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number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 3,118
The internationalisation in Vietnamese universities has emerged as an effective vehicle to reform the higher education system. In this process, the intercultural adaptability of students studying in internationalised programmes has been regarded as being critically important for their experiences and outcomes. Drawing on 80 in-depth interviews with education policymakers, programme coordinators, lecturers, students and employers of eight internationalised programmes in five Vietnamese universities, this article addresses four major solutions to student intercultural adaptability development: (i) strong personal dynamics of students; (ii) supportive conditions from academic institutions; (iii) promising employment prospects and preparation; and (iv) adequate supporting legal spaces from policymakers.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 2,386
Bangladesh has achieved significant progress in primary education whereas secondary education is still far from its expected targets. Along with the low level of participation, noticeable incompletion rates, high drop-out and poor performance have remained constant over the years. Among students who manage to complete their secondary school years, a significant portion is unable to pass the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or equivalent examinations every year. This study, which is a part of a larger-scale study, aims to explore the trends and issues of poor performance in SSC/equivalent examinations. A quantitative approach was employed to explore the research objectives. A total of 3072 students from secondary educational institutes of 8 divisions participated in completing the survey questionnaire. The findings of the study show persistent trends of unsuccessful and poor performance in the examination and the number of students who failed in the SSC/Equivalent examination is considerably large. The study found major issues including family financial and attitudinal support, schools’ infrastructural facilities, impacts of classroom teaching-learning styles, values of education, and sense of safety which related to achieving expected outcomes of secondary education. Similar issues were found among the students with ethnicity regarding their poor performance in the examination. The study suggests that along with the financial and policy support, awareness, and attitudinal change through media, the empowerment of the local community in cooperation with non-governmental organizations may remarkably contribute to enhance students’ desired academic performance.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 1,451
English as a foreign language (EFL) student-teachers’ teaching competency (TC) development can be affected by different factors, one of which is student-teacher agency which can play a decisive role in shaping their TC self-development. This mixed methods study aims at scrutinising how EFL student-teachers enacted their agency to facilitate their TC selfdevelopment during English language teaching (ELT) methodology courses at a higher education institution context in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A cohort of 118 student-teachers majoring in ELT methodology got involved in answering the closed-ended questionnaires, and 15 student-teachers in semi-structured interviews. The data analysis was based on the direct approach in which the quantitative data were processed by the SPSS in terms of descriptive statistics, and the qualitative data were analysed using the content analysis approach. The findings revealed that EFL student-teacher agency played a pivotal role in their TC self-development. Student-teachers allocated much of their effort to self-leveraging their ELT knowledge and positive attitudes towards ELT more than their ELT skills and English language skills. Such preliminary findings can shed light on the further research on the role of student-teacher agency in TC self-development in tandem with other factors of teacher trainer and learning environment.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 3,214
Psychological well-being and mental health among higher education students are prevalent and increasing on university campuses. Evidence suggests that students are vulnerable to mental health problems which have generated increased public concern (Chao, 2012; Bewick et al., 2010). This study aims to explore the psychological well-being of students in one of the colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan. An explanatory two-phase mixed method design was employed. 210 students responded to the survey questionnaire and 10 students from six different programmes and four levels in the college participated in the interview. A convenient stratified and purposive sampling technique was applied. Ryff’s scales of psychological well-being (Ryff & Singer, 2008) were used to measure multiple facets of psychological wellbeing. The findings indicated that students involved in the study possessed mixed levels of overall psychological well-being as the participants were from six courses and five levels of varied ages. The quantitative results of this study showed a positive attitude toward Ryff’s six dimensions of psychological well-being across ages and programmes (M=4.70, M-4.92). However, the findings indicated that undergraduate students possessed higher levels of psychological well-being than the Master of Education students. Additionally, a strong positive correlation was observed amongst the six dimensions of psychological well-being. The qualitative findings highlighted environmental mastery and positive relations with others as critical in the promotion of the psychological well-being of the college students
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 1,901
Reflective practices have become an important part of the teaching and learning process. When teachers practice it, they are considering their own practice, examining curricular choices, incorporating students’ feedback and making changes to improve students’ learning. This study aimed at exploring reflective practices of Physics teachers in Bhutan. In addition, it also examined the challenges that affected Physics teachers’ reflective practices. This qualitative study gathered data from seven Physics teachers teaching in two Higher and Middle Secondary Schools located in the eastern part of Bhutan. Data for this study were obtained from four sources; semi-structured face-to-face interviews, class observations with post-observation conferences and analysis of documents. The study revealed that Physics teachers incorporated different reflective practices such as self-reflection, different strategies and skills and feedback. Factors promoting reflective approaches included different classroom activities, questions, and responses by students while challenges in the process of reflection were lack of resources, large student number, bulky syllabus, and workload. This study recommends the need for an ICT-enabled environment in the schools to promote reflective practices. In addition, it recommends the Ministry of Education to review the workload of Physics teachers.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 2,067
This paper describes the literature review of research about digital safety competency of school students. Review and analysis of more than 90 research papers and government documents concerning the topic were conducted using various search engines as well as through access to printed legal and guiding documents of Vietnamese Government. . In the one hand, review of the literature shows the complexity of the DL concept, on the other hand, it proves the importance of activities to reinforce the knowledge and skills and reorientation or strengthening the attitudes regarding digital safety and positive use of the new media at home and in school. The presented results also provide opportunities to enrich the insights into the educational processes which take place in the family environment in the digital age. The prospect of digital safety education in Vietnam is also discussed in relation with the global progress.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 1,829
STEM education has become an educational trend of great interest in many countries worldwide, and Vietnam is no exception. Based on the research of STEM education operating process, the 5E model, and the analysis of Science subjects curriculum at secondary school, the paper proposes the principle of designing contents for teaching and learning activities using the model 5E under the STEM education orientation, and designing and organizing teaching activities in teaching Science subjects in secondary school. The paper also gives an illustrative topic of applying knowledge to create a “Simple rocket” after learning basic theory in the “Acetic acid” lesson - 9th grade Chemistry. Research methodology was carried out on 80 students in grade 9 of experimental and control classes at 2 secondary schools in Nha Trang and Thai Nguyen province. Through the implementation of these activities, students acquire knowledge of a number of STEM subjects, apply them to solve practical problems, and enhance their interest in learning science subjects, contributing to the formation and development of what competencies necessary to meet the requirements of reforming general education in Vietnam.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 6,580
The study addresses the transition to teach a curriculum designed for face-to-face teaching through a full mode online teaching. There has been infusion of online technologies in teaching contexts, and teaching practices globally, little attention has been given to online teaching and learning in Bhutanese higher education context. This study investigated the opportunities and challenges of online teaching in the colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) using a convergent mixed method approach. Survey questionnaire and interviews were used to collect the data. 153 teaching faculties and 1206 students responded to the survey. 30 faculties and 30 students consisting of equal number of male and female were interviewed. Descriptive analysis and inferential statistics were conducted for the survey data. The quantitative finding reveals age, experiences, educational qualification and colleges as important predictors of efficacy in the online teaching learning and assessment practices. The results also show that lecturers and students were somewhat satisfied with lecturers’ online teaching knowledge and skills. However, there are insignificant differences in the skills and knowledge possessed by both male and female lecturers and students of RUB colleges. Further, a positive correlation between lecturers’ online knowledge and skills to online assessment, learning support and resources was noted while students’ accessibility to online learning platforms and materials had lower correlation with other items. The qualitative finding indicates similar benefits and challenges related to online teaching. The study suggests respective colleges to support lecturers in their acquisition of ICT knowledge and skills to equip them for the digital age.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 1,667
This study seeks to explore if student behaviour can be changed using social modelling, specifically to increase usage of a learning management system (LMS), and whether any such increased LMS usage leads to higher student grades. After years of research into learning analytics, exploring which indicator can best predict student performance, with hopes of using that insight to improve student outcomes, there remain very few empirical studies which are randomized controlled trials, which is necessary to identify causation, and none that take place in a blended learning environment in the Global South. As learning analytics is a subject area for improving the learning of students worldwide, it is time to include more than just the Global North. In this experiment, 309 first year undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. Each member in the treatment group was sent a weekly email containing a link to an online dashboard showing the student’s performance compared against other students in the same cohort. Students in the treatment group did increase their use of the LMS but that increased usage did not translate into higher grades implying that the most important learning behaviours are not captured by the LMS, at least not in this study. Also of interest were that female students showed higher levels of engagement with the online dashboard and that the best predictor of a student’s grade in the second half of the semester was the student’s grade in the first half, supporting existing literature.
number: /2022
CIT number: 0
Number of views: 2,127
Currently, young children are experiencing the development of technologies in learning early literacy. Additionally, young children spend most of their daily time in their homes with families and caregivers. Therefore, early years educators are required to have a fulfilled understanding of how to promote learning early literacy with the integration of digital technologies. In this paper, we examined a range of peer-reviewed articles from 2014 to 2021 by using a qualitative method. We find that young children’s involvement combined with the mediation of parents probably fosters the learning process of early literacy by utilizing digital technologies at home. Moreover, the exchange of knowledge related to young children’s early literacy learning through using digital devices at home between schools and families also positively impacts the outcomes of the early literacy learning process. Even though the influence of digital devices on early literacy learning at home provides positive results, this paper identifies some gaps that emerge in the learning process.