himalaya (1981); Yallambee, People of Hope (1986); This Is What I Call Living (1988); The Art of Place: Hanoi Brisbane Art Exchange (1995); and Millennium Shift: The Search for New World Art (1997). While this is a most impressive body of work, and is well unified by appropriate discussion within the thesis, the cynic who raised eyebrows at Petzke’s thesis might also be questioning this thesis: Dr Lang’s videos all preceded enrolment at GU and none have been refereed or acknowledged with major prizes. Certainly, the act of releasing a film for distribution has much in common with book publishing, but should these videos be considered to be on a par with academic papers published in, say, the prestigious and demanding journal Screen? While recognition at awards ceremonies might arguably correlate with peer review there is still the question as to how scholarly a film actually is. Of course, documentary films such as those in Lang’s thesis can be shown to be addressing gaps in the literature, as is the expectation of any research paper, but the onus remains on the author/film-maker to demonstrate this via a detailed contextual review and a well-written, erudite argument that unifies the works into a cohesive thesis. This Lang has done, to the extent that suspicious cynic might wonder why he chose not to present his work for a standard PhD award. Another issue unaddressed by most institutions is the possibility that the publications have been self-refereed or refereed by the candidate’s editorial colleagues in a case wherein the papers appear in a book the candidate has edited or co-edited. Dr Gillian Swanson’s 2004 GU thesis Towards a Cultural History of Private Life: Sexual Character, Consuming Practices and Cultural Knowledge, which addresses amongst many other cultural artefacts the film Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean 1962), has nine publications: five of which come from two books she co-edited, Nationalising Femininity: Culture, Sexuality and Cinema in Britain in World War Two, (Gledhill and Swanson 1996) and Deciphering Culture: Ordinary Curiosities and Subjective Narratives (Crisp et al 2000). While few would dispute the quality of Swanson’s work, the persistent cynic might wonder if these five papers really qualify as refereed publications. The tacit understanding of a refereed publication is that it is blind reviewed i.e. the contributor’s name is removed from the document. Such a system is used to prevent bias and favouritism but this level of anonymity might be absent when the contributor to a book is also one of the book’s editors. Of course, Dr Swanson probably took great care to distance herself from the refereeing process undertaken by her co-editors, but without an inbuilt check, allegations of cronyism from unfriendly cynics may well result. A related factor in making comparisons of different university’s PhDs by Published Papers is the requirements different universities have about the standard of the journal the paper is published in. It used to be a simple matter in Australia: the government’s Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) held a Register of Refereed Journals. If your benefactor in disseminating your work was on the list, your publications were of near-unquestionable quality. Not any more: DEST will no longer accept nominations for listing on the Register and will not undertake to rule on whether a particular journal article meets the HERDC [Higher Education Research Data Collection] requirements for inclusion in publication counts. HEPs [Higher Education Providers] have always had the discretion to determine if a publication produced in a journal meets the requirements for inclusion in the HERDC regardless of whether or not the journal was included on the Register of Refereed Journals. As stated in the HERDC specifications, the Register is not an exhaustive list of all journals which satisfy the peer-review requirements (DEST). The last listing for the DEST Register of Refereed Journals was the 3rd of February 2006, making way for a new tiered list of academic journals, which is currently under review in the Australian tertiary education sector (see discussion of this development in the Redden and Mitchell articles in this issue). In the interim, some university faculties created their own rankings of journals, but not the Faculty of Creative Industries at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where I am studying for my PhD by Published Papers. Although QUT does not have a list of ranked journals for a candidate to submit papers to, it is otherwise quite strict in its requirements. The QUT University Regulations state, “Papers submitted as a PhD thesis must be closely related in terms of subject matter and form a cohesive research narrative” (QUT PhD regulation 14.1.2). Thus there is the requirement at QUT that apart from the usual introduction, methodology and literature review, an argument must be made as to how the papers present a sustained research project via “an overarching discussion of the main features linking the publications” (14.2.12). It is also therein stated that it should be an “account of research progress linking the research papers” (4.2.6). In other words, a unifying essay must make an argument for consideration of the sometimes diversely published papers as a cohesive body of work, undertaken in a deliberate journey of research. In my own case, an aural auteur analysis of sound in the films of Rolf de Heer, I argue that my published papers (eight in total) represent a journey from genre analysis (one paper) to standard auteur analysis (three papers) to an argument that sound should be considered in auteur analysis (one paper) to the major innovation of the thesis, aural auteur analysis (three papers). It should also be noted that unlike Bond, GU or SUT, the QUT regulations for the standard PhD still apply: a Confirmation Seminar, Final Seminar and a minimum two years of full-time enrolment (with a minimum of three months residency in Brisbane) are all compulsory. Such milestones and sine qua non ensure the candidate’s academic progress and intellectual development such that she or he is able to confidently engage in meaningful quodlibets regarding the thesis’s topic. Another interesting and significant feature of the QUT guidelines for this type of degree is the edict that papers submitted must be “published, accepted or submitted during the period of candidature” (14.1.1). Similarly, the University of Canberra (UC) states “The articles or other published material must be prepared during the period of candidature” (10). Likewise, Edith Cowan University (ECU) will confer its PhD by Publications to those candidates whose thesis consists of “only papers published in refereed scholarly media during the period of enrolment” (2). In other words, one cannot simply front up to ECU, QUT, or UC with a résumé of articles or films published over a lifetime of writing or film-making and ask for a PhD by Published Papers. Publications of the candidate prepared prior to commencement of candidature are simply not acceptable at these institutions and such PhDs by Published Papers from QUT, UC and ECU are entirely different to those offered by Bond, GU and SUT. Furthermore, without a requirement for a substantial period of enrolment and residency, recipients of PhDs by Published Papers from Bond, GU, or SUT are unlikely to have participated significantly in the research environment of their relevant faculty and peers. Such newly minted doctors may be as unfamiliar with the campus and its research activities as the recipient of an honorary doctorate usually is, as he or she poses for the media’s cameras en route to the glamorous awards ceremony. Much of my argument in this paper is built upon the assumption that the process of refereeing a paper (or for that matter, a film) guarantees a high level of academic rigour, but I confess that this premise is patently naïve, if not actually flawed. Refereeing can result in the rejection of new ideas that conflict with the established opinions of the referees. Interdisciplinary collaboration can be impeded and the lack of referee’s accountability is a potential problem, too. It can also be no less nail-biting a process than the examination of a finished thesis, given that some journals take over a year to complete the refereeing process, and some journal’s editorial committees have recognised this shortcoming. Despite being a mainstay of its editorial approach since 1869, the prestigious science journal, Nature, which only publishes about 7% of its submissions, has led the way with regard to varying the procedure of refereeing, implementing in 2006 a four-month trial period of ‘Open Peer Review’. Their website states, Authors could choose to have their submissions posted on a preprint server for open comments, in parallel with the conventional peer review process. Anyone in the field could then post comments, provided they were prepared to identify themselves. Once the usual confidential peer review process is complete, the public ‘open peer review’ process was closed and the editors made their decision about publication with the help of all reports and comments (Campbell). Unfortunately, the experiment was unpopular with both authors and online peer reviewers. What the Nature experiment does demonstrate, however, is that the traditional process of blind refereeing is not yet perfected and can possibly evolve into something less problematic in the future. Until then, refereeing continues to be the best system there is for applying structured academic scrutiny to submitted papers. With the reforms of the higher education sector, including forced mergers of universities and colleges of advanced education and the re-introduction of university fees (carried out under the aegis of John Dawkins, Minister for Employment, Education and Training from 1987 to 1991), and the subsequent rationing of monies according to research dividends (calculated according to numbers of research degree conferrals and publications), there has been a veritable explosion in the number of institutions offering PhDs in Australia. But the general public may not always be capable of differentiating between legitimately accredited programs and diploma mills, given that the requirements for the first differ substantially. From relatively easily obtainable PhDs by Published Papers at Bond, GU and SUT to more rigorous requirements at ECU, QUT and UC, there is undoubtedly a huge range in the demands of degrees that recognise a candidate’s published body of work. The cynical reader may assume that with this paper I am simply trying to shore up my own forthcoming graduation with a PhD by Published papers from potential criticisms that it is on par with a ‘purchased’ doctorate. Perhaps they are right, for this is a new degree in QUT’s Creative Industries faculty and has only been awarded to one other candidate (Dr Marcus Foth for his 2006 thesis entitled Towards a Design Methodology to Support Social Networks of Residents in Inner-City Apartment Buildings). But I believe QUT is setting a benchmark, along with ECU and UC, to which other universities should aspire. In conclusion, I believe further efforts should be undertaken to heighten the differences in status between PhDs by Published Papers generated during enrolment, PhDs by Published Papers generated before enrolment and honorary doctorates awarded for non-academic published work. Failure to do so courts cynical comparison of all PhD by Published Papers with unearnt doctorates bought from Internet shysters. References Brown, George. “Protecting Australia’s Higher Education System: A Proactive Versus Reactive Approach in Review (1999–2004).” Proceedings of the Australian Universities Quality Forum 2004. Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2004. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.auqa.edu.au/auqf/2004/program/papers/Brown.pdf>. Campbell, Philip. “Nature Peer Review Trial and Debate.” Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. December 2006. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.nature.com/nature/peerreview/> Crisp, Jane, Kay Ferres, and Gillian Swanson, eds. Deciphering Culture: Ordinary Curiosities and Subjective Narratives. London: Routledge, 2000. Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). “Closed—Register of Refereed Journals.” Higher Education Research Data Collection, 2008. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/research_sector/online_forms_services/ higher_education_research_data_ collection.htm>. Edith Cowan University. “Policy Content.” Postgraduate Research: Thesis by Publication, 2003. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/policies_db/tmp/ac063.pdf>. Gledhill, Christine, and Gillian Swanson, eds. Nationalising Femininity: Culture, Sexuality and Cinema in Britain in World War Two. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1996. Griffith Law School, Griffith University. Handbook for Research Higher Degree Students. 24 March 2004. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.griffith.edu.au/centre/slrc/pdf/rhdhandbook.pdf>. Jeffries, Stuart. “I’m a celebrity, get me an honorary degree!” The Guardian 6 July 2006. 11 June 2008 ‹http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/0,,1813525,00.html>. Kermit the Frog. “Kermit’s Commencement Address at Southampton Graduate Campus.” Long Island University News 19 May 1996. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.southampton.liu.edu/news/commence/1996/kermit.htm>. McNamara, Eileen. “Honorary senselessness.” The Boston Globe 7 May 2006. ‹http://www. boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/07/honorary_senselessness/>. O’Loughlin, Shaunnagh. “Doctor Cave.” Monash Magazine 21 (May 2008). 13 Aug. 2008 ‹http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/monmag/issue21-2008/alumni/cave.html>. Queensland University of Technology. “Presentation of PhD Theses by Published Papers.” Queensland University of Technology Doctor of Philosophy Regulations (IF49). 12 Oct. 2007. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/Appendix/appendix09.jsp#14%20Presentation %20of%20PhD%20Theses>. Swinburne University of Technology. Research Higher Degrees and Policies. 14 Nov. 2007. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/registrar/ppd/docs/RHDpolicy& procedure.pdf>. University of Canberra. Higher Degrees by Research: Policy and Procedures (The Gold Book). 7.3.3.27 (a). 15 Nov. 2004. 11 June 2008 ‹http://www.canberra.edu.au/research/attachments/ goldbook/Pt207_AB20approved3220arp07.pdf>.

<p>Student attendance is one of the issues that most teachers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is facing today. Many colleges and universities have compulsory attendance policies while others have refrain from making it as such. Despite the different policies, higher education teachers believe that attendance has positive effect in academic performance. Non-attendance in class lecture is seen as one of the reasons for academic failure. This study aimed to find out the relationship between class attendance and academic performance of the L3 Omani undergraduate students in their English courses during the first semester of 2020-2021. The two English Language courses comprise 20 credit each to gauge students’ English proficiency, at least IELTS 6.0, as a general entry requirement to Level 4 of the undergraduate programme. The two courses are taught separately through lectures, seminar type and practical sessions based on the module descriptors prescribed by the affiliate university. Each module is delivered in two hours and fifteen minutes per week. Thus, it is expected that each student has to attend the teaching sessions for 11 weeks with a total of 24 hours complete attendance in one semester. Result revealed that almost 71% of the L3 Omani undergraduate students had accumulated poor attendance which is below the 70% required attendance as per the attendance policy of the college. The average absence of students in the two English modules is identical with a minimum of five absences in a semester. Further, the result revealed that there is a significant relationship in the class attendance on the student performance in the two English modules at 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis “There is no significant relationship between students’ class attendance and academic performance”, is rejected. The mark and absence of the students have negative inverse correlation. It means that as the absence of the student increases, the mark also decreases of at least 1 mark. It is concluded that students’ class attendance is very critical in terms of learning as it affects students’ achievement. To address the issue, a holistic approach to engage students both within and outside the classroom is recommended.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0897/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Research in Pakistan has gradually progressed over the years. The recently published “Pakistan research and innovation landscape report” is all praises for research in Pakistan. They cited that in the past decade, Pakistan has produced 300% more publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, 66% of its scientific papers are published in Journals with Impact Factor (JIF) and the Category Normalized Citation Impact of its publications has risen from 0.67 to 1.03. In this duration, the highest number of publications from our country was in Clinical Medicine compared to other disciplines and Normalized Impact in Clinical Medicine from the country exceeds the World average.1 This achievement in health research should be attributed to the efforts and policies of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) and Higher Education Commission (HEC). The PM&DC had incrementally increased the requirement of research publications for the promotion of professors thus promoting research output by the Faculty. The HEC had also facilitated and funded medical institutes to start medical journals to cater to this research output. Due to awareness in the faculty and need for future promotions, in most Medical Colleges and Universities, the undergraduate curriculum had also been modified to provide emphasis on research though mostly limited to the domains of community medicine and public health. Rawalpindi Medical University in 2017 under the visionary leadership of the Vice-Chancellor Prof M Umar started the initiative of starting a separate publication titled Student Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College (SJRMC) which is published biannually and now some other Medical Institutes have also followed suit. However, what is sorely missing is the domain of medical research is quality and impact. HEC has mandated all Medical Universities to develop Offices of Research Innovation & Commercialization (ORIC) but in most Medical Universities including Rawalpindi Medical University, they are at a nascent stage. Capacity building and supporting the offices of ORIC and research at Medical Institutes will surely go a long way in achieving this goal. Last year was extremely turbulent for medical research and publications. Due to uncertainty in the working of medical regulating body PMDC or Pakistan Medical Council (PMC)2, the promotional structure and criteria have been unclear. Furthermore, the status of Medical Journals that were recognized by PMDC for promotions is also not available. As a result, the Faculty and Institutes look towards HEC for regulatory criteria for Medical Journals. In mid of 2019, HEC published a new criterion for recognition that all Journals need to fulfill by July 2020.3 Due to the harsh conditions, even some of the top Medical Journals were downgraded in rank.4 The previous Z category which was meant to support and facilitate weaker or nascent publications was abolished. Newer and stricter benchmarks for the remaining Y, X, and W categories. Some of these benchmarks are extremely difficult to meet for most Journals. The criteria states that for Y category, self-institutional authorship should not exceed 1/5th of the total articles and for the X category there should be no institutional publications. Then the question arises why would a medical institute encourage or facilitate a Medical Journal if it is not facilitating local research? Also, Y category requires an academic editorial board with Ph.D. members, however, in the medical profession, very few disciplines have PhDs and the highest qualifications are mostly Fellowships. The benchmarks also include that journals should use an online management system and should be abstracted internationally. This we believe is a very good step, but this requires regular training of Medical Editorial Teams and funding from HEC and Medical Institutions. Recently two important meetings were held to discuss and deliberate solutions to these problems. On February 21st 2020, a meeting was held at RIPHAH University in which a “Health Sciences Journals’ Editors Group” was created. Some of the key issues that this group is working on includes; 1) fostering collaboration, cooperation & communication among the editors of local medical journals of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, 2) improving visibility, citation, indexation, recognition and overall standard of their periodical; regulation, management, ethical issues, and 3) to meet the criteria of Regulating Bodies. On March 13th 2020, a Local Editors Meeting5 was organized by Punjab Health Care Commission (PHEC) in ARFA Tech Park Lahore. Some of the problems faced by the Editors that were discussed included the HEC’s criteria which is uniform for all disciplines however, each discipline should have their unique criteria; modifications according to HEC criteria requires expertise, financial support and at least 2 years which is very difficult for most Journals to achieve by June 2020. HEC criteria is tough especially for new journals; de-recognition will be highly demotivating as most Journals will not survive; editors have no financial or promotional recognition nether from neither their Institutes nor the Regulatory Bodies. It was decided that a Council of Editors should be formed which should recommend standards of publication in each discipline. HEC planned a workshop of Editors in March 2020, on World of Science and Scopus which was a very welcome step that could not materialize due to the recent Coronavirus pandemic. We at the editorial office of the Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College (JRMC) have strived very hard to achieve these criteria in the shortest possible time. To achieve these challenges, a group of dedicated section editors from all medical disciplines was created to discuss and deliberate fortnightly. Minutes of these meetings were approved by the Dean's Committee and sent to Academic Advisory Boards for comments and suggestions. The Editorial Team was trained in the use of Turnitin and the Open Journal System (OJS). A verified reviewer panel was formed and training material was sent to reviewers for improving the quality of the peer-review process. Institutional email addresses of the editorial and reviewer panel were used to ensure transparency of communication. Funds provided by HEC were used to acquire Crossref membership to issue Digital Object identifier (DOI) numbers to articles to increase the discoverability of our published research. We feel that though these recent steps by HEC have generated awareness among Medical Periodicals to improve publishing standards, however harsh actions such as de-recognition without proper training and financial support will be highly discouraging for the local searchers and publishers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2002.
Title from title page screen, viewed January 26, 2006. Dissertation Committee: William C. Rau, George Padavil (co-chairs), James Palmer, Phyllis McCluskey-Titus. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-120) and abstract. Also available in print.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems
Improving throughput rates is a key challenge facing South African higher education. Throughput rate is the number of students that can be produced over a period of time such as a semester or a year. Low throughput rates have a huge impact in funding higher education, because it determines how much funding organisations should invest in sponsoring students. Problems caused by low throughput rates include overcrowding of students in class, withdrawal of funding by funding organisations, reduction in the workforce of the country and poverty. The major objective of this study was to investigate the Business Intelligence (BI) components of the Integrated Tertiary Software (ITS), how it is used by universities to improve throughput rate.

A thesis submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
The perturbing phenomenon of wastage (revealed through incidences of unsatisfactory levels of student retention, poor pass and completion rates and an increase in repetition rates) is a course of concern for universities as it has a bearing on financial expenditure as well as institutional reputation. For the purpose of this study being at-risk is synonymous with being vulnerable.Student vulnerability is not a homogeneous phenomenon and therefore different student support structures, strategies and policies need to be devised for different issues and problems experienced by vulnerable students. This study argues that as long as effective and adequate institutional support is lacking, student vulnerability will continue to be a 'wastage' catalyst. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version - Abstract would not load onto DSpace]

Since Colonial times Education in South Africa was segregated leaving African educational systems disadvantaged with inferior services. The segregation became official when apartheid became an official policy following the general election of 1948 which resulted in the National Government taking over. This report, in particular, is a study at one of the 22 merged Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) that was comprised of previously advantaged and disadvantaged tertiary institutions. The University of Technologies (UoTs) have a history of such segregated education dating back to its origins in 1882, when Technical Colleges were established. While the development of the early technical colleges continued to change its focus and status, inferior services continued until very recently in 2002 when mergers of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) occurred. The democratic government of 1994 developed to many policies in an attempt to repair the damages emanating from the apartheid system. Of the many policies, one was the redressing of educational inequalities that were created by the apartheid system. During the early 1990s and to date there has been poor Higher Education (HE) performance. One of the goals of the 1997 White paper was to improve the throughput rates at HE in terms of pass rates and thus throughput rates. The study focuses on the high failure rate in the Information Administration (IA) course at one of the merged HEIs called Southern University of Technology1 (SUT). What has been conducted is an investigation of perceptions of contributory factors towards the high failure rate in the Information Administration course at SUT. The mentioned UoT has also implemented transformational policies as required by the Department of Education (DoE) but the desires of the Education White paper 3 of 1997 regarding the improvement of throughput rates has not changed. The main findings of the research present the following; lack of preparedness of enrolled students and lecturers in the IA subject , the non-compliance to the institutions assessment policy and procedures, lack of quality assurance and management measures and insufficient accessibility and utilisation of the resources.
Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

A research report submitted to the WITS School of Education, Faculty of Humanities; University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research, Johannesburg, 2017
Student success at university is dependent on various academic and non-academic factors. Some students may face barriers to their success due to these factors. Academic development for students and staff, as well as student support programmes can play an important role in helping students to overcome the barriers they may be experiencing. This study aims to differentiate between different forms of academic development and student support, and their functions as well as to understand how these types of programmes or initiatives were conceptualised and operationalized at WITS. An important aim was to understand the provision of academic development and student support from the top-down, through examining WITS‟s policies on these issues. This was done through a comparative case study of two Schools in different Faculties at WITS. A series of interviews was conducted with practitioners working within programmes, at Faculty and School-level, and those who have had extensive experience within the field. What emerges from this research is that there are different programmes or initiatives in place in both Schools. These include teaching and learning development initiatives, student academic development programmes and student support programmes. However, without a policy or guidelines, the nature of academic development and student support tends to be uneven and each of the practitioners had varied perspectives based on their experiences in the field. There are various challenges faced by the programmes, but these are navigated differently by the practitioners given their context and agency. This unevenness and the varied experiences of the practitioners in this study tend to suggest the need for a policy to guide the implementation of academic development and student support.
XL2019

With reference to the demands for innovation facing the systems of tertiary education internationally, the Department of Higher Education in South Africa has been revamped since the realization of the democratic Government. In recent years, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College institutions became the potential learning institutions of choice that could revitalize the economy. This resulted in merging the former 152 TVET Colleges into 50 with the intention to streamline access in order to accommodate a larger number of students for technical and vocational training. The purpose of this study was to determine how student retention and success in the TVET Colleges can be effectively managed. The study was mainly guided by the theoretical framework of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1995) ecological systems theory that explains individuals’ relationships with their environments by means of interrelated ecological systems functioning. Secondly, applied to this study was the principles of systems theory which supplemented Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. A mixed-methods research approach was used in determining the perceptions of TVET College personnel from different levels of institutional functioning and from students from different years of registration to determine the main factors influencing student retention and success at TVET Colleges. The empirical investigation comprised of a quantitative research approach (as phase 1) using questionnaires administered to students which was followed by a qualitative research approach (as phase 2) entailing semi-structured individual interviews with TVET College employees. The researcher used the chi-square and analysis of variables tests as analysis techniques in analysing and presenting the results in in this study. The research findings indicated a strong need for relevant career guidance provided to prospective TVET College students from primary school onwards, and the establishment of a constructive student support unit at TVET Colleges to promote student retention and success. Factors that promote the management student retention and success were identified as relating to the image and reputation of TVET Colleges, sources of effective communication, and student support activities that initially and continuously motivate or hinder student retention and success in the TVET College institutions.
Na aanleiding van die oproepe om vernuwing wat tersiêre-onderwysstelsels op internasionale vlak in die gesig staar, het die Departement van Hoër Onderwys en Opleiding in Suid-Afrika sedert die instelling van 'n demokratiese regering verskeie verbeteringe ondergaan. In die afgelope aantal jare het instellings in die tegniese en beroepsonderwys- en opleidingsektor potensiële voorkeurleerinstellings geword wat die vermoë het om die ekonomie nuwe lewe te gee. Dit het gelei tot die samesmelting van die voormalige 152 kolleges in die sektor tot 50 kolleges, met die doel om toegang te vergemaklik sodat meer studente vir tegniese en beroepsopleiding ingeneem kan word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te bepaal hoe faktore wat studentbehoud en -sukses beïnvloed, doeltreffend in die tegniese en beroepsonderwys- en opleidingskollegesektor bestuur kan word. Die studie is gerig deur die teoretiese raamwerk van Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1995) se ekologiese-stelselteorie. Hierdie teorie verklaar individue se verhoudings met hul omgewings met behulp van ekologiese stelsels wat in verhouding met mekaar funksioneer. Tweedens, aan die studie was beginsels van stelsels teorie toegevoeg wat Bronfenbrenner se ekologiese stelsels teorie aanvul. Die empiriese ondersoek het bestaan uit ʼn kwantitatiewe navorsingsbenadering waarby vraelyste aan studente uitgedeel is, gevolg deur ʼn kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering wat semi-gestruktureerde individuele onderhoude met werknemers by tegniese en beroepsonderwys- en opleidingskolleges behels het. Die navorsingsbevindinge het gedui op ʼn sterk behoefte aan die voorsiening van toepaslike beroepsvoorligting aan leerders op laerskool en verder wat voornemens is om aan tegniese en beroepsonderwys- en opleidingskolleges te studeer, asook die vestiging van ʼn konstruktiewe studentesteuneenheid by hierdie kolleges om studentebehoud en -sukses te bevorder. Faktore wat studentebehoud en -sukses bevorder is geïdentifiseer as dié wat verband hou met die beeld en reputasie van tegniese en beroepsonderwys- en opleidingskolleges, bronne van doeltreffende kommunikasie, en studentesteunaktiwiteite wat aanvanklik en deurlopend as motivering vir studentebehoud en -sukses in hierdie sektor dien of dit belemmer.
Mayelana na xilaveko xa vutumbuluxi lebyi mafambiselo ya swikolo le ya langutiseneke na wona misava hinkwayo, Ndzavisiso ya tidyondzo ta le henhla ya Afrika Dzongayi cincile ku sukela loko hi ri eka mfumo wa xidimokirasi, Eka masiku ya namuntlha, tikholichi ta Vuthikiniki na dyondzo na vuleteri (TVET) ti hundzukile swikolo leswi nga langiwaku ku pfuxelela ikhonomi. Leswi swi endlile leswaku ku katsiwa tikholichi to ringana 152 leswaku ti va 50 ku ri ku endlela leswaku ku tekiwa na ku leteriwa vana va ku tala. Xikongomelo a ku ri ku endlela leswaku machudeni va nga lawuriwa na ku humelerisiwa njhani eka ti kholichi ta ti TVET. Dyondzo leyi yi rhangeriwa hi mavonelo ya malavisiselo ya Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1995), mavonelo ya matshamelo na mahlamuselo ya vuxaka eka mpfanganyiso wa matirhiselo, xavumbirhi, Dyondzo leyi yi tirhisile milawu ya mafambiselo na mavonelo lama tatisaku maendleo ya matshamelo na mafambiselo ya Bronfenbrenner. Malaviseselo ya maendlelo yo pfanganana ya tirhisiwile eka mavonelo ya va tirhi ya tikholichi ta ti TVET ku suka eka matshamelo na matirhelo yaku hambana hambana ku sukela eka malembe ya ntsariso ku endlela ku kuma nsusumeto wa ku humelela ka machudeni etikholichi. Ndzavisiso lowu wu katsakanya maendlelo ya khwalithethivhi, eka xiyenge xo sungula hi ku tirhisa swivutiso leswi nga ta xiyisisiwa eka machudeni swi tlhela swilandelerisiwa hi maendlelo ya malavisiselo ya khwalithethivhi (eka xiyenge xa vumbirhi) hi ku kandzelerisiwa hi nwangulano wa xiphemu na vatirhi va ti kholichi ta ti TVET. Mulavisisi u tirhisile xikwere xa chi na ku xopaxopa swiphemu swa swikambelo leswi a swi xopa xopiwa loko ku bumabumeriwe / hlayiwe mbuyelo wa ndzavisiso. Mbuyelo wu kombisa swinene leswaku kuna ku yelana eka ndzetelo lowu nyikiwaku machudeni ya ti kholichi ta TVET ku suka eswikolweni swa le hansi ku ya ehenhla, na ku tumbuluxiwa ka xiyenge xa mpfuno wa machudeni etikholichini ta ti TVET ku tlakusa ku tiyisa na ku humelela ka machudeni. Swi nwana leswi susumetaku ku tlakusa na ku tiyisa vufambisi eku tlakuseni na ku humelerisa machudeni ya ti kholichi ta ti TVET swikombisa swi fananisiwa na xiyimo na xindzhuti xa swikolo leswi, swipfuno swa mavulavulelo, na swipfuno swa switirhisiwa swa mpfuno wa machudeni wa masungulo kumbe wa ku yisa nkucetelo kumbe xirhalanganyi xa ku tlakusa na ku pfuna ku humelela eka tikholichi ta ti TVET. MARITO NKULO
Educational Management and Leadership
D. Ed. (Education Management)

‘What do universities and colleges do?’ explores just what the modern university and college do—their teaching, research, consultancy, and wider civic engagement. For most universities and colleges, worldwide, their main task is teaching high-school leavers to first-degree level: usually regarded as their least prestigious academic work. The other two main functions of universities and colleges are research and postgraduate teaching: the higher status academic tasks. Despite many differences between universities and colleges worldwide, it is remarkable that the Bachelor–Master–Doctor classification of academic achievement is truly global. The emancipatory model of higher education is described, with the general structure of universities and colleges into departments, schools, and faculties.

Academic achievement of students transferring from community colleges to 4-year institutions has been a topic of interest to educational researchers globally. However, local empirical evidence remains limited on how transfer students’ learning approaches and the teaching-learning environment relate to their academic achievement in Hong Kong’s universities. The study aims at exploring the relationship between transfer students’ approaches to learning, their perceptions of the teaching-learning environment and academic achievement. The participants were 617 undergraduate students transferring from community colleges to an university in Hong Kong. Students’ approaches to learning and perceptions of the teaching-learning environment were measured using the HowULearn questionnaire. Analyses were carried out using factor analysis, Pearson correlation and linear regression. The results confirmed positive relations between students’ perceptions, approaches and achievement. Students studying in an organised manner achieved better academic performance, whereas those using a surface approach poor performance. Others might also adopt an intermediate approach to learning. The results indicate that promoting awarenesses of choosing and using appropriate learning approaches is important for fostering academic success among students.